DPROA General Membership Meeting Minutes September 14, 2022

by | Sep 19, 2022 | Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, September 14, 2022 @ 11:00 am

The September 2022 General Membership meeting of the Dallas Police Retired Officers Association took place at Knights of Columbus Hall, 10110 Shoreview Drive, Dallas, TX 75238.

Present:           President David Elliston

                        Secretary Ken Seguin

                        Director Boux Bland

                        Director Joe Richtsmeier

                        Communications Director Carol Richtsmeier

Absent:            Vice President Sally Lannom

                        Treasurer David Potts

                        Director Crista Walker

                        DFR Advisor Larry Williams

Presentation:

  1. President Elliston called the meeting to order at 11:05 am.
  2. President Elliston led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance.
  3. President Elliston announced the names of the 8 police and firefighters who had passed away during the month of July 2022 according to the DPFPS website.
  • Police
    • Charles Dooley, David Giddings, Johnnie Newton, Perry Richardson
  • Fire
    • Lewis McPherson, Leon Roddam, E.H. Glasscock Jr, Norman Reynolds
  1. President Elliston delivered the invocation.
  2. The minutes from the August 2022 meeting had been previously posted on the DPROA website.  A motion was made by member Robert Gutkowski to accept the minutes as posted; seconded by member Gary Grable.  Motion carried by acclamation with none opposed.
  3. President Elliston said that attorney George Vie told him that he’d have a draft of the written appeal of the 192ndDistrict Court decision ready for circulation/review among the E-Board by September 15.
  4. President Elliston stated that he was the only retiree present at the Pension Board meeting on September 8, 2022.  He welcomed the three newest members of the board.  He said the trustees were discussing $16 million in the new city budget and possibly putting it into the pension fund but that Mayor Johnson wants to put that money into the relatively new Inspector General’s Office. Councilmember Mendelsohn made a comment in a Channel 11 news story that she thought it was “laughable” if members of the City Council thought that $16 million in the new budget would help the pension.
  5. President Elliston reported on the results of the survey publicized on the DPROA Facebook page for members to update their postal address, telephone number, and email address.  He said that 342 had responded to the survey and another 20-25 members had replied via email.
  6. There was no new information on the recommendations of the Mayor’s advisory committee.  President Elliston stated he had written to the Texas Attorney General’s Office (AGO) regarding what documents had to be released by the City of Dallas under the Texas Public Information Act.  This was relative to an earlier request for the recommendations by Mayor Johnson’s advisory committee on recommendations to stabilize the pension fund.  After the city released only three emails between trustee Bill Quinn and the mayor’s chief of staff (Tristan Hallman) about setting up meetings, it was questionable as to whether the city released all that was required of it. The AGO replied that it no longer possessed the documents it had reviewed and had returned them to the city with instructions on release.  Mr Quinn had previously spoken of possible ways to bolster the pension such as Pension Obligation Bonds and/or selling city assets such as Love Field.   The E-Board decided the Open Records request was a dead issue and had no intention of pursuing the matter further.
  7. President Elliston advised on the City’s campaign to build a new convention center and to renovate Fair Park and to convince voters to approve a revenue bond for these purposes.  Such movement seems to overlook the problems with the current pension fund and the continuation of the problems in the future which affects both active and retired officers.  It is very unlikely that the DPROA could successfully undertake a campaign to defeat this movement.
  8. President Elliston said that although Treasurer Potts was unable to make the meeting today, he had a copy of the monthly Treasurer’s Report if any members wanted to see it at the end of the meeting.
  9. President Elliston announced that the Annual Police Retirees Picnic would take place on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at Jim Hogg Park, Quitman, TX (10 am – 2 pm).
  10. The next General Membership meeting is scheduled for October 12, 2022 at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
  11. President Elliston recognized attending member Gary Beck who was celebrating his 70th birthday.
  12. President Elliston mentioned a book he was reading titled “Watergate: The Hidden History” by Lamar Waldron, and that much of the Kennedy assassination was discussed in the book.
  13. Director Bland mentioned that the non-sworn Employees Retirement Fund was 74% funded and that the $5 billion figure of underfunding takes into account both the non-sworn and sworn pension plans.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:34 am.

//s//

Kenneth E. Seguin

Secretary

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