Want to take control of your pension system? Join ORTA! The numbers TALK, folks! You are needed to be part of those numbers! Remember, ORTA is "US", not "THEM"

https://www.facebook.com/groups/STRSOhioWatchdogs/

From Cindy Murphy on STRS Ohio Watchdogs public Facebook page:

Please share this message from ORTA! We can't stress this enough.

WE NEED YOU WITH US! JOIN ORTA TODAY!

Here's a statement from our Executive Director: A note from ORTA Executive Director Robin Rayfield Regarding the STRS Forensic Audit and STRS’ Response:

"Greetings STRS Members Only Facebook Forum Members! As the Executive Director at ORTA, I read the majority of threads that appear in this forum. I probably don’t ‘drill down’ as deeply as some observers, but I do read many comments made by forum members. I have read several comments made by people that traveled to Columbus to attend the STRS meeting on August 19, 2021. What is interesting for me is to read the comments from the dozens of people that attended the meeting and compare those comments to STRS’s depiction of the events of the day. It seems like STRS and the retirees in attendance have two distinctly different perspectives of what happened at the meeting.

Of particular interest to me was the STRS response to the Edward Siedle Forensic Audit Report ‘The High Cost of Secrecy’. The board responded to the Edward Siedle Forensic Audit as expected, STRS disagrees with everything in the report. As Mr. Siedle commented, people that have been allowed to behave in a manner that rewards themselves for poor performance for decades will not stop that behavior just because someone objects. Consider that STRS has spent millions hiring companies that only say nice things about STRS. When STRS pays companies like Callen, CEM, Cliffwater, and ACA the amounts they pay, of course those companies say positive things. Remember the story about the emperor and his clothes? ORTA will offer a response to the STRS report soon.

Consider the fight that we are engaged in with STRS… ORTA has hired Edward Siedle to investigate the STRS system. We collected $75,000 from ORTA members, non ORTA retirees, active STRS members, local chapters, and the OFT. Although that seems like a good-sized army to go to battle with, we must consider who we are doing battle with:

STRS Staff – over 105 investment staff that will do anything to hold on to their bonuses. Remember, they have all the information, and refuse to share information about our pension system. Employees that collect bonus pay despite failing to prove that they hit any benchmark (other than the actual performance benchmark), and a majority of the board that is supposed to provide oversight.

STRS External Consultants – Companies that are large corporations with unlimited budgets that receive huge payments from STRS to support STRS. Is it any wonder that these companies are hired year after year by STRS when these same companies only offer positive assessments? STRS has the best witnesses our money can buy. When an alternative perspective is provided by someone that does not receive money from STRS, it is easy to see why STRS opens the checkbook to discredit and discount the Siedle report.

ORSC – The legislative body charged with providing oversight for the STRS pension system. This group of people ignored their responsibility to conduct audits of the STRS system since 2016. A ten-year audit was due at that time. With the last ORSC audit conducted in 2006, its not like the audit due in 2016 ‘snuck up on them’. They knew in 2006 that an audit was due in 2016. But instead of doing what we elected them to do, they ignored their responsibilities. STRS was only too happy to not be audited, so everyone simply ignored the timelines. Now, some 6 years late and 16 years after the last audit, the ORSC has hired the firm of Funston to perform the audit. The choice of Funston is suspicious for several reasons. There appears to be a close connection between a current STRS external consultant and Funston. Funston is also at the heart of a controversy with the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System. And Funston’s quote was double the quote submitted by two other audit firms. From an outside perspective it appears that ‘pay to play’ is alive and well in Ohio’s political scene.

How can we win this battle? ORTA is committed to fighting this battle on behalf of STRS members, both active and retired. We can NEVER outspend STRS, nor can we match their ‘experts’ that are on the STRS payroll. But we can win this battle. We can win because we are RIGHT! It is right that the people who put the money into the system should have access to information about their investments. We should know how much is invested in each of the alternative investment accounts, what are the total costs associated with these investments and how much these investments are worth. We have a few legislators that are becoming interested and asking questions of STRS.

I ask that all interested people join ORTA in this battle to take control of our pension system. Retirees need to receive the benefits that were promised, not some reduced amount. Actives need to receive a pension that is equal to the amount they are contributing, not an amount reduced by 3.5%. ORTA is doing all we can, and we are not shying away from this fight. We are asking every retiree that reads this post to join ORTA. The cost is only $30 per year. Our pathway to success lies in our strength. Our strength is in our numbers. Join ORTA and become involved in this fight. ORTA is offering a special membership to our ‘active educator allies’ who are also STRS members. Active educators can join ORTA for $10 per year. ORTA is committed to ensuring that active educators receive a pension that is worth their contributions.

You can join at ORTA’s website www.orta.org or call our office 614-431-7002.

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 According to Dr. Robin Rayfield, Executive Director of the Ohio Retired Teachers Assn. (ORTA),  "Anyone can join; active, retired, or interested people like spouses, friends, and family of STRS members." Robin can support us best if we give our full  support to ORTA. He talks to STRS and he talks to legislators. They NOTICE the numbers, and the greater the numbers, the greater the clout we have! There is STRENGTH in numbers, and you are needed to be a part of it.