A highlight of the conference was the election of Brad Tenney of the Cambridge Retirement Board as MACRS President for the next two years. Tenney defeated MACRS Vice President Denis Devine of the Woburn Retirement Board in a tight vote after a spirited race. Tenney, a firefighter like Devine, is the chairman of the Cambridge Board as well as a legislative agent for the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts (PFFM). He’s a Marine Vietnam veteran.

Also elected was Chet Riley of the Brookline Retirement Board as Vice President. Anne Leduc, Cambridge Retirement Board; Rich Biagiotti, Lynn Retirement Board; Patrick Brock, Hampshire County Retirement Board; and Brian Leahy of the MWRA Retirement Board were elected to the MACRS Executive Board.

Riley, Leduc and Brock are all retirees and members of our Association. Leduc, Biagiotti and Leahy are new members of the MACRS Executive Board, while Brock is a longtime Executive Board member.

Retiree Association President Ralph White, a member of the State Retirement Board, is a member of the MACRS Executive Board and is its Legislative Chairman. Shawn Duhamel, Retiree Association Legislative Liaison and a member of the Plymouth Retirement Board, is also a member of the MACRS Executive Board. Both were speakers at the conference, with White highlighting the need for a higher COLA base and Duhamel reporting on our progress for repeal of the Social Security WEP and GPO laws.

Pension Fund Concern

White, as well as other speakers, attacked pending legislation, which would force some retirement boards to turn their pension fund assets over to the Commonwealth’s Pension Fund (PRIT) for investment. Boards currently have the option of utilizing the PRIT Fund as an investment vehicle, but resent being forced into PRIT.

“There are thirty boards who have placed all of their pension funds with PRIT for investment and another fifty who have put some of their money with PRIT,” said White. “The boards are very comfortable with this arrangement but fear that a forced transfer of pension funds would be a precursor of retirement boards being merged and a loss of local identity.”

Mike Travaglini, director of PRIM, which oversees the PRIT Fund, was present as a guest speaker as well as Mike Reardon, PRIM’s client service officer. They were invited to the conference to clarify the investment process utilized by PRIM and answer questions from the delegates.

Included at the conference, which lasted three days, plus an optional two-day educational session for newer board members and staff, were a large number of guest speakers. These included retirement attorneys, actuaries, investment managers, consultants and The National Conference of Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) officials.