President s Message Louis Espinosa. President, Chapter 2

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1 Summer 2014 Summer 2014 Our Mission is Protect the Pension and Health Benefits of all Retired State Employees President s Message Louis Espinosa. President, Chapter 2 Hi All Chapter 2 Members. Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. The Chapter 2 newsletter has a new editor, welcome Dr. W. Charles (Chuck) Wiseley. He enjoys reading, traveling and playing golf with his wife and friends. We are looking forward to working with Chuck to publish a quality newsletter as we have in the past and to extend the use of the web site. Thank you Valerie Jeanne Anderson and Don Maynard for the work you did on our newsletter for the past three years. CSR Board Meeting Chapter 2 members continue to step up and participate. Fifteen of our members attended the June CSR Board meeting in Sacramento. Beginning with the various committee meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday and ending with the Board meeting on Thursday. There was much discussion in the presidents forum on the priorities that the presidents have been working on for the last three CSR board meetings. The chair of the committee asked the Presidents to assign a completion status for each of the priorities. Here is a list of the priorities and the completion percentages the presidents agreed on. 1. CSR leadership shall be visible and vocal at all hearings and meetings, striving to maintain pension benefits, protect members healthcare, vision, and dental coverage and ensure continued state contribution levels; 80% completed. 2. Lobbyist for CSR; 100% completed. 3. Project a positive public image and information; give back to the community and make ourselves more visible; Still working on this one - Presidents did not agree on a percentage. 4. Membership Recruitment: Get the Ambassador Program up and running; Still working on this - Presidents did not agree on a percentage. 5. Fiscal Responsibility: Reduce Delegates; 100% completed. 6. Death Benefit: Would like amount equal to STRS; Still working on this no agreement on percentage. 7. Health Benefits: Improve our dental and vision plans; Still working on this one no agreement on percentage. 8. Join forces with other retiree organizations and fight as a united team; 25% completed. 9. Political Action: Support candidates and bills that benefit retiree interests; Still working on this no agreement on percentage. Many of the presidents are not sold on this process and want to go back to having each president report their activities since the last board meeting. July Member Meeting The July member meeting was well attended. Our guest speakers were from the Grand Jury Association which consists of past members of the Sacramento County Grand Jury. Members of the grand jury are selected randomly from a pool of applicants and serve for Continued on Page 2

2 Summer 2014 P a g e 2 President s Message Continued from page 1 one year. If you re interested in getting on the grand jury and serving for a one year term go online to or call the grand jury coordinator at Applicants must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen and live in Sacramento County. If you live in another county you can apply there. State Fair July is State Fair time in Sacramento. This year the California State Retirees had a booth at the fair. The fair is attended by hundreds of potential members that already retired or are still working and getting ready to retire. Many state employees do not know about CSR or what we do. We took the opportunity to inform them and encourage them to join CSR. Reminder, there s no September meeting. Our next meeting is October 6th, the first Monday in October. If you would like to attend the meeting call Nadie Savage (919) for details. Louie Espinosa, Phyllis Johnson and Diane Buffington Annie McKnight, Louie Espinosa, and Phyllis Johnson in the booth at the State Fair

3 Summer 2014 P a g e 3 State Fair CSR Booth Coverage By Phyllis Johnson, Vice President, Chapter 2 A number of volunteers staffed our booth at the State Fair. They were: Diane Buffington, Bill and Joy Carey, Mary Crump, Louie Espinoza, Lucy Gutierrez, Delores Johnson, Annie McKnight, Fritz and Judith Walgenbach and Johnnie Young-Craig and myself. Thank you all for your assistance on this important project. Whether you worked one or many shifts, your dedication was greatly appreciated. The CSR booth would not have been covered without you. New members were signed up. Materials were distributed for current and future retirees. Most important, volunteers conveyed to the public their perceptions of CSR now and in the future. Most of the fair goers that stopped by did not know CSR exists. Volunteers made it clear that CSR is exclusively for CA State Employee Retirees. I have personally labeled the New Retiree Brochure the bible. It provides information on what to do for the year prior to your retirement. I wish I had the brochure instead of all the nail-biting and not knowing what to do to prepare for a smooth working/retirement transition. The Top 10 Reasons to Join CSR brochure is also a fine reference for current and future State retirees. As the volunteer scheduler, I became a circus performer. Yes, I became a juggler to accommodate our final booth coverage to our volunteer satisfaction. The proof is in the pudding. Thanks to you all my act was a success. I think I will stick to clowning around instead of being a juggler. The key letter in Volunteer is the V - not only for volunteer but VICTORY. It is a CSR VOLUNTEER VICTORY now and into the future. Members Wanted! Do you know a State Retiree that is not a member of CSR? The strength of our voice is related to the number of our members. If you believe in our mission and wish to keep Lucy Gutierrez and Mary Crump in good spirits while staffing the booth Go Paperless We are beginning an effort to offer an option to receive our newsletter by . Make sure your correct address is on file when signing in at the next meeting. Our newsletters are already available online along with lots of interesting articles. See us at: Chapters/Chapter 2 Newsletters your benefits safe, strengthen your organization by recruiting a new member. Your future will be glad you did.

4 Summer 2014 P a g e 4 Political Action Committee By Dick Mesa, PAC Chair CSR is continuing to gear up for the 2014 General Elections. We were extremely successful in the June Primary. Of the 80 Assembly races, all 54 CSR-endorsed candidates advanced to the November General Election ballot as did all 13 CSR-endorsed candidates of the 20 even-numbered Senate Districts. In the Constitutional Office races, we were successful in 8 out of 9 endorsements. In a close race for Controller, our candidate, Speaker John A Perez lost and will not be on the ballot. In total, 66 out of 67 candidates advanced. All of these elections were conducted under the new condition of the top-two primary rule and completes the transition to the new boundaries created by redistricting. Endorsements were made based primarily on the candidates views on State Retiree issues. Additional endorsements have been made since the elections based on responses to a CSR questionnaire. This being a gubernatorial election year means that we will be electing the Governor and the rest of the Constitutional Officers (4- year terms), 80 members of the Assembly (2- year terms) and 20 of the even-numbered Districts of the 40 members of the Senate (4- year terms). Odd-numbered Senate seats will be up for election to 4-year terms in In the Sacramento area, Chapter 2 has the greatest number of CSR members in Senate District 6 and Assembly Districts 7 and 9. In Senate District 6, President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is termed-out and CSR has recommended a dual endorsement in this race. Roger Dickinson (AD 7) and Richard Pan (AD 9) are both vying for this Open Seat. CSR had previously endorsed them for their respective Assembly seats in 2012 and subsequently in the 2014 Primary for Senate. Being in the top-two, they will both be on the November ballot. CSR will be considering endorsements for candidates in Assembly Districts 7 and 9. These Districts had several candidates in the primary and the toptwo to be on the November ballot will be considered for endorsement with member input and interviews or questionnaire response. We will continue our activities to establish relationships with members of the Legislature whom we have endorsed in past elections and will continue to identify candidates who have indicated support for our issues. A questionnaire on CSR issues that was sent out to candidates and their responses will be used as we consider endorsement in the remaining races. The Political Acton Committee (PAC) will be meeting on September 10 in a workshop in Sacramento to review procedures, orient new Committee members, and consider additional recommended endorsements. PAC Contributions Once again, a special thank you to all current contributors to the PAC. Your generous volunteer contributions continues to establish a CSR visibility and to educate our members, the Legislature and the general public on our issues and carry out our mission to protect our pension and health benefits. There is a way that you, as a member of CSR, can assist in protecting your benefits. You can contribute to either or both of the CSR PACs. New contributors can fill out the new PAC Application in your California State Retiree newsletter or from the California State Retiree website and choose amounts to contribute to either or both. Please Join us in our Mission to Protect your Pension and Health Benefits.

5 Summer 2014 P a g e 5 CalPERS Candidate Forum: September 16th Jim McRitchie Retirees can t vote for any of the CalPERS Board candidates running in the current election cycle. However, once elected, they will make decisions that impact all of us. You have an opportunity to ask candidates tough questions, which they will answer to a live audience. A much larger audience is expected to view videos once posted on the Internet. When: September 16, 2014 from 5 to 6:30 PM Where: CalPERS Auditorium at 400 P Street, Sacramento Moderated by: League of Women Voters of Sacramento County Please attend. If members don t show an interest in these Candidate forums, CalPERS won t hold them in the future. You can t vote. However, you can volunteer to help the candidate(s) of your choice. More About the Election An election is being held to fill the state and public agency member representatives for the CalPERS Board of Administration. The term of the incumbents, George Diehr (state) and Priya Sara Mathur (public agency), will expire on January 15, The new term of office will begin on January 16, 2015, and run through January 15, The election for the school Board Member representative seat will not be conducted because the incumbent, Rob Feckner, is unopposed. You are eligible to vote in this election if you are a CalPERS member active as of July 1, A ballot package will be mailed to your home address on August 29, Your ballot must be received by September 29, Author: Jim McRitchie is a member of the CSR Finance Committee and personally paid to rent space for the initial CalPERS Forum. Later CalSTRS allowed him use of their auditorium. Recently, Forums have been sponsored by CalPERS and held in the CalPERS Auditorium. Got Used Greeting Cards?-- By Nadie Savage Chapter 2 is collecting recycled greeting cards for St. Jude s Ranch for Children. Please bring your used Christmas, Easter, Birthday, Thank You and all other occasion cards to Nadie Savage at the Chapter 2 meeting check-in desk. The Recycled Card Program is run by St. Jude's Ranch which cares for abused, abandoned and neglected children at its three campuses in Nevada and Texas. The program uses donated, used greeting cards to create new cards. They accept all greeting cards year-round. They especially need birthday and thank-you cards. The program prefers cards that are 5 by 7 inches or smaller. The residents remove the fronts of donated greeting cards attach new backs to create new greeting cards. They then learn business skills by selling the cards in packets of 10 for $ You can find more information at,

6 Summer 2014 P a g e 6 CSR Board Meeting Report Fritz Walgenbach Once again the CSR board meeting was very fruitful, well attended, and quite informative. One attending these board meetings should definitely come to the committee meetings preceding the board meeting. Committee meetings are where the meat and substance of the various proposed actions are discussed in detail with ample time for member input and debate. Tuesday, June 24th, started off with a Bylaws and Governing Rules Committee meeting. Gov Rule 6.03, dealt with candidate additional material for circulation. The proposed change would require a candidate to pay for any such additional material production and distribution costs. This issue drew a lot of concern as to what really should be used in introducing a candidate to his or her constituency. The committee, therefore, withdrew the proposed language change and sent the issue back to the committee for further consideration. Gov Rule dealt with the same issue and was likewise returned to committee for further study. The next item was what constitutes a Quorum. The committee recommended a CSR Board Quorum to be six board members. The committee also had a recommendation on Chapter Executive meetings. Their recommendation is that a chapter executive committee shall have at least a President, Vice President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer or a Secretary/Treasurer. In order to conduct business a majority of the officers constitutes a quorum. This could lead to only two persons making decisions for a chapter. However, such actions are to be ratified at the next chapter meeting and thus should not create an undue problem for a chapter. Several proposals were presented for Bylaw changes for the next Delegate Assembly. One is to redirect the designation of CSR Districts to the Board to allow more timely changes in chapter assignments. There were several proposals dealing with the make up the Board of Directors, the method of selection and the number of board members. I am sure this will be a very lively debate between now and October An important aspect of the General Council (GC) scheduled to precede CSR Delegate Assembly will be on Bylaws, B&P 1, which will change the structure of CSEA to a service provider with virtually all decision making relating to Affiliates in the hands of the Affiliates. B&P 1 definitely needs to be passed. A similar proposal failed to receive the required two thirds votes at the last GC. The CSEA President stated that there is really no reason to retain the existing organizational structure. The Member Benefits Committee passed two motions; one directed at the Death Benefit issue and how to increase support and improve financial benefits through other organizations. The second concerned the Rural Health Subsidies. This is a priority for members who do not have access to medical care afforded by large urban areas. The Finance Committee had a detailed presentation of the budget and expenditures to date. CSR is currently operating under budget. One item was presented to change the Gov Rules to set a limit on incidental expenditures by chapters. An addition to Gov. Rule was added that establishes a maximum 7% of annual dues income as the amount any chapter can donate (spend) for charitable giving and other expenditures that do not directly benefit the CSR membership. This Gov Rule change was agreed to by both the B&P and Finance committees and was approved by the Board of Directors. The week s activities culminated in a reception for Dr. Phil Sherwood, CSR Executive Director, who will be leaving his post in mid- August.

7 Summer 2014 P a g e 7 Statewide Ambassador Program -Phyllis Johnson, Vice President The Statewide Ambassador Program, as a CSR priority, is a program to increase membership. Ambassadors increase our exposure to current state employees who are planning to retire while still in their workplace. Our chapter 2 volunteer ambassadors currently are: Dave Boult, Diane Buffington, Louie Espinoza, Kim Maun, Annie Mc Knight, Joe Montanez, Grace Pacheco, Keith Umemoto, and Johnnie Craig-Young. They represent the eyes and ears for the future of CSR in our area. Their main message is that we are here exclusively for Retired State Employee needs. Those needs are the primary concerns of CSR and not just a part of a larger set of Retirees needs. The Ambassadors are currently evaluating assigned locations that may be nonexistent, closed, have few employees, or many employees. Their initial evaluation will also determine the contact person for current and future CSR informational speaking and material distribution. Save the Date Holiday Luncheon Follow-up visits for additional action will be done by our Ambassadors as needed. This will take in staffing tables, speaking at state building location meetings, and distributing updated material within assignment areas. Ambassadors will also determine how many of the State Employees are retiring within the next two to three years and beyond for personal on-time information distribution. At all events regarding possible retirees, they collect addresses for our newspaper distribution to keep the interested parties updated at a non-postage low cost alternative to mailing. As Membership Committee Ambassador Program Representative for our and three other chapters, I am here to assist as needed. Examples of my help are: Recruiting Ambassadors, registering them for and seeing they get the required training, assigning their locations, assisting at presentations if needed, keeping records for them updated with our President, Committee chair Bobbi Estrada, and our Staff Assistant Corinne at headquarters. MOST OF ALL, I want to thank all of our Ambassadors for stepping up for this fine and much needed program for CSR in the near and distant future. If you want to join the ambassador program, contact me at: phyllisjohnson802@gmail.com or (209) Voic messages are encouraged. Christmas Holiday Luncheon Where: The DoubleTree by Hilton 2001 Point West Way, Sacramento, CA Date: Monday, December 1, 2014 Time: 11:00 AM 3:00PM Menu Choices: Chicken, Pork or Vegetarian Entrée *Dessert and Coffee included with Entrees For Reservations Call: Nadie Savage, (916) BEFORE Nov. 18, 2014 Price: $12.00 for Members; $12.00 for First Guest; $32.00 each for additional guests Must Be Paid Prior To Luncheon Make checks payable to CSR CHAPTER 2 and mail to: Nadie Savage P.O. Box Elk Grove, CA 95758

8 California State Retirees 1108 O Street Sacramento, CA CSR Chapter 2 Meetings Sacramento and Yolo Area meetings are the First Monday of each month Next Chapter Meetings: October 6 November 3 Curtis Hall Sierra School 24th St. and 4th Avenue Sacramento, CA Lunch at 11:30 AM Meeting at 12 noon Free to members & $3 for guests (Except Holiday Luncheon) Program 12:30 p.m. Adjourn at 1:30 or 2 p.m. Please make reservations no later than three days prior to the meeting Holiday Luncheon December 1 see Save-the-Date on page 7 call Nadie Savage (916) Call if you must cancel Chapter 2 Committees CALPERS Linda Roberts lroberts58@att.net LEGISLATIVE Keith Umemoto kumemoto@att.net MEMBERSHIP Nadie Savage (916) POLITICAL ACTION Dick Mesa dickmesa@aol.com PROGRAM Diane Buffington diane-buffington@att.net SUNSHINE Ellen Derby (916) EDITOR Dr. W. Charles Wiseley chuck@wiseley.org Check our website! chapters/chapter 2 Chapter 2 Officers PRESIDENT Louis Espinoza louie.espi@yahoo.com VICE PRESIDENT Phyllis Johnson phyllisjohnson802@gmail.com PAST PRESIDENT Barbara Wilson barbara.wilson@comcast.net SECRETARY Diane Welsh sactodiogenes@comcast.net TREASURER Kathy Elwell kathy.elwell@comcast.net EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & DISTRICT E DIRECTOR Fritz Walgenbach (916) fritz@winfirst.com