RECOM (Retired Employees City of Mesa) - Minutes of July 19, 2006, Meeting

Board Members Present: Lin Adams, Tom Albright, Kathy Barrett, John Gendron, Barbara Seperich, Chuck Wennerlund.

Board Members Absent: Fred Conway, Walter Switzer

Members Present: Guy Adams, Dorothy & John Ashley, Pauline Backer, Richard Buck, Bob Butcher, Dean & Eleanor Childs, Cecil Crusinberry, Bill Everson, Jo & John Ferguson, Joan Gregory, Peggy Haney, Dick Skalitsky, Nancy Skalitsky, John Smoyer, Denny Spidel, Fran Spidel, Bob & Jane Taylor, Rudy Torres, Don Tucker, A. Dale Voss, Marilyn Warden.

Others Present: Kent P. "Pat" Brown

Introductions: The meeting was called to order by Barbara Seperich. Board members were introduced, and first -time attendees Dick Skalitsky (Fleet Support), Nancy Skalitsky, and Pat Brown (Fire) introduced themselves.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the June 21, 2006, meeting were reviewed and approved.

Secretary Report: Since June, 333 membership applications have been processed, including new members and renewals. Lin reported that Carrol Claude "CC" Rivers, a retiree from Building Safety, passed away on July 7.  

Treasurer's Report: Chuck reported that the current balance in the checking account is $6,926.60. Primary expenses incurred were the result of the mass mailing in June; $4,245 dues received.

Benefits Task Force: The July meeting was canceled. Barbara addressed a couple questions brought up at the June RECOM meeting:

Retiree billed for both in and out-of-network providers involved in same procedure; insured will have to pay the required amount and file an appeal with Employee Benefits; Jody will consider developing a checklist for those insured to use to check if all providers involved in a procedure are in-network.

MEDCO prescriptions arriving too late; Jody had received similar complaints. A Request for Proposals for the mail-order prescription program has been developed. If MEDCO's proposal best meets the COM's needs, these complaints will be addressed with MEDCO.

Board Planning Committee Meeting - Barbara reported on the Board's Planning meeting, held July 10. She discussed some of the plans for the next year:

  • Provide more structure for Board and organization; develop better way of documenting decisions made.
  • Surveying membership; as a result of changing our membership form, we now know a little more about our members; for example, with the large number of retirements last year, the average age of our members is considerably younger than it was a few years ago; this could make a difference in the organization's focus, in the speakers we provide, etc.; the Board anticipates additional surveying of the membership regarding what members want/expect from RECOM, direction of the organization, etc.
  • Bylaws and Policies - provide a full review of the Bylaws, to make sure various sections are in-sync with each other; organizational policies will also be addressed.
  • Outreach - to City retirees (for membership) and to the community in general.
  • Involve membership in some decisions, through committees; possible committees will be membership, bylaws, marketing, legislative, nominating, program, and ad hoc committees.
  • Membership Demographics:
    • 450+ paid members;  41% are ages 56 - 65; 59% are ages 56 - 70.
    • 67% retired ten years or less; 33% retired more than ten years; 38 % retired five years or less.

Discussion ensued about retirees now being able to continue spousal coverage after the retiree's death. This is now available for current employees at retirement (NOT FOR MEMBERS ALREADY RETIRED). More information will be provided at the next meeting. A member asked if we plan to invite City Manager Chris Brady to a meeting. Barbara stated we will do that in the future, but would like to finalize some other plans first.

John Gendron asked for members to contact him if they have suggestions for future speakers.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 AM.

Next Meeting: August 16, 2006 - 9:00 AM, Community Room, Mesa Fire Station 201, NW corner of 1st Street and Mesa Drive. A representative from AAA Travel Services will be the speaker.