Pension board to have nine members

After a lengthy discussion at Monday night's meeting, Springfield City Council established a nine-member board for its Police and Fire Pension.

Council considered an ordinance and a substitute ordinance detailing the makeup of the board. The original ordinance proposed a nine-member board comprising six citizens, a Police employee, a Fire employee and a Police or Fire retiree. The substitute ordinance, initiated by council member Cindy Rushefsky, outlined an 11-member board made up of six citizens, two Police employees, two Fire employees and a Police or Fire retiree.

In both scenarios, the citizens would include two professionals in financial or investment management, one actuarial or auditing profession, one each in the medical and legal fields and a citizen-at-large.

Council members Rushefsky and Nicholas Ibarra spoke in favor of the 11-member board. Rushefsky said a nine-member board would cut the representation Police and Fire employees had held on the previous pension board in half, noting that the employees held a greater interest in the pension fund because they were overseeing their own benefits.

"We're taking the watchdog off the board. ... There is wisdom in knowing what not to change," she said.

Council member Dan Chiles noted that the citizen board members were invested in the pension fund as taxpayers.

"It's all a big pile of money contributed by the taxpayers. If the money goes away, the taxpayer is still on the hook," he said.

The 11-member board was rejected by all members except Rushefsky and Ibarra. The same members who voted against the 11-member board passed the nine-member bill.

While that decision has been made, more pension fund business will come up in future meetings.

On Monday, council members heard a first reading of an ordinance that would put $7.45 million in settlement proceeds from a lawsuit between the city and AT&T Missouri into the pension fund. That issue will be up for vote on Feb. 8.Read more Springfield City Council news in SBJ's Feb. 1 issue.