John Curry to Bill Leibensperger: You have let down your OEA membership re: their retirement security

From John Curry, April 18, 2009
Subject: Your letter to a concerned active educator
Bill...from a recent letter your wrote to an active educator (listed below). I have included my comments in red italics.

From Bill Leibensperger (no date)

Dear (Name omitted)

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 good 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. (Bill, Jim Stoll has recently enlightened active educators as to the financial condition of OUR retirement system. This not-so-good-news was only recently related to all STRS stakeholders by official communication in the form of a mail-out by STRS just this past month [only after Mr. Stoll had alerted active educators.] The "snail mail" release from STRS was issued because of increased pressure by Jim Stoll and others to inform STRS stakeholders of the miserable shape that STRS, as well as other public pension systems in this country, are really in and have been in. Neither STRS nor the OEA has taken an active roll in educating the educators of this serious predicament we are all in and have been in.. Your OEA membership depends upon you to keep them abreast of their retirement security and your organization has let them down in this respect.) You will find her very accessible. (I have yet to see her contact information issued so that she can be contacted in reference to her views re. STRS. If this contact information was issued then I'm sure you will be glad to furnish this information forthwith as Mr. Stoll has related this same information to all who were interested in contacting him.)

I am guessing that you are responding to the deceptive communications from her opponent (who, by the way, did not choose to participate in OEA's rigorous screening process). I am certain that you are among the majority of members who are "frosted" over the whole bonus thing. (Apparently some of your very own OEA endorsed "active" teacher STRS board members weren't just "too frosted" over the "whole bonus thing" as they, at the March 2009 board meeting, continued to vote "no" to an amendment which would have temporarily frozen the investment bonuses. Those OEA endorsed "active" teacher board members who didn't vote in the affirmative to freeze the bonuses were Tim Myers, Mark Meuser and Conni Ramser. Only one of the OEA endorsed active board members, Tai Hayden, had the wisdom to vote with the majority [to freeze the bonuses] on that day.) Unfortunately, there are those (including a current Board member who is supporting Mr. Stoll) who would pander to our 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.(Bill, that "very strong system" who is taking care of this 30 year retiree also currently wants $967 per month to "take care" of this retiree and my spouse with an 80/20 PPO healthcare plan that the same 30 year dump truck driver retiree under OPERS pays only $80 per month for the same coverage for spouse and self...what happened to OEA leadership on this issue? Does OEA's leadership and concern for educators discontinue when an educator retires and quits paying OEA dues?) Mr. Stoll's recent appearance on WKRC-TV is just another example of the spreading of dangerous half-truths that jeopardize the integrity of the system. (In my mind, a prime example of a "half-truth" is when your President, Ms. Frost-Brooks, takes the position that STRS investor "bonuses" are distasteful when, in fact, the move to quash bonuses was, during the March bonus vote at STRS, given a nose-thumbing by the majority of your OEA endorsed active teacher board members.) Why he believes that our hard-earned pension money belongs to the taxpayers is beyond my understanding. (The issue of whether or not taxpayer monies cease to be taxpayer monies once the school district receives the tax monies from county treasurers continue to be one of disputed legal interpretations and I won't attempt to judge whether, in fact, it is still taxpayer monies once it arrives at the local school district or not. But, what I will relate is that of those "taxpayer monies" that do go to the local school currently are 14% of every "teacher pay" dollar a contributing school system pays to STRS for retirement for their teachers. The teachers contribute 10% additionally, so....the taxpayer, in my mind, has every right to be concerned where and how tax monies are spent.) Who does he think he would represent?

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 (Bill, you forgot to mention the bonus issue 5-5 tie votes that took place just before the final "new bonus policy" vote was cast after the majority of your OEA backed active educators just couldn't seem to be able to vote for a temporary suspension of bonuses. After Ex. Director Nehf stated that he could live with a bonus suspension the majority of your endorsed "active" board members changed their previous votes so as to align with the majority. This, Bill, is a real example of a "half-truth" to your membership.) after much deliberation and preliminary voting. Another fact that is difficult for 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).

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.

Sincerely,
Bill Leibensperger
Vice President
Ohio Education Association

P.S. Bill, please spend your and the OEA's energy and money to find that "dedicated stream of (healthcare) revenue" that you and the OEA have touted for the better part of the last decade rather than your current and past practice of only giving it "lip service." To many retirees.... the sky has already fallen!

John Curry

A retired educator and STRS stakeholder