Robin Beebe to STRS board: "if a cup of coffee, a box of popcorn, or a plate of cookies would not be prohibited under the Ohio Ethics Law, surely a simple piece of celebration cake should be acceptable?????"

Robin Beebe's speech to STRS board

October 17, 2024

My name is Robin Beebe. Retired teacher of mainly 4th Graders and Kindergarteners. 35 years. Fremont City Schools and Perrysburg Schools. Retired for 15 years. Please start your 3 minute timer now.

After receiving a scolding lecture on gifting at the last September STRS Board Meeting, I thought to myself, "Hmmmmm....... I need to check this out further...."

And this is what I found...."The State of Ohio Ethics Commission - Gifts".

As a former Kindergarten teacher, let me explain to you what I discovered as I would to my kinders, straight forward, plain and simple.....I will share the pertinent sections.

"The Ethics Law prohibits a public official from soliciting or accepting 'anything of value' , if the thing of value could have a substantial and improper influence on him in the performance of public duties.

'Anything of value' is defined in state law to essentially include anything with any monetary value. So, before a public servant accepts a gift or thing of value, both the source and the value must be considered.

Examples of substantial gifts include outside consulting jobs or private employment, payment of debts, loans, travel to exotic locations, lavish meals, entertainment activities, such as golf outings or season tickets for a professional sports team, or significant discounts on major consumer items.

In Advisory Opinion 2001-03, the Commission offered examples of substantial things of value which cannot be accepted, but also gave examples of items that are considered nominal under the law.

Items that are considered nominal -  and therefore not prohibited - could include a cup of coffee, a box of popcorn, an inexpensive picture frame, or a plate of cookies.

Accepting gifts of this type would not be prohibited under the law. Be aware, though, that the Commission has cautioned that nominal items or expenses could have a substantial cumulative value if extended over time."

I hope this helps clarify some things.

In conclusion, plain and simple, if a cup of coffee, a box of popcorn, or a plate of cookies would not be prohibited under the Ohio Ethics Law, surely a simple piece of celebration cake should be acceptable?????

And so, as the old saying goes....."Let them eat (chocolate) cake!" Seriously!!!!! Gheesh!!!

Cathy Steinhauser to STRS board: Intimidating board members through lies is despicable. Do the right thing and restore our COLA sooner than later.

Cathy Steinhauser's speech to STRS board

October 17, 2024

Cathy Steinhauser – 35 yrs., satellite teacher of Family & Consumer Sciences through Pickaway/Ross CTC for Circleville City Schools.

I am aware that we now have two new board members this month. Welcome, and STRS pensioners are counting on you to do what’s right in making decisions that impact our everyday lives.  I’m a person who has the reputation for reminding the board members of their fiduciary duty.  You see, I have been schooling the board members on this topic for over 20 board mtgs.  Yes, you heard that right…it’s 21 now. Why do I keep doing this, you might be thinking? As teachers, we will repeat a lesson until the class fully understands it…sometimes it takes 20 or more repeated reminders. It’s been apparent to us pensioners that a lot of decisions haven’t been made with our best interests in mind. We have been missing a permanent COLA for many years. I have been retired for almost 9-1/2 yrs. and have discovered that I am deficient in my COLA by $45,000!! Yes, that’s what I said…$45,000.  I didn’t cause this, I didn’t do anything wrong as I paid my 10%, then 14% over 35 years and then 6 more years after retirement working in our after school program twice a week, so more was paid beyond.  I trusted STRS to do what they were hired to do and now, as our acting Executive Director said in response to a reporter’s question, “It feels like a slap in the face”. We pensioners have had to tighten our belts for way too long.  We have members who are living in poverty due to no sufficient COLA.  We’ve had pensioners die before getting consistent COLAs. We have pensioners these past 4 yrs. experiencing real hardship with prices up on groceries, gas, utilities, clothing etc. but STRS staff and investment group have been given bonuses to make their lives even more enriched. Shameful, disgusting, disrespectful and STRS owns this.

I’ll leave you with the definition of FIDUCIARY again from The Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “A person who acts on behalf of another person or persons putting the client’s interests ahead of their own, with a duty to preserve good faith and trust. Being a fiduciary requires being bound both LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY to act in others' best interests”.  In other words, fiduciaries at STRS are required to take care of ONLY the pensioners.  With all the unethical decisions that have occurred the past 20 years, there should be many serving time and/or restitution or fired. Too many irresponsible mistakes have occurred in 20 yrs. If pensioners aren’t given a COLA, no one at STRS should be given a bonus. A mess has been made of STRS and needs to be cleaned up.  STRS needs to run this pension more frugally.

I also still haven’t found any information about a pension fiduciary obligated to being a fiduciary to the STRS employees, which was mentioned during a board meeting a few months ago…most likely because it is a lie…certain people in this room should not speak of things they know not of. Intimidating board members through lies is despicable. Do the right thing and restore our COLA sooner than later.

Suzanne Laird to STRS board: I’m begging, not for treats, but for what I and all Ohio teachers deserve: a secure and stable retirement.

Suzanne Laird's speech to STRS board

October 17, 2024

Good Morning/afternoon, Members of my Board:

I would like to welcome our new appointees and pay compliments to several of our current teacher representatives for asking the tough questions. These teacher reps hit the ground running and can help you, as new Board members this October, separate the treats from the tricks.

At this time of year, we caution students against becoming too greedy with candy, yet here, at STRS, the greed is rampant.

At least SEVEN STRS employees make over half a million dollars a year when you combine their outrageous salaries with their treats — excuse me — bonuses. Even the custodial staff averages $61,000/year: more than some rural Ohio teachers! And, as you have seen, their surroundings are a treat for the eyes, the envy of every educator.

Those of you appointed by the governor: are you aware that 90 staff members at STRS earn more than your boss?! The tricks don’t stop there; you will witness vanity projects like the Stakeholder Task Force, proposed to waste thousands, free parking, a 10 dollar a month gym, and a cafeteria which loses hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

Ahh, but they will try to trick you into believing that none of this largesse would bring back the COLA or reduce the number of years for active teachers. Ten years of bonuses in the 5 million dollar range would help, but the Attorney General’s ghouls haunt every meeting, scaring the Board into giving out more candy.

Do not be tricked. We educators were tricked into believing that we could trust our own retirement system. Now, we are being told that we did not contribute enough, (although we had no say: the actuary determined the amount which was withheld from our pay), and that we are living too long. But sadly, the graveyards are filling up with retirees dying to receive a COLA. Wait another ten years, we are told.

I’m frightened. I’m scared for the future of education in Ohio, and you should be, too.

I’m begging, not for treats, but for what I and all Ohio teachers deserve: a secure and stable retirement.

Dean Dennis to STRS board: Today, I still think adopting a formula-generated EA approach is more reasonable than following the 7% EA crowd. Remember, the crowd also has variable employer contribution rates, whereas we don’t. It’s time we demonstrate we are a top-tier pension system.

From Dean Dennis

October 17, 2024

October 17, 2024 - Dean Dennis, 35 yrs, Cincinnati Public Schools. ORTA Executive Chair.

I will read a quick section of the September 2024 Newsletter from the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.

“The OPERS Board of Trustees approved updates to OPERS’ funding policies, establishing a decision-making framework to manage the future funding of the system's pension and health care plans.

The new policies came about because the trustees had expressed interest in creating a system to reduce funding risks by setting clear objective parameters honed on past experience that trustees will reference in the future to make prudent funding decisions.”

The new policies include the following update: Setting a systematic, formula-driven approach to identify potential actions for the trustees to manage funding and risks.

I bring this to your attention because on October 17, 2019, five years ago. I stood before the Board and presented the following:

Ohio Statute sets our funding period at 30 years. Over the last 40 years, has STRS earned less than 8% over any rolling 30 funding-year period? I believe we achieved around 8.5% over our previous 30-year period. So, why is our Earnings Assumption set at 7.45%, over 100 basis points less than what we are actually earning?

Why hasn't our Board adopted a reasonable EA formula that ties the actual earnings of our 30-year rolling funding periods and then adjusts the EA accordingly? Why can't we adopt an EA 50-60 basis points lower than what we earn and adjust accordingly every five years? If an EA of 7.9% were adopted, 60 basis points lower than what we are earning over our 30-year funding period, it would reduce billions from our 30-year liabilities. As fiduciaries, you could restore a COLA.

In March 2017, the Board drastically reduced the EA from 7.75% to 7.45%, dismissing the reality of our historical 30-year earning returns. Thirty months later, our 10-year earnings period netted a return of 10.44%, nearly 300 basis points above the current adopted EA. Adopting a reasonable formula-based earning assumption is not irresponsible; however, withholding benefits because of a lack of one is irresponsible.

Today, I still think adopting a formula-generated EA approach is more reasonable than following the 7% EA crowd. Remember, the crowd also has variable employer contribution rates, whereas we don’t. It’s time we demonstrate we are a top-tier pension system.