City of San Diego Retired Employees Association 

December 17, 2021  

Emergency 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 9:06am. 

 Board Members Present: Jim Baross, Mike Bresnahan, Chris Brewster, Karen Butler, Shirley Hall, Joan Hernandez, Brad Jacobsen, Mary Ann Stepnowsky, John Tsiknas, Dave Twomey, and Dick Wilken 

 Guests Present: Stacey LoMedico 

 AGENDA: The primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss whether it was appropriate to hold our January meeting in person in light of the predicted surge in Covid infections over the winter holidays due to the omicron variant. 

Mike had two items that if discussed at this meeting would eliminate the need for a December Advocacy Committee meeting. 

 

JANUARY MEETING 

Dick asked that Board members focus their comments not on their own opinions, but more on REA as an organization as well as our members. Points raised during the discussion included: 

  • Seniors may have medical issues. By meeting in person, would we be putting them at risk? 
  • It’s a matter of individual risk assessment. The Holiday Party was attended by 93 members, mostly unmasked, but all were vaccinated. This indicates that people want to get out and meet up in person. 
  • Several Board members were concerned about the lack of social distancing involved during check-in and serving lunch, and would not attend the General Meeting. (The Board meeting is in a room with sufficient space for social distancing.).  
  • If we meet in person, contact tracing could be an issue. Our usual RSVP list is for lunch, not attendance. 
  • Work-arounds for those situations were suggested, including box lunches for either take away or to eat with people who are comfortable with sharing a table. 
  • No one knows how long the pandemic will last, with all its variants, or how severe it will be. How long should we extend the Zoom meetings before meeting again in person? 
  • Attendance at our Zoom meetings has been far lower than at pre-pandemic in-person meetings. Are we losing member interest/involvement by not having in-person meetings? 
  • We should hold off on in-person meetings until we know the repercussions of both winter and the omicron variant, 
  • Members should be directed to the call center at Integrated Labor Solutions for the latest information on meeting status. 

M/S/C (8-3-0) to continue Zoom meetings until Spring 2022 due to potential winter omicron outbreaks. 

 

ADVOCACY COMMITTEE REPORT 

1) Mike and Mary Ann reported that Jonathan Hays is working on a way for potential members to join online. Our website will probably need modification. If all goes well, online membership enrollment should be good to go in January. 

2) Mike reported that the City is moving toward shifting health benefits plans from a fiscal year to a calendar year schedule, effective January 2023. This raises the question of when the annual SDCERS Health Fair would take place, and that may affect our program schedule.  

 

ADJOURNMENT 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:12am. 

 

Respectfully submitted, 

Brad Jacobsen 

Secretary