July 18, 2012 CSEA Retirees Chapter 36 Minutes Call to order: President Pledge: Mr. Gus Lease District C Introductions: Pres., Vice Pres., Sec., Delegates, Division C, Guests, Guest speakers, members present Reading and approval of the minutes: motion (Rose Ackerman) and seconded (Maria Novak Lopez) to approve as written (Amendment: 1 st, 2 nd) None Welcome to new members and guests: Jerry Evans CSR board member did the swearing in of new officers, they are: Marilyn Hamilton, President, Allan Lee, Vice President and Stephanie Hueg Sec/treasurer. The passing of the gavel from Mr. Otis Hollibaugh to Mrs. Marilyn Hamilton was done and the 1983 Charter was passed on as well. Mrs. Hamilton made a request that a new updated charter be made of President Susan Sears. The new officers were seated. Assemblyman Luis Alejo for presentation of certificates to Mary Dennis and Otis Hollibaugh and a talk on the on the State of California s budget; Served as Watsonville City council member for 2 years and Mayor of Watsonville for 1 year. He has been trying to stay in touch with his constituents and due to new boundary lines being approved he will become assemblyman of district 30 from district 28. He told us of his family story and that his grandparents were agricultural workers that his father served in the Vietnam War He used his VA bill collage money to become a teacher of auto body. His mom was an LVN in the Santa Cruz county jail. She had returned to school and become an RN at Alisal Health Clinic. He talked about himself being an at risk youth and had a lot of help and support at school. He became a wrestler and attended Gavlain, he improved his grades and attended
UC Davis law school and then graduated from Harvard law in education policy. He became a staff attorney for Monterey Co. family and civil law. Sept. 1 st recess will be over and the state budget will be the number 1 issue to deal with. The biggest problem for the state is the foreclosure issue which has caused a sharp downturn of revenue for the state. Prop. 30 is a tax increase measure designed to bring in an additional 6 billion dollars to the state by increasing the sales tax. This budget requires a 2/3 vote to pass (this requirement was brought in by Gov. Pete Wilson). The homeowner s bill of rights was passed to establish an $18 billion account to assets homeowners at risk of foreclosure. It establishes rules for banks to follow. It prohibits dual tracking, applying for relief or resetting mortgage and foreclosure proceedings. Homeowners now only have to deal with one person when working out foreclosure, refinancing, and short sale options. It also prohibits robo signing of documents and provides for legal right of the individual to take action against a bank if not following the program. He also discussed the issues surrounding Salinas Valley Hospital. He prefers that it merge with Natividad but the details of the proposal are not public yet. He took several questions from the audience. Agrees with a bill being put together to transfer assets from Salinas Valley Hospital to Natividad. The high speed rail was approved by voter s way back when for electric trains why is it going forth non electric? He will look into the funding issue. He suppoerts it s building as it will create many jobs. He feels it will need good oversight to protect the interests of California. When asked who makes decisions regarding the contracting out of materials and workers. He stated that it was ultimately the work of the state legislature to put pressure on the Rail Authority. He also touched on the University of California pay raises for highest paid managers. He discussed the need to put a stop to these. He worked on keeping the local DMV office opened and providing services during its building rehab project. This may have led to a permanent closure of this office if not watched closely. State Parks are at risk but the communities have been stepping in to help fund
these to keep them open. He would like to keep our current 100/90 healthcare coverage with CalPERS, 401k s are risky and should not be base for retirement plans. A member asked how she can get help with her old countywide mortgage now that that bank is no longer around. Mr. Alejo took her name and number and will contact her to assist her with this problem. She was also asked to call CalPERS as this bank was a partner of theirs. She was also given CSR Mary Reed s number 1-888- 808-7197 to get some guidance. He was received very well by our membership today. He was open and knowledgeable. Assemblyman Alejo made presentations of State Assembly Certificates of Recognition to Mr. Otis Hollibaugh (Chapter 36 Past President) and Mrs. Mary Dennis (Chapter 36 Past Vice President) for the many years of service to their communities. CSR President Susan Sears and Dr. Phil Sherwood, Thank you to our past president and Vice President and welcome to our new officers. They will say a few words about CSR and answer a few questions. President Sears gave the group a brief history of her employment history and how she came to be our current President. She also discussed her endeavor to meet with each chapter to get to know them and provide an opportunity for them to get to know her. She talked about a proposition on the ballot which is referred to as the special exemptions act. This proposal is sponsored by Karl Rove and the Koch brothers and would provide strength to corporations. She encouraged our members to get our word out and vote. She also discussed the need for our members to write letters to the editors in local newspapers using their own situations and the effect proposals would have on them personally and to use their own words. You can contact headquarters to obtain talking points we can use in our letters. Dr. Phil Sherwood, He was a teacher at Sacramento State and a member of ACSS prior to his current position as general manager of CSR. He retired in 2006 after 37 1/2 years. He is currently a member of
chapter 2. There is 6 staff to do the work for 33,000 members. These employees are able to get information and items that would be difficult for our members to get on their own. There is a lot of work to be done but some accomplishments are, getting newspaper articles out to tell our side of the public employee benefits packages debate. An ombudsman program has been initiated to help our members with problems they may be having with the CalPERS medical/retirement. Guest President Chapter 23, Bobbi Estrada, gave a brief talk about her upcoming chapter BBQ in Santa Clara Central Park August 8, 2012, reservations by 8-2-12. She is also Chair of the Sergeant at arms committee. She discussed the upcoming training and delegate assembly and General Council as well as thanked Members Allan Lee, Charles Hueg and Stephanie Hueg for volunteering to function as sergeants at arms for these meetings. Report of Officers: President: deferred Vice President: deferred Sec/Treasurer: Received monthly reports, new signature cards to be completed with Santa Barbara Bank and Trust. The new authorized signatures will be; President: Marilyn Hamilton, Vice President: Allan Lee and Sec/treas: Stephanie Hueg. The account will require two(2) authorized signatures per check. Receipt for donation to Redwing horse sanctuary $25.00 and receipt for food donation of $15.00 for a total of $160.00. Bank Balance: $16,990.43 as of 6-17-12 Delegates: deferred Division C: Mr. Lease report; He recalled when he first meet Otis and Mary at Region VII and he thanked them for their more than 50 years of service to our organization. He commented that Otis s attitude was always a good one. He also remarked about Mary s willingness to help with the minutes and bookkeeping for both the chapter and the Region VII.
He commented that our retirement is regulated and constitutional but that People are out to get us, I don t know why? We put into our retirements and years of service, cities and counties may not have but state workers have, and they want to take it away. He recognized Chapter 3 representatives here today. Mary McDonnell, Chapter 23 Bobbi Estrada. Mr. Lease discussed the main resolution for GC. CSEA would no longer have any governance in our CSR organization. CSEA would become a service organization in that it s only function would become provider of services to our affiliates and us and we would no longer have to abide by CSEA bylaws and governing rules. We have paid $440,000.00 in service charges for accounting, benefits, etc. SEIU local 1000 no longer wants to provide 80% of payments for these charges and is establishing their own. They have agreed to a payment of $2 Million for next 3 years after which they will no longer be paying into CSEA. This also means that there will be changes in who represents us on the CSEA board as well as how we get representation on the board as well as changes in voting rights on the CSEA board. It will mean the end of our connection to CSEA. Report of Committee: Membership: current 460, previous 456 Legislative/PAC: Dick Mesa has confirmed with Allan Lee the invitation to speak at our Sept. meeting Committee recommendations for action: Unfinished Business: Presentation of plaque to Mary Dennis by Mrs. Hamilton our new President. New Business: election of a second alternate delegate for a 3 year term: Maria Novak Lopez was nominated by Allan Lee to serve as alternate delegate for chapter 36 she was agreeable after some questions about the position. She was given the information to go to LA and be sworn in. Seconded by Mary Dennis Announcements:
Next Chapter 036 meeting date: September 12, 2012 10:00 Denny s 1255 De La Torre, Salinas, CA Guest speaker: Dick Mesa PAC chair California State Retirees Division C Mock CSEA general council; August 2, 2012 at the Irish Center in San Francisco Chapter 23 family picnic; August 8, 2012 Santa Clara Central Park CSR Sargent of arms training: August 30, 2012 Westin Bonaventure Hotel Los Angeles CSR delegate assembly: August 31, 2012 CSEA general Council: September 1-2, 2012 CSR Board Meeting Date: November 2012 CSR Committee meetings and dates: Resolutions committee-august 30, 2012 Bylaws and Governing Rules-August 30, 2012 Health benefits committee-november 2012 Adjourn: Bill amount $387.93 Check #1343 # Present: 33 Denny s Restaurant 1255 De La Torre Salinas (exit 326A), CA 831 424 9551