SAN ANTONIO FIRE AND POLICE PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION

MINUTES OF May 14, 2019

By Earnest D. Gay, Recording Secretary

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 1:30 PM by President Mike Trainer.

OPENING CEREMONIES

Our invocation was led by Rev. A.D. Smoot which was followed by our Sergeant at Arms, Bill Lambrides, leading the members in reciting the pledge of allegiance.

ROLL CALL

All board members were present for the May 2019 meeting.   

President                                                         Mike Trainer – present

Vice President                                                 Bart Moczygemba – present

Recording Secretary                                       Earnest Gay – present

Treasurer                                                         Charles Ricketts — present

Corresponding Secretary Fire                         David Perez — present

Corresponding Secretary Police                     Joe Carrillo – present

Sergeant at arms                                             William Lambrides – present

Parliamentarian                                               Mary Holub — present

SPEAKER OF THE MONTH

There was no speaker for the May 2019 meeting.

MEMORIAL PRESENTATION

May is the annual Memorial.  A slide show presentation was presented by Recording Secretary Gay honoring our members that have passed during the last 12 months.  We had 14 retired Fire retirees and 16 retired Police retirees pass from May 2018 thru April 2019.

REPORTS of OFFICERS

Recording Secretary

The minutes of the, 2017 meeting were presented.  There were two corrections that were corrected on screen.  There were no additions or deletions noted.

Treasurer

Treasurer Charles Ricketts reported on the Associations’ deposits and expenses and gave a detailed explanation of monies in all accounts. Treasurer Ricketts made available the treasurers report and bank statements for anyone to view if they wished to.

Corresponding Secretary – Fire

David Perez reported that he sent out 4 sympathy cards on behalf of the Association to the families of Sixta Estrada, Ruben Donovan Sr, Jesse Garcia Jr and Angelina Sereno whom passed away during the previous month.  There were no Fire illnesses to report.

Corresponding Secretary – Police

No report for May, Armando Ynostrosa has agreed to take over the Police Corresponding Secretary position.

REPORTS of COMMITTEES

Pension Fund Committee

Fund Trustee Larry Reed reported that the fund was at 3.18 Billion which is up 180 million YTD.  This represents a 6% increase YTD for the fund.  Larry also reported that the recent Fund Trustee election was complete and no ballots or election was held because the three positions up for election had no opposition to the Trustees running for re-election won by acclimation. Larry introduced Active Police Trustee Jim Smith of the legislative committee.  Jim reported on the status of the legislative bill and the difficulties in sponsoring it since the Fire Union Board was not in agreement with the legislation.  Jim and Larry both agree that the bill at this time has little chance of being sponsored in the Senate without the Firefighters Union being on board. Discussion on the issue was lengthy and detailed.

Pre-Funded Health Insurance Committee

Trustees Henry Trevino and Alex Perez were both in attendance.  Henry reported that the fund is at $391,574,869.53 which is up 2.03 million from the March meeting.  There were no numbers for April since most members were at the TEXpers conference. There was discussion from the floor about problems with the Prescription provider Welldyne.  Both Alex and Henry answered questions and provided information on how to handle problems as they arise.

PAC Fund Committee/ Endorsement Committee

PAC committee Chairman Bart Moczygemba and Vice-chairman Joe Carrillo were both present and reported the PAC Fund held interviews with San Antonio City Council candidates at a meeting room at a local Holiday Inn Express Hotel.  The committee reports they will be contributing $1000 to the Brockhouse Mayoral Campaign, and $500 each to the campaigns of Jada Andrews-Sullivan in District 2, Adriana Rocha Garcia in District 4 and to Melissa Cabello Havrda in District 6.  Committee Chairman Moczygemba made a motion that the SAFPPA endorse each of these candidates, Second by John Scott, motion passed unanimously.  Chairman Moczygemba informed us that our PAC was assisting the Police Association PAC and the Firefighters PAC with $20,000 each to assist their efforts.  There is a 3rd private PAC they will donate $20,000 to if it is determined it is legal to do so.

PAC Treasurers Report

PAC Treasurer, Don Wagoner, reported on the income and expenses of the PAC and gave the balance in the account.  Don made the bank records available if anyone wished to look at them.

Presidents Report

President Trainer reported that AirMethods has decided to no longer provide group contracts and will honor those in place until they expire.  The company apparently has a notional program that they say is better than the group contracts.

President Trainer attended the Police Memorial at the Police Academy on May 10, 2019 and reports the event was well attended.

President Trainer reports that the SAFPPA now has a business phone # for anyone to call if they need assistance or information.  President Trainer will monitor the calls and will pass the phone to another board member in his absence.

President Trainer also commented on the Pension bill reiterating it was strictly a language bill and no benefits were included which is apparently what the Fire Union has a problem with.  President Trainer advises the bill is essentially dead at this time and cautions everyone to remember Houston and their disagreements.  The legislature will fix problems if they cannot be done internally as they did in Houston and now Houston has laid off 200 firefighters due to lack of funding.

EVENTS COMMITTEE

 Committee chairman David Perez reported that he has researched several gambling and sightseeing trips and their proposed costs and will report back on any upcoming events.

LUNCHEON COMMITTEE

I reported that there will be a luncheon committee meeting before the regular June monthly meeting to discuss the luncheon menu and setup for the Annual Luncheon on October 9, 2019.

DOOR PRIZES

Two extra door prizes of $10 each to Bill Miller BBQ were donated by Armando Ynostrosa of Expressions Designs.  May Door prize winners were Earnest Gay, George Sefcik, Debra Seidel – donated to PAC, Charles Ricketts – donated to Pac, Dennis Schultz, John Teran, Mary Holub and Elke Hester.

ADJOURNMENT

After the door prizes were given, President Trainer adjourned the meeting without opposition.