Dan MacDonald's speech to STRS Board, August 19, 2021

Good morning. I am Dan MacDonald, STRS teacher retiree, 38 years, and Executive Director of Local 279-R, NEO AFT retirees.  

I. It is wonderful to be back making the public participation section of the Board meetings once again public. We never hear anything from correspondence submitted to the Board for public participation.

2. Let’s briefly go back to 2017 when the Board deemed it necessary to eliminate the retirees’ COLA so that no liability had to be reported. The STRS financial picture gained 12 billion dollars, and let’s see, what else was happening? Oh, Texas-based Panda Power Enterprise filed bankruptcy April 2017 causing a loss of minimally $525 million to our general fund. Did that come up publicly by the Finance Department, the Investment Department or any Board member, two still sitting before us? No, the Board speaks with one voice and, obviously, has silence with one voice.

In August and September 2017, I was wailing about the elimination of COLA and a 13^th check not being comparable during Public Participation. A half billion-dollar loss combined with the elimination of COLA would make for greater public discussion. Would the Board have pulled the lever if actives/retirees knew about the loss?

Retirees want our COLA restored. If ANNUAL merit-based 3 percent salary increases are good enough for STRS staff for the last 20 plus years in addition to ANNUAL Performance Based Incentives which include half billion-dollar losses, a 3-percent COLA needs to return after a 29 percent plus FY20 gain with over 11% percent average returns for the past 10 years. Were we all hoodwinked by STRS in 2017? Our organization, STRS Ohio, was hiding its loss, covering it up. The question now is who on the Board then knew the facts and didn’t bother to share them with the actives and retirees. If our two, seated active Board members were not told by staff about the loss, it is time to speak up; STRS staff need to publicly be told hiding losses is not acceptable. Where are the Board’s fiduciary responsibilities to its members? 

Finally, 3. It is time to put into Board policy that Board meetings be run under Robert’s Rules of Order. In June, when the Board Chair was challenged over a motion, the interpretation by the Board’s lawyer was that the rules are “a guide,” “not required,” that the Board has “flexibility.” Enough. Enough. Address transparency. Address Panda. Address COLA. Address Robert’s Rules. Address returning benefits to actives. 

Thank you.

8/19/2021