NOTE: To find the most current posts, please scroll down to the two big red arrows. You can't miss them.

STRS Ohio Watchdogs: a public Facebook group you can join

STRS OHIO WATCHDOGS

by Cindy Murphy

STRS Ohio Watchdogs monitor the management and investment practices of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio.

We advocate for prudent and transparent investments, the restoration of the COLA for retired teachers, and the rollback of additional years of service required for active teachers.

This site will provide you with information about the work that is being done by Ohio's active and retired teachers to preserve our retirement benefits. Check back often for updates.

Join our conversation on Facebook. You don't have to be a member of STRS Ohio to join. Everyone who is interested in learning more about the management and investment practices of STRS Ohio is welcome.

Use this link to join our pack on Facebook:.

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

Have you joined the Ohio STRS Member Only Forum on Facebook?

If you are a member of STRS Ohio and have a Facebook account, you are eligible to join thousands of others who make up the Ohio STRS Member Only Forum. This is a closed group of retirees and actives who are advocating for the return of our COLA, which, as you no doubt know, your STRS Board SUSPENDED on April 20, 2017. Two of our members, Bob Buerkle and Dean Dennis, filed a class action lawsuit against STRS on May 23, 2019 suing for the reinstatement of our COLA. The text of the lawsuit can be found on this blog. You can go here to join the Forum and sign the petition, already signed by more than 20,000 people, for the return of our COLA: Ohio STRS Member Only Forum

Click image to enlarge

Angel of Grief

Garrison Keillor

Items of interest in the Archives: The 2013 STRS Board Election

Many people have been very interested in reading about the irregularities of the 2013 STRS board election. There are many posts related to this topic, beginning the first week of April 2013, after the ballots were mailed to retirees from STRS. You can find them by going to the Archives for this blog, over in the right sidebar, and clicking on dates beginning with April 7, 2013. Dennis Leone announced his candidacy for a retired seat in November, 2012. There is a lot of information about him in the Archives, beginning with November 12, 2012 posts. If you want to read only the best stuff about that infamous election of 2013, go over to the sidebar on the right of where you are now, which is the archives of previous articles on this blog. Scroll down to April 2013. That's where the "interesting" articles begin. You will see many, clear up to the middle of May 2013.5/28/13

.....so what REALLY happened in 2003 that touched off a firestorm at STRS that is still smoldering today? Read it here, from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. (Hint: It ain't over yet!)

More here (Akron Beacon Journal, 2003)

A MUST READ: Dennis Leone Reform Initiatives as an STRS Board Member  Between 2005 and 2009

To find current, day-to-day posts -- pull your scroll bar down a ways, just below the big red arrows (you can't miss them). Thanks.

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Find your state representative and senator here.

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/

I know, it's weird.........

Many posts that appear "at the top" for a while are eventually moved down, where they can be found under their original posting dates. Also, if you are confused by the postdating, this is done to keep these posts up there; otherwise, they drift down when new posts are added. It's a "blog thing" which I have no other way to control. KB

Handy links: Contacts, information and more (short version)
This is an abbreviated version of the original 'Handy links' post. Click here to view a more complete list. (Some of it is old.)

STRS Board.....STRS website

Board calendar

E-mail contacts at STRS (old, but some may still work)

Map/directions to STRS, 275 E. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43215

STRS "Membership Survey" (spoof)
State legislators.......State of Ohio website

Latest OEA salaries (2011) over 100K; USDL report

Rich DeColibus' PowerPoint presentation STRS' PBI Program; Does it work?: click December 21, 2008 (blog Archive) and scroll down to December 23 posts.

Charts: PBI (bonus) payments

Popular links; click, then scroll down: charts, graphs, investment staff, lists, spreadsheets

$TR$ Inve$tment $taff $$$ (old)

SPECIAL (must read):

Dennis Leone's INVESTIGATIVE REPORT on STRS: May 16, 2003...Who is Dennis Leone?........(PDF version)...More on Dennis Leone .......(PDF version)

Dennis Leone: "Catcher of Thieves"

Dennis Leone's STRS Report to ORTA, March 2007

Dennis Leone's Testimony at the Statehouse 9/5/12
The Plain Dealer article that started it all

Dennis Leone: Factors Driving STRS 30-Year Planning and Revenue Assumptions (with charts)

Historic PBI vote, January 16, 2009

Charts: PBI (bonus) payments

CURRENT POSTS BELOW

Ohio Republicans start the year by throwing public education under the school bus

Commentary

Ohio Republicans start the year by throwing public education under the school bus

  

Marilou Johanek

 

Ohio Capital Journal 

January 14, 2025

It didn’t take long. The new legislative session began in Columbus with Republican chieftains in the state throwing the future of public education in Ohio under the school bus.

First it was the billion-dollar voucher king, Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, to hedge his bets on giving Ohio’s 611 school districts what they need to provide a quality education to the 1.7 million students they serve.

Then it was Huffman’s patsy in the executive branch, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who added his two cents worth of wishy-washy about how a leaner state budget ahead means something’s gotta give — like fully funding the education system used by the vast majority of Ohio families and their children. “Sometimes these are very, very difficult, difficult choices,” said the gutless wonder. What leadership.

Educating future generations of Ohioans with high-quality public schools is your job, governor. It’s the No. 1 responsibility of the state to ensure a thorough and efficient system of funding for public schools. ‘Says so right in the Ohio Constitution. It also says, “no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, control of, any part of the school funds of this state.” But DeWine and his puppet master in the Ohio House ignored that part years ago when the state began diverting hundreds of millions of education funds to private and mostly religious schools.

Clearly, the politicians calling the shots in state government have no regard for the state constitution. Adhering to the rule of law is optional when political power is absolute. Huffman, who thumbed his nose at the Ohio Constitution on fair redistricting (to pull off even more egregious gerrymandering in legislative and congressional districts) is doing the same thing on adequately funding public education.

He’s looking to cut revenue to public schools while spending a ton of tax dollars on private school vouchers — with aspirations to fund more private school facilities to increase demand for those vouchers. Call it the Great GOP Phase-out of Public Education. Last week, Huffman dropped a calculated bombshell to prepare Ohio’s public-school districts for another financial hit from the state.

The Lima Republican said the state couldn’t afford to fully fund public schools or finally fix a school funding formula ruled unconstitutional nearly three decades ago. The Ohio Supreme Court’s 1997 ruling said the state’s failure to provide and distribute sufficient resources for public education and its over-reliance on local property taxes to cover that shortcoming violated the law.

Yet Ohio lawmakers never remedied the problem. School districts had to keep going back to voters just to maintain and operate local schools. Homeowners carried the weight of school funding, not the state. They were/are understandably tapped out on school levies, especially as changes in property evaluations jack up tax bills.

But in 2021, after years of collaboration between former Republican Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp, former Democratic state Rep. John Patterson and scores of public education stakeholders, Ohio came close to meeting its constitutional obligation of ensuring a thorough and efficient system of funding for public schools. “What we really wanted to do was figure out what it really costs to educate a student and then what a district can really do to support its fair share, and then the state would compensate with the rest,” said Patterson.

The Cupp-Patterson spending formula, known as the Fair School Funding Plan, was enacted as part of the 2021-23 state budget. The new system weighed a district’s expenses to come up with the base per-pupil funding amount — instead of a blanket amount of state funding for all schools — and changed the way the local community’s share was measured depending on property tax value and the income of local residents.

That was a big deal and a significant step forward to address the long-running inequities of an unconstitutional school funding system that had failed generations of K-12 students. The quality of their education often depended on where they lived. Wealthy school districts in Ohio had every advantage over high poverty districts that struggled to pay for even basics in the classroom.

The Fair School Funding Plan initiated a level of fairness and reliability in state support that past spending programs lacked. Complete state funding of the FSFP (around $2 billion altogether) was to be phased in over a six-year period through two-year budget cycles. The goal was to continue expanding state funding for districts in successive biennial state budgets until the Fair School Funding Plan was fully funded.

The last installation, or third phase, was to be paid in full in the upcoming 2026-2027 operating budget. But that expectation hit a wall when Huffman nixed increased spending to public schools as “unsustainable.”

His excuses for not making good on fully funding Cupp-Patterson — less state revenue to work with, less federal pandemic relief money, more scrutiny needed for school money already allocate — don’t apply to his expansive voucher outlays to religious schools that reached $966.2 million for the 2023-2024 school year. Enough to fully fund Fair School Funding Plan.

But Huffman is laying the ground to shave more off the FSFP and showing his utter indifference to the acute financial challenges facing countless districts. Tough luck for the nearly 90% of Ohio students who attend public schools with slashed opportunities. It didn’t take long.

Read this article online here.

ORTA Newsletter of January 3, 2025

Robin Rayfield, Jan 3, 2025

Message from ORTA's Executive Director, Dr. Robin Rayfield

Greetings ORTA Members! I trust everyone enjoyed a Merry Christmas and will have a great New Year.

The newsletter from ORTA this month will be brief as we are busy preparing our annual ‘hard copy’ newsletter that will come out towards the end of January 2025. There are, however, a few items of note that we wanted to share.

1. You may have seen in the social media posts of a recent vote taken in congress about the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) and the GPO (Government Pension Offset) legislation that passed both the US House and Senate and is on the desk of President Biden. This legislation is known as HB 82 and would repeal the WEP and GPO for all public pension recipients in the US. If you are unfamiliar with these two draconian statutes, the GPO prevents widows and widowers from receiving their spouse’s social security payments because they are receiving a public pension. Of course, this measure has made no sense since its inception. In addition, the WEP reduced the amount that a person who worked the required number of quarters by as much as 2/3rds because they received a public pension. Many Ohio public employees, including educators, were penalized from receiving the amount due because of the WEP. As we wait on Biden to sign this bill, we encourage all to voice your support for this legislation. 

2. ORTA concluded its endorsement process in mid-December and has endorsed three candidates for the election of STRS board members this spring. The election will take place in late April through the first week of May 2025.

Endorsed candidates: 

Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum for the retiree seat. As we all know, Rudy has been a strong supporter of reforms at STRS.

Michael Harkness for one active contributor seat. Michael was appointed to his seat after former board member Steven Foreman retired from education and was no longer able to hold his seat. Michael Harkness has also pledged to fight for transparency from STRS and force reforms at STRS.

Chad Smith is endorsed for the 2nd seat for active members at STRS. Chad was very adamant that change at STRS is essential. All three candidates are committed to change and/or reform at STRS, something ORTA has been advocating for several years. Although the process of reform for an organization that has had no oversight for decades is slow, the changes are progressing.

Holding seven of the 11 seats on the pension board would bring about real change at our pension. As retirees, your support of Dr. Fichtenbaum is essential to continue the battle to restore our promised benefits. As retirees, you are also able to encourage active members that you know to vote for Chad Smith and Michael Harkness.

The front page of ORTA’s website (www.orta.org) has information on these three candidates including each candidate’s petition. Retirees can only sign petitions for a retired seat and active contributors can sign for active member seats only. Please help get petitions signed for all three endorsed candidates.

Once signed, send them to:

ORTA
250 E. Wilson Bridge Rd. Suite 150
Worthington, Ohio 43085.

3. STRS has begun the process known as ‘asset allocation’ for pension investments. This is noteworthy because over 50% of our ability to pay pension benefits comes from what our investments can earn. ORTA has suggested that the investment allocations are far too heavy in 'alternative investments and real estate.’ These allocations are much more expensive and yield lower returns than passive investments in fixed income and broad-based equity indexes. ORTA will remain vocal in its support of reducing the nearly $1 billion paid in fees and expenses to Wall St. and our active management program, providing better returns and lower costs.

4. As we begin 2025, I hope that all ORTA members can see the value in membership to ORTA. Since 1947 ORTA has been the voice of advocacy for STRS members. With dues that cost $2.50 each month ($30 per year), the value of an ORTA membership exceeds the cost. As has been stated many times, our voice is only as strong as our membership. I urge all ORTA members to encourage your friends and colleagues to join ORTA in the battle to restore STRS benefits.

5. Another piece of legislation, Ohio HB 278, passed and was signed by Governor DeWine. This bill allows a retired and rehired educator to run for a retiree seat on the STRS board. As you may be aware, this large group of people has been in limbo as far as STRS is concerned. This group receives benefits from STRS AND makes ongoing contributions but were not able to hold a seat on the STRS board. This statute rectifies this situation.

6. Pension Defense Fund – ORTA has been steadfast in its support of both Wade Steen and Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum. ORTA stands behind these two reform members as they are under attack by Ohio Attorney General Yost. ORTA’s Pension Defense Fund has paid legal fees to defend both Fichtenbaum and Steen. ORTA welcomes any donation our members can make to protect these two men from the governor and attorney general.

Donations can be made online at www.orta.org.

7. ORTA is offering something new this year, allowing a purchase of an ORTA membership for a friend or relative. These ‘gifted memberships’ are perfect for those hard-to-buy-for people in our lives. Several people have gifted membership to a friend or former colleague this holiday season.

You can find out more about gifting a membership here.

8. Have a wonderful 2025 and look for our mailed newsletter later this winter.

ORTA endorses Fichtenbaum, Harkness, and Smith for STRS Ohio Retirement Board

 ORTA Staff - December 28, 2024

In spring 2025, STRS Ohio will hold an election for two contributing member seats and one retired member seat on the STRS Ohio Retirement Board.

ORTA is endorsing Rudy Fichtenbaum for re-election to the retired seat. Fichtenbaum is currently serving as the Chair of the Board.

ORTA is endorsing Michael Harkness and Chad Smith for the two contributing seats. Harkness, who is currently seated on the Board, replaced Steve Foreman, who resigned from the Board in June.

Nomination Petitions

Fictenbaum, Harkness, and Smith are currently collecting signatures for their nomination petitions. Click on a candidate's name to open their nomination petition:

1. Rudy Fichtenbaum

2. Michael Harkness

3. Chad Smith

Instructions for Nomination Petitions

•  Print the nomination petition(s).

◦  Electronic petitions will not be accepted by STRS Ohio.

•  Collect signatures.

◦  For the retired seat, those eligible to sign the nomination petitions are all retired members, including STRS Ohio retirees who are reemployed in an STRS Ohio-covered position. Persons receiving disability benefits and survivor benefits are not eligible to sign this petition.

◦  For the contributing (active) seats, those eligible to sign the nomination petitions are members presently contributing or those who have contributions on deposit with STRS Ohio. Not eligible to sign this petition are retired teachers or STRS Ohio retirees who are reemployed in an STRS Ohio-covered position, and those who do not have an account with the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio.

•  Mail the petitions to the candidate or to ORTA.

◦  Send petitions to ORTA at ?250 E. Wilson Bridge Road, Suite 150, Worthington, Ohio 43085.

◦  Please allow enough time for petitions to be received by STRS Ohio by Friday, February 28, 2025, at 4:30 PM.

◦  Petitions sent to ORTA will be delivered by hand to STRS Ohio.

ORTA Position on the Election of STRS Ohio Board Candidates

The mission of ORTA is to monitor, advocate for, and protect the pensions and benefits of its members. The Association shall encourage individuals to improve the social and economic changes and issues relevant to their retirement.

ORTA will endorse STRS Ohio Board candidates who actively advocate for transparency of investments and business practices for the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio Pension System. Transparency of Investment practices shall not conflict with Ohio Revised Code 3307.15. In particular, Section 3307.15. (e), states, “Any statement of financial position distributed by the board shall include the fair value, as of the statement date, of all investments held by the board under this section.”

ORTA believes that once elected, Board members serving as our fiduciaries should adopt a prudent investor approach and avoid investments where the investment’s fair value cannot be independently determined. ORTA supports Board members and STRS management in exploring investments and investment strategies that might bring additional revenues into the pension plan to restore, maintain, or enhance member benefits. ORTA encourages the Board to predetermine a reasonable dollar allocation while vetting such investments and investment strategies to avoid jeopardizing the fiscal integrity of the pension system.

Trina gets it: a power play at STRS; bullying and bad judgement

From Trina Kay Prufer

December 17, 2024

Dan MacDonald's speech to the STRS board December 12, 2024

From Dan MacDonald

December 16, 2024

CHANGES ARE SLOW BUT HAPPENING

Mr. Chair and members of the Board, good morning/afternoon. I am Dan MacDonald, an STRS retiree with 38 plus years of service. I am also the Executive Director of Local 279R, Northeast Ohio AFT retirees. Happy Holidaze. Thanks for moving up this meeting date.

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times” is a famous opening line from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I have used this opening a couple of times since 2014. The phrase suggests that contradictory extremes can happen at the same time.  The 2024 calendar year is ending. Time to reflect.

If one follows STRS Ohio Watchdogs and/or Ohio STRS Member Only Forum, STRS and the Board grades would be an F and on a quadrant chart would appear in the lower right quadrant with its peers almost all above.

Let’s reflect for a moment, over the past 5 years this Board has substantially changed both in elected and appointed members. Terms ended, courts make their decisions, Board members entered retirement, elections happened and will again this spring. Many reasons for the turmoil. Yet reading news articles and following computer posts, every Board is held immediately accountable for current decisions and past decisions.

Changes from 2012 are being addressed. Yes, we are not back to 30 years with an enhancement if choice is to 35 years. Minimum age 60 for retirement has come and gone. A yearly 3 percent COLA is obviously not back, but current Board members have certainly tried to be creative in reducing the mandatory years of service along with a couple of COLAs and now a supplemental check. The televisions in the ante room were not present in 2019 although the glass wall existed and, now from the internet, I know its history. The agenda was not available a week in advance.  The handouts were not in color.  Yes, some of these are very minor, but they exist. The Board demanded the changes. Current Board members question/push/challenge STRS staff.

Reading a recent Toledo Blade article, I questioned the FY23 external management expenses that STRS reported as $256.2 million for the 2025 budget and the Blade has as $629 million paid to Wall Street. Point? Transparency is still hard to find, but maybe that will also happen with new leadership at the top of STRS management. This Board will determine the new leadership.

Point? Systematic changes did not occur overnight. I’m appreciative of the steps toward a better, more understood, more transparent STRS.

As always, actives need their benefits enhanced and retirees need a 3% COLA restored.

Dan MacDonald's report on the December 2025 STRS board meeting

From Dan MacDonald

December 16, 2024

TWO DAYS OF ACTION: DECEMBER STRS BOARD MEETING

Dan MacDonald attended the December STRS Board meeting.  [I appreciate all that tuned in for Wednesday and Thursday. As you know the Board now operates from committees to the Board. It was one of the suggestions from the 2022 Funston Audit.]

The Audit Committee started the Wednesday meeting at 11 a.m. The department heard Robert Vance, and his colleagues, shared information regarding the 2024 internal audits and the proposed 2025 internal audit plan.  [Mr. Vance has been with STRSOH for the past 28 years; he’s headed the department for the last 3.5 years. He was to retire but is extending until his replacement is found and settled.] Outside audit consultant Crowe presented its “Annual Independent Financial Statement Audit of FY 2024 with “unmodified opinion” issued, the highest level of audit.  Conclusion, all is accurate and functioning.

At approximately 2 p.m. the Governance Committee was called to order.  The committee interviewed three search firms for the chief executive officer search.  [This was interesting, and you might want to watch the video of the 3 presenters. The video can be found at strsoh.org under the banner ‘About.”] A firm was chosen by the committee.

Wednesday concluded with the Legislative Committee selecting a chair, Pat Davidson, and the disappointing news that the Ohio Retirement Study Council, ORSC, did not support the legislation for the Ohio Police and Fire Pension increase in contribution.  [In other words, the OP&F was looking for support for an increase in contribution as is STRS attempting.] A couple of bills were reviewed to include HB 78 which will allow reemployed retirees to serve on the STRS Board if the governor signs the passed legislation.

Thursday started at 8 a.m. with the Investment Committee. The committee met until 12:15 p.m. to cover several reports and activities.

First, October preliminary total fund net return for October was a NEGATIVE 1.3 percent with fixed income and domestic equity down with pre-election jitters.

November preliminary total fund net return was a POSITIVE 2.2 percent. Markets rallied driven by favorable economic results and unambiguous election results [the election was not drawn out by months of accusations and court rulings.]. From July through November the FY25 net return is up a POSITIVE 5 percent with preliminary total investment assets ending November at $98.2 billion, higher by $2.9 billion in FY25.

The semiannual broker review was reviewed and approved.

Outside consultants Meketa presented a first quarter review. [Although retirees are not receiving a COLA, STRS Investment department is outperforming most of its peers in 5,10-, and 20-year periods.] 

Outside consultant Albourne presented on fee validation, identifying fees and their correct payment. Albourne validated the fees paid in calendar year 2023 with no findings identified and they validated the management fees for FY24.

Outside consultant CEM Benchmarking then presented using Albourne’s validation of fees information. CEM’s findings: STRS’s 5-year annualized net total return for the period ending calendar year 2023 was 9.7%.  This was above both the U.S. Public median of 8.8% and the peer median of 9.3%. The fund was low cost to its peers primarily because it paid less than peers for similar services. Internal management saved about $122 million compared to its peer median external costs.

Outside consultant Callan gave its quarterly review as of September 30, 2024, and supported the belief that the Investment department is performing well. [Again, then why no COLA and why are actives working longer for less?  It is complicated and goes back to decisions from before 2012 and several market downward adjustments.]

Outside consultant Meketa then led the Board in its Asset-Liability Study. The Asset Liability Study will determine what the asset classes will be in the future and the percentage of funds in each class. [The demand for more passive investments enters this discussion as well as ultimately staffing needs internal and external. This part of the meeting was demanding of the Board and presenter with push, pull, confusion, hesitancy and finally agreement for further discussion with wider parameters.]

At 12:30 p.m. the Board meeting was called to order. Public Participation took place after minutes approval. Nine people spoke.  Toledo Blade articles, misinformation, COLA, Executive Director selection, fees, passive investments and “Welcomes” to Interim Director Hood were all part of the mix.

After lunch/executive session, the Board returned with a report from the  Member Benefits Department. Outside consultant CEM Benchmarking shared its study of the department against 68 global pension systems. The STRS service score was the highest of anyone in the study.

The Health Care Subsidy was also discussed. With the move to 33 years for actives and the cost of health benefits and the projection of such changes in the future, money will soon be needed for the health care fund to offset the costs outflowing.  [Remember, there is no flow of money into the health care fund except for member’s premiums which are subsidized.] Discussion followed with the Board agreeing that this must be addressed sooner than later.

Interim Director Aaron Hood gave the director’s report. He was impassioned stating that the glass partition in the Board area will be removed by the next scheduled Board meeting and his work to build trust in his time at STRS amongst all its communities.

Routine Matters followed.  Bills were paid and committees reported.  [This agenda item is going to need more time delegated because of the committee reports. The fifteen minutes allocated turned into an 85-minute session].

The Governance Committee report was challenged by several Board members and the search firm recommended by the committee changed.  A great discussion happened, but the trust and concern amongst all members was on display.  It should be acknowledged, and was by all, that this probably is the biggest decision that this Board will have to make, a new Director of STRSOH.

The meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled for February 19, 20, and 21, 2025. 

Dean Dennis to STRS board 12/12/2024: It's time for all of us to start pulling in the same direction and take care of our members who spend all of their working lives for the good of Ohio.

From Dean Dennis

December 13, 2024

Dean Dennis- Retired, 35-years from CPS, ORTA Executive Bd Chair.

Let’s reflect on the current state of affairs. While progress is being made, active teachers still have the worst, or one of the worst, normal costs for their contributions in the United States, and retired teachers are perhaps the only group of public employees without any guaranteed inflation protection.

Members are in this predicament due to legislative neglect, STRS staff mismanagement, and a lack of staff oversight by prior boards.

However, I do believe there is a silver lining ahead of us. Our current board seems to be working towards transparency, moving our asset allocation into more indexed investments while moving away from PE investments which are fraught with hidden fees and non-disclosure agreements. Hopefully, our Board will also concentrate on better staff supervision. In my opinion, one department, in particular, has failed the board and its members.

A critical component ahead of us will be the selection of the next STRS Executive Director. That person must be aligned with the philosophy that trying to beat the market is foolish, and be an advocate of indexed investments. We don’t need any more bad press. They must be aware that saving 50 basis points in investment fees on a 90 billion pension captures $13.5 billion, excluding interest, over a 30-year funding period. This adds up to the cost of a permanent 2% COLA. The next person must also understand that they report to our Board and must be approachable. Our next hire must put the interests of members ahead of their staff. Lastly, they cannot lose control of their staff or support any vindictive behavior toward board members who are only trying to improve our pension system.

It's time for all of us to start pulling in the same direction and take care of our members who spend all of their working lives for the good of Ohio. We must move towards the day when our members agree that we are members of a top-quartile pension system instead of hearing it from the staff and their contracted services.