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11/30/1992 TRUSTEES OF THE EMPLOYEES' PENSION FUND MEETING November 30, 1992 The City Commission, meeting as the Board of Trustees of the Employees Pension Fund, met in regular session at City Hall, Monday, November 30, 1992 at 9:00 A.M., with the following members present: Rita Garvey Chairperson Richard Fitzgerald Trustee Sue Berfield Trustee Arthur X. Deegan, II Trustee Also Present were: Michael J. Wright City Manager Milton A. Galbraith, Jr. City Attorney Cynthia E. Goudeau City Clerk ITEM #2 - Minutes: Trustee Berfield moved to approve the minutes of the November 2, 1992, meeting. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #3 - Request for Acceptance into Membership: The City Manager presented the recommendation of the Pension Advisory Committee to approve membership for the employee(s) listed below: a) Norma Skinner b) George Savatovic c) Timothy C. Geary d) Jacqualyn DeGroy e) Ruben J. Hernandez f) William F. Keller, Jr. Trustee Fitzgerald moved to accept the recommendation of the Pension Advisory Committee. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #4 - Request for Pension: The City Manager presented the recommendation of the Pension Advisory Committee that Michael A. Bruscell be granted a regular pension under Section 26.34 and/or 26.37 of the Employees' Pension Plan. Mr. Bruscell was employed on October 2, 1972 and began participating in the Pension Plan on that date. His retirement will be effective on June 18, 1993 at the end of the day. Trustee Fitzgerald moved to accept the recommendation of the Pension Advisory Committee. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #5 - Request for Pension: The City Manager presented the recommendation of the Pension Advisory Committee that Sharon McAuley, widow of Gerard J. McAuley be granted a widow's pension under Section 26.34 and/or 26.37 of the Employees' Pension Plan. Gerard McAuley was employed on April 9, 1973 and began participating in the Pension Plan on that date. He passed away on October 25, 1992. The widow's pension for Sharon McAuley is to be effective from October 26, 1992. The pension is payable to Mrs. McAuley in the approximate amount of $22,902.51 (100%) per year for the first five years and in the amount of $11,451.26 (50%) per year thereafter, provided she does not remarry. Trustee Berfield moved to accept the recommendation of the Pension Advisory Committee. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #6 - Request for Pension: The City Manager presented the recommendation of the Pension Advisory Committee that Ray Brock be granted a non-job-connected disability pension under Section 26.34 of the Employees' Pension Plan. Mr. Brock was employed on June 3, 1975, and began participating in the Pension Plan on December 4, 1975. He has a herniated disc which resulted in his application for a non-job-connected disability pension. He has submitted a letter from Dr. Douglas J. Weiland (dated 9/25/92) and Dr. Victor Bilotta (dated 11/9/92) in support of his request. Although he has applied for non-job-connected disability, there is the possibility his current spine problem is related to an on-the-job injury he incurred several years ago. In view of this fact, Mr. Brock also submitted copies of the medical documentation contained in his Worker's Compensation file. There is a Worker's Compensation claim pending for his current injury, but a final decision will not be rendered until after a hearing to be held in January. If the ruling is in his favor, he is expected to request this pension be changed to a job-connected disability pension. Based on an average salary of approximately $18,046 over the past five years and using the formula for computing a non-job-connected disability pension, Mr. Brock's pension will approximate $7,218 annually. Charts from Finance which take into consideration mortality rates and age reflect the "present value cost of financing" this pension will be approximately $57,020.69. A question was raised regarding Dr. Bilotta's reference to Mr. Brock being a poor historian. H. M. Laursen, Human Resources Director, indicated this referred to Mr. Brock's limited literacy and poor documentation of events. Trustee Deegan moved to approve granting Ray Brock a non-job-connected disability pension. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #7 - Temporary Amendment to the PAC Policies & Procedures Manual to allow a quorum of the PAC to vote on disability pensions The PAC consists of three employees who are elected by City employees covered by City pension. The PAC Policies & Procedures Manual contains a provision for "Processing Disability Pension Requests" which states all three members of the Committee must be present when the Committee votes on disability pension requests. This Manual was approved by the PAC and the Trustees. The pension ordinance itself does not contain any language relating to a requirement that all PAC members be present when voting on such a request. Due to the illness of the Chairman of the PAC, this policy was temporarily amended for 90 days earlier this year to allow a quorum (2 members) to vote on disability pension requests. Subsequently, an extension of this amendment was requested by the PAC and approved by the Trustees. At its meeting of October 7, 1992, the Committee voted to amend this policy again for an indefinite period of time due to the fact that Mr. Nicholson was expected to resign. Mr. Nicholson did resign effective October 21, 1992. The City Attorney's Office has advised that the action of the PAC in proposing an amendment to the policy is reasonable and appropriate. A vote by the PAC under these conditions will require a unanimous vote of the remaining members (2 members represent a quorum and a split vote would not carry an approval action). Two votes represent the number of votes that would be required by the PAC to approve a disability pension even with all three members present. The City Clerk has scheduled a January 26, 1993 election for the employees in the Pension Plan to elect a replacement for Mr. Nicholson. The PAC requests approval by the Trustees of this policy amendment. Staff recommends the temporary amendment to be extended until the PAC election is held. Mr. Laursen indicated there will be four meetings of the PAC prior to the election. Concerns were expressed regarding the fact that the Trustees have remanded several disability pensions to the PAC in the past few meetings. A question was raised regarding whether there would be any problems if the amendment was not extended. Mr. Laursen indicated there probably would not be except for the Mobley disability which had been remanded to the PAC at the last Trustees meeting. It was requested action on this item be delayed until the presentation of the next item, the medical standards. After discussion of the Medical Standards item the Trustees returned to this item. Trustee Deegan moved to allow action by the PAC with only two members present for those items the PAC had previously considered but that no new disability pensions be presented to them until such time as three members are present. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #8 - Medical Standards for Pension Physical Examinations The City of Clearwater Employees' Pension Plan provides that permanent employees of the City shall participate in the Pension Plan. The Plan also provides that those "...who have failed to pass a comprehensive physical exam and by reason of such fact have not been recommended for acceptance into the plan by the PAC ..." shall be excepted from plan participation. In an effort to enhance the process of identifying and administering a comprehensive physical exam while ensuring compliance with appropriate laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), staff has worked with medical and legal representatives over the past several years to establish a written manual for the City of Clearwater Medical Standards. Noted in the proposed manual is that the ADA makes it unlawful for a covered employer to use standards, criteria, or methods of admission which are not job-related and consistent with business necessity and have the effect of discriminating on the basis of disability. The ADA also requires that "reasonable accommodation" be made for the known physical or mental limitation of an otherwise qualified individual who is a job applicant (unless the employer can demonstrate the accommodation would impose an undue hardship). The medical standards are intended to provide general guidelines to be used by examining physicians to assist them in making recommendations as to placement in City of Clearwater employment. Medical standards for hire and for pension will be the same; thus, each applicant approved for hire in a full-time permanent position will be approved for pension. The City is now implementing a process where factors of physical ability, working conditions, and other relevant job facts on an individual position basis are identified and made available to medical examiners. The combination of this individual position assessment and the use of medical standards will enable the examining physicians to assess post-hire candidates to determine if they can perform essential job functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation. The PAC approved the proposed medical standards at its meeting of September 2, 1992, and recommended adoption by the Pension Trustees. The Trustees continued this item from their last meeting in order to get a legal opinion regarding: 1) what action the City can or must take in providing an alternate job for an individual who is not totally disabled but disabled from performing current job functions and 2) is it possible to exclude individuals, not disabled at the time of hire, but with conditions known to increase the likelihood of a disability, from the pension plan. Robin Griwei, representing the City's labor attorney, stated the ADA obligated the City to provide reasonable accommodation at equal status and pay for individuals with disabilities. No promotion is required to make this accommodation. However, there is nothing which obligates the employee to accept the accommodation. If an employee is disabled from doing their current job it is their option to accept a different job or request a disability pension. As to the second question Ms. Griwei indicated only if an actuarial risk for a known condition can be shown can an individual be hired but excluded from the Pension Plan. Discussion ensued regarding how this would be done. Ms. Griwei indicated insurance companies do these types of actuarial studies and they should be available. She recommended the disability pension be separated from the Regular Pension Plan. It was indicated this was a bargaining issue that staff needed to discuss with the City Commission in closed session. In response to a question it was indicated if these studies are available, providing for exclusion for certain conditions should not add significantly to the cost of hiring personnel. Discussion ensued regarding the Mobley disability pension. It was indicated she will run out of benefits if no action is taken on her disability pension. It was reported that staff has tried to accommodate her but she is not capable of performing the duties of her current position. It was questioned what action the Trustees wished to take regarding the medical standards. Concerns were still expressed regarding admitting someone with known problem conditions into the pension plan. Staff will work with the City's actuary to have a report within a month. The item was withdrawn and will be resubmitted at the appropriate time. ITEM #9 - Other Business: A closed bargaining session for the City Commission was scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on December 17, 1992, in the City Manager's Conference Room. ITEM #10 - Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 9:39 a.m.