Meeting, Monday, Oct
5 was well attended at Paulding United Methodist Church in Paulding, OH. Delicious dnner was served and enjoyed.
PACRTA President, Cleo Swager conducted our Business Meeting and minutes ARE attached
below. 
October
5, 2009
The fall meeting of the Paulding County Retired Teachers Association was held on Monday, October 5, at the Paulding
United Methodist Church with 31 members and guests in attendance.
President Cleo Swager welcomed everyone.
The Pledge of Allegiance was given followed by a prayer by Marty Harmon. A delicious dinner was served by ladies of the church.
The minutes of the last meeting were read. Treasurer Bill Fast reported a balance of $110.63 at the beginning of the
meeting. Committee reports were given.
Lillian Betz, Community Service Committee Chairman, asked that
members mail or e-mail their hours of community service to her. Her e-mail address is lnjb434@roadrunner.com
Marcia Pressler, Scholarship Chairman,
reported that Elyse Myers of Wayne Trace High School and Audrey Nice of Paulding High School each received a $300 scholarship
for their first year of college. A raffle for pumpkins decorated and donated by Bernie Schmidt was held. Proceeds from the
raffle will benefit the scholarship fund. A total of $103 was collected for the fund. Winners of the pumpkins were Ellie Barnes,
Mary Derck, Ann Furrow, Laura Glancy, and Pat Pendleton.
Gloria Fast, Information and Protective
Services Chairman, was unable to attend, but she sent a report that Ruth Wood has passed away. A $25 donation has been made
to the Wayne Trace Library in her memory.
Ellie Barnes, Legislative Chairman, thanked Ron Grabianowski
for his efforts in keeping members informed. Ellie suggested members should know the names of the oversight people for STRS
and contact them about their concerns.
Mary Derck, Public Relations Chairman, reported her committee
is working on a project to help pass the library levy. Open houses will be held at the main library in Paulding and the branch
libraries in Antwerp, Oakwood, and Payne on October 19 from 5-7. Mary passed around sign-up sheets so members
could volunteer to donate items for the Open Houses. Other ways to help are putting signs in yards, putting door hangers on
doors, and writing letters to the editors of local newspapers.
Ron Grabianowski, Webmaster, asked members
to let him know if they do not wish to receive e-mails from CORE which is the Concerned Ohio Retired Educators group. Ron
reported he has a new e-mail address since hackers broke into his computer. He informed the group that
free legal aid for those over 60 will be available at the Paulding County Senior Center in November. He reported there will
be an STRS health care information meeting in Lima on October 28. Advanced registration is required. He asked for volunteers
to make a program book for next year.
In old business Cleo read a thank you note from Audrey Nice who
was a 2009 scholarship winner.
In new business she urged everyone to support their libraries.
She asked members to sign cards for Shirley Gordon, Bill Follas, and Carol Jacob.
Cleo then
introduced Laura Ecklar, STRS Communications Director. Mrs. Ecklar told the group on September 1, 2009 the STRS Board approved
a long range plan to strengthen the financial condition of retirement system.. The plan includes an increase in contributions,
an increase in final average salary years, a change in eligibility for retirement, a change in benefit
formula, and a reduction in Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) The plan was submitted
to the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC) which is the legislative oversight body for the five Ohio public pension plans.
In the coming weeks the ORSC staff will be working with these systems. It is expected that eventually legislation will be
drafted and the normal legislative process will begin.
Mrs. Ecklar said Executive Director, Michael
Nehf, is a C.P.A. and is very conscious of costs. STRS had their lowest operation budget in five years. There is a salary
freeze, a head count freeze, and fewer outside contractors are being used.
She stated 80%
of all investments are managed in house. STRS cannot pay as high a base salary as the private sector so they give bonuses.
Bonuses have been paid since the mid 1980’s. There were 3.4 million dollars paid in bonuses for last year. This money
will be deferred into two payments. Beginning in July 2009 whenever there is a year of negative returns no bonuses will be
given.
There are 11 seats on the STRS board. One seat is vacant and needs to be filled by the Treasurer of the State.
Members were reminded that open enrollment for health care begins November 1.
A period
of questions, answers, and comments followed.
A question was asked about the floor of the parking lot at the
STRS building being heated.
The answer was that the sidewalks, not the parking lot floor,
are heated in the winter in order to melt ice.
A question was asked about the need for such an expensive STRS
building.
The answer was the building is paid for. Also, it was stated the building is designed for just one client. That is
the reason extra space is not being rented.
A question was asked about the necessity for the expensive art
in the building.
The answer was some of the pieces came with a hefty price, but that the majority
of the art was done by Ohio teachers. No art has been purchased since 2000.
A question was
asked about the reduction of the COLA.
The answer was something had to be done to strengthen the
retirement system. If the COLA had been completely eliminated there would have been no need for any other changes.
A question was asked about the expense of moving Mr. Nehf from Atlanta to Chicago and then to Columbus.
The answer was most of Mr. Nehf’s household goods were moved from Atlanta to Columbus. Furniture that would not
fit into his condo was shipped to his children in Chicago.
Mrs. Ecklar said that the silver lining
in the STRS financial problems is that members have become more involved.
Cleo thanked members
for coming and said she hoped to see everyone in April.
Lillian Betz moved, and Madeline Foltz
seconded the motion that the meeting be adjourned. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Furrow, Secretary
April 13, 2009
The Paulding County Retired Teachers Association
met Monday, April 13, at 12 noon at the Twin Oaks United Methodist Church in Oakwood. There were 21 members and spouses and
3 guests present.
The meeting was opened by President Cleo Swager. The pledge to the American
flag was followed by a prayer by Marty Harmon. Lunch was served by the ladies of the church.
The
minutes of the last meeting were read. Carol Jacob moved and Madeline Foltz seconded the motion that the minutes be approved.
Motion carried. Bill Fast, treasurer, reported a balance of $727.85 in the treasury.
Helen
Burtch, membership committee chairman, reported there are 42 local members so far for 2009. Helen will contact school districts
and the end of the school year for names of new retirees.
Marcia Pressler, scholarship committee
chairman, reported the applications for scholarships have been mailed and are due back on April 24.
Ron
Grabianowski, Web Master, asked for suggestions for the website. He asked that members let him know if they do not want certain
information included on the website. Ron also passed out the new directories. He explained a little about how Mary Derck and
he had worked on the directories using a flash drive.
Cleo read a letter that was received from
Ruth Wood who now resides in South Bend, Indiana. She also read a letter from the Putnam County chapter of ORTA. Members of
their scholarship committee requested suggestions for awarding scholarships. Marica Pressler will respond to their letter.
Cleo introduced our new District II Director, Jerry Holscher, and his wife Elizabeth. Jerry encouraged everyone to
vote for members of the S.T.R.S. board. He told of his background in education.
Cleo next
introduced Edna Hansen, 2009 President of O.R.T.A. Edna showed the group O.R.T.A. pins which could be purchased at the end
of the meeting.
She updated members on recent news from O.R.T.A.
Committee
reports will be printed in the O.R.T.A. Quarterly enabling chapters to glean ideas from other chapters.
U.S. House Bill 235 has been introduced. The bill would amend Title II of the Social Security Act to repeal the government
pension offset and windfall elimination provisions. This would benefit S.T.R.S. retirees who are also eligible for Social
Security.
Ohio House Bill 315 will be reintroduced with a different number this year. This bill would increase contributions
to S.T.R.S. by active teachers and school districts. No progress had been made recently. Everything is in turmoil with problems
in the economy.
In 2009 the health care system began taking money out of the principle.
Several groups are collaborating to address the problems of school funding.
O.R.T.A.
is working with A.A.R.P. A.A.R.P. members who are retired teachers can be counted as members of N.R.T.A.
Retired teacher members of A.A.R.P. need to notify A.A.R.P. if they would like to become members of N.R.T.A.
Staying Sharp is a program that is sponsored by N.R.T.A. and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. It focuses on
helping people stay alert, particularly in the second half of their lives.
At this point our
pensions are safe.
Edna concluded by encouraging us to read the Quarterly in order to stay informed.
The next meeting will be a multi-county meeting on July 9 at 10:30 A.M. in Ottoville at the Parish Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Furrow, Secretary
We hope to use this page to keep members updated
on each other and on the latest happenings within the organization.
