Back To Black

One of the most important Oregon positions is the Treasurer. The state treasurer is nominally the head of the Oregon Investment Council, which directs the investments of the PERS fund and all of the other state agencies. The State Treasurer, currently Randall Edwards, has done an excellent job in the face of some extraordinary forces at work in the US and World stock markets. The main candidates for this years opening are Ben Westlund (formerly a Republican, now an Independent) and Allen Alley, whose ads seem to appear quite regularly in the Google ad box above. Just about all the major unions and most major Dems and Republicans have endorsed Westlund for the position. Westlund has had a lot of legislative experience and has had some business experience. I suppose he'll do a good job as State Treasurer. He would have a strong, professional staff to work with and the Oregon Investment Council is about the best any state has these days. Whoever wins the election will be managing the PERS fund for the next four years. I think it quite incumbent upon us to research the candidates and vote for the one who can make our money work the hardest. What we don't need is a Treasurer who thinks that PERS can be a slush fund for some other derelict agency. That happened in the 80's with SAIF. We don't need a rerun of that. Fortunately, I think the law prevents that from happening, but then again, we all thought that PERS had to obey the law too. Boy were we wrong!

Keep It Simple

I just had a brief message from Greg Hartman expressing his frustration to join ours with the lack of news from Judge Kantor's courtroom. He doesn't have any more idea when things will start moving than I do.

Back to our regularly scheduled rant.

Shake Those Windows

My post yesterday and the comments thereon seem to rattle some windows over at OPDG. I didn't expect the comments to be reprinted there - it is a breach of netiquette to do so without permission - but that's life. There is no question in my mind that the venom level seems to be rising and that the worst offenders seem to have a very conservative, libertarian bent. To reiterate my thoughts from yesterday, I really, really, really dislike politics as a basis for discourse, especially in a forum dedicated to PERS discussion. Ordinarily civil people become animals when advocating political positions, especially when it comes to Presidential politics. You will not see any political endorsements of Presidential candidates here, although I may take a stand on local politicians who had some influence on the PERS decisions of the past few years. I think it fair to target those who made decisions affecting our livelihoods so directly. And I'm especially upset at those politicians who professed their loyalty to public employees all the while stabbing them in the back. And, I want to reward those politicians who made a point of opposing efforts to disrupt the benefit flow to retirees and to active PERS members. By and large, this is a blog about PERS and to the extent that it is possible, I want to keep it about PERS. If I want to discuss something else, I'll start another blog. Maybe I'll call it - Ramblings from Chairman Marc. Don't be looking for it anytime soon, however. It'll be a cold day.....

Judge Kantor still has not ruled and Francisco Franco is still dead.

Don't Bottle It Up

Another wave of recalculation letters must have gone out. The PERS discussion group has a bunch of new members who've just discovered the group. They got their letters last week and are wondering what hit them and what to do. Many are just plain pissed. It is nice to get new readers. In addition to getting some useful advice, new members of OPDG are getting a serious dose of the politics of the PERS discussion group. If you are a liberal, you'll find yourself outnumbered and outgunned on OPDG. The conservative viewpoint seems to dominate all political discourse (I use that term loosely), and any attempt to interject a liberal opinion or point of view gets strangled by the chorus of conservative, libertarian views espoused there. It is somewhat surprising to find a group of mostly retired public employees so anti-liberal as one finds at OPDG. I guess it is true that as one gets older, one gets more conservative. I certainly haven't found my "conservative voice" yet, although I confess to be a bit more intolerant as I get older. I guess it is that "cranky curmudgeon" in me that comes out every now and then. I tune out most of the rhetoric and just participate in the PERS discussion. My life is too short to become enmeshed in the animosity expressed by the head-bangers there. They just don't bottle it up, which is healthy, I suppose. God help you if you are an Obama supporter, or even worse, a Hillary defender. I haven't decided yet who I will vote for in May. I have decided that I won't be voting for McSame.

In the meantime, we still don't have any progress on the PERS front. Judge Kantor seems to be spinning his wheels and there are no extant rumors that suggest or even hint at the timing of a ruling. Perhaps Judge Kantor feels that if he never rules, we'll all just go away. We may not go away voluntarily, but we may all die and our estates may not want to pursue this any further. I hope it doesn't go that far. I hope that Greg Hartman is right that a decision may be made by June. I'm sure getting tired of writing all these blog posts that report no news. I'm getting mighty tired of reading all the political rants everywhere. I hate election years.

Walk On

Just a quick note here to let my readers know that I will be voting for Vicki Walker for Oregon's Secretary of State. Vicki strongly supported PERS members and retirees during the 2003 legislative session, and will do an outstanding job as Secretary of State. That makes two endorsements for me in this upcoming May 20, 2008 primary. I have not made my decision on who to vote for in the US Senate race (Merkley or Novick), for President (Clinton or Obama), or in the Oregon 5th Congressional District (Darlene Hooley's seat). Similarly, in House District 38, there are several outstanding candidates and I have no particular favorite amongst them. I don't get to vote in the Portland races and so have no preferences there either, except that Sam Adams has not been a friend of public employees. I *may* make some other recommendations as we get closer to May 20th, but for now, the only races that interest me are those for Secretary of State and for Oregon Attorney General. In that latter race, John Kroger is the man.

Pimping My Ride

The old spin-meister, Greg MacPherson, is still pimping his record on the basis of his performance in reforming PERS. He's also fabricating a tale about "open government", which sits awfully well with those of us who were victimized by the open-government initiative inside PERS. Those cretins, along with our upstanding employers, conspired together to come up with a "fix" for the PERS problems that didn't happen to consider the impact on a primary stakeholder, PERS members and retirees. If this is the kind of "open government" Greg wants, I want no part of it. This blog is proud to go on record as endorsing John Kroger in the upcoming May primary for Oregon Attorney General. We need an honest Attorney General, not one who talks out of both sides of his mouth at the same time.

I Will Survive

This is dedicated to all PERS members and retirees and is our collective "finger" to PERS.

Run, Run, Run

Attorney General candidate John Kroger picked up AFSCME's endorsement on Tuesday. Previously, SEIU and the OEA endorsed him over his opponent Greg Macpherson. This means that Kroger now has the endorsement of the three largest public employee unions. Since there is no Republican running in the May primary, whoever wins in May will run unopposed in November and will be the next Oregon Attorney General. This is an important race. Some previous AGs have gone on to run for Governor, including Oregon's current Governor, Ted Kulongoski. To help you sort this race out, I need only remind readers that the 2003 PERS reform legislation was authored principally by Macpherson, who continues to defend his actions in the face of widespread opposition from public employees. We need to work together to show Mr. Macpherson the door back to his law firm. If Macpherson loses in the May primary, he will have given up his seat in the Legislature as well. This would take him out of politics for the next two years, at least, and probably deny him the name recognition he would need to run successfully for the Governor's office. If there is any politician who needs to go, it is Greg Macpherson. Support John Kroger. Tell your friends to support John Kroger. Now is a good time to send a really strong message to Macpherson that we didn't (and still don't) appreciate his tampering with our PERS benefits retroactively or prospectively. Help send Greg back to Stoel, Rives. They need him far worse than we do.

Dirty City

I just heard that Judge Kantor has resigned from the bench and has turned the Arken/Robinson cases over to Judge Judith Scheindlin, better known to some of her fans as "Judge Judy". She has promised to whack those PERS moles the next time they pop out of their holes.

Money

PERS posted the final earnings for 2007 yesterday. Tier 1 regular accounts were credited at 7.97% on actual earnings of 10.10%. Tier 2 (and presumably IAP) members received 9.47%. The variable account earnings were a measly 1.75%. Tier 1 members may be puzzled why the credited earnings rate is less than 8%, the Tier 1 rate guarantee. Recall that the PERS Board and the PERS Coalition agreed that legal expenses attributable to the Strunk case would be apportioned over actives, inactives, and retirees in proportion to the actual benefits received as a result of the Strunk litigation. Tier 1 active accounts were assessed 0.03%, which explains the discrepancy (8.00% - 0.03% = 7.97%). The riskier variable account took a beating in the last quarter of 2007 and the final crediting reflects that. Retirees will see their 2008 COLA reduced by a similar amount to the Tier 1 reduction in July 2008.

Radio Nowhere

Awhile back - around Christmas time - I agreed to participate in a radio discussion about PERS on KBOO. The time has arrived and I will be on with Frank Goulard, a PCC Math Professor, to discuss PERS and other retirement issues tomorrow night (Monday) March 31. The show airs live from 6 - 7 pm. The show allows for call in questions and either Frank or I will be happy to take questions germane to our discussion. I don't have much of a feel for the show or its format, but I've done many radio call-in shows before, especially in my former life as a college professor with a research interest in human evolution. These impromptu sessions can lead to some interesting discussions and frequently get into some hot debates. If you are interested, the show airs on 90.7 FM Portland, 91.9 FM Hood River, 100.7 FM Willamette Valley. If you want to read more about the show, check here under "Fifth Monday".

Where Am I?

OK. I'm in Southern California visiting relatives and friends. Tonight we went to dinner at a local hangout. During dinner two celebs walked in. I wouldn't have recognized either but my daughter, who has radar for such things, spotted both immediately. The first was Fran Drescher, who is reputed to star in some program called "The Nanny". I didn't recognize her. But the second star radiated appeal. She was Scarlett Johansen, who showed up in sweats, a ponytail, and glasses. I was quite surprised at how tiny she was. There seemed to be some business transaction taking place - something about a script. We tried to overhear as much as we could, but it would have been too tacky to have listened too closely. My daughter did *not* try for a photo or an autograph, as we explained that stars are entitled to their privacy too. Nevertheless, they do hang out, just like regular folk. All I can say is that we were dressed more nicely than any of the Hollywood types in the restaurant. So, any guesses as to the restaurant where we ate? It is famous, although you have to keep up to have noted this one.

Many The Miles

It is time to take the show on the road. Spring break approaches and the family is skipping out of Dodge City for the first time in almost 6 months. This is, I think, the longest stretch we've been in town without a break in more than twelve years. Even when my wife was post-surgery, we managed to get out of town several times after the first three months. Everyone in the house has cabin fever and so we're off to a big city to play, see museums, and generally have a good time. If we're lucky, the weather should be good too. That was an important consideration. After living in Oregon for nearly 40 years, I have to confess to being a bit rain-weary and cranky.

I leave (on Friday), with the expectation that nothing will be decided on the PERS front. There is no news leaking out of any source. Indeed, the most exciting thing to happen in the past two weeks was the series of deleted comments from last week's post. You know it is time to cash in your chips when that becomes news fodder.

I took delivery of my Mini today, so if you see some bearded guy driving around in a white Mini with black racing stripes, that could be me. Hopefully, this will reduce my frequency of visiting the local neighborhood Chevron station. Those $50 fill ups were getting to be really old. Now the SUV will be reduced to hauling dog and larger groups of people or for road trips. I'll happily take 37 mpg for awhile.

I don't plan to post anything in the next week unless some *real* news about PERS shows up. Things are so slow right now that there hasn't been a new post on OPDG for about 3 days. That is close to a record. Hopefully we won't die of boredom before Judge Kantor makes some decision -- any decision.

Thriller

My last post, "The Walk", was intended as a non-news update. Surprisingly, it generated a series of interesting comments concerning the timing of the Arken ruling. There was a fair amount of give and take and some information passed back and forth in the comments. Unfortunately, the original commenter has decided to remove all the comments and has left the post looking a bit odd. I have a pretty good idea why the comments were removed, although I don't plan to share my suspicions publicly. Suffice it to say that the commenter bet on an early June resolution of Arken/Robinson and then offered some guesses as to why this might be the case. I have no idea whether there is any substance to the guess - when Judges issue their rulings still is a real mystery to me, a non-legal person - but it seemed to me that the person making the guesses was in a better place to know about this than me, who depends on rumor, back-channel communication, and educated guesses. I also guessed that the commenter was trying to get me to ease away from my prediction of a ruling as early as the end of next week. I'm not ready to do that, although the thriller of real information contained in the previous series of exchanges has gotten me to rethink whether Judge Kantor is in a position to release that early. He may be way too behind the 8-ball at this point to get the ruling issued that soon.

The Walk

Will be somewhat slow for a while. In the game of dog versus man, the dog won. Sometime soon now, I will be having some torn cartilage removed from my knee. This resulted from a chance encounter with our 80 pound "puppy" who collided with me at full-speed. Kneedless to say the least, I visited the orthopedist this afternoon and he gave me the bad news. Not that this was a surprise. I've known the knee was a mess for about a month, but it is always sobering when you finally get the news. Fortunately, Jim knows how to fix these problems, and my Czechoslovak trainer is slavering at the opportunity to work my "upper body" (god knows it needs help).

I wish I brought you other news, such as the outcome of Judge Kantor versus Arken or Robinson, but alas, the Courthouse is quiet for the nance. I'm still betting that we'll have a decision before the end of next week. Otherwise Judge Kantor will have to go away for Spring break with these millstones hanging around his neck.

Keep Mediocrity At Bay

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Beat It

The various unions involved in the PERS Coalition are slowly beginning to turn the screws on Greg Macpherson. Both SEIU and OEA have now told Macpherson to "beat it" and have endorsed John Kroger's candidacy for Oregon Attorney General. I can't imagine AFSCME, OSPOA or any of the other unions endorsing Macpherson either. Hopefully we will see the last of Macpherson after May's primary. As a longtime resident of Macpherson's district, I won't be sorry to see him go either. There are several highly qualified candidates seeking his seat in House District 38. If you wonder who Greg Macpherson is, then you weren't paying attention during the 2003 Legislative session when Macpherson helped Governor Kulongoski perform an autopsy on a still-living patient - PERS. Go Kroger.

Comin' Around Soon

While I haven't heard anything substantive about Judge Kantor's week off, I do know that the Arken/Robinson cases have been in violation of UTCR 2.030 for some time now. According to Oregon Trial Code Rules, matters under advisement for more than 60 days can draw attention, and matters under advisement for more than 90 days can provoke more than just attention. Thus, it isn't surprising to me that Judge Kantor finally took a week off to get Arken/Robinson under control. If he truly made his decisions this past week, then Greg Hartman is being quite generous in his assessment that he expects a decision within the next two months. To be sure, if Kantor has made a decision, it is more likely that we should see a decision in the next few weeks, as all Kantor would be left with doing is dictating the case, having it typed, proofread, and issued. I doubt that will take several months.

I've also heard that Judge Kantor held a telephone conference about the White case - another case that has been "in the works" for about 3 years now last Friday. That might account for Hartman telling OSU employees/retirees that White was "on" in August. It seems to me that if White is finally going to be heard, then the whole question of the "settlement agreement" is now back on the table. I *think* that is good news for both actives and retirees.

On an unrelated front, my Mini Cooper has now made it to US shores and might show up in my driveway before the end of the month. If my luck with ordered cars holds true to form, it will arrive about the same time I leave for Spring Break. Nevertheless, it can't come too soon now. Gas prices have hit $3.85 in my neck of the woods and that SUV of mine is mighty thirsty. It would be cheaper to put Grey Goose Vodka in the tank. Of course, my Mini, like all of its BMW relatives, runs only on premium fuel. You can't have everything.

In true form, my friend Jim sent me the latest IKEA catalog item to save me money before my Mini arrives. With IKEA, the basic idea is that by assembling the furniture with simple tools, you can save yourself some money. In homage to money saving, here is IKEA's way of buying a car:

And here are the tools needed to assemble it:

Let It Happen

Nothing new to report on the Judge Kantor front. No contradiction to my last report, although OSU sponsored a talk with Greg Hartman and Paul Cleary. During this talk, Hartman said he hoped for a decision from Judge Kantor in the next two months - safely within my source's predicted timeframe - while Cleary, the PERS executive director, trash-talked window retirees for sucking at the public trough (or so says an attendee). In the meantime, Dawn Morgan is busy talking to Corvallis retirees, but I haven't heard what she is saying. Dawn is not one of my favorite people.

Hartman doesn't speculate what will happen if Kantor rules in favor of retirees, and Cleary acknowledges having set aside a sizeable sum of money for "future litigation". Sounds to me like PERS is covering its bets. But Cleary cautions that the decision as to whether to go forward with appeals rests with the attorneys "...and the employers." Hartman thinks that, whatever happens, Kantor will encourage the Supreme Court to take jurisdiction and bypass the Court of Appeals.

All of this is premature. No ruling yet, but stay tuned. If my source is right, we should be seeing a ruling in the "real soon now." Maybe Judge Kantor would like to get a Spring Break too. His wife is a school teacher.

Second Hand News

I've heard from a reliable source that Judge Kantor has asked to be removed from all other cases next week so he can finish up his rulings in the Arken/Robinson cases. If this is true - and I have no doubt that it is - we may have a decision much sooner than anticipated. Let's all hold our collective breaths and hope for a decision by week's end.