EARTA Elgin Area Retired Teachers Association / IRTA October / November 2016

Serving Retired Teachers of Districts 300, 301, 303, and U-46 w w w. e a r t a . o r g

The Jogger

October 24 – Early voting is underway everywhere in Illinois. Voting sites may be city hall, township & county offices and your library. November 8 – Election Day! Local candidates endorsed for the Illinois legislature by your Illinois Retired Teachers Association – Political Action Committee: Christina Castro (D) – Senate Dist. 22 Anne Moeller (D) – House Dist. 43 Tom Cullerton (R) – Senate Dist. 23 Deb Conroy (D) – House Dist. 46 Pam Althoff (R) – Senate Dist. 32

On whatever basis you decide for whom to vote --- Please, Vote !!! David Wedemeyer, EARTA President

Mark Your Calendar General Meeting, Friday, November 18, 2016

Randall Oaks Golf Club, 4101 Binnie Road, West Dundee, IL 60118 (847)428-5661 11:30 a.m. - Social Hour (Cash Bar Available) 12:00 noon - Luncheon

Menu:

House Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing, Roast Turkey with Stuffing, Whipped Potatoes with Gravy, Fresh Vegetable Medley, Cranberry Sauce, Rolls/Butter, Coffee, Hot Tea

and Iced Tea, Pumpkin Pie. Reservations are due by Friday, November 11. Please make checks payable to EARTA for

$ 18.00 per person (includes meal, tax and gratuity) and send to Barb McGee 12728 Williams Road Genoa, IL 60135. Home phone number is (815)784-5186.

Hope to see you on the 18TH OF November.

Program

Season’s Readings

Books make great gifts for the holidays! Let Librarian Tish Calhamer of the Gail Borden Public Library help you with your holiday shopping, recommending wonderful titles for everyone on your list—from your romance-reading aunt to your history buff cousin and everyone in between. Librarian Tish will even recommend relaxing reads for you to alleviate holiday stress in this lively, interactive program.

Please email or call with questions or ideas. Shellysinger10@aol.com or 224-622-8820. *************************************************************

Election of the Vice-President and Recording Secretary will be held at the November luncheon. Nominees are current officers, Barb McGee as Vice-President and Kay Lincicome as Recording Secretary. **************************************************************

EARTA’S TREASURER’S REPORT As of October 1, 2016: Checking Account $1941.64 Savings Account $9048.08 ************************************************************** This month, for the Community Crisis Center, we are emphasizing donations of baby items (diapers, wipes, lotions, etc.) . As always, ANY donation will be greatly appreciated. Please see the “on-line” Jogger, for a complete list of needed items.

MINUTES OF THE EARTA GENERAL MEETING

Friday, September, 2016

EARTA LUNCHEON AND GENERAL MEETING

was held at the Elgin Country Club on September 16,

2016. Social hour was at 11:30 and the luncheon was

at 12:00. President, David Wedemeyer, welcomed

members and first timers, and recognized our program

speakers, Christopher Gluck and Nancy Cramer, from

AMBA. Luncheon was served following the

invocation given by Chaplain, Mick Williams.

OFFICER REPORTS

President – David Wedemeyer called the business

meeting to order. David expressed a THANK YOU

to the following people for appreciation of the work

they do for EARTA. Recognized was: Cindy

Ruszkiewicz as “Jogger” editor, Karen Patterson as

“Jogger” mailer and June Preucil as EARTA Web

Chairperson. David announced IRTA-PAC Endorsees

for the upcoming election: Anne Moeller, Illinois

House, 43rd

District (D), Deb Conroy, Illinois House

46th

District (D), Christina Castro, Illinois Senate 22nd

District (D), and Tom Cullerton, Illinois Senate 23rd

District (R). David reminded the group of the Crisis

Center Donation Basket on the registration table.

Suggested donations for the Crisis Center are printed

in the Jogger.

Recording Secretary- Kay Lincicome

The minutes of the June 17th General Meeting as

printed in the Jogger were accepted without objection.

They are on file.

Corresponding Secretary – Susan Frederitzi

Please send Susan information on hospitalized or

deceased members so that she can send get well cards

and sympathy cards on behalf of EARTA.

Treasurer – Jean Jederman reported that there is

$9,045.81 in the savings account, and $2,464.49 in the

checking account. The report will be filed for audit.

Jean received a letter from the IRTA Foundation

thanking EARTA for the $300 in support of

Scholarships which helps to provide financial help to

retired educators, present educators, and future

educators.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Social/Charity – Coral Reinert announced that the

Supper Club met on September 12, at Hooper’s. They

will meet on October 10 at Hooper’s at 5:30

All are invited. The Epicurean Adventure will meet on

September 21 at the Patten House in Geneva at 6:00.

For more information, please contact Karen Patterson,

or Irene Wedemeyer. Coral reported that 45 tickets

were sold for the musical “Hamilton” for October 30 at

2:00. The group will meet at the Country Inn Suites at

12:00 noon, October 30, for the bus.

Legislation – Cliff Olson Cliff read his printed report

which was available for attendees. He covered

information concerning our health insurance, and

concerns about the future of public education in Illinois,

and continued concerns about teachers’ pensions. He

stated, “This election is the most important in at least

25 years to protect our pensions! Urge everyone you

know to participate.” Cliff reminded us to, “Stay up-to-

date and be ready for a Call to Action as there is certain

to be legislative information concerning our pension

system. As always, check the EARTA, IRTA and TRS

websites.

NEW BUSINESS

Our next luncheon will be on November 18 at Randall

Oaks Country Club.

ADJOURNMENT

David adjourned the business meeting at 1:10.

PROGRAM – Shelly Singer

David introduced our program speakers, Nancy Cramer

and Christopher Gluck, Association Member Benefits

Advisors for IRTA Member Benefits (AMBA). The

speakers passe out an informational brochure on the

IRTA Member Benefits. They encouraged all members

of IRTA to participate in programs of their choice.

They highlighted offerings which included choices of

Health and Medical Programs, Travel Programs, Car

Rental Discounts, Vacation Programs, AAA, IRTA Visa

credit card, Auto and Home Insurance, Technology,

Verizon Discount, Dell and Apple Discounts, and more.

Nancy highlighted the MASA program which is an

emergency air and ground assitance company.

Information request postcards were available for those

that were interested in obtaining more information. A

member can contact Christopher Gluck, AMBA District

Manager, at 846-40-1055.

Respectfully submitted,

Kay Lincicome, Recording Secretary

14 October 2016: Legislative

Report for EARTA Board

Meeting

This is an extremely important election …

November 8, 2016. The NEA and the AFT have

endorsed Hillary Clinton as has the Board of

Directors of IEA. Hillary has a 30-year record

fighting for public education for all with equal

access and opportunity … health care for children

… equal rights for women and human rights.

Hillary accepts scientific facts and cause and effect.

Public Education is at Stake! VOTE!!!

Donald Trump believes public schools should be

privatized and that teachers should have no

bargaining rights. To him, public education is

terrible.

Meanwhile in Illinois, our governor supports

Trump. We are on the fiscal cliff with an

accumulated debt of 16.9 Billion according to the

Commission on Government Forecasting and

Accounting. The debt interest is accumulating at

$8,000,000 every hour. Many of our school

districts, colleges, and universities are on the brink

of disaster. Community colleges especially in the

Southern part of our state can barely function.

In the meantime, constitutional anarchy is not the

answer. Stealing from the pension is not the

answer. Stealing from the road funds is also not the

answer. Breaking contracts threatens the integrity

of all laws that govern and protect citizens of

Illinois. Adhering to the constitution is necessary

for the survival of society, pension and public

education funding. “Any legislation that ignores

the constitution leads directly to anarchy and

despotism (Ex parte Milligan (1866).” It is

reckless when the governor and the legislature

ignore the constitution they swore to uphold by

challenging the pension protection clause. This

recklessness has been going on for decades and we

can reasonably assume it will continue. We spent

$600.000.00 of our member contribution in the last

Supreme Court fight. Please continue to

contribute to the Legal Defense Fund for our

next legal contest.

Fifteen of our members joined the $1.00/monthly

Political Action Committee contribution last

month. Thank you so much for your continuous

support! The monthly IRTAPAC deductions have

risen from 3,359 in March to 4093 at the end of

August … That’s a 22% increase in just five

months!

Pew Charitable Trust reported bad news in terms of

net amortization as a share of covered payroll.

Illinois ranked third worst in the nation. We can

expect the gap between the promised benefits and

available funding to grow over time. However:

Public pension systems do work when

amortization payments are made annually …

“Pay-As-You-Go”. The IMRF (Illinois Municipal

Retirement Fund) is a good example for good

reason: municipalities are required by law to make

their annual contributions. The most important

lesson from successful pension systems is

making the full required pension payment each

year. North Carolina is also in good shape. They

use a 12-year amortization period to pay off the

unfunded liability. This keeps the unfunded

liability low and the pensions well-funded. Many

states use a 25-30-year amortization period.

Remember Governor Rauner’s pre-condition for

balancing the state budget is to “include the future

salary increases on a non-pensionable basis” …

another attempt to challenge the pension protection

clause in January after the election.

Stay up-to-date and be ready for a Call To Action

as there is certain to be legislative information

concerning our pension system. As always, check

the EARTA, IRTA and TRS websites.

Respectfully submitted,

Cliff Olson,

EARTA Legislative Chair

IRTA Legislative Committee, Area 2, Region 5

Condolences: Ruth Miller (Pg. 37) has passed away.

VERY IMPORTANT: Please continue to let Susan

Frederitzi (Corresponding Secretary), know when

there is an illness or death among our membership.

Also, let Jean Jederman or David Brown know

about deaths.

ANNUAL MEMBERS RENEWAL Our membership is from Jan. to Jan. Please renew ASAP. This saves us sending renewal letters and postage. Also, with the coming holidays you could forget. Send your $25.00 check made out to EARTA to: Jean Jederman, Treasurer, 865 Wing Street, Elgin, IL, 60123. Thank you for renewing early.

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Thank you for your contributions to the Community Crisis Center at the September luncheon. They were very appreciative of the donations. If you are involved in a group or know of a particular need for a certain organization, please contact me at clange50@sbcglobal.com or call me at 847-695-1822 to provide me with contact information. Cindy Lange

Crisis Center’s Greatest Needs Diapers, sizes 4, 5 & 6 and wipes Deodorant for men and women Toothpaste, toothbrushes Feminine Hygiene Pads--Regular and Super Mini bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, body wash Big bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, body wash Juice boxes and after school snacks Sandwich, quart and gallon size zip loc and fold bags Toilet bowl cleaner, bleach, He powder laundry detergent Toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissue Basic Office Supplies: copy paper, envelopes, pens, highlighters, notepads, paperclips, tape Plastic or reusable grocery bags for our food pantry The Community Crisis Center is a non-profit social service agency providing services to individuals & families in Kane and NW Suburban Cook Counties who are dealing with economic crisis, domestic violence or sexual assault. Contact 847-742-4088 for more information or visit www.crisiscenter.org

SOCIAL EVENTS: Supper Club: We met on Monday, October

10th, at Hooper’s Bar and Grill at 5:30 p.m.

Our next Supper Club will meet on Monday,

November 14th, at Hooper’s at 5:30 p.m.

Everyone is invited to attend and bring guests.

Epicurean Adventure: Members had a great

time on September 21st at the Patten House

Restaurant in Geneva. The next gathering is

scheduled for Tuesday, October 25th, at Villa

Verone at 416 Hamilton St. in Geneva. Mark

your calendars for Wednesday, November 2nd,to

go to the TL Four Seasons Restaurant at 110 W.

Bartlett Road, in Bartlett. Then on Thursday,

December 8th we will go to The Buckingham

Steak House at the Queen Victoria Casino in

Elgin. Save Sunday, January 15th, at 4:00 P.M.

to enjoy a delicious dinner at the Anvil Club in

Dundee. All other dinners are scheduled for 6:00

P.M. with individual checks. Any questions,

contact Karen Patterson or Irene Wedemeyer.

Tour Information: October 30th is almost here

and time to see “Hamilton”. If you are one of the

lucky “45”, please come to the Country Inn

Suites at 2270 Point Blvd., Elgin, IL, at 12:00

with coach leaving at 12:15 P.M. The show is at

2:00 P.M. and is approximately three hours in

length. After the performance, we will drive to

Chandler’s Chophouse in Schaumburg for a

delicious family style dinner. We should return to

Elgin about 8:00 P.M. If you have to cancel,

please let me know as soon as possible as I have

many on the waitlist. Any questions, call Coral

Reinert at 847-742-4330.