Dec 2018 Lemon Twist
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CALIFORNIA RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION CORONA NORCO, AREA IX, DIVISION 80 LEMON TWIST Volume 26 | Issue 4 | December, 2018 Keeping New Year’s Resolutions By Ulda Revollo and Terry Marzell, Co-Presidents If we were all being totally honest with ourselves, we would admit that most people who make New Year's Resolutions do not follow through with them too long into the new year. But as we welcome 2019 together, “Let our New Year’s resolution be this: We will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity in the finest sense of the word,” suggests Goran INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Persson, the former Prime Minister of Sweden. And having made this resolution, let’s all further resolve to maintain it all through the year. During the holiday season, when we are surrounded by ”Peace on Earth, • CHS Madrigals perform Goodwill towards Men,” it’s easy to fall into the spirit of showing kindness, at Dec. CalRTA meeting patience, and generosity, uplifting one another with encouraging words, • Members plan visit to helpfulness, and altruism. We are especially mindful of the needs of those less fortunate than ourselves. We donate toys to bring joy to underprivileged local Hindu Temple children, contribute food to feed the homeless, and take the time to visit those • Governor Jerry Brown’s living in convalescent homes. We give a little extra to the people who work for Last Stand on Pension us, and we reach out to friends and family that we might not have kept in contact with over the past year. We spread cheer and best wishes to everyone Reform we meet. • New benefit for Kaiser How wonderful it would be if we could make a resolution to keep this members giving, loving, generous spirit going beyond the season. We think, if we all work together, we can inspire each other to honor the spirit of the season all • Membership Update year long. And we can all help each other to keep this resolution alive. Shall we all make a resolution to try? • December Treasurer’s Report • Scholarship Fund Update • Contact your elected representatives • Calendar of meetings CalRTA: Your partner in pension protection LEMON TWIST Page 2 Members plan January visit to Hindu Temple By Margit Olson Our January meeting will be an outing to the Hindu Temple in Chino Hills. The BAPS SHRI SWANINARAYAN MANDIR is truly a beautiful place well worth a visit. We reserved a tour for our CalRTA group and any friends who might want to join us for Thurs., Jan. 10 at 9:30 AM. The address is 15100 Fairfield Ranch Road, Chino Hills (off the 71, exit Central Ave.). The tour will start at 9:45 AM and end about 11:15 AM and it is free of charge. The temple is handicap accessible (elevator) and walking is not strenuous. After the tour we are planning to go out for lunch. Various restaurants are nearby. I hope many of you can participate. Let’s expand our minds a little and learn something about another culture. Please call or email me if you can join us. Hopefully we can carpool as much as possible. Email me at [email protected] or call me at 951-737-3320. CHS Madrigals perform at December Meeting Scholarship Fund Donations needed The Corona High School Madrigals performed at the monthly meeting of CalRTA held Fri., Dec. 7, 2018, at the CNTA office in Norco. The performance has become a By Kathleen Shepardson highly-anticipated annual holiday event. As a thank you It is the holiday season, a season of generosity and gift, each student received a goodie bag of cookies donated kindness, and so I am requesting that you consider a gift by Division 80 members. The group of talented students is to our scholarship fund. pictured above, at top. Shown above, at bottom, are We need additional donations to make it possible to members of CalRTA enjoying the concert. give scholarships this coming June. Thus far we have enough donations to give one scholarship to a graduating senior from either Corona or Norco. We In Remembrance would like to be able to give several scholarships. If you would like to give a gift in memory of a valued colleague or relative, or in honor of a dear friend whom you admire, we would greatly appreciate your generosity. The students could use a boost, as current tuition charges are very high, and student loans can be a burden for decades. Dorothy Flanagan Please consider giving a gift to future teachers from our area. Thanks you! Our sincerest sympathies go to Dorothy’s family and friends CalRTA; Your partner in pension protection LEMON TWIST Page 3 Treasurer’s Report Membership Updates By Erma Paloma This is the Treasurer’s Report for By Beverley Rouse Dec. 7, 2018. As of the end of November, we have 339 members in the Corona- Norco Division of CalRTA. Of those, about half, or 166, use the “dues Checking account balance: $9,336.52 deduction” method of payment, which is what I use. My monthly dues are Savings account balance: $7,848.87 deducted from the amount STRS sends to my bank so that I never have to worry about writing a check. The other half of the members, 164, pay their 2018-2019 Scholarships goal: dues annually by check, usually when the state CalRTA office sends a $3,500.00 notice. The final group is the nine who are the Life Members listed at the front of your directory. 2018-2019 Scholarship donations to These numbers don’t match our directory exactly because the board has date: $386.00 requested that our directory include recent members whose membership has lapsed, but who may be in the process of sending a check to renew their Donations received at the meeting on membership. Dec. 7: Jean Kleih; Kathleen Send updates to the yellow 2018-2019 directory to Beverley Rouse Shepardson in memory of Pat Scott; at [email protected]. CalRTA Memorials for Dorothy I've listed new changes to the yellow 2018-19 directory below: Flanagan and Nancy Wojton. John Delay New phone number: (541) 338-7050 New health benefit New email: [email protected] for Kaiser members Betty Gallups 27275 Via Capri By Margit Olson San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675-5340 New from the insurance desk: If Her listed phone has been disconnected. you have Kaiser health insurance through the district, you will receive a Ben Gonzalez: Add “S.” before Cota Ave. new benefit. As of January 1, the Silver&Fit Exercise and Healthy Aging Lucia Guadarrama: Add -4914 to her zip code Program was added at no additional Ruth Heineman: Change her zip code to 92882-6897 cost. This means you can join a fitness Bruce Johnson: 3883 Buchanan St., Spc. 184 facility such as LA Fitness for free. You should receive a letter from Lucille Madry: PO Box 5103 Kaiser Permanente with the details of Oceanside, CA 92052-5103 the new exercise program. Please check your mail. The website SilverandFit.com Jennifer Price will give you a list of all the 303 W. Pennwood St. participating gyms. Call 1-877-427-4788 Meridian, ID 83642-8639 to find out if you are eligible and to get the number you will need to enroll in a Leonora Prince: Remove her email address. gym for free. Hopefully many of you will use this Leeann Woodruff opportunity to get into better shape. 24369 Sunset Vista Dr. Let’s get healthier in 2019. Corona, CA 92883-4023 CalRTA; Your partner in pension protection LEMON TWIST Page 4 Jerry Brown’s Last Stand on Pension Reform By Judy Lin, CALmatters Reprinted from the Desert Sun. Originally published Dec. 9, 2018 Six years ago, as California strained to emerge from the Great Recession, Gov. Jerry Brown worked a minor political miracle—a rebalancing of the massive state pension systems for public employees. Shuttling between unions and the strapped governments on the hook for public sector benefits and paychecks, Brown scaled back some of the rules and perks that have made public sector workers more secure, arguing that the pain would be worth it. Results were mixed: The largest benefit rollback in state history yielded some savings, but not enough to entirely fix a pension commitment that taxpayers are increasingly finding hard to manage. Now, as Brown prepares to leave office—his own pension at hand, after five decades in public service—even that hard-won modicum of fiscal change could be loosened. In a case that went to oral arguments this week, the California Supreme Court is weighing a key legal precedent that could restore the generous pension formulas Brown worked so hard to tighten. Brown, who at 80 has already surpassed the average retirement age of state workers by 22 years, predicts that he’ll win. But Wednesday’s proceedings made it clear that workers’ arguments are also compelling. Whatever the ruling, Brown's successor, Gavin Newsom, will have to cope with the outcome. And—though the state’s unfunded liabilities persist, and economists warn another recession could be just around the corner—Newsom will face a very different political landscape. Should California land in another downturn, Brown’s pension reform miracle could be difficult, if not impossible to repeat. The case heard by the high court on Wednesday involves the California Rule, a legal precedent that requires the state to compensate public employees if their retirement benefits are lessened. In a challenge brought by Cal Fire Local 2881, the firefighters union argues that the ability to purchase additional years of service credit toward retirement, known as “airtime,” is a pension benefit that employees rely on as part of their decision to go into public service.