IF YOU VALUE YOUR
PENSION AND HEALTHCARE,
VOTE FOR DENNIS LEONE
Dr. Dennis Leone is a
thirty year educator and administrator who retired in 2004. He is
the recipient of the First Amendment Award, received in 2004 from the
Ohio Society of Professional
Journalists, for uncovering in 2003 the inappropriate spending practices at STRS
(State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio).
- He received the Ohio
Senate’s Outstanding Educational Service Award in 1999.
- He was the only
superintendent to receive an award in 2002 from the Ohio Association of Public
School Employees for collaborative labor/management relations.
- Dennis Leone, along with
John Lazares, was solely responsible for the exposure of the waste and
mismanagement at STRS Ohio. He has worked with retirees to effect
change at STRS Ohio.
Ohio’s retired educators
need Dennis Leone to represent them on the STRS Board:
- He addresses the monthly
STRS Ohio Board meetings with the concerns of retired educators.
- He is constantly
fighting behind the scenes for retired educator causes.
- He testified on the
proposed pension legislation and lobbied for changes in Senate Bill 133.
- He travels extensively
in Ohio, speaking to active and
retired teacher associations concerning the problems at STRS Ohio.
- He has met face-to-face
with the Auditor of State concerning the spending practices at STRS Ohio.
- He has addressed the
ORSC (Ohio Retirement Studies Council, which oversees Ohio’s five pension
funds)
- Since his landmark paper
of May, 2003 which uncovered the misconduct at STRS, he has been tirelessly
working for retired educators at his own expense.
- Dr. Leone’s efforts have
saved Ohio’s educators millions of
dollars.
- No one else has earned
the right to represent Ohio’s retired educators
more than Dr. Dennis Leone. This is why CORE encourages you to
vote when you receive your ballot in April for Dr. Leone for retired educator
seat on the STRS Ohio Board.
Facts
Regarding Spending Abuses at STRS Since 1995
The following represent a number of spending abuses
discovered by Dennis Leone that occurred at STRS since 1995. The abuses
occurred even though assets at STRS dropped $12 billion, retirees lost their
13th check, health insurance premiums for retirees significantly increased,
active members of STRS saw their STRS contribution rate increased from 9.3% to
10.0%, and school districts were implementing budget reduction plans to make
ends meet. STRS expenditures included:
1. $94.2 million on the new STRS
headquarters.
2. $869,235 on artwork, sculptures
and polished stones for the new STRS building.
3. $818,000 on a child care services
center for the children of STRS employees.
4. $500,000 per year to run the child
care services center.
5. $426,000 on a fitness center in
the STRS building.
6. $88,397 per year to provide food
services for STRS employees.
7. $428,056 on 16 cars, vans, and
SUV's.
8. STRS Board policy that permitted
staff members to drive STRS vehicles for personal use, and the family members of
said employees to drive said vehicles.
9. 52 American Express Credit Cards
and 20 BP gas cards used by Board members and STRS staff members.
10. Alcohol purchases incurred by staff members and
Board members attending conferences -- using STRS credit cards.
11. $18,810 on "Discovery
Park" gala event, including the purchase of Instamatic
cameras for attendees.
12. $15,100 on new STRS building dedication,
including alcohol and gifts for attendees, as well as airfare and lodging for
out-of-town STRS visitors.
13. $4,100 on a private retirement party for an
STRS Board member.
14. $5,594 on poinsettias to decorate STRS during
the holiday season in 2002.
15. $1,000 dinners for 12 board members/staff
members on 2 occasions, again with alcohol.
16. $7,116 for baseball tickets, concert tickets,
movie rentals, and Kings
Island tickets for STRS employees in the summer of
2003 for "team building."
17. $530,284 spent by Board on trips and meetings
around the country in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
18. Multiple trips taken by Board members and staff
to places like Honolulu, Palm
Springs, Kiawah
Island, and Anchorage. A
planned trip to China in 1995 was cancelled after it
was suggested that it would have the appearance of junketeering.
19. Frequent occurrences of at least 6 Board
members going to the same meeting, sometimes twice a year, costing STRS over
$9,000 each year.
20. $36,736 spent by a Board member Jack Chapman in
a single year for trips all over the country.
21. $1,017 airplane ticket for a Board member that
would have cost $258 if it had been purchased 30 days in advance of the
conference.
22. $1 million cash payback per year to full-time
STRS employees for 18 days of unused staff vacation days and unused sick
leave.
23. Total administrative expenses at STRS increased
17.4% per year between 1996 and 2002.
24. Total STRS employees increased from 414 to 725
between 1996 and 2002.
25. A total of 1,035 employee bonus checks were
issued to STRS staff in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
26. $24.4 million was awarded in bonus checks to
employees between 1998 and 2003.
27. $3.2 million had to be paid by STRS to PERS
because of bonuses alone since 1998 to satisfy that pension system's 13.31%
annual employee contribution requirement. STRS employees are members of
PERS.
28. 34 STRS employees in 2002 received bonus checks
in excess of $40,000 (with 18 of those getting bonuses in excess of
$70,000).
29. One STRS employee received bonus checks of
$110,000 and $68,800 in 2001 on top his base salary of $164,000.
30. Over 150 STRS employees had base salaries over
$100,000 in 2002, with 32 of those making over $155,000 -- topping the salaries
of both the governor and the chief justice of the State Supreme
Court.
31. A total of $39,251 was paid to the Perry Local
School District by STRS in 2002 and 2003 for sub teacher costs for Board member
Michael Billirakis (when he attended STRS meetings), even though he did not have
a position in the school district. NEA pays Perry Local the dollar amount
associated with the salary and benefits for Billirakis, enabling him to be
listed as an employee.
32. Excess STRS furniture was sold to STRS
employees in 2000 and 2001 for $27,703, and instead of this amount going back
into the pension fund, it was given to charities.
33. The regular work week for STRS employees is 37
1/2 hours.
34. If an STRS employee adopts a child, the STRS
Board awards a $5,000 cash gift to said employee.
35. Between 1999 and 2004, the STRS Board paid out
$2.1 million in educational stipends for STRS employees to take college
courses. This amount was double what the other 4 public pension systems in
Ohio paid out, combined, over the same time
period. STRS pays up to $7,000 per year (per employee) for undergraduate or
graduate work.
Changes
at STRS Since Leone's Report on May 16,
2003
On May 16, 2003, Dennis
Leone presented a 13-page position paper that summarized recent spending abuses
by the STRS Board. The report made numerous recommendations for the Board to
change its spending practices and to do a better job of representing its
membership. The following changes have occurred since May 16,
2003:
1. The 52 credit cards and 39 gas
cards held by staff and board members have been turned in.
2. All but a couple of the 16 cars,
vans and SUV's purchased by STRS have been sold.
3. The policy that permitted staff to
use STRS cars for personal use has been dropped.
4. The STRS staff has been reduced by
100 employees and the administrative budget has been cut.
5. New policies prohibit the use of
pension money for things like alcohol, parties, movie rentals,
Kings Island, concerts, and
baseball games, or for airfare, lodging, and gifts for out-of-town STRS
visitors.
6. New policies require plane tickets
to be purchased at least 30 days in advance in order to receive the cheapest
rates.
7. New policies restrict how many
professional meetings Board members can attend yearly, the number of Board
members who can attend said professional meetings, and how much can be spent at
said meetings.
8. The cost to run the STRS child
care services center has been reduced from $500,000 per year to $100,000 per
year. It is still promised to be cost neutral.
9. Cafeteria services in the STRS
headquarters are now cost neutral.
10. Fees to use the STRS fitness center have been
increased.
11. Bonus checks for non-investment staff have been
eliminated -- affecting over 300 employees -- and bonus checks for investment
staff will occur only if said employees earn money for STRS.
12. NEA paid back STRS the $39,251 that the
Perry Local
School District received from STRS for sub teacher
costs for Michael Billirakis when he was attending STRS meetings.
13. STRS Executive Director Herb Dyer resigned to
avoid being terminated, after 105 legislators called for his
resignation.
14. Senate Bill 133, signed by the governor on
June 16, 2004, put in place a number of oversight
regulations. It also requires ethics training and travel policies for all Board
members.
15. Senate Bill 133 added another retiree to the
Board, removed State Auditor Betty Montgomery and State Attorney General Jim
Petro, and added three investment specialists -- thereby stripping OEA of its
majority control of the STRS Board.
16. Senate Bill 133 stipulates that the "big
spender" Board members from 2000, 2001 and 2002 -- those who spent in excess of
$10,000 per year of pension money on trips around the country -- may never again
run for the Board or serve as an appointee to the Board. This affects Jack
Chapman, Eugene Norris, Hazel Sidaway, Gloria Gaylord, and Debbie Scott. It
deserves noting that Eugene Norris, a former OEA officer and Board president in
2004, was defeated in his re-election attempt immediately before Senate Bill 133
went into effect, by John Lazares -- Warren County ESC
Superintendent.
17. Senate Bill 133 contains a disciplinary
procedure that will authorize the State Attorney General -- in the event that
Board members improperly spend pension money in the future -- to seek
restitution, pursue civil charges against Board members, and cause their removal
from the Board.
Bottom
Line
1. It was Dennis Leone who wrote the report two
years ago that summarized the spending abuses (hundreds of millions) of OUR
pension money by the STRS Board and staff. The theme of his 13-page report was
that the Board needed to change its spending practices immediately and do a
better job of representing its members.
2. You will not see Dennis Leone’s name on any
endorsement list by either OEA or ORTA, because OEA and ORTA don't plan on
telling their membership who the 5 candidates are and what their
credentials are.
3. When Dennis Leone issued his report on STRS two
years ago, the LAST thing he expected was the initial reaction he got
from both OEA and ORTA afterwards......OEA wrote a statewide memo that said his
findings were inaccurate and "misrepresentations," while ORTA initially
try to ignore his report. It was not until thousands of actives and
retirees statewide became outraged over the truth that both OEA and ORTA
then said: "Of course we are concerned about the spending practices at STRS."
His 13-page report stepped on some toes at OEA and ORTA. (OEA had 5 former
officers sitting on the STRS Board, and also caused many retirees to ask ORTA
why they had not first discovered what Dennis Leone found.)
4. To quote Dr. Leone: “I believe an STRS Board
member needs to be an uncompromising guardian and caretaker of OUR pension
money.” Ohio law REQUIRES all decisions of the
Board to be for us and our beneficiaries.........and this has not
happened in the past!!
Questions
to Consider
Candidates Leone and Speas have been very active
over the past two years, pushing for constructive changes at STRS, addressing
the Board, writing the Board, testifying on pension reform legislation and
working with legislators on Senate Bill 133. Have the other three candidates
(Green, Chapman and Johnson) done this? How many times have
they addressed the STRS Board?" (As of March 2005,
Dennis Leone has addressed the STRS Board in 20 out of 24 meetings, missing only
when absolutely necessary.)
Why isn't ORTA sending out a summary of the
credentials of all five retiree candidates? Is it because ORTA doesn’t want us
to make up our own minds? Is it true that ORTA is sending out a flyer soon to
all 110,000 retirees that will not include the credentials of Leone, Green, and
Chapman (all of whom are ORTA members)?
Parting Thoughts
In 2002, STRS told you
they didn't have enough money for your 13th check -- right? But
they sure had enough money for parties, alcohol, trips to
Honolulu, big bonus checks for staff, and child care
services!!
Once we get him elected, Dennis Leone will be an
ADAMANT voice on the STRS Board that will say “THIS CAN NEVER,
NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!!”
