Met Friday, June 18, 2010, at the E. B. Cape Center to hear presentations
by
George Bravenec, Sherry Mose and Lonnie Vara
Along With Featured Speaker:
Ms. Rhonda Smith, acting Executive Director of HMEPS
 Ms. Rhonda Smith, featured speaker and acting Executive Director of HMEPS, is filling the vacancy left by the retirement of long time director David Long. At the general meeting Ms. Smith itemized her background experience along with detailing several current HMEPS activities.
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The Association of Retired Houston Municipal Employees (ARHME) held a general membership meeting on June 18, 2010 at the E. B. Cape Center. Approximately 65 people were in attendance. Mr. George Bravenec, ARHME President, called the meeting to order at 11A.M. He acknowledged two Houston Municipal Employees Pension System (HMEPS) trustees in attendance, Mr. Lonnie Vara and Ms. Sherry Mose. They both gave a brief presentation on the importance of having an advocacy group like ARHME, particularly at the present time when the city is facing declining revenues and exploring various means to cut expenditures. Some retirees have already experienced the effect of the city’s tightening budget with the recent significant increase in health insurance premiums. Mr. Bravenec thanked them for their comments and pointed out that he and Ms. Mose are running for reelection to the HMEPS board. He also announced that, at the last ARHME board meeting held on June 7, 2010, the board members unanimously passed a motion to endorse Ms. Mose for reelection. The featured speaker at the meeting was Ms. Rhonda Smith, acting Executive Director of HMEPS. Ms. Smith briefly discussed her background which includes working for the City of Houston Finance and Administration Department, the American Red Cross, the Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund, and the last two years as the HMEPS Director of Administration. She then discussed several activities taking place at the pension office. The upcoming trustee election will involve three trustee positions, two employee positions and one retiree trustee position, with ballots being mailed in the first week of August. She reported that starting in July, State Street Bank and Trust would begin handling payroll for HMEPS, resulting in some minor changes to how information is shown on the pension checks. Retirees will also be able to securely access their account information online. Ms. Smith also discussed the funding problems with pension funds that have been in the news lately, with many funds facing significant changes to funding and benefits to meet their obligations. She pointed out that HMEPS has already addressed many of these issues and is in much better condition than most pensions due to changes that were made in the last meet and confer agreement with the city, and that now all that was needed was time for the changes to work. Following Ms. Smith’s presentation, Mr. Bravenec gave an update on the health insurance premium increase, presenting a chart that clearly demonstrated that retirees, due to the city’s method of determining rates and inadequate funding for health insurance costs, have been asked to fund a disproportionate share of the rate increase cost. He also reported that, under the federal Affordable Care Act of 2010, the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program provides funding for employers to reimburse retirees under the age of 65 for health care cost increases. This program may provide the City of Houston funds to offset the 49% increase in health insurance premiums that retirees 55 to 64 years of age have received. Mr. Bravenec has sent a letter to Mayor Parker requesting that the city apply for this program. There was a lively question and answer session following Mr. Bravenec’s presentation. Most of those asking questions expressed dismay that the city would increase health insurance costs so dramatically in one year. Mr. Al Mays then reviewed some proposed revisions to the bylaws. The most significant revision involved allowing retirees from the HMEPS office to be eligible to become active members of ARHME. The proposed revisions were approved unanimously. An election for five ARHME board positions was also conducted. The five incumbents, George Bravenec, Marian Burton, Jayne Longley, Herb Lum and Al Mays were all reelected unanimously. A drawing was held for door prizes and the meeting adjourned to a separate room where a pizza lunch was provided. ARHME thanks James Coney Island, Kroger’s, Pappas Barbeque, Randall’s and Target for their generation donations. Al Mays, Vice Chair Posted July 2, 2010
|  Both Sherry Mose and Lonnie Vara stressed why it is critically important for retired municipal employees to be members of ARHME at a time like this when both pension benefits and the cost of health insurance premiums are the target of the city’s cost cutting considerations. They also urged current ARHME members to encourage non-ARHME members who are retired municipal employees to become members of ARHME.   ARHME board members, pictured left to right, Marian Burton and George Bravenec are readily available to meet with members and non-members. Marian discusses issues with former ARHME board member Jack Wells. |
| Links to Previous General Membership Meetings: January 19, 2010 June 8, 2009 January 30, 2009 June 2, 2008 |
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