Friday, August 20, 2010

More Pension News.....

Mr. Ed Wall of the pension board has taken his time to respond to and answer some questions related to our pension, and we thank him for that.
"The Pension Board minutes for meetings since March, 2010 will be posted soon. We apologize for them not being posted sooner.

The Pension Board has never paid for Mr Robertson to fly from Chicago to attend a meeting and he has never asked to be reimbursed. Furthermore, it isn't allowed in the Pension Code.

The Board felt it needed a lawyer with unique expertise in retirement law and IRS regulations like ERISA. It is extra money paid from the fund.

Elections for the two employee representatives will be held in January in accordance with the Pension Code.

Our meetings are public meetings held in the Commissioners conference room on the 5th floor of the Maloof building.

Former CEO Vernon Jones did not ask and has not purchased time in the Pension Plan for his time served in the General Assembly. Furthermore, it is not allowed by the Pension Code.

Kinda personal stuff in here. I am not gay nor am I a sex offender.

Your Pension assets are very important. I and the Board of Trustees know how important this is to each of you."

Ed Wall

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Ed!

Anonymous said...

Well, I for one thank Mr. Wall for his response and his answers to questions asked. I will add though that some of the reason for some of the questions are the boards past and I hope not in the future, failure to keep the employees informed. The questions have been asked and they have been answered. I might also suggest that the personal attacks on Mr. Wall be stopped immediately. There is no need for that at all. The failure of the police dept and most of the county government to quell rumors immediately and to keep those who are affected by the silence is really not very good management and openess would go a long way to have better relations between employeer and employee. Thanks to the blog for posting and thanks again to Mr. Wall for addressing these issues.

Anonymous said...

Anybody wonder why the county wants to give away $34 MILLION to a Florida company so they can share the cost of private development yet they take money from first responders already tiny checks?!? I wonder who owns/runs the private development firm they're considering.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3: I've been looking into that myself. It's funny that Boyer is saying no to this development as she was supportive when they were working with Sembler, another Florida company. Sembler and Jeff Fuqua were both heavy contributors to the financial campaigns for Ellis and Boyer. You just have to follow the money...or the stench.

Anonymous said...

I still think Robertson is not a very good rep for the retireesand I would like to see someone better representing the retirees. The retirees need a cost of living raise and I don't think he is pushing hard enough if at all....who knows.....The pension can give the county $30 million bucks and he fotes in favor I assume but he cant get us a COLA? Gimme a break.They don't have to give the recent retirees a COLA. They just got on the wagon..Just the ones who are starving.Retirees, what do you guys think?

Anonymous said...

I agree, Robertson is not a good rep for us. He's a cheat and a smoke blower. He'll say anything he thinks you want to hear.

Robert Robertson said...

I have just found out about this blog and I wanted to personally address some of the comments on here. First of all, if you check the minutes of the pension board meetings, I have REPEATEDLY asked and demanded for COLAs for the retirees and even suggested a 'built in' COLA for the retirees. The issue is that the pension board cannot, while working within their fiduciary responsibility, vote in a COLA when there is not adequate funding to cover the cost. Rest assured, I have been lobbying diligently for the COLA, as I, too, have not had a COLA since June 2006, when I retired. In addition, the no matter what the board recommends to the COLA, the board of commissioners needs to vote to approve any enhancements to the plan and they have been dead set against any COLAs. You currently have access to all the published minutes of the board meetings because I fought for the minutes to be publicly posted. Do your research on that too. There is not a centralized database for retirees which I can access and, therefore distribute news/info, so I thought that by publishing the minutes, I was doing the best service for all involved. I have personally spent my own money to go to the board meetings so I can respresent the retirees in the best way possible no matter where I am. I have also spent my own money to attend educational events, so I can better represent the needs of the retirees.
Robert Robertson

Anonymous said...

Mr. Robertson,

Thanks for taking the time to post and set the record straight.

Any time you want to give us an update, I'm sure whoever is running this blog will give you the space.

PenPen said...

Hi, anyone out there who can help me with this...greatly appreciated. I am a writer in CA and currently Im working on a story about "pension mishandling." Anyone familar with CA politics is acutely aware of what a diaster this has brought to many counties in our state. My research brought me to DeKalb County and the issues and questions surrounding folks like Ed. Wall and Burrell. Especially the "bathroom stall" incident in 2007. I am very interested in obtaining the police reports from this incident and would absolutely love to have those surveillance tapes! Wooho! The reports Ive read only name the investigating agency as "Atlanta Police" can someone point me in the right direction as to "which precinct or district caught the bust on this. Please. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you, PenPen

Anonymous said...

Penpen,

That would be the Atlanta Police Department. APD patrols the incorporated City of Atlanta. I remember the incident, but not the specifics. The Atlanta Police Department patrols the airport.... I assume the airport would be considered our equivalent of a precinct or a zone.

We, the Dekalb County Police Department, patrol unincorporated Dekalb County. We cover areas that have a mailing address of Atlanta Ga, but they are unincorporated areas. Most of the City of Atlanta is in Fulton County, but some also lies in Dekalb. We cover the Eastern unincorporated part of Atlanta and some surrounding areas.

Check with APD (Atlanta Police Department ).

Penpen said...

tHANK YOU! I been reading some past media reports about "him" and must say, I am puzzeled as to how "he" was voted into an "appointed position" in 11.2008 on the Pension Board then became the Chairman of the Pension Board? With overwhelming evidence of his poor judgment and questionable character. Also, I read that he was also hired to provide "investment Banking Services" to Clayton County...again...how...it defys common sense. Thoughts anyone?