Tom Curtis to Aristotle Hutras re: Lack of response from Mike Nehf

From Tom Curtis, September 20, 2009
Subject: 092009 Request For STRS Employee Cutbacks

Mr. Hutras,

As a retiree stakeholder of the STRS, I am angered that Mr. Nehf has repeatedly failed to respond to my request for information concerning employee cutbacks at the STRS. This is unacceptable and rude on his part. We have a right to know just what the staff that supposedly represents us, is doing to share in the burden of reducing costs. Freezing salaries and not hiring any new staff means little to us. We want to see the staff share in the same burden that has been forced on the retirees backs since 2004.

I have written Mr. Nehf on 4 different dates, about 1 week apart and have received absolutely no response from him.

Since you are the head of the ORSC, the only oversight for the five pension systems in Ohio, I am asking you to kindly contact Mr. Nehf and ask him to make his cutbacks known to the stakeholders by responding to my email request.

The STRS has lost in excess of $42 billion dollars in this decade, but continues business as usual, as would be indicated by the vote to award $3 million in bonuses to the investment staff on 19th of this month. The spending of our funds is becoming absurd, to say the very least.

Sincerely,
Thomas Curtis