Dean Dennis to STRS Board: As a Board, you need to step up to the plate and make the needed managerial changes to gain the public's confidence

Dean Dennis' Speech to STRS Board

December 14, 2023

My name is Dean Dennis, 35 years Cincinnati Public, President of ORTA, Founder of the STRS Ohio Watchdogs, and member of the Ohio STRS Members Only Forum.

Driving home yesterday from our ORTA Executive Council Meeting I was able to catch some of the Board meeting. I listened to the Board talking about communicating and building trust with one another.  I listened to the conversation about public participation and I listened to the discussion about STRS adopting a "Strategic Plan." 

STRS members need a reliable pension plan; one that allows them to plan for the future. They don't have one.  If you were to ask members what is the current STRS's "Strategic Plan" they would probably say, STRS wants to be 100% funded and arrive there by withholding our benefits. 

I had a strategic plan, it was to work 35 years to optimize my promised pension benefits and I planned on putting 100% effort into my job to gain the respect and trust of my peers. I retired without regrets. I'm rich in relationships with my peers, which is something that no one can take away. What was taken away from me, were my pension benefits because I trusted that others were doing their job.

Dr. Fichtenbaum was right yesterday when he made the statement, while it's nice that we are trying to build trust with one another, but what we really need to do is to work on is building trust with our members.  Regarding the Board trying to develop a strategic plan with the consultant working with STRS management and the Board, what was left out is the obvious; does anyone think input was members might be important?  A strategic plan without member input is an exercise in futility.  

Let's talk about working towards a plan that will allow members to plan for their future. Lobbying for an Employer Contribution increase from 14% to 18% is a start. ORTA and others, have advocated for this at least 5 years ago. By the way, our current 14% Employer Contribution rate is less than half the rate of other non Social-Security states. 

Which brings me to this question, if our 30 year returns are truly 8.6%, why don't we increase the discount rate from 7% to 7.25%, or higher.  Is it because our auditors think that perhaps our  Real Estate and PE investments are inflated, or our stated fees aren't accurate?  Something seems amiss.  

Lastly, passing legislation for an Employer Contribution will not be easy. People will resist funneling  money to a pension system that has problems with transparency and stated fair values.  As a Board you need to step up to the plate and make the needed managerial changes to gain the public's confidence.  

Dean Dennis, President

Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association