Coalition of Oak Ridge Retired Employees
Minutes of Board Meeting on June 20, 2007, 2:00 p.m.
Oak Ridge Senior Center
Present:
Mike Bradshaw, Sandy Dean, Marty Goolsby, Bob Keil, Bob Henderson, Judy
Kibbe, Keith Kibbe, Charlie Kuykendall, Pete Lotts, Ed Mee, Ken Moore,
Pete Peterson, Fred Postma, Dave Reiche, Mary Helen Rose, Joe
Setaro, Dub Shults, Troy Trotter, Don Wood, Bob Worrell, Paula
Wright
1. Opening Remarks.
President Dave Reichle welcomed new Board members Marty Goolsby and Dub
Shults, who were present for their first meeting. (New member
Dave Mason was out of town.) He thanked Fred Postma and
Pete Lotts for the super job they have done with our website, said it
is very easy for him to find things. He also thanked Joe Setaro
for taking the lead, and others who helped, in finalizing the 2007
Position Paper while Reichle was away. He noted that ORNL now has
a new director, Thom Mason. He said he has been contacted by
retirees who are forming a new Hanford Retiree Benefit
Association.
Reichle appointed a Committee composed of Sandy Dean (Chair), Charlie
Kuykendall, Dave Reichle, Mary Helen Rose, Dub Shults, and Paula Wright
to plan for CORRE’s Annual Meeting, which is scheduled for
September 26.
Ed Mee mentioned that the number of people taking examinations provided
by the Sick Workers Program has dropped substantially. Reichle
asked Mee to draft an announcement for the Annual Meeting and for
CORRE’s website. Also, Sandy Dean will submit the
information for inclusion in our CORRE Corner of Retirement News.
2. Secret City Festival.
Mary Helen Rose reported that CORRE had a space with display table at
the Festival in Oak Ridge on Friday and Saturday. Bob Keil hauled
in his truck our banner frame and other materials on Friday morning,
and picked up everything on Saturday evening. Only a few retirees
came by the table, several wanting to talk about the Sick
Worker’s Program rather than CORRE. We sold about a dozen
DVDs and signed up a couple of new members.
3. Treasurer’s Report.
Paula Wright highlighted her report, copies of which had been
distributed. There were 7 new Active Members in May, and balance
on hand at end of May was $38,517.44.
4. Communications.
Sandy Dean reported that she has submitted two articles to Retirement
News for CORRE Corner, one on the 2007 Position Paper and our two goals
for 2007; and another on the DVDs, referring to Frank Munger’s
article. In every submission, she urges membership in CORRE and
refers to our website.
5. Meeting at Y-12.
Bob Worrell reported on a meeting that he and Reichle had earlier in
the day with Mark Keck, Benefits Manager at BWXT Y-12, which manages
our Pension Plan Fund. He said Keck is pleasant to deal
with. They gave him a DVD and a copy of our 2007 Position
Paper. They talked about DOE Policy 351.1, but Keck doesn’t
know why they scrapped it. Our guess is as good as his as to how
it will play out. Keck provided new numbers on the fund. As
of June 12, assets were $3.180 billion, and liabilities were estimated
at $2.369 billion, leaving a surplus of about $811 million. The
new PPA rates will take effect January 1, 2008.
Regarding the 28% subsidy to companies for continuing drug coverage,
they were told that the subsidy goes to the U. S. Treasury and will be
retained in the Federal Treasury (not going to DOE). The
split is said to still be 50-50 for costs of supplemental
insurance.
6. ORNL Benefits Advisory Committee.
Reichle reported that Joe Setaro has agreed to resume serving on the
Committee (after Fred Shull’s resignation from the CORRE Board).
7. Government Relations Committee.
Pete Lotts reported that, with respect to contacts with Congressional
staff, we have been exchanging letters with them. We are trying
to have a joint meeting locally, hosted by one of the offices.
Dave Reichle is to talk with Helen Hardin of Congressman Wamp’s
staff, and we are also trying to interest offices of our senators in
taking more of a lead role. A couple of opportunities have opened
up with committees. One is the House Science Committee, and the
other is the House Committee on Education and Labor. Basically,
what we have been trying to do is to get some alliances with members of
Congress other than our own to see if we can get some leverage with DOE
through use of committees in Congress. Dave Reichle was asked to
talk with Helen Hardin about the advisability of this.
Lotts said Keith and Judy Kibbe had a good meeting and presentation
with David Leverton of Senator Corker’s staff on April 13.
Senator Corker was in Kingston on June 4, and Bob Henderson made a
statement on behalf of retirees, as did the City Mayor. Later
that same day, Keith and Judy Kibbe, Lotts, and Reichle met with
Senator Corker. They reported that it was apparent that Senator
Corker already had been briefed by his staff, and that he clarified
some points but seemed to have a pretty good understanding of our
problems.
Lotts said we have received information about DOE’s withdrawing
DOE 351.1, probably because they had tremendous objection by members of
Congress and about 600 letters. He said we need to set up a
meeting with the new NNSA Director at Y-12.
Joe Setaro is working with Jonathan Griswold in Congressman
Duncan’s office. Charlie Kuykendall and Pete Lotts
appeared before the Knoxville City Council on June 19, presented them
with DVDs, and requested that they adopt a resolution supporting CORRE
(Charlie gave them a draft resolution).
A special strategy planning session for all interested Board members
was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 27, at the Senior
Center, for further discussion of new strategies to move CORRE closer
to achieving our two primary objectives.
8. Status of DVD Distribution.
Keith Kibbe said he has distributed over 450 DVDs, most of them to
other Board members for further distribution, but the number does
include copies sent to various political contacts he had been assigned
for distribution.
9. Nominating Committee.
Chairman Bob Worrell reported that the Committee met prior to the Board
meeting and primarily tried to finalize a slate of officers. The
Committee recommended the following: Dave Reichle, President (one
year); Joe Setaro, First Vice President (beginning immediately to fill
vacancy and continuing through 2008); Bob Keil, Second Vice President
(two years); Mary Helen Rose, Secretary (one year); Paula Wright,
Treasurer (two years); Marty Goolsby, Communications (2 years); and
Charlie Kuykendall, Past President (one year). Motion
passed to approve the Committee’s recommendation.
Worrell noted that a resolution will be presented at our next meeting
to approve the extension for one year of the positions of Dave Reichle
and Charlie Kuykendall (resolution was approved at May meeting to
extend the others). With the approval of these and the
nominations approved at our May meeting, four Board slots remain to be
filled.
10. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Mary Helen Rose, CORRE Secretary
CORRE Annual Meeting
2:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 26
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