City of San Diego Retired Employees Association
January 12, 2021
Board Meeting Minutes
NOTES: All votes were unanimous unless otherwise noted
The meeting was held via Zoom
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Dick Wilken at 9:17am.
Board Members Present: Jim Baross, Mike Bresnahan, Chris Brewster, Karen Butler, Joan Hernandez, Charlie Hogquist, Brad Jacobsen, Joan McNamara (at 9:35), Mary Ann Stepnowsky, John Tsiknas, Dave Twomey, and Dick Wilken
Guests Present: Joe Flynn
AGENDA: There were no additions or changes to the agenda.
MINUTES: The minutes of the November 2020 Board meeting were approved.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Karen reminded the Board of the apparent “double billing” for newsletter costs due to the printer’s delay in depositing checks (see November 2020 minutes).
M/S/C (1 abs) to accept the December Treasurer’s Report.
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE REPORT: Our investments continue to do well. The Russell 3000 has had an appreciation of 50.51% to date, while the Money Market fund has had an appreciation of 3.83% during the same time period.
It was noted that the Russell 3000 fund is now 55% of the allocation and a question arose as to whether it was time to reallocate funds to achieve our 50/50 balance between the Russell 3000 and the Money Market. Chris Brewster advised, on behalf of the Investment Committee, that for the time being we would be directing monthly membership income solely to the Money Market. If that does not prove adequate to bring our balance back toward 50/50, due to continued success of the Russell 3000, we will rebalance per the policy by selling some of the Russell and buying some of the Money Market with the proceeds.
M/S/C to accept the Investment Committee Report.
COMMUNICATIONS: Dick reported on a meeting with Michael Zucchet about the recent Superior Court decision that again invalidated Prop B. Mike said that the proponents of Prop B have 60 days to appeal, and if they do so it could take up to 18 months for a State Appeals court could hear it. If there is no appeal, the City Council is prepared to remove the Prop B language from the City Charter. At that point all new hires would automatically become members of SDCERS, but the big question will be how does the City make the 4000 employees hired in the interim “whole” as mandated by the PERB.
As for the chances of an appeal, April Boling’s attorney has moved to a new firm and has shown no interest in taking this case with him. No one knows her source of income for her legal activities or who will be carrying her case forward.
RETIREMENT BOARD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT
Charlie reported (from Kaua’i at around 5:30am) that the City deposited its $414M contribution; that SDCERS is in the top tier of California pension systems; and that covid has not affected the mortality rate of SDCERS members.
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS
1) Because Janet Wood has retired as newsletter editor and a contracted agent has replaced her, we need to decide what to do with that Board position, while possibly keeping Janet on the Board. The issue was referred to the Advocacy Committee.
2) Mike presented the list of REA goals for 2021 developed at the Board retreat. He asked Board members to rank them as High, Medium, or Low and forward that info to the Advocacy Committee.
3) The 2021 draft budget was reviewed. The budget assumes that there will be income and expenses for the Holiday Party, but that income and expenses for meeting luncheons will be reduced. The Image Enhancement expenses were increased to $10K.
M/S/C to approve the 2021 budget
INFORMATION ITEMS: None
ADVOCACY COMMITTEE REPORT
Dave reported on the Image Enhancement Campaign. REA members contributed $2900 to the Food Bank, which will provide 13K meals. He provided some numbers from Voice of San Diego: On average, 21K viewers of “Morning Report” saw our banner and footer, and an average of 159 clicked to continue to our website.
Dave recommended that we continue our efforts with VOSD, Carl Luna’s “Restoring Respect”, and the San Diego Food Bank. He also recommended that we pursue literacy efforts at the Monarch School post-covid. He will be working to continue our partnership with VOSD.
The next meeting is January 28 at 9:30am via Zoom.
OTHER COMMITTEE REPORTS
Membership: No report
Newsletter: All is going well with Connor Sorensen as newsletter contractor. Hard copy editions are constant at 475 members. Deadline for the next issue is January18. Connor should be included in the submissions (email address: [email protected]).
Past President: No report.
Website: No report
OTHER RETIREE/ACTIVE EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION REPORTS
Retiree Issues Task Force (RITF): No report.
Retirement Security Roundtable: No report.
MEA: No report.
Other Retired Public Employee Associations: No report
PROGRAMS: Dave provided a list of potential speakers for 2021 at the Board Retreat. Speakers for January through April are in place.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30am.
Respectfully submitted,
Brad Jacobsen
Secretary