Mike DeWine switches up teacher pension board appointee before key election
Mike DeWine replaces his appointee to the STRS Ohio pension board
Laura A. Bischoff
The Columbus Dispatch
May 6, 2023
Mike DeWine switches up teacher pension board appointee before key election
Board oversees $95 billion invested for 500,000 teachers and retirees.
Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday replaced Wade Steen on the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio with real estate investor G. Brent Bishop but Steen said the governor lacks the authority to remove him.
The governor's office said Steen was informed that DeWine needs an appointee on the pension board who can dedicate the necessary time and attention to the task. Steen's board meeting attendance record was not immediately available.
DeWine's move came a day before votes were tallied for another seat on the 11-member board, which oversees $95 billion invested for 500,000 teachers and retirees.
Berea teacher Pat Davidson easily ousted incumbent board member Arthur Lard, a Portsmouth teacher. Davidson, whose four-year term begins Sept. 1, received 20,140 votes to Lard's 8,853 votes.
The STRS Ohio board has faced infighting and turmoil over the past few years. Retirees are angry over the elimination of cost-of-living allowances, a perceived lack of transparency and the payment of bonuses to pension investment staff despite investment losses.
Those retirees, who are active in Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association and STRS Watchdogs, have the ear of a growing faction on the board. They've called for a change in the pension leadership, more transparency in investment fees and consideration of an investment strategy pitched by a start-up company. Steen had expressed support for the start-up company and its approach.
Former Republican Gov. John Kasich first appointed Steen to the board in 2016 and DeWine reappointed him in 2020.
"I am also the board member who began asking hard questions which uncovered that STRS staff are getting paid bonuses on questionable performance benchmarks. I have spoken out for more transparency and accountability. This is what I have been fighting for and will continue to fight for until my term ends on September 27, 2024," Steen said in a written statement.
Robin Rayfield, executive director of Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association, said in a statement that DeWine's "attempt to manipulate" the board make-up hours before election results "only reinforces the broken trust that educators have with their pension system. To say this pours jet fuel on the fire is an understatement."
Read the rest of the article here.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
posted by Kathie Bracy at 4:57 PM
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