Saturday, November 18, 2023

Columbus Dispatch on Bill Neville's suspension from STRS

Director of Ohio’s teachers' pension fund placed on leave by board members
Laura A. Bischoff
Columbus Dispatch
November 17, 2023
The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio voted on Friday to place the pension fund's director on administrative leave and begin an investigation.
Bill Neville, who could not be reached for comment, has run the pension fund since July 2020.
A spokesman for the pension system issued a written statement on behalf of STRS Board Chairman Dale Price, which said, in part, that an outside third party has begun investigating Neville for personnel related matters.
An anonymous letter purporting to be from STRS staff alleged that Neville has been verbally abusive toward staff and prone to violent outbursts, according to a report from NBC4, a television station in Columbus.
STRS is the fifth largest public teacher pension system in the U.S. and is governed by an 11-member board that is a combination of elected and appointed people. It serves 528,000 teachers and retirees. It has roughly $90 billion in investments.
Lynn Hoover, the pension fund's chief financial officer, will serve as interim director.
Read the rest of the article here

Friday, November 17, 2023

STRS director suspended after allegations of sexual harassment, verbal abuse and aggression

From ORTA's Blog

November 17, 2023

STRS director suspended after allegations of sexual harassment, verbal abuse and aggression

By Sarah Szilagy, Colleen Marshall 

NBC4 Columbus 

Posted: Nov 17, 2023 12:24 PM EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The director of Ohio’s $90 billion teacher pension fund has been suspended following allegations of sexual harassment, verbal abuse and threats of violence against staff.

The State Teachers Retirement System board voted to place Director Bill Neville on administrative leave at a Friday meeting, citing an anonymous letter from STRS staff alleging a pattern of harassment since the board appointed him in 2020. Staff also called for an investigation into Neville’s conduct, which the board indicated will occur.

On Thursday night, NBC4 obtained the anonymous letter, which was also sent to the Ohio Ethics Commission and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The board made the move in consultation with the Attorney General’s office, Chair Dale Price said at the meeting.

The letter alleges that Neville verbally abused staff and had violent outbursts on a “regular basis,” at some points throwing furniture and office materials when he became upset. Staff also claimed Neville threatened his direct employees with physical violence.

“It does not take much to trigger an upsurge and staff truly fear for their physical and emotional safety when Director Neville behaves in this way,” the letter reads.

Lynn Hoover, deputy executive director of finance CFO of the STRS, will serve as interim director.

Neville has also made sexual comments about his previous relationships and people’s physical appearances, including female staff members, the letter claims. The letter said Neville “favors men he likes” when making decisions and is “degrading towards women.”

“Director Neville is not equipped to lead this organization and should receive whatever assistance he needs as determined by an investigation,” the letter reads. “He does not have the best interest of the members at the forefront of his decision making.”

The STRS is one of the largest teacher pension funds in the country with 500,000 active, inactive and retired public educators. Members have blamed Neville for apparent failures of the pension fund to provide for retirees, including the elimination of automatic cost of living increases while investment staff has received hefty bonuses.

Multiple STRS members told NBC4 they are relieved that Neville has been suspended, and they hope it signals a new day for the pension fund.

Neville has been at the center of controversy regarding the pension fund long before the allegations against him came to light. In February, the board rejected a motion to declare confidence in Neville, with one board member saying the fund needed a leadership change. Before that, an audit of the fund commissioned by retirees found “serious deficiencies” in STRS’s finances. A review by the state auditor last December found no evidence of illegal conduct but called on the fund to increase transparency.

Since July, the letter continued, Neville allegedly threatened to retaliate against staff whose family members testified against him in STRS board meetings. Staff members are seeking employment elsewhere due to Neville’s conduct, the letter claimed.

The staff members cited fear of physical violence should they have come forward publicly.

In May, Gov. Mike DeWine replaced a progressive board member whose election tipped the balance of the board toward those favoring reform. Weeks before, the board mulled over a 30% bonus for investment staff, a move highly criticized by teachers who pointed to the fund’s $5.3 billion in losses the year before.

Read Colleen Marshall's report online at NBC4i.com

John Curry: Train derailment in Franklin County November 17, 2023!!

From John Curry

November 17, 2023



The anonymous STRS staff letter outlining their issues with Executive Director Bill Neville (we didn't see it coming!)

 

 
https://www.nbc4i.com/news/politics/strs-director-suspended-after-allegations-of-sexual-harassment-verbal-abuse-and-aggression/

From NBC4 Columbus
November 17, 2023 

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The director of Ohio’s $90 billion teacher pension fund has been suspended following allegations of sexual harassment, verbal abuse and threats of violence against staff.
The State Teachers Retirement System board voted to place Director Bill Neville on administrative leave at a Friday meeting, citing an anonymous letter from STRS staff alleging a pattern of harassment since the board appointed him in 2020. Staff also called for an investigation into Neville’s conduct, which the board chair later said has started and is being conducted by an outside party.
On Thursday night, NBC4 obtained the anonymous letter, which was also sent to the Ohio Ethics Commission and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The board made the move in consultation with the Attorney General’s office, Chair Dale Price said at the meeting.
Former teacher accused of rape won’t be sex offender with plea deal, victim says
The letter alleges that Neville verbally abused staff and had violent outbursts on a “regular basis,” at some points throwing furniture and office materials when he became upset. Staff also claimed Neville threatened his direct employees with physical violence.
“It does not take much to trigger an upsurge and staff truly fear for their physical and emotional safety when Director Neville behaves in this way,” the letter reads.
Neville has also made sexual comments about his previous relationships and people’s physical appearances, including female staff members, the letter claims. The letter said Neville “favors men he likes” when making decisions and is “degrading towards women.”
Since July, the letter continued, Neville allegedly threatened to retaliate against staff whose family members testified against him in STRS board meetings. Staff members are seeking employment elsewhere due to Neville’s conduct, the letter claimed.
The staff members cited fear of physical violence should they have come forward publicly.
“Director Neville is not equipped to lead this organization and should receive whatever assistance he needs as determined by an investigation,” the letter reads. “He does not have the best interest of the members at the forefront of his decision making.”
The STRS is one of the largest teacher pension funds in the country with 530,000 active, inactive and retired public educators. Members have blamed Neville for apparent failures of the pension fund to provide for retirees, including the elimination of automatic cost of living increases while investment staff has received hefty bonuses.
Multiple STRS members told NBC4 they are relieved that Neville has been suspended, and they hope it signals a new day for the pension fund.
Before assuming the role as director, Neville was hired in 2004 to be the fund’s chief counsel — responsible for preventing the very behavior he is now accused of. He has been at the center of controversy regarding the pension fund long before the allegations against him came to light.
In February, the board rejected a motion to declare confidence in Neville, with one board member saying the fund needed a leadership change. Before that, an audit of the fund commissioned by retirees found “serious deficiencies” in STRS’s finances. A review by the state auditor last December found no evidence of illegal conduct but called on the fund to increase transparency.
In May, Gov. Mike DeWine replaced a progressive board member who would have tipped the balance of the board toward those favoring reform. That would-be member’s dismissal is being challenged in court. Weeks before, the board mulled over a 30% bonus for investment staff, a move highly criticized by teachers who pointed to the fund’s $5.3 billion in losses the year before.
Lynn Hoover, deputy executive director of finance and CFO of the STRS, will serve as interim director. In a statement, chair Price said the fund is “cooperating fully” with investigators and that daily operations of the fund should continue uninterrupted.
Read the rest of the story here

Michelle Flanigan, Active Teacher and Strong Reform Candidate for STRS Board, April Election, 2024

 

Thursday, November 16, 2023


 

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

James Carr: The bank robbers don't care who the money belong to, they are equal opportunity thieves.

From James Carr

November 15, 2023

We, as teachers, are quite literally surrounded by people and entities that have done great harm to our retirement system. We need to cling to each other because ultimately, we have no chance to rescue STRS unless we do it ourselves. Just look at what we have to contend with:

• Politicians, the state-controlled operation that includes DeWine, his cabinet members, and most of the General Assembly.
• The OEA hierarchy.
• The STRS hierarchy, including Neville, his administrative assistants and the entire staff of investors who are bleeding our funds dry.
• The Wall Street money managers who are colluding with our investors.
• Last, but not least, the non-reform STRS Board members who let it all happen.
Every public school teacher in Ohio needs to focus on what we share in common. We are all being preyed upon by the same predators. It doesn't matter what our personal politics are; the people who are robbing us want our money, and all of our money is locked in the same STRS bank. The bank robbers don't care who the money belong to, they are equal opportunity thieves.

Tom Curtis' report on the Norton Town Hall Meeting: Neville totally controls the meeting and attendance is of minimal worth for the huge expense that it costs to put each meeting on. The propaganda machine roars ahead full steam.

From Tom Curtis

November 15, 2023

11.14.23 Norton Town Hall Meeting
Bill Neville had another of his Town Hall meetings (dog and pony shows) in Norton on Tuesday 11.14.23. There was a crowd of about 40-45 members in attendance. Seven (7) full-time STRS staff members and Board Vice-chair Carol Correthers were in attendance. Carol did not speak to the crowd. The meeting was recorded and should be available on the STRS website soon.
I provided the attendees with 2 handouts, the 2-page Mess at STRS flyer and a 2-page copy of the 11.14.23 Toledo Blade article concerning the lavish pay raises recently given to the investment staff, and included the STRS listing showing who received the raises, the payout amounts and percentage of increase for each employee. The minimum increase was 5.14%, the highest was 48.7%, with the average being 17.23% increase in pay. The average increase was $32,000 per employee. In comparison, retirees received a 1% increase this year.
One female retiree told me that it made no difference to her how much they paid the investment staff because they had such quality people. I asked her a few questions about the investment staff and investments they made, and she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, but she was firm on her thought that the STRS investment staff were the greatest and should be paid well. This brief communication with this member would indicate to me that she simply believes all of the propaganda STRS publishes without any real knowledge of how well the investment staff truly are doing. In my opinion, this is a prime example of why the pension fund has been looted of billions of dollars, because the vast majority of the members have no knowledge what is truly being done with actives’ contributions. The membership has been lied to and Bill Neville keeps the lies alive at every town hall meeting he holds.
There were many questions about HC coverage, retirement and the COLA. Neville blames the fact that we are only receiving a 1% COLA on Cheiron, the company that performs the STRS valuation. Cheiron can always find money for the staff, but not for the members.
The STRS staff is the highest paid staff in the nation and yet the actives have the worst retirement deal in the nation. STRS is the only Ohio pension system that has failed to provide their members with a promised COLA for 7-10 years. STRS has saved multi-millions by not paying the promised 3% COLA for all of those years, yet is still not funded well enough to provide the promised 3% annual COLA today and Neville says he has no idea when it might return.
Neville was asked what he was doing to reduce costs. He said they had reduced the staff from a high of 720+ to just under 500 but gave no time span for having done so nor gave any indication that more cuts would be made. The high of 700+ employees was in 2003 and had not been near that number for at least a decade. Neville is in essence taking credit for a reduction in staff that he had little to do with. Why in the world do they need a staff of 500? No budget cuts were mentioned. Neville indicated that they had now cleared out the original portion of the office building and are looking for someone to rent it, but said it is a very difficult market and gave no indication when that might happen or possible revenue that might be derived. Massive expenditure cuts are needed at STRS and Bill Neville obviously has no thought of reducing costs, for he mentioned no other cost cutting plans.
Neville was asked why he gave the investment staff 11 million in bonuses this year, he said it was only 8.6 million and that the Board were the ones to give the bonuses, not him, but offered no explanation.
Neville indicated in one of his slides that from 2001-2021 the investment department outperformed the S & P 500 by 47%. I asked a question about the graph the Auditor of State published in 2022 showing that from 2009-2021 the investment department underperformed the S & P 500 index fund by 90 billion dollars, that is a 50% underperformance. He claimed that could not be compared because it was not for the same time period and that the S & P 500 value would need to be taken back to zero and started over again in 2009 and continued to explain it away in Bill Neville fashion by responding in a manner that no one could understand. He cannot be held responsible for anything; it is always someone else’s fault. Once a question was asked a follow up question was not permitted.
A school union president indicated that her school is in the process of cutting 5 teachers because their levy did not pass. She said she is very worried that if STRS was successful in getting a 4% increase in the employer contribution, that would lead to massive numbers of teacher lay-offs. Neville said that the employer contribution has not been changed from 14% since 1983 and that it is time that it be raised. Neville offered no compassion or empathy for what the school union president was concerned about.
My takeaway from what I experienced, Bill Neville continues to present propaganda and lies to the membership at these meetings and cannot be held accountable for anything he states or says because he refutes anything that is asked of him about his wild claims. He defends everything STRS does and no one is allowed to ask a second question. Neville totally controls the meeting and attendance is of minimal worth for the huge expense that it costs to put each meeting on. The propaganda machine roars ahead full steam.

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

James Carr on the 91 STRS investment staff members who receive raises that average out to more than $32,000 per member

From James Carr

November 14, 2023

When 91 STRS investment staff members receive raises that average out to more than $32,000 per member, you would think that they must be doing an unbelievable job. Actually, it is unbelievable, they aren't even coming close to beating an S&P index fund. We don't even know what kind of hidden fees are associated with those investments. All that we really know is that we are forking out millions of dollars a year to support an investment staff that is rewarding SOME OF US with a one time, 1% COLA. I'm not a financial expert, but that doesn't sound like the kind of results that merit 5-digit raises and 6-digit bonuses.

They are definitely making people prosperous; unfortunately, it's them, not us. Please, active teachers, elect reformer Michelle Flanigan to the STRS Board next spring. We need to end the insanity.

Toledo Blade on the unconscionable raises at STRS

Toledo Blade 

November 14, 2023


Monday, November 13, 2023

James Carr: Until we have a reform-controlled Board, we have no chance for a better future. It is a simple choice, either Michelle Flanigan is elected as our next reform Board member in the spring or we live like peasants for another year while the STRS fat cats continue to feast on our money.

From James Carr

November 13, 2023

 If you are planning to spend your Golden Years basking in the sun as a member of STRS, plan wisely. The promised gold you see in the future is fools gold. STRS, will tell you that your retirement is secure, even as they pull the rug out from under you.

When you see 70 and 80 year old retired teachers working at Walmart or Kroger's, there's a very good chance they're not there because they are bored. There are a lot of other places they'd rather be; they just can't afford to be there. They put their faith in the promises made by STRS. This is the "real story" you don't see on the STRS Reflections series. There's not a pot of gold at the end of the STRS rainbow; just a rusty bucket filled with broken promises.

Until we have a reform-controlled Board, we have no chance for a better future. It is a simple choice, either Michelle Flanigan is elected as our next reform Board member in the spring or we live like peasants for another year while the STRS fat cats continue to feast on our money.
Larry KehresMount Union Collge
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