John Curry: Trina Kay Prufer nailed it again! "About that Anonymous Letter..."

"But back to those two STRS attorneys*, who decided to write that anonymous letter, putting in motion the State takeover of the STRS board. Who were they representing, and why was this not a conflict of interest? Who were they working with, and why were THEIR actions NOT a “hostile takeover“?

From Trina Kay Prufer

May 9, 2025

As it turns out, the reason the ORSC is looking at the State taking total control of the STRS governing board is the accusation made by two STRS attorneys, anonymously, that ORTA, Steen and Fichtenbaum were involved in a “hostile takeover” of STRS.

In the first place, a “hostile takeover” cannot occur in a public retirement system because the composition of board members  is determined by law. The term ”hostile takeover” sounds quite ominous, but even in the business world, when it occurs, no one has committed a crime or violated any laws.

In Ohio, the STRS board is composed of 11 members, 7 of which are educators, and 4 are appointed as financial experts by the State. STRS was designed BY the State Legislature so the voting majority are the stakeholders MOST directly affected by STRS policies.

Actives and retirees ALWAYS had the voting majority on the Board. The problem was they had been represented by OEA candidates, who did not advocate for teachers, but instead for the interests of the State in keeping the contribution rate lower than what was needed to pay obligated benefits. As retirees experienced the harsh realities of a defined-benefit without a COLA, and actives had to pay more for less, educators started voting their own interests rejecting OEA candidates in favor of those recommended by ORTA.

What did STRS, OEA, the ORSC, the State Legislature and politicians think would happen when retirees experienced the ravages of inflation and could only see poverty on the horizon?  Did no one do the math? Did they not recognize that a defined-benefit without a COLA is a ticking time bomb devastating teachers’ lives?

But back to those two STRS attorneys, who decided to write that anonymous letter, putting in motion the State takeover of the STRS board. Who were they representing, and why was this not a conflict of interest? Who were they working with, and why were THEIR actions NOT a “hostile takeover“? The ORC is very clear that the majority of STRS board members are to represent the interests of educators, and that is exactly what happened. The QED brouhaha occurred in 2021, and had nothing to do with the board election of 2024.

Did the attorneys act in violation of their own code of professional ethics? Is the ORSC basing its study of retirement system governing boards on unethical practices? These are issues that must be looked at. Teachers have realized that they cannot survive on an STRS defined benefit and the composition of the STRS Board simply reflects this reality."

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*Note: The two STRS attorneys who were revealed to be the authors of the anonymous memorandum to Governor DeWine are Mark Maxwell, Deputy General Counsel of STRS, and Stacey Wideman, Chief Legal Counsel for STRS. It was confirmed that on April 4, 2025, Mr. Maxwell drafted the document with the input and assistance of Ms. Wideman.