City of San Diego Retired Employees Association
August 8, 2017
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, Joan Hernandez, Charlie Hogquist, Brad Jacobsen, Ted Myrus, John Tsiknas, Dave Twomey, and Janet Wood

Guests Present: Art Brown, Joe Flynn

AGENDA: There were no changes to the agenda.

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

COMMUNICATIONS: None.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Karen reported that the specific Money Market we selected at Fidelity was not available to corporations (which we are). Therefore, we opted to leave the money in our “core Money Market” at Fidelity which will work in the same capacity.

We have $19,628 invested in Russell 3000; Karen will show changes in the account quarterly, by both per share and total investment.

M/S/C to approve the August Treasurer’s Report.

RETIREMENT BOARD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT

Charlie reported that the annual report is being finalized. Our investments have had a 10% return net as of May 31. The City paid its entire $369M contribution on July 3, as scheduled. The SDCERS Board will be looking at new investment strategies to compensate for the closed system. Finally, SDCERS was ranked as one of the top 10% of retirement systems nationally.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS

  1. Joe Flynn raised the issue of informing our members that since the creation of the PEBA, our members no longer have to be members of MEA to be eligible for supplemental insurance, and that membership in both organizations could be a financial hardship for some REA members whose pension amounts may be low. Joe felt that in the interest of full disclosure and transparency we need to inform our members that they do not need to be members of both organizations.
    1. M/S/C to direct the Advocacy Committee to draft a statement inform REA members that they do not have to be members of both REA and MEA in order to be eligible for supplemental insurance, and to bring this statement to the Board for approval.
  2. Jim was contacted recently by the son of a long-time City employee who is now in failing health, essentially asking us to let members know that this may be their last chance to contact him. This raised issues of privacy, identity theft, and phishing. In addition, REA receives no formal notice of a member’s death: we only know a member has died when dues payments end, and in the case of over-80 members who do not pay dues, we may know only when informed by family members.
    1. It was decided that when we receive a request from a family member similar to the one Jim received, we will provide contact information only of a third party (such as the family member).
  3. The Nominating Committee (Jim Baross, John Tsiknas, Clay Bingham) will confirm the accuracy of our Board members and the dates that their terms expire. They will also solicit candidates to run against the incumbents who have agreed to continue their service.
  4. We need to establish an Awards Committee to identify someone who has done an extraordinary job in support of REA. It was immediately recommended that we honor Jonathan Hays.
  5. We need to set a date for the annual Board retreat at Mission Trails Park. November 17 and December 1 were the two best choices. Jim and/or Nancy Acevedo will check on availability and book the room.

INFORMATION ITEMS:

  1. Joan McNamara has booked a backstage tour of the Old Globe for Monday, November 13. We will put out a “Save the Date” message with more details to follow.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Advocacy: The next meeting is August 24.

Retiree Issues Task Force (RITF): No report.

Other Retired Public Employee Associations: No report

Active Employee Associations: No report.

Communications: No report.

Membership: Membership is 1504, the first time we’ve had more than 1500 members.

Sunshine: No report.

Newsletter: Deadline for next issue is August 20.

General Membership Programs: The September speaker, Nick Stone, a proponent of Soccer City, has confirmed.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:45am.

Respectfully submitted,

Brad Jacobsen
Secretary