City of San Diego Retired Employees Association
March 12, 2019
General Meeting Minutes
The minutes for the February 2019 meeting were approved.
Dave Twomey informed members of Dr. Carl Luna’s annual Restoring Respect’s Conference on Restoring Civility to Civic Dialogue, to be held April 17 at USD; the keynote speaker will be the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. He also informed members that the REA Board has decided to become a sponsor of the event. There is no financial commitment, only active support and some future volunteering opportunities. More information will come in the newsletter and e-blasts.
Tom Peña, the first volunteer for our Lunch Bunch, made a pitch to get members to volunteer to help with the lunches. He pointed out that it’s really a time commitment as all of the literal “heavy lifting” has already been done: the tables and chairs are in place. Volunteers only need to put on tablecloths, put the catered food out, oversee serving, and clean up afterward. Members of the Lunch Bunch also get a free lunch.
Cynthia Queen of SDCERS reported that there are some changes on the Board due to members being termed out. Two of those vacancies have been filled; the third is a mayoral appointee. She also reported that the actuarial valuation has been performed and the fund is doing well. Also, a plan is in place to achieve full funding of the system by 2037. Finally, she announced that the annual Disaster Preparedness Drill – to assure that the payment distribution process is unaffected by a disaster – was conducted in February and was successful.
PROGRAM
The program was Scott Lewis of Voice of San Diego, making his annual appearance and giving us some updates on local politics. He reported that a local Republican leader was concerned that City Councilmember Mark Kersey might be switching parties after Kersey was seen hobnobbing with prominent Democrats and labor leaders while Kersey’s council district (District 5) is becoming bluer. Lewis also spoke on the tensions about affordable housing requirements near transit hubs, which could be state-mandated. He addressed some of the issues involved in the sale of the Qualcomm Stadium site to SDSU.