MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
May 2, 2012
CALL TO ORDER
President John Jacobsen called the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Firemen’s Relief Association to order at 10:30 a.m.
ROLL CALL
MEMBERS PRESENT:
- John Jacobsen, President
- Juan Albarran, Vice President
- Andrew Kuljis, Secretary
- Trustee James Coburn
- Trustee Jeff Cawdrey
- Trustee Gene Bednarchik
- Trustee Chris Stine
- Trustee Doak Smith
- Trustee Chris Hart
- Trustee Robert Steinbacher
- Trustee Craig White
- Trustee Francisco Hernandez
- Trustee Steven Domanski
- Trustee Rick Godinez
- Trustee Gary Matsubara
- Trustee Kurt Stabel
- Trustee Mark Akahoshi
- Trustee David Peters
- Trustee David Ortiz
- Trustee Barry Hedberg
- Trustee David Lowe
- Trustee Tim Larson
- David Ned Smith – Executive Director
- Todd Layfer – Controller
MEMBERS ABSENT:
- Trustee Steve Tufts (Excused)
- Trustee Michael Overholser (Excused)
GUESTS:
- Dennis Mendenhall, Retired
- Bob Olsen, Retired Fire & Police
INVOCATION & Flag Salute
Rick Godinez led the invocation. Chris Hart led the flag salute.
RATIFICATION OF MINUTES
John Jacobsen entertained a motion to ratify and dispense with the reading of the minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting held March 7, 2012. Gary Matsubara so moved. Craig White seconded the motion. There was no further discussion or objections.
Motion carried to ratify and dispense with the reading of the minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting held March 7, 2012.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
1) Jacobsen referred to the Pension subsidy for retirees and mentioned that they will discuss the issue again at the Pension Board meeting tomorrow. He indicated that at the last meeting, the Pension Board directed the Pension staff to go back and change their staff recommendation from a 5% increase to possibly a 7% increase. He stated that part of the fact findings from the staff included an opinion from the CAO from 2006 on what the health subsidy should cover. He stated that through legal counsel and an internal meeting, it was discussed that the only issue the Board should consider when looking at health subsidy increases for retirees should be what the Administrative Code and Charter states. He indicated that the Pension staff has since then prepared a new report and has posted on the Pension website. It will be discussed again at the Pension Board meeting tomorrow.
2) Jacobsen referred to the Pension Audit and indicated that it has been completed. He indicated that the audit overall stated that LAFRA is a professional organization and provides the retirees excellent value for their dollars. He stated that the majority of the recommendations were for internal corrections at the Pension Department.
3) Jacobsen referred to the Open Enrollment and indicated that there were approximately 39 new members as of yesterday. He thanked those Trustees who communicated to the membership about joining the medical plan.
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT
1) Doak Smith introduced Tonetta Connor from the Harrington Group and indicated that they conducted an audit of LAFRA’s operations. He mentioned that they had reviewed the draft audit report a couple of weeks prior and the Audit Committee had a few questions.
Tonetta Connor addressed the Board and mentioned that they reviewed in detail the financial statements with the Audit Committee. She indicated that they commented on a couple of areas for improvement that had to do with documentation of employee files. She also indicated that they commented on accounting reconciliations with outside organizations. She also stated that LAFRA has good internal controls in place and their firm was issuing an unqualified audit report.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
1) David Smith reported on Hope for Firefighters and indicated that the fire station participation for the food booths is going well with about 19 stations committed. He also stated that since the committee began planning late this year, they are lacking food booth sponsors to date. The Hope committee is working hard to increase the sponsorships. He also mentioned that the practice picnic will be on Saturday May 19th at Fire Station 27 and asked for help with the event. Gene Bednarchik offered to provide 2 volunteers to help at the picnic.
2) David Smith referred to the Corbin Bowl event happening this Sunday, May 6th, and asked for Trustees to attend to show support and wear a LAFRA shirt to be identified as a representative.
3) David Smith reported on the website and mentioned that they met with the new consultants yesterday. He indicated that the consultants are scheduled to provide a detailed specification for the new LAFRA website the week of May 14th.
4) David Smith informed the Board that they have received an email from a company that claims that they are aware of $17K of LAFRA’s money from a lost account. He indicated that the funds came from an account that had been established more 10 years ago. He stated that they have authorized this company a 10% finder’s fee after LAFRA receives those funds.
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE REPORT
Garth Flint of Beacon Pointe Advisors presented the Board with the 1st quarter investment results. He also reviewed investment issues and the current market situation. He stated that this year, they expect the earnings to slow down a bit with smaller profit margins. He also indicated that the portfolio is set to deal with both inflation and deflation.
Mike Breller reported on the 1st quarter for 2012 and stated that it was a good quarter with the portfolio gains. He stated that the composite return for the quarter was 6.7% and stated that in longer term the composite return is doing very well relative to the policy and allocation index. He reported no concerns with the managers, however, Symon’s returns did not keep up their sector in the quarter.
Robert Steinbacher informed that they have authorized Garth Flint to move funds into Titan, E.I.I. and FPA which are two hedge fund managers and a Global REIT manager. He stated that this transfer brings the portfolio to the 20% allocation for alternative investments. Jacobsen mentioned that Todd Layfer is handling the transaction with Union Bank. He also mentioned that US. Bank has taken over Union Bank and the impact should be seamless to LAFRA.
There was discussion regarding the amount of investment loss for 2011, which occurred in a down financial market.
ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
Robert Steinbacher presented the following motions.
The committee recommends and I so move to pay the usual and customary bills in the amount of $866,070.22. There was no discussion or objections.
Motion carried to pay the usual and customary bills in the amount of $866,070.22.
The committee recommends and I so move to pay the professional fees in the amount of $132,410.38. There was no discussion or objections.
Motion carried to pay the professional fees in the amount of $132,410.38.
MEDICAL COMMITTEE REPORT
David Peters presented the following motions.
The committee recommends and I so move to accept the applications to the Medical Plan. There was no discussion and no objections.
Motion carried to accept all applications to the Medical Plan.
RELIEF COMMITTEE REPORT
James Coburn presented the following motion.
The committee recommends and I so move to pay:
The Sick & Injury benefits in the amount of $7,697.16
The Estate Planning benefit in the amount of $3,420,
The Life & Accident Death benefit in the amount of $12,000
The Relief Death Benefits in the amount of $13,500,
There was no discussion or objections.
Motion carried to pay the above Relief benefits.
James Coburn read the names of members who recently passed and asked for a moment of silence from the Board.
MEMORIALS
William R. Willard
Edwin G. Burnham
Wilford J. Knapp
ASSISTANCE COMMITTEE
James Coburn presented the following motions.
The committee recommends and I so move to accept the donations in the amount of $3,539 to the Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firemen’s Fund. There was no discussion or objections.
Motion carried to accept the donations in the amount of $3,539 to the Widows, Orphans & Disabled Firemen’s Fund.
The committee recommends and I so move to approve the financial assistance applications for surviving spouses, active and retired members. There was no discussion or objections.
Motion carried to approve the financial assistance applications for surviving spouses, active and retired members.
EMERGENCY ADVANCEMENTS
James Coburn presented the following motion.
The committee recommends and I so move to approve the emergency advancement applications for active and retired members. There was no discussion or objections.
Motion carried to approve the emergency advancement applications for active and retired members.
GRAPEVINE/WEBSITE REPORT
Jacobsen mentioned that they had a meeting with the two consultants hired to review the LAFRA website. He stated that hopefully within the next two weeks, they will have a final biddable document that will outline what they wish to do for the website. He indicated that at that point, they will determine whether to hire them to do the work or go out to bid.
SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT
Doak Smith reported on the Scholarship exam held on the previous Saturday. He stated that they had 29 applicants take the exam. He stated that they will know who are the winners in a few weeks depending on the graders time schedules.
NEW BUSINESS
Juan Albarran asked if it would be possible to have the photos from the LAFRA Centennial book available on the website for members to view. Jacobsen indicated that this would be a good idea for members of the Relief.
SETTING OF DATES
1) Corbin Bowl – May 6th
2) Lane Kemper Softball Tournament – May 16th
3) Grass Valley – May 16th – 20th
4) Hope for Firefighters – June 7th
5) Over the Line Tournament – September 12th
6) LAFD Invitational Golf Tournament – September 24th
7) IFEBP Annual Employee Benefits Conf. – November 11th – 14th
8) LAFRA Open House – December 1st
RETIREMENT DINNERS
1) Luis Jaramillo – May 5th Marriott Courtyard Monrovia (Kuljis)
2) Chuck Currey – May 11th Altadena Town & Country Club
3) Wayne Nakamura – May 23rd Sportsmen’s Lodge (Akahoshi)
4) Richard McClure – May 30th Castaway (Bednarchik)
5) Tom Burroughs, Barry Sears, Rick Semsch, Jim Walters – June 9th FS 114 (Peters)
6) Gail Martin, Jr. – June 11th Sutter’s Mill Restaurant (Bednarchik)
7) David Castaneda – June 16th Brookside County Club (Larson)
8) James Lawrence Gaffney – June 28th Sagebrush Cantina (Albarran)
9) Don Cascio and John Rojas – July 19th Los Robles Greens Golf Course (Lowe)
10) Wes Shundo – July 28th Elk’s Lodge #966 San Pedro (Larson)
ADJOURNMENT
John Jacobsen entertained a motion to adjourn. Gary Matsubara so moved. Craig White seconded. There was no discussion and no objections.
Motion carried to adjourn.
The Board of Trustees meeting adjourned at 12:11 pm.
John Jacobsen, President