1 Engineering Retirees Society Quarterly Meeting The next quarterly meeting will be Thursday, Dec. 3, at the IAM Hall at 12:30 p.m. Come early - noon - for pizza, sandwiches, coffee and all the goodies. Once again, we will be offering a raffl e for poinsettias and dinners. HOW TO GET THERE Elected offi cers are: President .............................KEN FRAZIER 425-481-1874 kfraziersr@comcast.net Vice President .....................DICK FERGUSON 206-243-1405 Secretary .............................JIM EWING Treasurer ............................ED STANLEY Steering Board Chair ..........DAVE HUNTMAN 425-868-0961 davidhuntman@verizon.net SPEEA Contact Dawn Hanks dawnh@speea.org The current appointed Committee Chairs and Reps as follows: Badges .................................Tom Mechler Communications (website) ...David Westman Finance .................................Stuart Buchan Governing Doc. .....................Ken Frazier Insurance .............................Dick Ferguson Investments .........................Dave Watt Membership ..........................Sol Jacobson - temporary Nominations & Elections .........OPEN NRLN/ARA Liaison ................Dave Watt Pension ................................David Westman Programs ..............................Dave Watt Refreshments.............................Dave Huntman - temporary Service .................................Gary Palmer Social ...................................Dave Huntman SPEEA Liaison .......................Dick Ferguson Sunshine ..............................Charles Hennig Taxation ...............................OPEN Travel ...................................Gary Palmer We wish to thank all the people who fi ll chair positions and invite others to apply for those that are not yet fi lled. Please note that ‘temporary’, or ‘open’, is placed against some committee positions in order that the necessary functions be continued. Featured speaker The guest speaker will be Barbara Flye, with the Washington State Insurance Commissioner’s offi ce. She will give an update on the health-care reform as proposed (or passed) by Congress and what that means to retirees. Message from the President It is important that fresh faces and thoughts be brought into the working relationship of ERS to keep our group up-to-date and improving. Therefore, please seriously consider helping out. Please note that I will not continue to be offering my services to ERS as its president. It is fervently requested that member names be offered at the quarterly meeting for a meaningful election to be held. The term will be for one year, starting Jan. 15. To maintain a properly functioning society, it’s imperative that a replacement for this position be found from the membership. - Ken Frazier, president 2 Precis of the September general meeting minutes ERS President Ken Frazier called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. First guest speaker: Sarah Warren is an organizer for UNITE HERE hospitality workers’ labor union. UNITE HERE is now trying to organize the workers at downtown Seattle hotels, more than 80% of which are nonunion. Sarah asked for volunteers to hand out leafl ets near downtown Seattle hotels during a fi veday period in September. Second guest speaker: Barbara Flye is from the Washington State Insurance Commissioner’s offi ce. She discussed the health care reform bills that Congress is debating, and said the proposed legislation would fi ll the “donut hole” in Medicare Part D. She urged us to investigate the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Web site at www.kff.org to compare the bills being discussed in Congress. She told us that Medicare sometimes costs twice as much in one city as in a similar city because of more tests and treatment in the more expensive city, with no differences in outcomes. Barbara said that the World Health Organization had rated France’s health care system the best in the world. Minutes: Minutes of the June 2009 quarterly meeting were approved as read. Vice president’s report: Ken Frazier will be resigning as president effective Jan. 14, 2010, because of health and personal problems. A list was reviewed of the many contributions that Ken Frazier had made to the Society during his tenure as president. President’s report: A total of 26 new members joined the Society. At least some of these members apparently joined because of the one-year free membership program offered by the Society to recent retirees. Treasurer’s report: Dave Huntman gave the Treasurer’s report for Ed Stanley, who could not attend the meeting. The value of the Society’s accounts was $32,110.77. Steering board chair’s report: Dave Huntman (chair) and Dick Ferguson had been speaking to potential members at pre-retirement meetings in Everett and Tukwila several times per year. Also breakfast meetings for potential members were to be held in late October or early November in Bellevue, Everett, Renton, if there is interest among those invited. It was emphasized that the Society needed a new president in order to continue as an organization. Good of the Society: We had one fi rst-time attendee, Al Baal, and one new member, John Meeker. The board had voted to give John Meeker, Jack Meeker’s son, an honorary membership. Committee and rep reports: Our SPEEA Liaison said that SPEEA staff member Jessica Bonebright had taken Dick’s place at a recent pre-retirement seminar in Tukwila, while Dick was recovering from surgery. Ken Frazier told us that the board had voted to give Jessica a gift certifi cate in consideration of all the work she had done for the Society. Our Badges chair, Tom Mechler, told us that he had badges for six of our members. Finance Chair Stuart Buchan said that the board would need to reduce costs in 2010 because the Society’s income is decreasing. Communications Chair Dave Westman urged us to look at the Society’s Web site. NRLN Liaison Dave Watt urged us to respond to e-mails from NRLN in order to let our elected representatives know how we feel. Dave told us that the next investment meeting would be held on Thursday, Sep. 17, at the SPEEA offi ce in Tukwila, and that Meena Cheng would make the presentation. Another investment meeting was planned for Nov. 12, with Doug Eickerman speaking. Insurance chair reminded us that we do not know how Medicare will change if health-care reform passes. Membership chair reported that the Society had 708 memberships and that the total number of members including spouses was 880. Travel Chair said that he had spent a quiet summer and invited others to tell us of their trips. In response, one member told us that cabins on cruise ships were available for a fraction of their normal prices because too many cruise ships had been built. A $1300 outside cabin, for example, was available for $339. Unfi nished Business: Ken Frazier told us that the Society had nine positions that needed to be fi lled for 2010, including president, vice president, treasurer, steering board chair, and fi ve committee chairs. Without volunteers, he said, ERS would “fold.” The meeting was adjourned at 2:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James M. Ewing, secretary Welcome The newsletter has an area where the names of any new members are stated. Welcome to one new member, John Meeker. The board voted to give John (Jack Meeker’s son) an honorary membership. First-time attendees: We had one fi rst-time attendee, Al Baal. - Dave Huntman, newsletter editor. Investment meetings Investment group meetings are held at the SPEEA offi ce in Tukwila. We meet at noon for sandwiches, chips, cookies and drinks and speaker at 12:30 p.m. The speaker for the November meeting was Doug Eickerman, president of Kairos Capital Management. The title was “Investing In A Volatile Market.” Doug was formally with BECU Trust Management and once again proved to be a great speaker for us. - Dave Watt, Investment chair 3 ing e-mail addresses on fi le - about half of the membership. The savings are expected to be about $400 per quarter, by reducing the number of newsletters mailed by 50%. All members should please continue to inform us of their correct e-mail address so that we may further update our records. Since we have started a website, it is expensive to have e-mails returned due to non-delivery. (This data is not made available to the public for any reason, unless we have your permission!) The following members’ e-mail addresses of record do not work. Please send an email to kfraziersr@comcast. net to update our records or call Ken at (425) 481-1874. ERS website Don’t forget that the ERS Web site is up and running. Contacts, newsletter, bulletins, minutes of meetings and more are all now online and easy to access. Just go to: http://engineeringretirees.org Then click on ‘enter website here.’ From there, choose what you want to see, such as ‘newsletter’ and you will see the most up-to-date information. Under ‘meetings,’ you will fi nd when and where the next meeting will be. Also, the National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) website may be accessed from our site. Now that we are online, we have started sending an e-mail stating that the newsletter has been posted to the website. This is sent to all members with function- Last Name First M Last Name First M Ashby Richard J Makela Linda O Bathurst Anthony H McCartney James S Birn Martin McIntosh Robert Blair Walter McLaughlin Calvin V Bossler Eleanor E Monk John R Burk W Jack Motsenbocker David C Case Verne L Neuberger Wayne K Chaney Don P Nisargard Umesh L Crowell Clifton Ota Koichi Dorres Donald G Partington Richard Ernst Christi Preston Francis J Etter Richard F Princehouse David J Feider Paul A Reitz Joranne H Foster James H Roberts Richard T Gamble Alana G Rowan Sylvia V Guthrie James L Santamaria Salcatore Hill Betty S Schafer Franklin J Last Name First M Last Name First M Holey Richard J Simmons Alan Honebrink Donald A Sleight Richard R Hummel Stanley G Smith Vernon F Jackson Frank Sorenson Dwain A Jarolimek Matthias F Summers Donald H Johnson W R Sutton Ernest D Jollimore James A Swenson Charles H Khanna Rames H Swinford George R Liljstrom Roy R Tufts Warren F Livingston Lois S Utley Frank H Lornston Gerald K Zappalo Joel M Anacker William Grevstad Max J Christianson Robert Gurtnet John Davolt Jesse AG Huling Don W Depaoli Albert Larson Wayne J Derubeis James Nesbett Gerald H Faris James C Gracey Harry L Passages Hector Gillis Member No. 1533, Passed away 12/29/08 Richard Watson Member No. 1075 Betty A.Miller Member No. 1108. William R. Davies Member No. 1484, Passed away 1/15/2009 Edward A Rombeek Member No. 1393, Passed away 8/27/2008 Edward M. Anderson Member No. 1304, Passed away 9/12/2008 William A. Gonedridge Member No. 39, Passed away 10/22/2008 Esther Buck and George Buck. Irv Strauss Henry Tai Member No. 1120, Passed away 1/30/2009 Matt Ferriole Passed away 8/4/09 Glen Miller Passed away Oct. 16, we believe. No other data is known We regret to announce that Jack Meeker passed away on July 3. For a long time he took care of the refreshments at our general meetings. He took over from Esther Buck. He will be sorely missed around the ERS. 4 National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN) The fi rst page of the NRLN fall newsletter is shown here (left). The full data is about six pages long and as such is too much for this publication. The fall issue of the NRLN FOCUS Newsletter is available for you to read on the NRLN website at: http://www.nrln. org/focus%20newsletter_ files/NRLN%20 FOCUS%2009%20 FALL.pdf. Or you may go to www.nrln.org and click on the link in the item about the newsletter. The fall issue covers in articles and photos from the NRLN's Sept. 15 - 17 event in Washington, D.C., where 66 NRLN Grassroots Network members from 19 states and 10 retiree associations addressed NRLN legislative issues with members of Congress and/or their staff members. Also, NRLN Executive Director Marta Bascom provides her perspective on health care reform legislation in her "A View From Washington" column. Based on the feedback from Grassroots Network members about their positive experiences on Capitol Hill, the NRLN has decided to expand the time for visits with representatives and senators during the Annual Leadership Conference scheduled for Jan. 11 - 14. The conference begins at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11, with the NRLN Board Meeting that is open to NRLN members. Tuesday's business meeting will include presentations by NRLN leaders and guest speakers from Capitol Hill and federal agencies. An orientation session on issues to discuss with members of Congress has been added to the agenda to prepare conferees for meetings on Wednesday and possibly Thursday. Having a large turnout for the conference and meetings on Capitol Hill will be a good way to kickoff our 2010 legislative agenda by communicating it to members of Congress at the start of an important election year. - Ed Beltram, vice president - NRLN Communications Sign Up Now – Join NRLN Your ERS board recommends you join the NRLN as an individual member. You will receive their newsletter in a more timely fashion than is possible in this newsletter. It will keep you up to date on their activities on your behalf. It is an organization that works for, and lobbies for, all retirees and for future retirees. Please give serious thought to joining! For more information call 1-866-360-7197 or go to their website www.nrln.org - Dave Watt, NRLN Rep NRLN membership contribution The NRLN is a nonprofi t, tax-exempt organization. Contributions are not tax deductible. _________________________________________________________________________ Name _________________________________________________________________________ Address _________________________________________________________________________ City State Zip code __________________________________________________________________________ Phone E-mail Address (if available) I get a pension check and/or retired from_________________________________________ (name of company) Mail this form with your check or money order (no cash please) for $25, $50, $75 or more (any amount is appreciated) payable to NRLN, Inc., P.O. Box 18757, Washington, D.C. 20036-8757 The above is a repeat of information printed in the last newsletter to remind members of our status with the NRLN and to please support their efforts on our behalf by becoming members. - The Editor 5 On the lighter side The following are actual headlines from various British newspapers. MAN KILLS SELF BEFORE SHOOTING WIFE AND DAUGHTER This one was caught in the SGV Tribune the other day and the newsroom was asked who wrote it. It took two or three readings before the editor realized that what he was reading was impossible! SOMETHING WENT WRONG IN JET CRASH, EXPERT SAYS Ya think? POLICE BEGIN CAMPAIGN TO RUN DOWN JAYWALKERS Now that's taking things a bit far! PANDA MATING FAILS; VETERINARIAN TAKES OVER What a guy! MINERS REFUSE TO WORK AFTER DEATH ‘The-good-for-nothing' lazy so-and-so's! JUVENILE COURT TO TRY SHOOTING DEFENDANT See if that works any better than a fair trial! WAR DIMS HOPE FOR PEACE I can see where it might have that effect! IF STRIKE ISN'T SETTLED QUICKLY, IT MAY LAST AWHILE Ya think?! COLD WAVE LINKED TO TEMPERATURES Who would have thought! ENFIELD COUPLE SLAIN; POLICE SUSPECT HOMICIDE They may be on to something! RED TAPE HOLDS UP NEW BRIDGES You mean there's something stronger than duct tape? MAN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING: FACES BATTERY CHARGE He probably IS the battery charge! NEW STUDY OF OBESITY LOOKS FOR LARGER TEST GROUP Weren't they fat enough?! ASTRONAUT TAKES BLAME FOR GAS IN SPACECRAFT That's what he gets for eating those beans! KIDS MAKE NUTRITIOUS SNACKS Do they taste like chicken? LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS CUT IN HALF Chainsaw massacre all over again! HOSPITALS ARE SUED BY 7 FOOT DOCTORS Boy, are they tall! And the winner is.... TYPHOON RIPS THROUGH CEMETERY; HUNDREDS DEAD Did I read that right? Proposed change to the ERS Constitution and Policy Manual The following proposed Constitutional & Policy Manual changes require membership approval at the general meeting on Dec. 3 to become effective Jan. 15. Constitutional change. Total rewrite of Para. 4.0:- 4.0 STEERING BOARD – The Steering Board shall consist of all elected offi cers and all Past Presidents in good standing who have served as President for at least one year. The Steering Board shall administer the affairs of the Society in accordance with our Governing Documents, which consist of the Constitution, the Bylaws, and the Policy Manual of the Society, as established by the general membership. A quorum of the Steering Board shall be required to conduct Society business. Past Presidents who are members of the Steering Board shall have the right to make and second motions and to vote at Steering Board meetings. They shall not have the right to sign treasury transactions and they shall not be counted towards the Steering Board quorum, unless they are also elected offi cers. See section 5.3.1 for the defi nition of a Steering Board quorum. Policy Manual addition 2.6 Past-Presidents---Per paragraph 4.0 of The ERS Constitution, Past-Presidents are members of the Steering Board with restricted authority. Past-Presidents in good standing as of January 15, 2010 are Dick Ferguson, Ken Frazier, Al Glencross & David Watt.