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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-11-2004 Minutes L Minutes of the Quarterly Meeting of the CITY OF OCOEE GENERAL EMPLOYEES PENSION BOARD Held on August 11, 2004 At 150 N. Lakeshore Drive Ocoee, FL 34761 Chairperson Tom Ison called the meeting to order at 10:12 a.m. He then called the roll. Trustees Ed Bishop,Jerry Sauerwein,Jean Grafton,and Mary Anne Swickerath were all present, constituting a quorum. Attending the meeting by invitation were Attorney H. Lee Dehner,Mike Sebesta representing TRUSCO, Larry Cole representing Merrill Lynch, Doug Lozen representing Foster& Foster, Inc., and Jo Ann Lacey, Recording Secretary of the Meeting. Also present were two employee Plan members. Chairperson Ison then called for review of the Minutes of the Quarterly Meeting held on May 12, 2004. Copies of those Minutes had been previously circulated to the Trustees. The Trustees were asked if there were any corrections or additions to the Minutes. There being none, it was on motion by Trustee Grafton, seconded by Trustee Swickerath, unanimously RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the General Employees Pension Board of May 12,2004,be and they are hereby approved. Chairperson Ison advised the Board that a letter had been received from TRUSCO advising that they had named a new representative for this Plan. That new representative, Mr. Mike Sebesta, Managing Director, TRUSCO Capital Management, was in attendance and Chairperson Ison called upon Mr. Sebesta to introduce himself. Mr. Sebesta thanked Chairperson Ison. He greeted the Trustees and stated that he has been with TRUSCO for 2-1/2 years. He said he has been a fixed income manager for the last 15 years and has over 16-1/2 years of investment related experience. He said he is transitioning to a client service role and will be the plan service officer responsible for this account. He said he looks forward to the responsibility even though it is a bit different as his background has been in fixed income. He said he has worked closely with Tim Nash in making this transition. Attorney Denner asked what Tim Nash would be doing. Mr. Sebesta advised that he has moved to a sales position. Chairperson Ison asked about Diane Garcia. Mr. Sebesta said that she is in the same position but was not able to attend this meeting. Mr. Sebesta went on to his report and called the Trustee's attention to the acquisition of Seix Investment Advisors. Attorney Denner asked Mr. Sebesta to address, in addition to the Seix purchase,the purchase of Salem Trust and that how will effect the custody of the Plan account, if at all. Mr. Dehner went on to say that he understood that it was the plan General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 2 of 12 to merge the Salem custody operation into the TRUSCO custody operation. Mr. Sebesta said that was correct and that there would be no disruption for any of the existing clients from the custody standpoint either at Salem Trust, TRUSCO, or SunTrust. He explained that what they plan to do is a gradual approach as the transition is done until late 2005 or early 2006. Attorney Dehner asked if their system would be changing. Mr. Sebesta said they would be moving to a new system within the next two years,probably keeping what Salem Trust is using and this would be an enhancement to all of the existing clients. Mr. Sebesta then called attention to the information in the report regarding the Siex acquisition. He advised that Seix is an institutional fixed income money manager specializing in core fixed income as well as high yield. He said they have high yield capabilities with junk bonds and the low investment grades,that they are a core investment grade manager and core plus is a combination of high yield and investment grades. He reported that Siex has a very strong chief investment officer who has been there for 31 years, Christina Siex,who actually owned the company. They have an investment grade leader with 22 years of experience, as well as five portfolio managers and 22 credit research analysts. He said that TRUSCO feels this is a good match because Seix has a great deal of capability and a similar investment philosophy. He said that as of this month,they are essentially responsible for the fixed income process; therefore,the fixed income funds of this Plan are being advised by Siex. He assured the Board that this change would not affect the way this Fund is being managed. Chairperson Ison asked Mr. Sebesta if there was a past record of Siex available for this Board to review regarding such things as what had been brought in as a rate of return for their regular clients. Mr. Sebesta said that he did not have that with him but could have it sent over and said that at the next meeting he would be prepared to talk about their record. Attorney Denner advised that he understood that there would be an entirely new management team because of the Siex acquisition and asked Larry Cole if he would advise the Board of his opinion of the acquisition. Mr. Sebesta said they have a very rigorous self-discipline and internal systems analytics and their self-discipline tells them when to sell a bond when the price is falling. He said that TRUSCO believes that Siex should be able to handle the portfolios better. When asked if Seix is under any contract, the Board was advised that Siex has a five-year contract with TRUSCO as well as the five top partners and four key employees, all of whom have signed employment and transition agreements. Continuing on with his report for the quarter,Mr. Sebesta advised that stocks had outperformed bonds,that two factors which hurt the bond growth were the risk of long term inflation and strong economic activity. He advised that the ending value for the quarter was$10,372,130.68. He stated that the economic recovery is on more of a stable long-term growth pattern and,though that is expected to continue, it is not expected to continue at the rapid pace which has recently been seen. He said that there are two factors which tend to dampen economic activity at present, high oil prices and the fact that the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates modestly. General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 3 of 12 L Trustee Bishop asked if the upcoming national election would have an impact on the market one way or the other. Mr. Sebesta responded that that was a difficult question to answer and stated that there were several other factors that would probably have an impact on the economy other than just the election. He said that the belief is that the activity overseas with the price of oil being at a new high and the conflict in Iraq were issues which would have a stronger impact to the economy, consumer confidence and consumer psyche because the economy is turning the corner and is actually on a self- sustaining basis. Referring the Board to the TRUSCO report,he reviewed the figures presented and explained the different indices which were shown for comparison purposes. Attorney Dehner pointed out that there were significant differences between the two indices shown under each category and asked for clarification about which of the two would be the better for the Board to use to gauge the performance of the funds. Mr. Sebesta replied that he was not sure,that it had to do with the individual portfolio managers. He offered a brief explanation that both indices need to be shown because the manager is managing against the growth index but for informational purposes the Board would want to know how the manager is doing versus the S&P 500 or the Russell 2000 or the appropriate index for each fund. He admitted that this was confusing and said that he would get with Larry Cole to work on refining this and determine what would be the most appropriate for the Board to use for comparison. Mr. Sebesta then concluded his report. He thanked the Board for their understanding with his making this first presentation and stated that he would be better prepared and would make every effort to address the points which had been brought up in this meeting in order to have a more comprehensive report available for the next meeting. Chairperson Ison asked when that report would be available, if they would be mailed in advance or delivered on the day of the meeting. Mr. Sebesta asked about the Board's preference and Chairperson Ison responded that they would like to receive them the week before the meeting so they could be reviewed in advance. Mr. Sebesta answered that he would get an updated mailing list from Trustee/Secretary Grafton and would see that they were mailed out at least one week in advance of the next meeting. Chairperson Ison thanked Mr. Sebesta for his report and then called upon Mr. Larry Cole for the monitor's report. Mr. Cole greeted the Board and addressed the changes at TRUSCO. He advised that Merrill Lynch was well aware of the changes and had been looking at them since they were announced and were meeting with some of the new people. He reported that Merrill Lynch had not had a lot of exposure to them in their municipal clients because their bias is more toward high yield and most public pension funds do not dip down in that quality. He said that high yield is equated with lower quality bonds with higher risk. He said that Siex is an excellent firm with an excellent reputation. He verified Mr. Sebesta's comments about the changes in management in the new fixed income arena and assured the Board that they would be watching all of this closely, particularly with the higher General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 4 of 12 quality portfolios and the strategies they would employ. He said that they do not expect any major changes in the strategy but that it would give TRUSCO a broader array of fixed income products to offer their clients, not just their pension clients,but personal trusts and others. He said that the five-year contract for the key people with Siex was typical and from what he could see for a new acquisition, it was a good one. Trustee Sauerwein asked if there was a track record of Siex available. Mr. Cole said he did not have it with him for this meeting but that he could assure it was good. He said he would run an analysis to bring in to the next meeting,perhaps just a one page handout. He said he was not sure if it would be an accurate comparison about what they would be doing for this Board,but he would still make it available. Attorney Dehner asked Mr. Cole, in order that it be clear for the records,about the quality issue since both he and Mr. Sebesta had mentioned the high yield. He wanted to be certain that this Fund would not be in that quality standard. Mr. Cole responded that the guidelines for this Plan would not change at all, that stocks would be A rated or better. He added that,perhaps in the future, it may be decided that there could be a little more flexibility and that they would recommend a change but that he does not foresee that even though they are always looking for ways to improve the asset allocation in the portfolio. Mr. Cole then discussed Mr. Tim Nash going over to the marketing role. He said Merrill Lynch was notified of that change and that they were well aware that Mr.Nash would be doing that. He assured the Board that, though Mr. Sebesta was a rookie replacement,he was a replacement with 16 years of experience in the investment business so the transition should be handled easily. He said that Mr.Nash was still with the firm, only a few offices away from Mr. Sebesta, and that would allow for a smooth transition since that resource will be readily available to him. Mr. Cole then discussed the Salem Trust purchase. He said that several years ago when TRUSCO's performance was struggling,they lost a lot of custody business. He said that a lot of that business went to Salem Trust and now, ironically, TRUSCO has purchased Salem Trust. He said that he has seen Salem Trust take on a lot of business over the last four or five years and that there was some concern about their capacity to handle the accounts,but they handled the business absolutely flawlessly. He explained that a lot of the people working for Salem Trust are former Barnett Bank people who are seasoned veterans in the business. He said that his hope is that they have something going on with the system side that SunTrust can use and that they will keep some good people from Salem Trust and Diane Garcia and some other who have been involved for a long time on the custody side of SunTrust. He said that should help with any kind of transition right now and should have no negative impact on this Fund. He added that there may be some point in which there are custody issues which might be noticed here before Merrill Lynch sees them and asked that if the Board sees any problem to please let him know so it can be looked into immediately. L General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 5 of 12 (iv Mr. Cole then began his report. He called the Board's attention to the first part of the report which reviewed some issues regarding the consulting industry. He said this is in an attempt to remind everyone of the focus of his team,that they do only the type of work that is done for this Pension Fund. He reminded that they do not practice any retail brokerage or sell any Merrill Lynch products or recommend any Merrill Lynch investment managers. He said that they do nothing that is associated with a typical Merrill Lynch brokerage,what they do is consulting for a fee by contract and with the help of a group of 22 people in New Jersey, they do research for this Fund. He said that those 22 people do due diligence work on investment management firms around the country and that his four person team uses that resource to bring in names of firms for consideration if needed,but not firms that are paid to be in their data base. He said this is bring addressed now because there has been a lot of press recently regarding potential conflicts of interest and they decided they would be proactive rather than defensive in letting this Board know exactly what the Merrill Lynch consulting purpose is. There was a brief discussion regarding the function of Merrill Lynch and the process for searching for an investment manager. Chairperson Ison,following up on an earlier discussion, asked Mr. Cole if it would be possible to get a snapshot,bottom line report on where this portfolio is on a month-to- month basis,with no other explanation,just a total value. Trustee Bishop indicated that there is a monthly report that he gets which gives that information. Following a brief discussion, Trustee Bishop stated that he would share that information with the other Trustees,that he did not know they had received that information previously,but would see that it was available. He indicated that there are three individual reports and a consolidated report. Attorney Dehner asked that he also be sent a copy of the report. Attorney Dehner addressed Mr. Sebesta about recapture in connection with the change to individual asset management so this Fund could take advantage of the recapture. He said he was at a meeting a few weeks ago along with some representatives of TRUSCO and the issue was brought up and it was stated that TRUSCO funds were trading at 2 to 3 cents a share which essentially is a wash if you are looking to trade at 5 or 6 cents a share with a 50%recapture. He said he was told that that is not true across the board for TRUSCO's funds and asked if Mr. Sebesta knew what the situation is. Attorney Dehner went on to say that because those funds were being traded at 5 to 6 cents per share, it was an advantage to have a recapture so some of that would come back but if the funds were trading at 2 to 3 cents a share it would obviate the need for recapture. Mr. Cole advised that he could perhaps address the issue for the Board. He said that when the transition was done out of the funds into the individually managed portfolios across the board they had an agreement to go ahead and do most of the trades on the discount rate because they were doing such a large volume of trades so it netted out the same. He added that not many managers use that on an ongoing basis,but that this particular question was regarding the transition period. He suggested that this be addressed and confirmed at the next meeting. Attorney Dehner asked if that could be done and Mr. Cole said yes. Returning to his report, Mr. Cole was asked by Chairperson Ison to report on page 2. In response, Mr. Cole advised that the value of the Ocoee General Employee's Pension General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 6 of 12 Fund was$10,371,850. He repeated the figure again and Chairperson Ison indicated the pleasure of the Board and stated that he hoped that value could be sustained. Mr. Cole said that sustaining that amount may not be so easy because the new quarter is not yet over and, although July was a good month for stocks, August had not been good. He said there were some bad earnings reports and bad forecasts for some tech companies. He said he did not know if this would have a major impact. He said that, as far as the elections go,that he felt that things would get a lot better after they were over. He reminded that what markets don't like is the unknown and uncertainty and that after all the politics are done,the market will break. He went on to discuss the rankings for this Fund against other public pension funds across the country. He said he would like to see things a little better but as is TRUSCO's pattern,they will protect the Fund's assets very well in bear markets but have trouble keeping up in bull markets and that pattern has continued in the past year although they have done a better job of keeping up. He suggested that when paying attention to all of the politics and all of the analysis and everything starts to be confusing,understand that the Federal Reserve,who knows more about this than anybody else, is raising rates. He said that they do not raise rates because things are bad so his feeling is that this is a sign that there is growth out there and with that we would expect to see stocks do better than bonds. He said that what he would also do for next quarter, since things are now broken out into all of these individual portfolios, is provide a breakdown of each of the funds, for instance,their growth fund and how it has done to growth managers;their value fund and how it has done to value managers, etc. He then mentioned international. He said that TRUSCO has recently doubled this Fund's exposure from about 3%to 6 or 7%and,thought the 3-year number is good,this Fund did not own enough of it. He reminded that the guidelines indicate that the exposure can be up to 10%. Trustee Sauerwein mentioned that this is something that Mr. Cole says most every time about international. Mr. Cole said that is the case because it is true. He added that the Fund is now up to about 7% so they still have a little room and if they want to take it up to 10%, according to the guidelines,that would be fine with Merrill Lynch. He added that he thinks, longer term,they will. Mr. Cole went on to the policy checklist and said that everything is in compliance. He said there were no exceptions to the policy on the left hand side of the page but that there were some no's and some yes's on the performance objectives on the right hand side of the page. He said that overall the performance is consistent and solid through some volatile markets in the last several years. He pointed out on page 23 that there is a breakdown of some of the trades and the activity for the quarter as well as the Merrill Lynch management fees along with any credits received from trades. He said he would ask Mr. Sebesta to come back in with an explanation of the trading activity in the next meeting. He then called attention to the last page which is the ranking for the last one year against the funds Merrill Lynch does work for in the state of Florida. He said that the ranking is a little below average at 53. He pointed out that there is a tight range there that could General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 7 of 12 (of change from 53 up to 30 for a one-year number. He said that there are a couple of reasons this rank is 53 instead of a little bit higher, one is the mid-cap allocation which did not help over the last year and the lower exposure to international versus some of the other funds which were closer to 10%. He added that the quality of the large cap stocks were very high quality stocks and the market hasn't rewarded that in the past year. He said there was nothing here to cause concern but that Merrill Lynch has their eye on a lot of things going on at TRUSCO to be sure that they continue to manage this portfolio responsibly. Trustee Bishop asked if he was referring to SunTrust. Mr. Cole responded that he was, that they are obviously growing and are buying a lot of things. He said that the irony is that they were rumored to be bought a lot of times, which is the case in the financial market these days. Chairperson Ison asked the Trustees if there were any questions for Mr. Cole. There being none,he thanked Mr. Cole for a good comprehensive report. Chairperson Ison then moved on to the Agenda item for a report from Foster& Foster regarding the costs of making possibly three improvements to the Plan benefits. Mr. Lozen greeted the Board and said that the first item he was to address was the study that had been presented. He asked the Trustees if they had had a chance to look over the different items on the study. A copy of the study is attached and is an integral part of these minutes. Mr. Lozen said that the direction he had received was to look at increasing the multiplier,the benefit accrual rate to 3%for all years of service and also to look at a retirement after 30 years of service,regardless of age, and a monthly supplement based on$5 for each year of service with a maximum of either $100 or$200 per month. The options were reviewed by the Trustees and several questions were asked of Mr. Lozen. Following a lengthy discussion among the Trustees, Chairperson Ison stated for the record that there are two basic improvements being considered, an improvement in how many years a person can work and go out and the supplement. He said he would like to see which one of the two the employees would like to see the most and then try to implement that. He said that the one that had been expressed to him over and over is the 30-and-out which is the one that is the most expensive. There was discussion about the 30-and-out and Trustee Sauerwein asked if those people who were eligible for the 30-and-out were to leave as soon as this improvement may be passed, would that be taken into account? Mr. Lozen responded that the study was based on the membership as of 10/01/2003. Attorney Dehner asked what percentage of the membership would benefit from the 30- and-out. Mr. Lozen advised that there were probably 10%of members out of 163. Trustee Bishop said he thought it would be nearer to 6%. Attorney Dehner then advised that it would be appropriate for the Board's consideration to remember that as fiduciaries the responsibility is to act in the best interest of the Plan members collectively. He pointed out that the most expensive benefit presented is the 3%multiplier but that is a Ihrw benefit that would be enjoyed by all of the Plan members whereas looking at a benefit that would benefit only 6 to 7%of the members might not be prudent in considering the General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 8 of 12 r whole group particularly if it would be funded with increased member contributions. He said that would be like a benefit decrease for those putting extra money in for those and they were going to be receiving no benefit from it at all. Trustee Grafton referred to a list which showed the members according to their years in service and asked Mr. Lozen if they were considered. Mr. Lozen advised that they had assumed that whoever was in the plan at normal retirement would work one additional year so for 29 years and plus people, they considered them to be gone by 2004 under this study for 30-and-out. Attorney Denner advised that he has heard Ward Foster comment many times that the most uniform benefit that can be made is the rate [multiplier]. Trustee Bishop said he knew that the Police and Firefighters currently have 3%. It was discussed that, up until the legislation became law in April of this year, it would have been unlawful for the general employees to have a multiplier equal to Police & Firefighters. Chairperson Ison addressed the Trustees and stated that they have heard from the employees over and over and what has been heard is that they want improvements but they want the City to pay for them. He pointed out that economic times for the past several years have not been good and this Board does have a fiduciary responsibility to all of the members. He said he would like to see this Board go before the City Commission for an improvement to the employees, paid for by the City exclusively, and then make a goal of improving this pension plan in stages, go for one now and let the employees know that this Board is continuing to look for other improvements that will benefit the whole group. He added that he wanted to bring up the $100 or$200 monthly supplement which is another benefit that has been continually talked about over the last several years. Following additional discussion among the Trustees, Chairperson Ison said that if he were going to make a presentation on behalf of the employees to the City Commission, he would tell them that the City employees are worth a$300,000 increase in cost to the City and he felt that since the real estate taxes are at the roll back rate,this would be a good time. He added that he would like to see the employee turnover with the City decreased and try to be as attractive as possible so if these improvements could be made,the Board could work on some other improvements for next year. Attorney Denner made an observation that,with respect to the 3%contribution rate, if this were to become a benefit to the Plan and the City funded it,that would be a 15.2% City contribution and that, on a relative basis, is less than most cities are contributing to their plans for, in most cases, a lesser benefit. Mr. Lozen and Chairperson Ison concurred with that statement. Mr. Lozen added that there are many plans where\cities are contributing 20%with a 2.5%multiplier. Chairperson Ison asked if he could be provided with a few of those cities and the amounts they pay for comparison. Mr. Lozen said he could provide those figures. Chairperson Ison said he could use that information as part of the Board's presentation to the Commission as they are always interested in comparisons of population, employees and so forth. Chairperson Ison asked the Trustees for their input and said that he would like to go for the two improvements—increase to 3% multiplier and a$200 supplement. Following General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 9 of 12 (imp, comments from the other Trustees, Chairperson Ison said he would like to go for each of the improvements separately. There were questions raised about whether these benefits would be available to persons already retired. Mr. Lozen advised that these studies did not consider current retirees. Attorney Dehner reminded the Board that any of these improvements would not be effective until after October 1 of this year so they would not have to be funded until October 1, 2005. Chairperson Ison commented that that would be great for the presentation and would give the City almost a year. He suggested, with that in mind,that these proposals be presented in front of the Commissioners when they are working on their budget because if they were hit with it in the middle of the year it would then be doomed for failure. Following a brief discussion, it was on motion made by Trustee Swickerath, seconded by Trustee Sauerwein, unanimously RESOLVED,that the Board of the Ocoee General Employees' Pension Fund recommend to the City of Ocoee Board of Commissioners, improvements to the City of Ocoee Employee's Pension Fund for normal retirement at age 60 and to change the benefit rate multiplier from 2.5% to 3.0%which would amount to having the City's payroll cost go to 15.2% and,secondly,to recommend to the City Commission that at age 60, normal retirement, a benefit pro rated according to years of service,with a maximum of$200 monthly, be paid to each retired employee to utilize at their own discretion. Chairperson Ison then asked Mr. Lozen when the information regarding what other municipal governments in the area are paying would be available. Mr. Lozen said he would probably be able to provide that within the next month. Chairperson Ison said it would probably take a month to get on the City Commission Agenda and that he would like to be on the first or second agenda in October. Attorney Dehner asked Chairperson Ison if he wanted to wait for a favorable reaction from the Commission before the Ordinances were prepared. Chairperson Ison responded that he thought that would be wise to do and, if approved prior to the November meeting, the Ordinances could be prepared in November. There was then a discussion that if this timing was correct,the City could then adopt those Ordinances sometime in January or February. He then said he would address a letter to the City Manager asking to be on the Agenda in October as this Board has resolved to seek approval for the two improvements. He then asked the other Trustees to let the employees know that this will be the Board's recommendation to the Commission but that would not mean that the suggestions would be automatically approved. Chairperson Ison then asked Mr. Lozen for information regarding the new fee arrangement for Foster&Foster, Inc. Mr. Lozen reported that benefit calculations would be $100 up from$75, buy-back calculations for prior service would be $100 up from $75, and the base cost of an evaluation will change, it will be a flat$2,500 plus for the first 100 members an additional $40.00 and then for each member in excess of 100, $10.00 each. He also advised that the hourly rate would stay at$125.00 for actuarial services. General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 10 of 12 Chairperson Ison asked about the present contract and the period that these new rates would cover. Attorney Denner advised that the rates are normally for a guaranteed three-year period. He also represented to the Board that these fees are reasonable and he confirmed that these are the same rates that Foster& Foster is offering to all of their municipal clients. Trustee Grafton advised that the current agreement was for three years from October 1, 2001. Attorney Dehner said then that the effective date would be October 1, 2004. Following a brief discussion, it was on motion made by Trustee Grafton and seconded by Trustee Sauerwein,unanimously RESOLVED that the new fee arrangements as presented by Foster& Foster, Inc., be and they are hereby approved and that Attorney H. Lee Dehner is directed prepare the appropriate papers to guarantee the rates for a three-year period effective October 1,2004, subject to termination at any time by the Board. Chairperson Ison then called attention to the next Agenda item which called for an explanation of the Reed and Green items on the Foster& Foster bill for a total of$100. Mr. Lozen advised that Sue Reed, who terminated employment with the City back in the 1990's, sent a check to Foster& Foster for $50.00 for a benefit calculation. When that calculation was done last year the charge was$75.00 so the Board was billed an additional $25.00 for that He further advised that the Green calculation was for a flat $75.00 per the agreement so that figure, added to the $25.00 bill for Ms. Reed,totaled $100. It was decided that this information was for clarification purposes. This amount was to have been withheld from the last payment to Foster&Foster but at the time this was questioned,the payment had already been made, so it was agreed, following a short discussion among the Trustees,that this item was resolved sufficiently for all concerned and no further action would be needed. Moving on to Item IIIC on the Agenda, Chairperson Ison addressed the issue of the revised form for authorization for the Trustees to deal with SunTrust as had been adopted at the last meeting. He read the authorization: "The Board of Trustees of the City of Ocoee Municipal General Employees Retirement Trust Fund at a legally noticed meeting held on August 11, 2004, at which a quorum was present adopted by unanimous vote, resolved that any one of the following named Trustees' signatures may authorize disbursements from the account maintained by SunTrust as custodian for the City of Ocoee Municipal General Employees Retirement Trust Fund with the exception that no Trustee shall authorize disbursement to himself or herself." Following a brief discussion, it was on motion made by Trustee Grafton, seconded by Trustee Bishop, unanimously RESOLVED that the resolution be and is hereby adopted as corrected at the meeting of the Board of the City of Ocoee Municipal General Employees Pension Board held at its meeting held May 12, 2004 and presented at this meeting to authorize disbursements from the account maintained by SunTrust as custodian for the City of General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 11 of 12 Lir Ocoee Municipal General Employees Retirement Trust Fund as read and recorded above. Following the Resolution the revised authorization form was passed to each of the Trustees for signature. Chairperson Ison then called upon Trustee Bishop for presentation of invoices for payment. Trustee Bishop presented the invoices including reimbursement to Trustee Grafton for expenses for travel to the last conference. Trustee Grafton mentioned her concern that she felt some apprehension about turning in this type of expenses because she did not want it to be considered by any of the members that she was wasting the Pension Fund's money. Chairperson Ison assured her that these meetings were to the benefit of everyone because she would receive an invaluable education which would allow her to be a better Trustee and should any employee express a different opinion, she should invite them to nominate themselves to be on the Board,then they would understand how overwhelming this experience could be without the appropriate education and information. There was additional discussion among the Board and all agreed with Chairperson Ison's sentiments. Following a brief discussion of the other bills, it was on motion made by Chairperson Ison, seconded by Trustee Grafton, unanimously RESOLVED that all invoices be and they are hereby approved to be paid as presented. Chairperson Ison then called upon Trustee Grafton for a report regarding any correspondence. Trustee Grafton called attention to the message from Fran Diedrich, Human Resources, stating that, effective August 6, 2004,the Human Resources Department would no longer be able to administer the General Employees Pension Plan. She said this would mean that the Trustees would therefore be doing the work and would need to work out some of the details. Trustee Sauerwein indicated that he had spoken with Ms. Diedrich and he felt confident that she would not be convinced to do this administration again. He reported that he had also spoken with Captain Wilson because he is the one who does that for the Police &Firefighters to find out the procedures. Trustee Sauerwein then stated that he would be willing to do the administration for this Plan if necessary. There was a discussion among the Trustees and then Chairperson Ison stated that he was very disappointed with the letter and said he would like to discuss it with the City Manager. He said that the employees are employees of the City and, in addition to the fmancial contribution that the City gives, his thought was that there should also be support by Human Resources toward their own retirement program and handling the day to day administration of the program. Following additional discussion, Chairperson Ison said he would make an appointment with the City Manager and report to the Board at the November meeting. It was decided that Trustee Sauerwein would handle the administrative duties in the meantime. Continuing on with correspondence, Trustee Grafton mentioned there was a letter to the Pension Board Members from Robert Howell expressing his appreciation to the people General Employees Pension Board Board Meeting—August 11,2004 Page 12 of 12 Cr who have held the Pension Fund together over the years so that this Pension Plan is available. She then said there was also a letter from Attorney Dehner with instructions for her to do some things in connection with securities monitoring for which she would need additional guidance. Attorney Dehner agreed to assist her as necessary. Chairperson Ison then asked Trustee Sauerwein for his report on records retention. Trustee Sauerwein reported that everything is status quo other than getting a signed copy of the authorization form just signed for the records. Chairperson Ison then asked Attorney Dehner for his comments. Attorney Dehner advised that he had no other comments in addition to those he had been making throughout the meeting. Following a brief discussion among the Trustees regarding the benefits of attending the various educational conferences offered, Chairperson Ison suggested that all of the Trustees should take advantage of as many of the conferences as possible. He then listed the items that should be on the Agenda for the next meeting. He said that one would be the report on the proposed improvements that would be made in front of the City Commission in October and the second would be the results of his meeting with the City Manager regarding the City staff doing administrative duties on behalf of the Pension Board. He said that,once it became evident which City Commission meeting this Board could be on the Agenda to discuss the proposed improvements, he would encourage every one of the Trustees to be at the meeting. He said he would introduce each one and would call upon them to make comments. He also encouraged the Trustees to let the employees know that this would be happening and asked that they also be encouraged to attend the meeting. There being no other business or comments,the meeting was,on motion duly made and seconded, unanimously adjourned at 12:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jo Ann Lacey, Recording Secretary of the Meeting Approved By: • ( Ed Bishop, Vice ai err