Retirement Board report

By Javier Romero, Retirement Board Vice President

In May, the DWP Commission launched an assault on Retirement Plan member representation by trying to shorten the term of the three elected Retirement Board members. The entire Board sent a resolution to the Commission urging that the terms not be shortened, and, faced with a strong presence by Local 18 members at their meeting, the Commissioners did the right thing. They affirmed that the Retirement Board Members should serve their full terms, through 2003. We welcome this clarification and hope there will be no further attempts to thwart the vote of the members. The Commission’s decision provides for continuity on the Retirement Board until 2003, and allows Board Members to fulfill their responsibilities to the Plan and its members without interruption.

The brouhaha about the term dates brought to light a weakness in our plan administration: Legal counsel. The Retirement Board’s current legal counsel is a lawyer from the city attorney’s office. The Commission is also advised by the city attorney’s office; a different lawyer, it’s true, but the same office. In this case the Board’s attorney was working the other side of the fence. This is not a good situation and leaves us unable to fully trust the city attorney to look after our interests. It is very common for public retirement funds to contract with private attorney services, and that is what we should do. We need legal counsel in which we can have total confidence. Our members deserve no less.

We put out an RFP (Request for Proposal) for a consultant to help develop policies, including asset allocation studies. We received 16 proposals and selected the best four. We are interviewing these four, and expect to have a much-needed consultant on board soon.

Once again, thanks to the members who turned out to support our full terms.

JUNE/JULY SURGE

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