City of San Diego Retired Employees Association
February 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, Karen Butler, Shirley Hall, Joan Hernandez, Charlie Hogquist, Brad Jacobsen, Joan McNamara, Ted Myrus, Ty Rogers, John Tsiknas, Dave Twomey, and Janet Wood

Guests Present: Chris Brewster, Joe Flynn

AGENDA: There were no changes to the agenda.

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

COMMUNICATIONS: Joe Flynn expressed concern that the newsletter article about possible changes to retiree health benefits may have created anxiety for some members. There was discussion about awareness vs unnecessary fright.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Karen reported that she adjusted the 2018 budget to balance income and expenses as discussed at the January meeting. Next month’s reports will include a summary of our Fidelity investments, provided by Dave.

M/S/C to approve the 2018 budget.
M/S/C to approve the January Treasurer’s Report.

RETIREMENT BOARD REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT

Charlie reported that the new CEO of SDCERS, Gregg Rademacher, has been meeting with staff and Board members. Investments are doing well, despite the rollercoaster stock market.

DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS

  1. There was discussion about how much access the members of the Investment Committee should have to the Fidelity account. Currently only Karen has full access, including the ability to transfer funds, but the Committee members need access to monitor the fund’s activities. Fidelity doesn’t care exactly who has access; that is up for us to determine. We also need to find out if Fidelity will allow limited access (“view only”) to people other than Karen.
    1. M/S/C to give Dave Twomey, Chris Brewster, and John Tsiknas access to the Fidelity account with the condition that they do not perform any trading functions.
    2. There will be one more transfer of funds into the Fidelity account, in May, upon advice from the Investment Committee.
    3. M/S/C that the Investment Committee will bring trading proposals to the full Board for approval prior to any action being taken.
    4. Finally, Doug McCalla expressed concern about the investment in Fidelity; a follow-up conversation with him will be scheduled.
  2. The Board brainstormed ideas for new thank-you gifts for our speakers. Ideas included a pen/pencil set, ballcap, candy, travel mug, pint glass, and water bottle. Cash and gift cards were ruled out.

INFORMATION ITEMS:

  1. The next RITF meeting will be on February 15. A major topic will be the health insurance allocation change for retirees who are on an annual healthcare allowance.
    1. RITF will also be meeting with Gregg Rademacher on February 21.
  2. Joan McNamara reported that the airport tour was sold out. Few RSVPs came in after the newsletter, but the eblasts generated many responses. The next activity will be a tour of Balboa Park in June.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Advocacy: The next meeting is February 22.

Retiree Issues Task Force (RITF): No report.

Other Retired Public Employee Associations: Chris Brewster reported on a positive op-ed that appeared in the U-T. The next Retirement Security Roundtable will be on March 21

Active Employee Associations: The meeting with REA was held on February 12. Nothing of particular importance was discussed.

Communications: No report.

Membership: Membership is 1489; eleven members passed last month.

Sunshine: No report.

Newsletter: Deadline for next issue is February 20.

General Membership Programs: Assembly member Todd Gloria has been confirmed for July.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:38am.

Respectfully submitted,

Brad Jacobsen
Secretary