City of San Diego Retired Employees Association
November 13, 2018
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, Charlie Hogquist, Brad Jacobsen, Joan McNamara, Ty Rogers, Mary Ann Stepnowsky, John Tsiknas, Dave Twomey, and Janet Wood

Guests Present: Chris Brewster, Art Brown, Dick Wilken

AGENDA: There were no changes to the agenda.

MINUTES: The minutes of the October 2018 Board meeting were approved.

COMMUNICATIONS: Jim reported that he and Karen prepared a letter to SCAN requesting clarification of the company’s apparent contradiction regarding qualifying sources of expenses applied to the out-of-pocket deductible.

TREASURER’S REPORT:

Karen pointed out that that the catering expense in October reflects expenses from both October and November.

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

The Investment Committee reported that the ratio of our investments and our money market account is 52%/48%. It was decided that we should consider moving money back into the money market when there is a 5% imbalance.

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

RETIREMENT BOARD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT

Charlie reported several items of interest.

The Corbett and 13th checks will be issued at the end of the month. He is trying to get people to stop using the term “13th Check” because it has negative public relations impacts.

The City is making its payments on time and the system should be fully funded by 2038.

The investment strategy will change in a few years due to the system being closed (due to Prop B), with more money going out than coming in from employer/employee contributions. However, SDCERS is still preparing to deal with whatever solution the City and the unions develop to deal with Prop B.

The SDCERS Board had a retreat to discuss amortization outcomes, with the Board reluctant to change the discount rate.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS

  1. It was decided to give Ann Smith a gift card to her favorite restaurant in lieu of the traditional radio as she already has one; the gift card will be in the value of the radio. Ann will be present at the Holiday Party.
  2. Clay Bingham will coordinate with folks from Park & Rec for entertainment at the Holiday Party; we will comp those people. We will still do the food bank, and will ask Joan Hernandez to coordinate. Dave proposed a special door prize drawing for the first 25 members to RSVP; Board members and their spouses are not eligible. Mary Ann will do an e-blast every Tuesday to promote the party.

INFORMATION ITEMS:

  1. Dave distributed information about Carl Luna’s Institute for Civil Civic Engagement that included a list of sponsors and partners. He felt that this would be an enterprise that REA might want to support as a partner as the ICCE’s focus is local. The Board gave him permission to follow up and see exactly what partnership entails.
  2. Joan McNamara is still considering future REA outings. One could be a (brief) visit to General Dynamics’ wind tunnel followed by lunch; she will also look into a tour of the Japanese Friendship Garden (they also have a restaurant).
  3. The Board Retreat will be 9:30am on December 7 at Mission Trails Park.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Advocacy: Mike reported that progress is being made on improving our website. He got recommendations for website developers from the County retired employees’ association. Eventually, website management will move from Jonathan Hays (with his cooperation) and the website will be available on phones.

Dick Wilken spoke with Retired Police and Fire President Dave Hall about that organization’s proactive stance on reimbursement for Medicare Part D and the potentially negative public reaction to it; Hall will bring our concerns to his Board.

The first of our “meet and greets” with City Council members has been scheduled for December 3 with Council Member Chris Ward. The next Advocacy Committee meeting will be the fifth Thursday of the month: November 29.

Retiree Issues Task Force (RITF): The next meeting is January 17

Other Retired Public Employee Associations: No report

Active Employee Associations: No report.

Communications: No report.

Membership: Membership is now at 1565; we gained some but we lost some.

Sunshine: No report.

Newsletter: Deadline for the next issue is November 20.

General Membership Programs: No report.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:35am.

Respectfully submitted,

Brad Jacobsen
Secretary