Minutes of January CORE Meeting

Minutes of the January 16, 2009 CORE Meeting

The January 2009 meeting of the Concerned Ohio Retired Educators was called to order by President Dave Parshall at 11:45 a.m. on Friday, January 16. The meeting was held on the second floor of the STRS building in Columbus. It was also held on Friday this month, instead of the usual Thursday, due to necessary changes in the STRS Board meeting schedule. This in turn forced CORE to choose which day to attend the Board meeting and to schedule our meeting, since many members were unable to attend both days. Board chair, Mary Ann Cervantes, was apologetic about the situation, as she is aware of the inconvenience this presented to CORE members, and has assured us she would do everything possible to prevent it from happening in the future.

Dave introduced the first of two guests, Robert Stein, a 1999 retiree, to the 18 in attendance. Stein is running for one of the two open retiree seats on the STRS Board. Because of his extensive knowledge of the stock market, the main focus of his presentation was investment procedures and efficiency. He also fielded questions about the STRS health care program and about H.B. 315. In order for members to learn more about him and his ideas, Bob provided his web address: www.bobstein.us (http://www.bobstein.us) .

Next, Dave introduced James McGreevy, another candidate for a retiree seat on the STRS Board. Jim, who has attended most Board meetings since his retirement in ’04, stressed his concern for our health care situation. He also stated that he agreed with the outcome of Board’s vote on “Plan B” (regarding Performance Based Incentives [PBIs] for investment staff) earlier in the day.

Mary Ellen Angeletti presented the treasurer’s report in the absence of Treasurer Herman Fisher.

Dave explained much of what was covered at the special Health Care session of the December STRS Board meeting. On behalf of CORE, he has also officially requested information from Executive Director Michael Nehf on the actual number of retirees whose annual pensions total less than $35,000 and the number of surviving spouses.

Dave announced the resignation of Jim N. Reed as a CORE trustee and the election of John Curry as his replacement via an e-mail vote by the other CORE trustees.

Lastly, he stressed that in any communication anyone has with STRS Board members, Mr. Nehf and/or anyone else concerning our pension, health care, or other retirement matters, in the interest of accuracy, we must make sure we have researched and verified information before we write or e-mail about it.

The meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m. in order for members to attend the afternoon session of the STRS board meeting on the 6th floor.

Respectfully submitted,
Marie M. Fetters
Secretary