City of San Diego Retired Employees Association

November 12, 2019

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, Chris Brewster, Karen Butler, Shirley Hall, Joan Hernandez, Brad Jacobsen, Joan McNamara, Ty Rogers, Mary Ann Stepnowsky, John Tsiknas, Dave Twomey, Dick Wilken, and Janet Wood

Guests Present: Joe Flynn

AGENDA: There were no additions or changes to the agenda.

MINUTES: The minutes of the October 2019 Board meeting were approved.

COMMUNICATIONS: There have been many calls regarding the PSPS/Deferred Comp underpayments.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Karen reported that there were no annual dues payments in October.

M/S/C to accept the November Treasurer’s Report.

John reported that our investments had another good month and that our funding ration is now 50/50.

M/S/C to accept the Investment Committee Report.

RETIREMENT BOARD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT

In absentia, Charlie reported that both the Corbett and the 13th Check were approved; a new term for the 13th Check is being developed. We should be prepared to respond to the usual article in the U-T.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS

  1. The Board Retreat will be December 13 at Mission Trails Park, from 9:30 until 2:00.
  2. It was agreed to have $200 worth of door prizes; there will be a special drawing for a
    bottle wine for those members who RSVP before November 22.
  3. A representative from Park & Rec’s AgeWell Services Division (formerly Senior Services) will be at the General Meeting to present a survey on aging in San Diego.

 

INFORMATION ITEMS:

  1. There was much discussion about the SPSP/Deferred Comp error correction. MEA and Ann Smith are taking the lead, and the City is now making affected employees “whole”. A major problem is that the City claims not to have payroll records prior to 2004, so they are recalculating the benefits from that date. After approval by the IRS, 550 employees will be reimbursed. The Board was concerned about the lack of payroll records prior to 2004, as the likely loss of money is not making the affected employees whole. The Board will approach MEA about pushing the City to produce the records in one format or another.
  2. Joan Hernandez reported that the new name badges would cost $10 each for generic volunteer badges and $12 each for custom Board Member badges with names.
  3. The next outing will be in March.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Advocacy: The next Advocacy Committee meeting will be January 23 at the Mission Valley Library. It will feature the second workshop with Trudy Sopp.

Retiree Issues Task Force (RITF): Chris Brewster gave an update on the various court cases about the California Rule that are moving through the legal system. The case with the most interest for us is Alameda, which the California Supreme Court wants to hear and which would uphold the California Rule.

Retirement Security Roundtable: No report.

Other Retired Public Employee Associations: The SD Taxpayers Association is fighting the quo warranto action by the City Council to remove Prop B’s language from the City Charter. This legal battle could take two years.

Active Employee Associations: No report.

Membership: Membership is 1621.

Sunshine: No report.

Newsletter: Deadline for the next issue is October 20 or earlier.

Website: No report.

General Membership Programs: Programs for 2020 will be developed at the Board Retreat; bring ideas.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:35am.
Respectfully submitted,
Brad Jacobsen
Secretary