City of San Diego Retired Employees Association
April 9, 2024
Board Meeting Minutes
NOTES: All votes were unanimous unless otherwise noted
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Mike Bresnahan at 9:30am.
Board Members Present: Jim Baross, Clay Bingham, Mike Bresnahan, Chris Brewster, Liza Crisafi, Shirley Hall, Joan Hernandez, Brad Jacobsen, Stacey LoMedico, Estella Montoya, and Dick Wilken.
Guests Present: Joe Flynn, Dennis Howerton
AGENDA: There were no additions to the agenda.
MINUTES: The minutes of the March 2024 Board meeting were approved with 1 abstention.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Liza explained that the $800 expenditure under Fees and Licenses was our federal and state tax preparation; even though we pay no tax, we still must file a form because our income is over $50K.
M/S/C to approve the March Treasurer’s Report.
Mike commented on the printing and mailing costs for hardcopy newsletters and wondered if there was any way to bring those down. He asked Board members to think about it for discussion at the May meeting.
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE REPORT: Liza reported that the Fund is now officially over $400K and our rates of return are very good.
RETIREMENT BOARD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT: There was no meeting last month.
COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ITEMS:
1) Mike reported that the RFP for retiree healthcare processing still has not been docketed. The expectation is that the issue will be on the April 27 docket.
2) Joan Hernandez has been in contact with the Food Bank. It was decided to extend our upcoming food drive to six weeks, June 1 to July 15.
3) Estella reported that our support of VOSD is set.
4) Clay reported that the locations of the Learn to Swim programs have been set.
5) Stacey presented the eligibility qualifications for applicants to the Dave Twomey Scholarship Fund. These are attached.
ACTION ITEMS: None
OTHER COMMITTEE REPORTS
Membership: No report.
Newsletter: Deadline for the next issue is April 19 at 8:00am. Material should be sent directly to Connor Sorensen and Mary Ann Stepnowsky.
OTHER RETIREE/ACTIVE EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION REPORTS
Retiree Issues Task Force (RITF): Estella is now a member. She reported that the City is negotiating with healthcare providers for the next contract period, and that it will be a tight timeline. She stated that all contracts must have a “continuity of care” clause that allows a retiree to continue treatment with a physician who may not be a member of a new plan. She also said that the City should have at least one Medi-Gap provider.
Retirement Security Roundtable: No report other than the group is functioning well.
MEA: Mike Zucchet would like to be a speaker at our meetings but his membership on the Port District Board often conflicts. The Port sends out its meeting dates in December, and he may find an opening for 2025 then.
Jim raised the question of which organization selects the REA rep to the MEA Board? He also said that MEA would like REA’s support of a 1% sales tax increase to fund City services that MEA is promoting. Because our level of support could violate REA’s 501c7 status, Mike suggested an Advocacy Committee meeting on the subject.
Other Retired Public Employee Associations: No report.
PROGRAMS: Clay has booked a speaker from SANDAG for the July meeting, and is working on three empty slots in 2025. He is also looking into additional lunch venues, perhaps including El Indio and PF Chang’s.
There was brief discussion about how to increase attendance at the meetings, especially now that Covid restrictions have been lifted. Suggestions were having a free lunch for a first-timer and/or quarterly free lunches for all members. Brad reported that several years ago (and Pre-Covid), he conducted a poll of REA members via Survey Monkey that showed that any changes to the status quo would not improve attendance. Other Board members volunteered to look into ways of using hybrid technology to increase non-resident members’ participation.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 10:45am.
Respectfully submitted,
Brad Jacobsen
Secretary