Election talk: Bill Leibensperger, Molly Janczyk and Kathy Russell

From Molly Janczyk, April 20, 2009
Subject: Double Talk, again!: KATHRYN, Vote for Carol Correthers

Interesting double talk AGAIN from OEA! The FACT IS: -STRS IS CONSIDERING RAISING THE AGE OF RETIREMENT AND AS BILL SAYS: ALL THINGS ARE ON THE TABLE! THAT IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS!!!! Source: STRS Board and OEA Candidate McGreevy who answered in the affirmative when I put this question out and he answered: All things are on the table to my asking if upping retirement age was being considered. -If anyone is naive enough to think that upping contributions IS NOT being considered, well, there is a bridge I 'd like to sell you as I need the money to pay for health care. -UPPING CONTRIBUTIONS DOES TAKE LEGISLATION! -UPPING RETIREMENT AGE TO MY KNOWLEDGE TAKES STRS BOARD APPROVAL AND DOES NOT NEED LEGISLATION: CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG: I have been told for years that the STRS Board CAN do this themselves!!!!!

If anyone is using smoke and mirrors it is OEA/OEA-R! NOT JAMES STOLL who is trying to get facts out to actives! BILL L. HAS ALWAYS IN MY OPNION SKIRTED FACTS WITH RHETORIC AND USED ALARMIST' TACTICS TO SWAY VOTERS AWAY FROM FACTS! JAMES STOLL, LIKE DENNIS LEONE, USES STRS FIGURES NOT OEA SHROUDED ONES.

EDUCATORS: SHOULD YOUR STUDENTS PASS BECAUSE THEY DID BETTER THAN THE NEXT CLASS EVEN THO THEY UNDERPREFORMED? THAT IS BILL L./OEA/STRS LOGIC.

IT IS YOUR MONEY AWARDED STRS STAFF WHEN YOU CANNOT AFFORD YOUR MEDICAL BILLS IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES! STRS EXISTS BECAUSE OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS AND YOU, THE SHAREHOLDER, SHOULD COME FIRST!!!! DO YOU?

IF ONLY STRS, OEA, OFT alarmed folks long ago of this impending crisis AND THEY KNEW IT WAS COMING SINCE THE EARLY 90's! JOE ENDRY advised them at that time change was needed and legislation was in the offing to mandate health care. OEA AND STRS said it was not necessary! Former Exec Direc and OEA's pick Dyer said he wanted out of the health care business and it seems that is just where we were headed-spend what's left and then say, we're out. WHAT STOPPED THIS??? A FEW RETIREES HEADED BY DENNIS LEONE AND JOHN LAZARES WHO BROUGHT THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE MEDIA MUCH TO OEA's DISMAY! OEA's reaction was to hurl accusations and untruths slandering Leone never to apologize even though Leone was proven correct on all counts and Dyer and his 5 ACTIVE STRS OEA BOARD MEMBERS AND ONE RETIREE FOLLOWER WERE ALL CONVICTED OF ETHICS VIOLATIONS! They chose to ride the wave of the market, spend on themselves and NOT act prudently on behalf of membership with long term planning to secure health care funding. You can deny bad behavior all you want BUT WHEN DOES I T BECOME PAINFULLY AND BLATANTLY CLEAR THAT STRS AND OEA DID NOT PROTECT MEMBERSHIP??

JAMES STOLL IS TRYING TO EDUCATE YOU AND PROTECT YOUR FUTURES! LEONE AND LAZARES WARNED FOR YEARS THAT PENSIONS MAY BE JEOPARDIZED IF STRS CONTINUED ITS PATH! HERE WE ARE! STRS IS CONCERNED ABOUT PENSIONS FOR ITS ACTIVES DOWN THE ROAD!

Head in the sand or research yourselves the real facts! Listening to Bill L. will only ease your minds short term but Leone, Stoll, Lazares try to inform and work towards long term solutions to protect you.

Jim Stoll: Active STRS Board Candidate Bob Stein: Retiree STRS Board Candidate

McGreevy is OEA-R prototype and though a nice man, I feel unable to leave his comfort zone to vote for real change against his comrades.

From Bill Leibensperger, April 9, 2009
Subject: RE: KATHRYN, Vote for Carol Correthers

Dear Ms. Russell,

I’m afraid someone has sold you a bill of goods, but I certainly respect your right to vote for the candidate of your choice.

There are two key reasons we did not endorse Mr. Stoll for this position: 1) he didn't screen, and 2) Carol Correthers is a superior candidate. She is the OEA-endorsed candidate, which means that she has passed a screening made up of knowledgeable members representing both active and retired teachers. The questions to which she responded required an in-depth knowledge of the issues, a commitment to serve all, and an understanding of the duty.

I20am guessing that your members are responding to the deceptive communication from her opponent. I have seen the chart that Mr. Stoll is sending around. Probably a majority of members are "frosted" over the whole bonus thing. Unfortunately, there are those (including a current Board member who is supporting Mr. Stoll) who would pander to members' emotions and fears in order to make themselves look good, rather than work collaboratively with others to protect the integrity of a very strong system that will take care of all of us for the rest of our lives.

Mr. Stoll's email has selected "facts." One of the important ones missing is that the Board did approve a new bonus policy without a dissenting vote after much deliberation and preliminary voting. Another fact that is difficult for many of us as teachers to understand is that bonuses are actually the way investment staff are paid throughout the industry. STRS investment staff have outperformed the industry, but the Board in their wisdom and in respect to the members they serve have passed a policy that curtails bonuses when there are losses (even when the losses are significantly less than the overall market).

Carol Correthers does support strong operational controls and understands that members expect STRS to run their operations in a prudent way. I think you can rest assured that Carol will always make go od decisions based on intelligent deliberation and a strong commitment to all members of the system. Certainly she will not try to alarm members with "the sky is falling" kinds of messages, as she understands the gravity of the position for which she is running. Members will find her very accessible.

It is important that we protect our retirement by electing intelligent, reflective, and hardworking representatives who will do their homework and never put any personal interests ahead of the well being of current and future retirees. I hope we can count on you to support OEA-endorsed candidate Carol Correthers. She has my vote.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Bill Leibensperger
Vice President
Ohio Education Association

From Kathy Russell, April 6, 2009
Posted To: govtsrv Conversation: KATHRYN, Vote for Carol Correthers
Subject: Re: KATHRYN, Vote for Carol Correthers

Dear Mr. Leibensperger,

I hope you are aware that more and more people are becoming very upset about the policies of the OEA and particularly the way the OEA endorsed candidates who are elected to the STRS board have been wasting our hard earned retirement money. More and more active teachers are watching what is going on at STRS and are choosing to vote for the other candidates, NOT endorsed by the OEA. We would much rather elect people who have our best interests at heart like Dennis Leone. We are tired of the way the STRS board has wasted our money on extravagances for themselves when they should have been taking better care of OUR money. Thanks to your board members, retired teachers no longer get a 13th check, the health care fund is in serious danger of being completely depleted, and the retirement fund has lost many billions of dollars. We would rather elect someone who will actually be responsible to take care of OUR money, not just say they will, and then do whatever the OEA tells them to do with it. Furthermore, we are appalled by the way the OEA refuses to allow the other candidates to campaign in the public schools. EVERY candidate has a right to campaign and should be allowed to put fliers in any school they wish to. It is outrageous that the OEA representatives in many school districts will only allow campaigning for their own can didates. I, for one, will be voting for JIM STOLL, not Carol Carrethers.

Sincerely,
Kathryn Russell

From Bill Leibensperger, April 6, 2009
Subject: KATHRYN, Vote for Carol Correthers

Dear KATHRYN,

Those of you who are active teachers and contribute to STRS will be receiving a ballot in the mail in the next few days to elect a new member to the STRS Board. OEA has endorsed Carol Correthers for this position. Carol is a special education teacher in the Lorain City Schools. She has a wide range of experience, including service on the OEA Board of Directors and a local school board. She is committed to this important role and in her advocacy for our members.

The current state of our economy and the rapid decline in stock prices over the last 18 months has made the benefit of belonging to STRS even more valuable. I’m sure you all have friends or family members who have lost their jobs or lost their retirement savings. For Ohio’s teachers, the benefits provided by STRS represent our economic security in retirement, and OEA will continue to work to protect those benefits. This will not be easy. STRS has experienced more than $30 billion in market losses, and the STRS board and staff must work together to address policies on how to manage retirement and health care funds as we wait for the securities markets to recover. At times like these, we need strong, experienced members on the STRS Board to help ensure that we continue to have the pension and retiree health care benefits we need and deserve. Carol Correthers is just such a person.

Carol is a classroom teacher who has earned the endorsement of both OEA and the Ohio Federation of Teachers. Through her experience on other boards, she’s overseen budgets, set policy and dealt with personnel issues. She knows that collaboration and thoughtful judgments yield better results for our members than knee-jerk reactions, bombast and combativeness. However, make no mistake: Carol is a strong and decisive leader.

I noted with dismay that in a recent campaign email, Carol’s opponent implies that STRS might raise the retirement age, increase required contribution rates from members or make other changes to our pension benefits. The fact is the STRS Board does not have the power to do any of these things. Such changes require a change in state law. What is true is that the STRS Board is examining changes that they may recommend for legislation and that “everything is on the table.” Given the critical nature of these discussions, I feel it’s more important than ever to have Board members with the knowledge, experience and temperament to serve in this important role.

Please make the time to vote in the upcoming STRS Board election, and I encourage you to vote for Carol Correthers.

Retired members of STRS will be electing two new Board members. OEA has endorsed James McGreevy and David Preslan for these seats on the Board. Please do all that you can to get out the vote among retirees to get these two highly qualified gentlemen elected. More information on each of OEA’s endorsed candidates is available on www.ohea.org.

Sincerely, Bill Leibensperger
OEA Vice-President