02/12/2004
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PENSION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
CITY OF CLEARWATER
February 12, 2004
Present:
John Lee
Hoyt P. Hamilton
Frank Hibbard
Tom Jensen
Nathan Hightower
William C. Jonson
Vice-Chair
Committee Member/Commissioner
Committee Member/Commissioner
Committee Member
Committee Member
Committee Member/Commissioner
Absent:
John Schmalzbauer
Committee Member
Also Present: Joe Roseto
Stuart Kaufman
Brenda Moses
Human Resources Director
Pension Advisory Committee Attorney
Board Reporter
The Vice-Chair called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. at City Hall.
To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not
necessarily discussed in that order.
2. Approval of Minutes
Member Hightower moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 8,
2004, as submitted in written summation to each board member. The motion was duly
seconded and carried unanimously.
3. Emplovees to be Heard
Kurt Kraus, Public Communications Department, requested the PAC (Pension Advisory
Committee) and the Pension Trustees consider a buyback option for staff who worked
previously as contractual employees that provides them the ability to count contracted time
towards their pension eligibility date.
Human Resources Director Joe Roseto said that Mr. Kraus' request is one of the issues
that the City intends to address with the bargaining units. The PAC Attorney has been asked to
look into those types of concerns. PAC Attorney Stuart Kaufman said the employee would be
required to pay the entire cost of the buyback.
4. Action Items:
a. Review and Action on Employee Requests for Years of Service Pensions:
1. Sherrie Nicodemus, Planning Department
2. Birgitt Dowd, Parks & Recreation
3. Michael Allman, Fire
Member Hamilton moved to approve Years of Service Pensions for Sherrie Nicodemus,
Birgitt Dowd, and Michael Allman. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
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b.
Approval of New Hires as Plan Members:
As of January 29, 2004, the City had 1778.44 FTEs out of 1895.4 budgeted positions.
Wannie Santos was originally hired as part-time; status changed to full-time and pension
eligible as of January 12, 2004. Mason Merryman was originally hired as full-time on November
22, 1999; status changed to part-time on January 11, 2002, and received pension refund;
status changed to full-time and pension eligible as of January 10, 2004.
Member Jonson moved to accept the following employees into membership in the
Pension Plan:
Name. Job. Class. & Dept./Div.
Hire Date
Glorimar Ramos-Quiros, Police Cadet/Police 1/12/04
Alan LeBlanc, Custodial Worker/Library 1/12/04
Perry Conzen, Fleet Mechanic/General Services 1/12/04
Robert Komrek, Fleet Mechanic/General Services 1/12/04
Catherine Voorheis, Police Officer/Police 1/12/04
Jennifer Mortell, Librarian IlLibrary 1/12/04
Vicki Morahan, Customer Service Representative/Engineering 1/12/04
Mark Helme, Parking Technician/Engineering 1/12/04
Daniel Hollingsworth, Parks Service Technician I/Parks & Rec 1/12/04
Lesa Aymami, Police Cadet/Police 1/12/04
Richard L. Long, Police Officer/Police 1/12/04
Benson Di Maculangan, Police Officer/Police 1/12/04
Richard Maple, Police Officer/Police 1/12/04
Samuel Taylor, Police Communications Operator/Police 1/12/04
Debra McDuffie, Police Communications Operator/Police 1/12/04
Wannie Santos, Recreation Leader/Parks & Rec 2/10/03
Mason Merryman, Police Communications Operator/Police 11/22/99
The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
5. PendinQ/New Business:
a. Tania Alich-Set Hearing Date for Job-connected Disability Pension
Pension Elig.
Date
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/12/04
1/10/04
Mr. Roseto requested scheduling a hearing for Tania Alich's job-connected disability
pension request. In response to a question, Mr. Roseto said Ms. Alich is in a no-pay status.
Consensus was to schedule the hearing for March 11, 2004.
6. Director's Reports
Mr. Roseto said there are four pending disability applications besides Ms. Alich's. Mr.
Kaufman said IMEs (Independent Medical Examinations) need to be scheduled for those cases.
Two members of the PAC stated they would not be able to attend the March 11
meeting.
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In response to a question, Mr. Roseto said Ms. Alich's case has not taken any longer to
process than most disability cases. He said it appears that the City is not contesting the
request.
Discussion ensued and it was suggested the March 11 meeting be changed.
Consensus was to re-schedule the meeting to 9:00 a.m. on March 4, 2004.
7. Committee Members to be Heard
Member Hightower questioned if the Pension Plan requires that the Pac must hear all
disability applications regardless of the City's position about the request. Mr. Roseto said staff
provides all available information to the PAC prior to their reviewing a case. The PAC is
required to hear each case so that members can make their own evaluations. He said the
City's position regarding a case is not included in the packets provided to the PAC, because the
information is disseminated contemporaneously to all parties, including the City Attorney. It
was requested that staff provide the PAC with information regarding the City's plan to contest
an applicant's request whenever possible.
Member Hightower said all changes to the Pension Plan require a referendum. The City
and unions make a concerted effort to address all issues and ensure all staff affected have the
opportunity to voice their opinions. It was remarked that a number of contract employees and
some management employees are not members of the Pension Plan.
Member Jonson questioned the organization of the material provided. Mr. Roseto said
staff does not withhold any information and concerns themselves more with the information
rather than the amount of documentation. In response to a question, Mr. Roseto said he will
report if one page in Ms. Alich's packet of information is misnumbered or missing.
Member Lee said the PAC previously had discussed the difficulty in reading some of the
physicians' reports due to poor handwriting, rendering the reports useless. Mr. Kaufman said
the handwriting issue is not easily remedied.
Member Jensen said he had discussed with Mr. Roseto the language in the State
Statute with respect to stoppage of benefits for an employee who retires, receives Pension
benefits, then is reemployed. Mr. Jensen felt all Pension-related issues should be a priority
item for the City. He suggested the Pension Trustees discuss whether an administrator should
be devoted to address these issues or if there is another solution to being more proactive
regarding Pension-related issues.
8. Adiournment
The meeting adjourned at 9:24 a.m.
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Pension Advisory Committee
Attest:
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Board Reporter
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