City of San Diego Retired Employees Association
August 10, 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 9:15am.
Board Members Present: Jim Baross, Mike Bresnahan, Chris Brewster, Karen Butler, Shirley Hall, Joan Hernandez, Charlie Hogquist, Brad Jacobsen, Mary Ann Stepnowsky, John Tsiknas, Dave Twomey, Dick Wilken, and Janet Wood
Guests Present: Joe Flynn, Stacey LoMedico
AGENDA: There were no additions or changes to the agenda.
MINUTES: The minutes of the July 2021 Board meeting were approved.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Karen reported that we did not receive an invoice from ILS for the newsletter prep, and that the member survey on Covid protocols cost $37.50.
M/S/C to accept the July Treasurer’s Report.
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE REPORT: John reported that the Russell 3000 appreciation since the original investment in 2017 is 63.84%; the Money Market appreciation during the same period remained at last month’s 3.12%.
As a result of a SDCERS coding error, no payroll deduction money was transferred to REA in July which meant nothing was added to the legal fund. To correct the error, SDCERS doubled its usual amount in August. Half of that amount has been deposited to the fund and will be split between the Money Market and the Russell 3000.
RETIREMENT BOARD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT: Charlie reported that there was no meeting in August and that the September meeting will still be virtual.
COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ITEMS: None
ACTION ITEMS:
1) The War Memorial Building is now open, but with uncertainty about the Delta variant we will not meet there in September and perhaps not in October. There was a question about the status of our Special Use Permit: will we get a refund or an extension for the time we were not able to use the facility?
2) It was decided to use the War Memorial Building auditorium for our annual retreat. The date was set for December 3 from 9:00 to 3:00.
3) Brad volunteered to accept nominations for our annual recognition award.
ADVOCACY COMMITTEE REPORT
1) Councilmember briefings: Mike and Karen met with Raul Campillo (District 7), who was very interested in our sponsorship of the Learn to Swim program.
2) We will approach Jonathan Hayes about ILS taking over the preparation of the online newsletter and eblasts, with a target start date in September for the October newsletter.
3) Image Enhancement Initiative: Dave reported that our sponsorship of the Learn to Swim program got great social media coverage, thanks to the program’s director. It also got good coverage from Voice of San Diego, both on our “Morning Report” Partner Voices banner and during podcasts. He also reported that Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera is very interested in partnering with us to sponsor Read Across America in March 2022.
4) Mid-year recruitment drive: Gregg Rademacher is receptive to having SDCERS do a mailing to all retirees on our behalf but will check with staff.
The next meeting is Thursday, August 26 at 9:30am via Zoom.
OTHER COMMITTEE REPORTS
Membership: John reported that we gained 42 new members in June and 8 in July; membership now stands at 1721. He noted that some members do depart, usually by not paying dues.
SDPEBA asked for definitions of some membership categories; John provided those definitions and those that are not being used will be deleted.
Newsletter: Deadline for the next issue is August 18.
Website: No report
OTHER RETIREE/ACTIVE EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION REPORTS
Retiree Issues Task Force (RITF): The next meeting is September 15.
Retirement Security Roundtable: No report
MEA: The unions and the City are still in negotiations about how to integrate post-Prop B employees into the retirement system. On the table is an opt-out option for employees who prefer to retain their 401k plans.
Other Retired Public Employee Associations: No report
PROGRAMS: No changes
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 10:35am.
Respectfully submitted,
Brad Jacobsen
Secretary