Day: November 13, 2019

Presentation to the VCCCD Board of Trustees
November 12, 2019

I’m Paulette Freedenberg Johnson and I worked at Ventura College for over 27 years.  I’m not speaking for the Retiree exec (even though I know them pretty well), but as someone who communicates with many of the 700 retirees every day and hear how they feel about what you are doing here.

My goal is to represent them and make it clear that the retirees DO NOT support a change to CalPERS, and here’s why:

• We know what’s in every contract since the first contract. There is someone in our group who served on every negotiation team…on both sides.  Our group has a collective memory that you could never have, with membership that includes Chancellors, all Presidents, every manager, and every person who ever worked and retired from the District.

Do you think we have forgotten what we agreed to?  What YOU agreed to?

• We know more than you do right now…..because we’ve done the research and you haven’t.  We know how all of your proposed plans compare to our existing ones and how and why they fall short.We know what other college districts think of CalPERS because we called them.  We know the operational and financial weaknesses of CalPERS.  We know why so many Districts are trying to get out of their contracts…..and how much it is costing them to do so.   We know that the savings they promise disappear in practice….how Districts have to hire extra staff because CalPERS provides no access or support.

We know that it will cost you MORE to be with CalPERS and why.  Do you?

We believe in our contract rights and the 2010 agreement and we are willing to go to the mat to protect them.

We have no problem opposing you with legal action if you do not honor your legal agreements with us.  You cannot REWRITE our agreement….you cannot rewrite history.

• You should not underestimate who you are dealing with:We are professionals, with experience, institutional knowledge, and deep connections in this community and throughout the entire state.
  
  We know how to use media, news outlets, and the internet to bring our concerns to the public if we need to.

We have fought to earn our rights before, have put everything on the line for our contracts every single negotiation, and have been willing to take a stand when we need to.  Fighting for our rights is a skill we forged our entire careers and we haven’t forgotten how to do it now.

Conclusion:

So what I’m telling you here is that we, all 700 of us, will oppose what you are trying to do here.  We do not trust CalPERS and you shouldn’t either.

You would be wise to give us the opportunity to show you how this decision will be costly to the District in ways you apparently haven’t already discovered for yourself.

We are willing to help you understand what you’re getting all of us into.  If you choose to ignore this offer, if you do not honor your agreements and contracts with the retirees, you will energize and mobilize 700 people against what you have done.

Paulette Freedenberg Johnson

Presentation to the VCCCD Board of Trustees
November 12, 2019

Members of the Board of Trustees, and Vice Chancellor El Fattal.

I’m Rene Rodriguez, President of the college district Retirees’ Association.  I retired from this District 15 years ago, and served as faculty member and a manager in various capacities for 34 years.

Your declaring an impasse last week with the AFT came as a surprise to us, and we are wondering where that leaves the retirees.  We were under the impression that we would be given the time to adequately review the District’s CalPERS proposal, having just received the voluminous materials we requested from the District less than 7 weeks ago.

We have made considerable progress in reviewing the CalPERS health plans, but it will take a few more weeks to complete our review.

We will then want to meet with the District and Burnham and CalPERS representatives to share our findings, and to ask them questions about the differences that we have found between the CalPERS plans and the Anthem/BX plans, to make sure that our findings are accurate.

After which, we will then want to share our findings with the retirees themselves, and give them a chance to ask questions and understand the differences between what the District is proposing and the current Anthem/BX plans.  Only then, we believe, can the retirees as a whole, and its leadership, make an informed decision regarding the District’s CalPERS proposal.

To date, we have found it troubling that the District’s proposal includes an HRA, “to make retirees whole,” and even then, the HRA will not cover all benefit exclusions, and it will only last three years.  Meanwhile, we are expected to give up the promise of quality lifetime healthcare benefits, a promise that is spelled out in contractual and settlement agreement language.

I’ll leave you with this final thought.

As you express your concern for active employees and their futures, I hope that concern equally includes retirees.

Please remember that most of our retirees are faculty, faculty that have made positive impact upon thousands of students over the course of their careers within the three colleges.  These students, who are now responsible community members, will want to know that this Board is treating their retired faculty fairly, and with the respect they deserve.

Thank you.

Rene Rodriguez