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City of San Diego Retired Employees' Association Newsletter September 2009 |
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| Vol. 17 Issue: #9 |
September 2009 |
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War Memorial Bldg - Balboa Park
Board Meeting .................. 9:30 a.m.
General Meeting ................ 11:00 a.m.
Program .......................... 11:30 a.m.
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WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS THIS MONTH
Deborah Bowers, Fire/Rescue;
Joseph L. Corones, Environ. Svcs.;
Andy Guyer, Park & Rec.;
David R. Jacks, Fleet Svcs.
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Friday, September 18th, 8:30 a.m.: SDCERS Board Room (Replay on Channel 24 at 5 or 6 pm):
SDCERS Board's discussion on possible revision of guidelines for figuring out the amount the City needs to pay SDCERS in the next Fiscal Year.
Chief Financial Officer Mark Hovey wrote in his August monthly report to the Board: "Gene Kalwarski of Cheiron will return at the September Board meeting to present follow-up information and conclusions. In the meantime, staff continues to review and prepare the June 30, 2009 actuarial data files Cheiron will use to complete the June 30, 2009 valuation. The files will be delivered to Cheiron in August."
Tuesday, September 22nd: SDCERS Second Annual Members Meeting to be held in Balboa Park.
Come early for your best opportunity to visit with fellow retirees and meet SDCERS staff and Board members.
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PROGRAM |
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Andrew Donohue, VoiceofSanDiego.org Editor, will be introducing our speaker Bill Sheffler.
Mr. Sheffler is an actuary, former SDCERS Board Trustee, and was a member of the Pension Reform Committee. He will speak to us regarding the effect of a City bankruptcy on SDCERS retirement benefits. With the prospect of a City bankruptcy resurfacing, Mr. Sheffler will discuss creditor priorities : who gets paid first from retirement plan assets and what benefits may be at risk. Other topics include Federal law (refresher on the basic federal bankruptcy rules relating to retirement arrangements), current situation in Vallejo, and possible effect of State law.
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| PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE by Nancy Acevedo |
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Our August meeting at the police pistol range started with a presentation by Officer Vickie Watkins, who is the Police Department's RSVP coordinator. She told of the many volunteer opportunities for us "older folks" and also of the services available, such as vacation house checks and checking on those who are home-bound. For more information on these opportunities and services call Officer Watkins at (619)446-1016.
Then it was barbecue time!! Many thanks to John and Lynn Swanson, as well as Bob Korch, for providing our barbecue lunch! John and Bob were our chefs and Lynn did the set up and organized the servers. Everyone appeared to enjoy the lunch, and also the opportunity to visit with many work friends. It was really nice to see so many members who we don't see on a regular basis. I especially enjoyed an opportunity to visit with Edith Hobgood who we hadn't seen for awhile. Edith sure doesn't look like the 97 she claims! And we missed Ellen Bovard, who just celebrated her 85th birthday. Ellen doesn't make it to our meetings because Tuesday is her golf day!
After lunch Police Canine Officer Ellithorpe and her K-9 partner, Pico, gave us a demonstration of his ability to find drugs. She also told us about the uses of dogs - and that San Diego has the biggest canine unit in the country. There followed a lively Q & A, showing a lot of interest in the program.
Last month I mentioned the bill in Congress (identical ones in both the House and Senate), called the "Social Security Fairness Act of 2009", which would repeal the government pension offset provision and the windfall elimination provisions. We have learned that the House bill has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee and the Senate bill to their Finance Committee. We will be doing additional research and will keep you posted. In the meantime, if you would be personally impacted by these bills, I would encourage you to write your congressional representatives and/or these committees to ask that the bills be sent to the floor for a vote.
Chairman Charles B. Rangel
Committee on Ways and Means
U. S. House of Representatives
1102 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Chairman Max Baucus
Senate Committee on Finance
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-6200
It's that time of year again for our nominating committee to be activated! Members this year are Ruth Ann Hageman, Ty Rogers and Joe Flynn. Positions to be voted on are President, Vice President - Programs, Vice President - Advocacy, and two members of the Board of Directors. I would encourage you to volunteer, or respond positively if approached. Serving actively in our Association can be very personally rewarding.
At our September meeting we will be voting on revisions to our By-Laws to officially add another committee, the "Helping Hands Committee, outreach bereavement support
for City of San Diego Retired Employees' Association members." Also, the job of Treasurer/Membership has become too burdensome for one person and we propose splitting this job, thereby adding a Membership person to the Board. Finally, we currently have only one person signing CD withdrawals and transfers, and recommend a second signature be required. I ask for your support on these proposed By-Laws changes.
Nancy
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| SDCERS RETIREMENT BOARD UPDATE by Board Member Patti Karnes |
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The following business was discussed at the August 21, 2009 SDCERS Board meeting:
"SDCERS Group Trust Financial Statements" dated August 13, 2009 reports audited numbers for June 30, 2009- Total assets were $3,416,032,984; June 30, 2008- Total assets were $4,384,847,086.
The Executive Summary of Staff Reports states pension payments for July were $22.6 million. MEMBERSHIP as it appears in the August report for July 31, 2009 is Retired including DROP: 6404; Active: 9469; and Deferred/Inactive: 2932.
Trustee Steve Meyer noted what a difference a quarter makes. If the previous three quarters were remarkably negative, the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2009 (ended June 30, 2009) was remarkably positive, he said.
SDCERS' CIO Liza Crisafi reported the last quarter was up over 13%. (Real estate returns delayed one quarter routinely. So final investment returns for Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2009 are not included yet.) Nice to be back in the black this last quarter, said Liza.
Trustee Ray Ellis, Chair of the Business & Governance Committee, reported increased transparency with more documents on SDCERS web site and the upcoming members meeting on September 22nd.
Member Services Director Cynthia Queen reported that additional news items were added to the web page related to recent actuarial discussions at the Board, to ensure that members have access to all information. The section, entitled 'Information Regarding Board's Hearing of Actuarial Implication of FY 2009 Investment Results,' is featured under Latest News on the home page. It includes an overview and the following documents:
· Letter from David Wescoe to Mayor Sanders and the City Council
· Statement re Board's hearing of actuarial implications of FY 2009 investment results
· Fiduciary counsel presentation
· Actuary's presentation
· Frye/DeMaio Memorandum
· Letter to Union-Tribune from former Board President Tom Hebrank
SDCERS' FY 2008 CAFR has received a "Certificate of Achievement Excellence in Financial Reporting" award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). It is the "highest form of recognition in government accounting and financial reporting". "Kudos to Sara Jimenez, Fanela Espiritu, Jamie Hamrick, Bob Wilson, and several others who worked so hard to achieve this award", wrote Chief Financial Officer Mark Hovey in his August 20th report.
The Board's Guidelines for Decisions on Disability state that "Trustees must decide according to the Plan Sponsor's Plan Document and not the apparent reasonableness or fairness of arguments."
Patti
WEB- Board meetings are archived and are available for viewing on line at any time (after the meeting) via the SDCERS web site.
TELEVISION- If you live in the City limits, Board meetings are on Channel 24 around 5 or 6pm, usually the third Friday of the month, and usually repeat on Sundays at 1 p.m. Official CDs of SDCERS' committees and Board meetings are available through the Board Secretary; visual recordings are available through City Channel 24. Motions and votes are in SDCERS monthly summaries of Board meetings.
For previous reports and announcements about when meetings are scheduled, please logon to our website at www.csdrea.com
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General Announcements
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THANK YOU August Greeters
Janet Burgess, and her husband, John, and
Salani Faiivae-Harrison.
TURNING 80? Then your CSDREA membership is FREE. Call Sylvia at (858)272-0494.
Janet Burgess and Mary Lynn Hyde have graciously agreed to be at the door this year to greet you. If you would be willing to help them by doing this one month, please contact Janet at 619-463-7440 or by email at jburgess911@cox.net or Mary Lynn at mlhyde@san.rr.com
Do you know a member who is ill or who is over 80 years old and having a birthday? Notify Sharon Beach (619-934-8202) so the word gets passed along and a card is sent. Also, if you know of someone who has died, please let us know. You may also submit a short bio of that person for publication.
City of San Diego Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is available to city retirees. This assistance is confidential. Contact EAP at 619-533-3460.
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| WEBSITE NEWS |
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SDREA WEB News! Logon http://www.csdrea.com
Members only section for the latest news. Read all the recent postings on subjects important to retirees. You will also discover helpful links to other resources.
Reminder
The Retired Fire and Police Assn. has welcomed CSDREA members to visit their website at
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| CITY OF SAN DIEGO RETIRED EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATION BOARD |
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Board Members
The board members who have consented to listing their phone numbers in the newsletter have done so to provide you a way to arrange sending a card to a sick member, and to obtain a password for the "members only" section of the website. They are intended for the use of CSDREA members only. Thank you for your cooperation.
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