05/14/1998PENSION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
CITY OF CLEARWATER
May 14, 1998
Present: Rita Garvey Chair/Mayor
J. B. Johnson Vice Chair/Commissioner
Robert Clark Committee Member/Commissioner
Pat Greer Committee Member
Pat Shepler Committee Member
John Scacca Committee Member
Dick Fitzgerald Committee Member
Leslie Dougall-Sides Assistant City Attorney
Steve Rosenthal Interim Human Resources Director
Debbie Ford Administrative Analyst
Gwen Legters Board Reporter
The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall.
To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order.
ITEM #2 - Approval of Minutes – April 9 and April 30, 1998
Member Johnson moved to approve the minutes as recorded and submitted in written summation to each board member. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
ITEM #3 - Employees to be Heard - None.
ITEM #4 - Action Items
a) Review and Action on Employee Requests for Years of Service Pension
1) Jimmie Waters, - Mechanic II, General Services Department
2) Jessie Myrick, - Public Services Supervisor II, Public Works Department
Member Greer moved to approve Years of Service Pensions for Jimmie Waters and Jessie Myrick. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
b) Approval of New Hires as Pension Plan Members
Member Fitzgerald moved to accept the following employees into membership in the Pension Plan:
Date of Pension
Employment Elig. Date.
Albert Carrier, Engineer II Public Works Dept. 03/30/98 03/30/98
David Larremore, CAD Technician Public Works Dept. 03/30/98 03/30/98
Jeremy Lewis, Pol. Com. Operator Police Dept. 03/30/98 03/30/98
Angelo Muscarella, Mechanic I General Services Dept. 03/30/98 03/30/98
Lauren Sherman, Accounting Clerk Police Dept. 04/13/98 04/13/98
Michael Burden, Maintenance Worker Solid Waste Dept. 04/13/98 04/13/98
The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously.
ITEM #5 - Pending/New Business
Barbara French -- Set Hearing Date to Consider Non-job-connected Disability Pension
Discussion ensued regarding whether a special meeting is needed and whether Ms. French needs to be present. Staff was directed to schedule this hearing for the next regular meeting,
June 11, 1998. General discussion ensued regarding background of the case.
Board and Staff Discussion
Member Shepler raised concerns regarding validity of a form used by Human Resources to enable predesignation of benefit payments and payment options once an employee is fully vested.
Assistant City Attorney Dougall-Sides said the Legal Department’s opinion was the designation was for retirement benefits, because by ordinance, death benefits can be paid only to the
surviving spouse or dependent children under age 18. She said PAC had designed the form to enable selection of a retirement option early. Questions were raised whether the form does
what it was designed to do, and whether the form should be amended or discontinued.
Questions were raised and lengthy discussion ensued regarding how benefits would be paid if an employee had designated as beneficiary someone other than a spouse or dependent children,
if the employee should die or become incapacitated before retirement. Discussion ensued regarding whether to clarify the intent of the form, changing it to correspond with the ordinance,
or to amend the ordinance. It was indicated amendment of a pension ordinance would require referendum and was a union bargaining issue. While the intent of the ordinance is to protect
families, it is important to anticipate alternative beneficiary choices, given the stance of today’s society with regard to “significant others.”
In response to questions, staff discussed how lump sum benefit payments are made. Staff will modify the form to clarify for what it can be used, notify employees of the clarification,
and copy the modified form to PAC members. Staff was requested to copy PAC members on all correspondence related to pension issues.
ITEM #6 - Director's Reports
The next PAC meeting is scheduled for June 11, 1998.
ITEM #7 - Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 9:46 a.m.