The Rearguard

California Retired Public Employees AssociationOLD PUEBLO TUCSON / SOUTHERN ARIZONA, Chapter 103

Our mission: We are active and retired California Public Employees workingtogether to maintain and improve the quality of the lives of our members by protecting and

improving retirement, medical and other benefits.

Volume 7, Number 24 April 15,2015

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

My name is Ken Burns and this is my first President’s Message since being elected as president in January 2015. My wife and I both worked for the State of California. I worked for the Department of Corrections for 31 years before retiring in 2000. I’ve been a member of our Chapter 103 Board since 2011. I, like the rest of you, have concerns about the preservation of our pensions and health benefits.

I wish to thank the current board for continuing to serve and new board member Marilyn Carter for volunteering for the secretarial position! Thanks also to our webmaster Stephen Pustelnik for designing and setting up our chapter website -- check it out at CALRPEACHAPTER103.COM. Stephen has done a great job!

I am encouraged to work with such a dedicated group of folks. Along that line while most of our functional board positions are filled, there is always room for additional board members to serve “at-large.” We’ve found that having a broad base of talent makes each of our jobs a little easier and provides for an overall healthier chapter. So, if you have a little time and want to contribute, please contact one of us by phone or Email listed in this newsletter or on the website.

The January membership meeting was at the Golden Corral on E. 22nd Street in Tucson -- the first time at that location. Those we heard from said it was a great place to conduct our quarterly meetings. We have a large room all to ourselves with room to spread out and with many types of food to choose from -- all at a great price. The next meeting is at the Golden Corral on April 15th at 11:30 am. AND, we’ve added another “free lunch” to our list of April door prizes. If you’re one of the lucky door prize winners you’ll receive a free lunch ($11.00

reimbursement -- no purchase necessary -- for the senior lunch buffet plus drink). Everyone who attends the April meeting is eligible to win!!

We’re pleased to welcome three new members who’ve joined our chapter -- Joan Goard, Hector Robles and LeAnn Christianson. We hope to see you at our meetings.

Lastly, Tom Hanley has lined up great speakers for April -- Rick and Linda Hanson. They’ll tell us about the Road Scholar program that has evolved from the Elderhostel program and how it can inspire us seniors.

The HANSONS -- Guest SpeakersRick and Linda Hanson of Tucson have participated in a number of Road Scholar tours, a worldwide travel and educational program for oldsters (that’s us) through their Ambassador Program. (Road Scholar is not to be confused with the Rhodes Scholar program.) The program’s mission is to inspire adults to learn, discover and travel. There’ll be a visual PowerPoint presentation and an orientation based on personal experience. Rick retired from the City of Minneapolis after 16 years and from the State of Washington after 9 years -- so he empathizes with “us” retirees. This program should be extremely interesting and very different from our previous programs. Don’r miss it!

AMBIAAmbia is the new member benefit provider. Al Darby, Vice President, from RPEA HQ recently visited AMBIA’S HQ in Austin, Texas to see for himself how they operate and what can be expected from them. He was quite pleased with their operation. In addition to a laundry list of various benefits, the company will be working with RPEA to increase our membership, which is a promising side to the current slide in membership. (See the enclosed insert for a list of AMBIA benefits. And we urge you to refer to the Jan/Feb 2015 RPEA HQ publication for additional RPEA discounts. )

THE PRIZES - WHO WON WHATWell, January 21st was the lucky date for several of us! Red Lobster $25 gift card, Mary Hedrick Free Lunches - Stephen Pustenik, Marilyn Carter, Barbara Barton, Ed Gladish, Myrna Wonder $40 50/50 Raffle - Mary Wood

STRAIGHT OUTA SACRAMETO! During a recent password audit by a company, it was found that an employee was using the following password: MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento When asked why she had such a long password, she rolled her eyes and said “Hellooo! It has to be at least 8 characters and include at least one capitol.”

THE SWEET TOOTHUmmm Ummm good! As in years past, RPEA HQ is again offering discounted See’s candy certificates, each good for a 1 pound box of candy. The current price

of a pound of See’s is $18.50; the certificates cost $13.75 -- that’s a savings of $4.75! There is no expiration date. The certificates are good at any See’s Candy Store. A good buy for any gift or any chocolate lover! Refer to the Jan/Feb RPEA Newsletter for further information.

What retired folks have learned…..? Age is a very high price to pay for maturity. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural

stupidity. The best way to do housework is to sweep

the room with a glance. Going to church does not make you a

Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

If you must choose between two evils, choose the one you’ve never tried before.

It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

Old age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

There is one more imbecile than you counted on.

Thou shall not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

By the time you make ends meet, they’ve moved the ends.

A HISTORY LESSONMany today have forgotten the history of yesteryear. Pensions at one time were rare. If you were fortunate, you got a small memento just before they showed you the door. Those that came before us realized we needed something to keep us from living in poverty. Social Security was one of the first steps of the formation of the “three legged stool.” What am I talking about? Those far thinking individuals realized that those retiring needed social security as one leg of retirement. Pensions and savings would form the other two legs of the “stool” we would rest on during our retirement years.

Many today call this “entitlement or benefits.” They are actually deferred wages. When we went to work we agreed to accept a lower salary based on the promise that after X number of years

we’d receive X percent of our salary. It was called defined benefits. Yes, over the years the benefits have been improved through the hard work of those that came before. Many say these “bennies” can’t be changed, in accordance with State Law. I suggest you better take a harder look at what the Feds are doing and reconsider.

The winds of change are blowing and not for the better. Example: A federal “rider” to a spending bill allowed the benefits of current private employee pension funds to be unilaterally changed as part of an effort to save some distressed pension plans. This alters 40 years of federal law and can affect millions of workers, most part of the rapidly shrinking middle class. How does this affect us? Currently it doesn’t. But many state legislatures, city and country leaders are eyeing it and talking about doing the same to public employees. My only comment on that is “beware of politicians bearing gifts!” (??Gov. Jerry Brown??)

Thanks G. Otterbeck! FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Responding to a WSJ editorial of 2-9-15 (in which WSJ calls Calpers a bully), the following 2-24-15 is a letter to the editor from Robert Udall Glazer of Calpers:

“Regarding your editorial ‘Calpers Gets Schooled’ (2-9-15): While no one takes pride in being called a bully, which the Journal calls us, we aren’t ashamed of our actions to protect the pension promises made to California’s public servants, including our actions in the Stockton bankruptcy case. Clearly the Journal doesn’t understand our fiduciary duty as trustees of the pension fund to protect the modest retirement security of our retirees who receive an average pension of only $2,700 a month. There is no real news in the written opinion issued by the federal judge. It restated the determination he had previously made and explained in court --

public pensions can be touched in municipal bankruptcies. While we continue to disagree on that point, the more important take away from the written opinion is that cities may continue to pay Calpers and thereby honor the deferred compensation commitments they have made to employees.

The rhetoric used in the opinion, and in your editorial, won’t dissuade us from continuing to champion those who really stand to lose -- the dedicated public employees and retirees whose careers are spent serving our communities and California.”

WHO WOULD’VE GUESSED

The Sacramento-Tucson connection (Extracted from the Arizona Daily Star, 2-26-15):

Casas Adobes Plaza, the retail, restaurant and specialty shopping center on the Southwest corner of W.Ina and N.Oracle roads changed hands this week. The property, home to the Wildflower Restaurant, Chipotle, Pei Wei, a new Whole Foods, etc. along with more than 20 tenants was sold to Global Retail Investors (GRI) for 46 million. GRI is a partnership of the Maryland-based First Washington Realty and the California Retirement System (CalPers), the largest public pension fund in the United States. The all-cash purchase worked out to about $504 per square foot! CalPers had previously approached the owners to buy several times’

The tenants define the property and that’s what attracted GRI. Casas Adobe is an iconic Tucson shopping center. The quality of the design......Mediterranean and Spanish architecture….. bode well for the property! And, in addition to Casas Adobes, GRI also owns River Center, at East River Road and North Craycroft that was purchased in 2014.

Why, you ask, all this information about Tucson shopping centers? Because whenever and wherever possible we need to patronize one of our OWN investments! Spend money, keep our pension viable!

2015 - 2016 Officers

President Ken Burns 393-1855

Email: KEN BURNS@COX.NETVice PresidentMac McCarty 297-9814

Email: MCCARTYML@AOL.COM Secretary Marilyn (Sandra) Carter 465-

7136Email: MARILYNCARTER42@YAHOO.COM

Treasurer Barbara Barton 625-8482

Email: BARBBARTON@AOL.COMNewsletter Editor Georgia McCarty

297-9814

Email: MCCARTYML@AOL.COM

Members-at-Large Programs Tom Hanley 378-0688

Email: TOMHANLEY@COX.NETMembership Bev Burns 393-1855

Email: BEVBURNS@COX.NETSunshine Sandra Pustelnik

722-1136 Webmaster Stephen Pustelnik 722-1136

A FEW LONG-TERM CARE FACTS

A federal government study found that 70% of people aged 65 and older will require long-term care services at some point. Aging is commonly associated with the need for long-term care, but younger people may need these services as a result of injury, disease or disability.

The average daily cost of residence in a California skilled nursing facility is about $260 per day or more than $7500 per month, a cost that 64% of Californians over age 40 say they could not afford for more than three months. This cost could rise over time due to inflation.

Long- Term Care services are NOT covered by health insurance, Medi-Cal or Medicare, or will only provide coverage when certain prerequisites are met, such as spending down financial assets. Most people don’t want to do this since it can reduce resources for other family members.

Even the most dedicated spouse, child, sibling, or close friend may not have the time or means to take care of someone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for an extended period of time. Additionally, solely relying on loved ones may make you feel like a burden.

If you haven’t already, for your own peace of mind, look into long-term care for yourself --whether it’s through PERS or another carrier.

QUARTERLY LUNCHEON MEETINGS LUNCHEONS ARE HELD ON THE 3RD WEDNESDAYS OF JANUARY, APRIL, JULY AND OCTOBER

0 SIGN IN, HAVE LUNCH, MEET AND SOCIALIZE 11:30 AM0 CHAPTER BUSINESS MEETING 12:15 PM0 GUEST SPEAKER 12:30 PMO DOOR PRIZES AND RAFFLE 1:15 PM

NEXT MEETING:Wednesday, April 15th

THE GOLDEN CORRAL BUFFET RESTAURANT4380 E. 22ND STREET

(Between Swan and Country Club)

(GET YOUR PENCILS OUT AND MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE MEETINGS ON)JULY 15TH AND OCTOBER 21ST

Old Pueblo Chapter 103California Retired Public Employees AssociationGeorgia McCarty, Newsletter Editor1911 E. Pole Star PlaceTucson, Arizona 85737