Messages from ORTA president Dean Dennis and Executive Director Robin Rayfield

Excerpts from the ORTA Newsletter

March 19, 2024 

From Dean Dennis 

Other matters of interest are that on March 26, there will be what hopefully will be final ruling on whether Wade Steen will be reseated to the STRS Board. If you have been following the case, Wade Steen was improperly removed by Governor DeWine right before last year’s STRS election results were to be announced. By removing Wade Steen, the Governor allowed the status quo STRS Board practices to remain in place. ORTA immediately got involved in

this miscarriage of justice and raised monies to support Wade Steen. At this point in time, 10 months later, there has received a favorable ruling from the magistrate assigned to the case. On March 26, the magistrate’s decision will go before a panel of three judges for a final ruling. We are optimistic the three judges in the 10 th District Court of Appeals will support the magistrate’s findings. 

Last month I stated that, protecting our pension and advocating for secure benefits for members also necessitates electing Board members who are willing to work towards an accountable, transparent and efficient pension system. In early April ballots will go out to fill an active seat on the STRS board. Only active teachers will be able to vote. Please be aware of the importance of this election and do whatever you can do make sure this active seat is filled by our endorsed candidate Michelle Flanigan. ORTA thoroughly vetted Michelle Flanigan in our endorsement process. Michelle Flanigan has also been endorsed by OFT, the AAUP, the STRS Member Only Forum and the STRS Watchdogs. Michelle will fight to restore benefits that have been taken away, including making sure retirees have inflation protection. She will do so in a responsible manner. Michelle has worked as a Government, Economics and Financial Literacy teacher at Brunswick City Schools for the past 26 years. She worked as a financial analyst at American Greetings prior to becoming a teacher. Let’s get out the word to all active teachers to vote for Michelle. 

From Robin Rayfield 

The STRS Board meeting was held on Feb. 14 and 15, 2024: On Wednesday, the 14th, the meeting got off to a rocky start. Hunt and Herrington were not present, so the meeting was delayed until the status quo board members had a majority. After starting an hour late, there were motions made by reform members that were ruled out of order by board chair Price. 

Members on both sides of the argument invoked Robert’s Rules, both claiming that their perspective was the correct perspective. After some arguing the status quo members had a majority with Herrington joining the meeting via zoom. 

The board went into executive session that lasted about 6 hours. After executive session the board reconvened and passed motions that; kept Lynn Hoover as the acting executive director through May 17, extended Bill Neville’s paid administrative leave through May 17, and provided for ‘professional development’ for Bill Neville. The consultant for professional development for Neville will be hired at the March board meeting. 

On Thursday, the meeting continued with presentations by the investment staff and financial staff. Public participation included Dean Dennis and Robin Rayfield from ORTA offering comments supporting reform at STRS. The meeting concluded in the late afternoon with routine matters. 

The executive summary of the investigation into Bill Neville’s behavior at STRS has been provided to the STRS board. It has been reported in the media that the investigation found no clear evidence to support that Neville did anything illegal. What appears clear is that absent illegal behavior, the board is convinced that Neville’s behavior casts doubt on his ability to lead STRS at this time. What happens next is anyone’s guess. Perhaps Mr. Neville will be reinstated, or he will move on from STRS. 

The February meeting also saw a new STRS board member seated in Wade Steen’s seat. Despite having a 10th circuit magistrate’s ruling that Governor DeWine lacked authority to replace Steen, DeWine placed Brian Perera on the board after his first replacement (Brent Bishop) abruptly resigned. Mr. Steen is still fighting to regain his rightful place on the STRS board. All parties are waiting on the 10th circuit to approve the magistrate’s ruling to reseat Wade Steen. 

What is hard to understand is why DeWine is going to such lengths to protect the status quo board majority when the membership has voted for change. Certainly, there is something going on here that does not add up. We do know that Wall St. collects huge fees from the investments STRS pays to Wall St. firms, and we know that Wall St., in turn, pays vast amounts to politicians in Ohio. Is there a connection between these payments and DeWine’s actions? I also can report that Mr. Bishop, who originally replaced Wade Steen filed a response objecting to the magistrate’s decision that Wade was wrongfully replaced by DeWine. 

He filed his objections (February 19th); however, he made no new legal arguments in his objection. Wade’s attorney remains confident that the legal basis for the decision made by the magistrate remains sound. This is an attempt to delay Wade’s return, a.k.a. a stalling tactic. The 10th circuit has scheduled a hearing on March 26th to hear the objections to the magistrate’s decision. It is open to the public and will be held at 10:45 in courtroom 23B. We remain optimistic that the judges will approve the magistrate’s decision within the next few weeks.

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Note: The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 26 at 10:45 am in Courtroom 23B, Franklin County Government Center, 373 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio. If you are unable to attend in person, you can click here to listen to the oral arguments on YouTube. Click on "Live" to hear the oral arguments.

Parking is available in the 34 East Fulton Street Parking Garage.