MRPEA board of directors adopts strategic plan By Becky Cade Your Mississippi Retired Public Employees’ Association (MRPEA) Board of Directors (Board) kicked off its new fiscal year September 12 with a strategic planning workshop facilitated by Barbara Travis, president of Marketlynx Consulting. During the workshop, the Board developed – and on October 10 adopted – the following vision, mission, and goals that will guide this organization for the next year.

Vision | MRPEA envisions a financially secure retirement system with stable benefits supported by members and retirees of the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS) and public officials.

Mission | The mission of MRPEA is to protect the financial security and benefits of PERS for current and future retirees.

Goals | MRPEA will seek to accomplish its mission by: • Enhancing communication with partner organizations; • Increasing its legislative presence; and • Promoting membership in MRPEA.

The Board will use four primary committees – Networking, Legislative, Membership, and Communications – to achieve its goals with specific strategies assigned to each committee. These strategies include: continuing to partner with organizations that are committed to protecting the retirement benefits provided through PERS; maintaining a regular presence at the Mississippi Capitol during each legislative session; and making presentations at PERS-sponsored seminars.

As another legislative session approaches, I encourage you to visit www.legislature.ms.gov to find out who your senators and representatives are and then contact them before the next legislative session begins in January 2017. Ask them for their continued support of our retirement system.

I also encourage you to attend MRPEA Day at the Capitol February 8, 2017, to help us with our visible presence at the Capitol. This would be an excellent time to schedule a meeting with your legislators to personally ask them for their support of our retirement system as it is today.

In other Board news, Ms. Martha Garrett retired from the Board effective September 7 after serving several years as a director. We wish Martha well. Also, former MRPEA President and Life Director Mr. Fred M. Walker, Jr., who was a former executive secretary (director) of PERS and a former retiree representative on the PERS Board of Trustees, passed away October 17 at the age of 93. Mr. Walker faithfully supported and worked hard for this organization and its mission for many, many years. We are deeply saddened by his passing. See the tribute from Mrs. Pat Robertson on page 2.

I look forward to continuing to work with all of you to protect PERS!

The Guardian Mississippi Retired Public Employees’ Association Quarterly Newsletter

Volume XXI | Issue 1 Fall 2016

Officers | Board Members

Becky Cade President

Ann Thames Vice President

Mike Lightsey Treasurer

Bob Rhoads Secretary

Immediate Past President Howell Garner

Life Directors Virgil Belue Alton Cobb

Lester Herrington Wylma King

Thomas Loftin Billy Thames

Anita Toler Sam Valentine

Wilma White 2019 Directors

Jane Dykes Mike Larsen Ed LeGrand

Michael Myrick

2018 Directors Mike Black

Ann Homer Cook Lucian Hill

Hoopy Stringer Evelyn Webb

2017 Directors Margo Bowers

Joe Johnson Ollie M. Johnson

Dale Sullivan Curt Thompson

Ex Officio Randy McCoy Richard Miller

District Directors See page 2 for district directors

and their contact information.

MRPEA Guardian | Page 2

MRPEA District Directors

District 1 – Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Lamar, Pearl River, Perry, Stone Wynona Winfield 601-955-4525 wwlsubeach@yahoo.com

District 2 - Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Marion, Pike, Simpson, Walthall, Wilkinson Tony Byrne 601-431-2250 annetteb@cableone.net

District 3 - Clarke, Covington, Jasper, Jones, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Scott, Smith, Wayne Rhonda Yates 601-693-5340 rhondajyates@gmail.com

District 4 - Hinds, Madison, Rankin Vacant

District 5 - Attala, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Lowndes, Monroe, Montgomery, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Webster, Winston Marty Wiseman 662-312-6166 wmw3@msstate.edu

District 6 - Bolivar, Carroll, Grenada, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Sharkey, Sunflower, Warren, Washington, Yazoo Preston Ratliff 662-897-4333 p_ratliff2000@yahoo.com

District 7 - Alcorn, Benton, Itawamba, Lee, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union Robert McNeil 662-680-9024 ramcneil@comcast.net

District 8 - Coahoma, DeSoto, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Yalobusha Thomas Toney 662-563-3744 thomasetoney@bellsouth.net

Tribute to Mr. Fred M. Walker, Jr.

Thank you for supporting MRPEA Thank you to everyone who either joined or continued their active membership in MRPEA this year. We appreciate and need your continued support and active participation.

Your continued support is vital to: ü Keeping MRPEA at the State Capitol when the Mississippi Legislature is in

session; ü Helping MRPEA to keep members informed via newsletters, e-mails, web

updates, and social media; ü Supporting MRPEA as it plans and hosts state and local meetings; ü Allowing MRPEA to be a liaison between our members and PERS leadership;

and ü Fortifying MRPEA’s strength as a guardian for the retirement of thousands of

PERS retirees.

Registering or renewing your membership is easier than ever! • Securely register or renew online at www.mrpea.org; or • Complete and return the Membership Registration/Renewal form on the back

page of this newsletter. If you have questions about the status of your membership or if you need assistance with your online registration, please call or email us at 601-919-0670 or mrpea@bellsouth.net.

MRPEA Day at the Capitol 2017 MRPEA will be hosting our second annual MRPEA Day at the Capitol Wednesday, February 8, 2017, on the ground level of the rotunda at the New Capitol from approximately 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This will be an excellent opportunity for us to visit with our legislators and to increase our visibility at the Capitol. Please make plans to attend.

MRPEA Guardian | Page 3

PERS News Annual Actuarial Valuation Results The Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS) has posted its 2016 Actuarial Valuation Reports for its defined benefit plans under the Financial Overview section on its website. As expected, the annual actuarial valuation for PERS shows a slight decrease in its funded status on an actuarial basis from 60.40 percent as of June 30, 2015, to 60.00 percent as of June 30, 2016. The primary factor contributing to this decrease in the funded status was an investment return for the year (1.15 percent) that was below the assumed rate of 7.75 percent.

Projection reports should be available and posted to the Financial Overview section of the PERS website in late December. The projection report for PERS will show whether PERS remains on target for meeting its goal of being at least 80 percent funded by 2042.

IHL Employee Representative Election At its October 25 meeting, the PERS Board of Trustees (PERS Board) certifed the results from its Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) employee representative election and approved the runoff ballot between Dr. Brian Rutledge, chief of staff for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and Porter Richard Swann, fiscal administrator for the Mississippi State University Extension Service. PERS will mail runoff ballots to IHL employees November 8, and the deadline for receipt of the ballots by PERS is 5 p.m. December 8. The PERS Board will certify the runoff election results at its next regularly scheduled meeting December 13.

Retiree Representative Election The PERS Board is seeking candidate nominations for one of two retiree representative positions due to the term expiration of Dr. Richard C. Miller in April 2017. Nominations are being accepted through 5 p.m. November 29, 2016. An eligible candidate must be a retired member receiving a retirement allowance from PERS. The six-year term for this position will run from May 1, 2017, through April 30, 2023. The PERS Board will certify the ballot for the retiree representative election at its December 13 meeting. The nomination form, petition, and a cover letter with a complete election schedule are available on the PERS website, www.pers.ms.gov.

Contact MRPEA

Deirdre McGowan Office Manager

601-919-0670 mrpea@bellsouth.net

www.mrpea.org

Meetings and Events MRPEA Board Meeting

January 9, 2017 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Mississippi High School Activities Association, Clinton, MS

MRPEA Day at the Capitol

February 8, 2017 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

New Capitol Rotunda

MRPEA Board Meeting April 10, 2017

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Mississippi High School Activities

Association, Clinton, MS

MRPEA Board Meeting July 10, 2017

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. location to be determined

Social Media

Partner Organizations Mississippi Association of Personnel

Administrators (MAPA)

Mississippi Association of School Administrators (MASA)

Mississippi Professional Educators (MPE)

Mississippi Public Health Association (MPHA)

Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS)

Retired Education Personnel of Mississippi (REPM)

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

P. O. Box 5580 Brandon, MS 39047-5580

Membership Registration/Renewal ¨ $20 Annual Rate (August 1 – July 31) ¨ $250 Life Rate ¨ I want to support MRPEA with the enclosed donation

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