The December 2019 General Membership meeting of the Dallas Police Retired Officers Association took place at the Dallas Police Association, 1412 Griffin Street East, Dallas, TX 75215.
Present:
- President David Elliston
- Vice President Dwight Walker
- Secretary Kenneth Seguin
- Treasurer Crista Walker
- Director Boux Bland
- Director Louis Felini
- Director Dale Erves
- Communications Director Carol Richtsmeier
Absent:
Discussion:
1. President Elliston called the meeting to order and led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Director Erves delivered the invocation.
3. The minutes from the November 2019 meeting had been previously posted on the DPROA website. A motion was made by member James Freeman to accept the minutes as posted; seconded by member Gary Grable. Motion carried by acclamation with none opposed.
4. Former Director Jess Lucio provided information about a raffle being sponsored by the Police Museum for a 2019 Ford Mustang.
5. President Elliston discussed issues that had arisen with the implementation of the new DPROA website, the most significant of which was the inability to send out email “mass blasts.” Comm Director Richtsmeier will speak with a technology consultant to address problems, especially the email issue.
6. President Elliston advised that the monthly report from the Ratliff Company was brief and there was no notable information since the legislature is not in session.
7. President Elliston asked the membership to encourage eligible non-members to join the DPROA and become part of the Annual Adjustment / Benefit Supplement lawsuit. The new Contractual Agreement form will become available on January 1, 2020 for the signup period through March 31, 2020. DPA President Mike Mata will send out a letter to eligible DPA member.
8. President Elliston reminded those present that annual dues or monthly dues must be paid by January 31, 2020 to maintain DPROA membership and participation in the lawsuit.
9. President Elliston noted there was no new information from attorney Kirk Pittard on the Degan case, and a ruling from the Texas Supreme Court answers to the questions from the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
10. President Elliston reported that there was no new information to report from attorney George Vie pertaining to the Annual Adjustment lawsuit against the Texas Pension Review Board (PRB), and the request to depose a corporate representative. He did mention that Assistant Attorney General Cynthia Morales intended to file a Writ of Mandamus with the Texas Supreme Court to oppose such deposition.
11. Treasurer Walker delivered the monthly Treasurer’s Report. She stated that there was $536,000 in the combined accounts of which $273,310 was available for operational issues. A total of 162 members have signed up for auto-deduct with the Pension office. Persons signing up for the AA/BS lawsuit will not be allowed to use PayPal and should write a check instead to the DPROA.
12. Secretary Seguin advised the membership that the Election Committee had met in November and approved the use of electronic voting if an election was required. Candidate Application forms had been received from member Sally Lannom for the position of Vice President and member Joe Richtsmeier for the position of Director Place 2. No application had been received for the office of Treasurer. Secretary Seguin stated he would accept any nominations from the floor and that both the nominator and nominee had to be present. There were no nominations and in view of that, Sally Lannom became Vice President-Elect and Joe Richtsmeier became Director-Elect. Treasurer Walker indicated she would remain in her role until a replacement can be identified. New board members will be sworn in during the March 2020 General Membership meeting and were invited to attend future board meetings.
13. President Elliston publicly acknowledged the work of Treasurer Walker and Comm Director Richtsmeier in keeping up with membership roles and accompanying financial information and the DPROA website.
14. Director Erves said that he had the new DPROA polo shirts available for sale in red, blue, gray and black colors, and also had ball caps and decals available.
15. Vice President Walker reminded the membership that he was a candidate for Commissioner of Precinct 1 in Rockwall County.
16. Vice President Walker talked about a recent TXPERS meeting and its role in pensions.
17. President Elliston advised that a Pension Board meeting was scheduled for December 12 and the topic of Pension Obligation Bonds was supposed to be discussed.
18. President Elliston mentioned the Kentucky Supreme Court, in a recent case, had ruled in favor of plaintiffs that a sponsoring pension entity was required to pay pensions. The case is listed on the DPFP website.
19. In response to a question by member Robert Gutkowski, President Elliston advised that he would be working with the DPROA lobbyist to try and have the ‘clawback’ language removed from HB3158 in the next session.
20. President Elliston stated that Pension Board member Robert Walters was leaving the board and was being replaced by Nicholas Merrick.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:54 am.
//s//
Kenneth E. Seguin
Secretary
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Click to download : MINUTES OF GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Wednesday, December 11, 2019 @ 11:05 am
