City of San Diego Retired Employees Association
January 9, 2018
Board Meeting Minutes

NOTE: All votes were unanimous unless otherwise noted

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Jim Baross at 9:30am.

Board Members Present: Jim Baross, Mike Bresnahan, Karen Butler, Shirley Hall, Brad Jacobsen, Joan McNamara, Ty Rogers, Mary Ann Stepnowsky, John Tsiknas, Dave Twomey, and Janet Wood

Guests Present: None

AGENDA: There were no changes to the agenda.

MINUTES: The minutes of the November 2017 Board meeting were approved.

COMMUNICATIONS: None

TREASURER’S REPORT: Karen reported that we finished the year almost exactly on budget, with no major expenditures outstanding, and are carrying over roughly $34K.

M/S/C to approve the November and December Treasurer’s Reports.

The proposed 2018 budget was discussed, with the focus on balancing income and expenses for both the Holiday Party and luncheon catering. It was proposed that we balance the income and expenditures in the budget, and to use funds from Unallocated Reserves to cover any shortfalls. It was pointed out that because of an adjustment in our contract with Integrated Labor Solutions, our actual expenditures may not be as large as budgeted.

M/S/C to adjust the income and expenses for catering to $3200

M/S/C to adjust the income and expenses for the Holiday Party to $2100

M/S/C to cover any shortfalls for the Holiday Party and/or luncheon catering from excess funds in Website Maintenance and Operations.

[BACKGROUND: At the Board retreat, it was decided that Karen would remain as Treasurer but that a separate Investment Committee would take responsibility for tracking our investments and directing Karen when to transfer funds into the investment account. The Investment Committee members are Dave Twomey and Chris Brewster.]

It was decided that Karen will include the investment balances in the Treasurer’s Report, and that Dave will provide a more detailed accounting as an attachment.

It was also decided that any members of the Investment Committee should be members of REA, and that they will have access to the Fidelity account. John Tsiknas volunteered to also serve on the Investment Committee.

RETIREMENT BOARD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT

Through email, Charlie reported that the SDCERS Board held a special meeting on January 8 to conduct final interviews for the three finalists for the CEO position. A selection was made and the finalist accepted SDCERS’ tentative offer. The official announcement will be made on Friday, January 12.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS

  1. It was agreed that we will allow SDPEBA to have a table at our General Membership meetings, but we will invite them to attend our Board and/or General membership meetings as needed.
  2. Mike will attend the SDCERS Board meeting on January 12 and will introduce himself and REA to the incoming CEO. Mike and Jim will work on a meeting with the new CEO.
  3. There was discussion about SDCERS’ decision to change how they allocate the annual healthcare allowance to members. Rather than 12 equal monthly payments SDCERS will now allocate the funds when spent. Some Board members felt this could result in a budget hardship for certain members. Joan M. expressed her concern that REA was not consulted about the change prior to the decision being made. Jim B. will speak to SDCERS again about the issue and ask them for the Muni Code section they said required the change in the allocation. Joan M. will review the information provided by SDCERS.

INFORMATION ITEMS:

  1. Mary Ann reported that there a new pages to view on the webpage update prototype.
  2. The Board reviewed goals and the To-Do List from the Board Retreat. Details follow the Minutes.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Advocacy: The next meeting is January 25.

Retiree Issues Task Force (RITF): No report.

Other Retired Public Employee Associations: No report.

Active Employee Associations: The next meeting with REA is in February.

Communications: No report.

Membership: Membership is 1499; five members passed last month.

Sunshine: No report.

Newsletter: Deadline for next issue is January 20.

General Membership Programs: No speaker schedule update, although we may want the new CEO of SDCERS to address us.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:48am.

Respectfully submitted,

Brad Jacobsen
Secretary

with thanks to Joan McNamara for covering during my absence