April 2010 (Pdf)
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RetiRement news Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems SJP • April 2010 PRoviding infoRmation to Judge Camerer Retires Love and Judges, PatRol and Judge G. Glenn Camerer school emPloyees retired on February 1, 2010, as Paperwork: County Judge for the Twelfth County Court Judicial District. A Cautionary Tale RetiRement BoaRd He also resigned from the Patrick had always Public Employees Retirement dreamed of being a sci- Denis Blank Board (PERB), where he had Chairperson ence teacher and had been State Member represented the Judges Retire- thrilled when he landed his ment Plan since 2006. first teaching job. Glenn Elwell Vice Chairperson Before being appointed to Although brilliant at sci- Patrol Member the PERB, Judge Camerer ence, he wasn’t quite as had been active in retirement wise when it came to paper- Richard Wassinger work. His desk was always County Member issues on behalf of the judges PERB Chair, Denis Blank (right) presents of Nebraska. A Scottsbluff Judge Camerer (left) with a plaque ac- cluttered with papers he Randall Rehmeier resident, he is widely credited knowledging his contributions to the PERB. always intended to get to… Judge Member with starting problem-solving someday. Committee for the Nebraska Mark Shepard courts in Scotts Bluff County Patrick met Annie and including juvenile, adult, and County Judges Association and School Member had served in all officer posi- they fell in love. She affec- family drug courts. He was an tionately called him “The Janis Elliott tions for the organization. School Member active member of the Nebraska Nutty Professor” for his Supreme Court Committee on NPERS would like to thank wild, unkempt hair and his Donald Pederson Problem-Solving Courts and on Judge Camerer for his profes- disorganized ways. They Member-at-large the Supreme Court Commis- sional contributions to the work married and lived happily for Elaine Stuhr sion on Children in the Courts. of the PERB, and we wish him many years. Member-at-large He was also on the Legislative the very best in retirement. Then one day, tragedy Jeffrey States struck. As Patrick was State Investment Officer driving home from school, Judge Rehmeier Joins PERB another vehicle crossed the In this issue... median and collided with Judge civic organizations, including his car. Patrick died at the NPERS Staff Randall L. past president of the Nebraska age of 59. Accomplishments ....... 2 Rehmeier has District Judges Association, Following Patrick’s death, Important Change been appointed Second Judicial District Bar To Retirement News ... 3 Annie was assured by other by the Gover- Association, Otoe County Bar School Plan members that What a Difference nor to fill the Association, Nebraska State a Year Makes! ............ 3 as Patrick’s widow she recent PERB Young Lawyers Association, would receive a monthly New State vacancy left by past member of the Nebraska benefit for the rest of her Investment Officer: Judge Glenn Camerer. Since life from the School Retire- Jeffrey States ............ 3 State Bar Association House 1990, Judge Rehmeier has of Delegates, past president of ment System. Although Unclaimed been the District Court Judge the couple’s finances were Retirement Funds ....... 4 for District 2 encompassing the Nebraska City Rotary Club, Elks Exalted Ruler, and Chair- sound, Annie had recently Legislative Update ...... 8 Otoe, Cass and Sarpy Coun- lost her job and a few years ties. Previously, he served man of the Board of Trustees still remained on the mort- three years as a County Judge of the First United Methodist gage for their home. The for the same counties. For the Church of Nebraska City. money would be needed. 15 years prior, he was in private Judge Rehmeier resides in She located Patrick’s re- law practice and served as the Nebraska City with Candace, tirement account statement, NPERS Otoe County Attorney. He his wife of 37 years. They which indicated he had Nebraska Public Employees received his undergraduate and 34 years of service credit, Retirement Systems have two children and two law degrees at the University of grandchildren to help oc- and an account balance of Director: Phyllis Chambers Nebraska – Lincoln. cupy their spare time. NPERS $115,681 comprised of his RetiRement news Judge Rehmeier has served welcomes Judge Rehmeier to contributions plus interest. Editor: John Winkelman on numerous bar and judicial the PERB and looks forward to Asst. Editor: Angela Hatcher Continued on page 3 association committees and working with him. NPERS Staff Accomplishments Dennis Cooper Honored as ment imaging for NPERS. Dennis also Johnetta Lang Named purchases and maintains equipment and 2009 Manager of the Year supplies for the agency. He coordinates 2009 Employee of the Year Data Services the agency’s recycling and shredding Johnetta Manager, Dennis procedures. He serves on the safety Lang, Retirement Cooper was committee and is a backup to the envi- Specialist I/Lead selected as NPERS’ ronmental quality lead staff. A member Worker in the Data 2009 Manager of of the NPERS team since 1999, Dennis Services depart- the Year. Dennis is the “go-to” person whenever help is ment was named manages nine needed with equipment or supplies. He NPERS’ Employee employees who was nominated for his willingness to of the Year. Johnetta ensure that member help, his ability to communicate effec- oversees and audits data is up to date tively with staff, and his hard work and information processing functions and and accurate. He also coordinates effort on behalf of the agency and the supervises the NPERS mail room and Data Services department. incoming and outgoing mail and docu- imaging area and conducts training for the Data Services area. When Data DEPARTMENT PROFILE Services Manager, Dennis Cooper, is not available, Johnetta steps in to help out agency staff as needed. Nominated Information Technology for her kindness, her willingness to help others and her ability to get the job done, The Information Technology Johnetta has been gracing NPERS with (IT) department plays a central- her positive attitude for nearly ten years. ized support role at NPERS. Nearly everything we do at NPERS utilizes NPRIS (Nebraska NPERS Staff Public Retirement Information System), our web-based informa- Members Honored tion sytem. NPRIS is a complex, for Service to State technical system that requires constant monitoring and our IT department keeps it running smoothly. This ensures that plan L – R: Norene Brauner, Fred Turner, Chad Schlotfeld, Viji Pushkaran, Dean Gress, Jayme Skov, Tammy Petersen, members have the ability to safely and Melissa Kolm. and easily review and interact online with retirement information. Fred Turner, Manager of the IT department, was previously a Project Manager for the Department of Health & Human Services where he helped implement systems similar to NPRIS. As manager, Fred coordinates the staff and ensures that everything is functioning properly. There are seven other employees in the IT department. Three are Business Nine NPERS employees were honored at the Governor’s Employee Recognition Program. First Row L–R: Dennis Analysts who function as liasons between end users and the developers. Dean Cooper, Ann Hille, Melissa Mendoza. 2nd Row L–R: Gress, an Infrastructure and Support Analyst, also specializes as a Business Tauna Meints, Liz Pomajzl, Johnetta Lang. 3rd Row L–R: Analyst for our Benefits department. Jayme Skov works with our system Dana Dingledine, Vicki Frey, Brenda Dinges. interfaces with our recordkeeper for State and County accounts. Tammy Nine members of the NPERS staff Petersen concentrates on the refunds and coordinates system issues between were recognized for their years of users, IT staff and vendors. Our Business Analysts all have over 20 years service to the State of Nebraska at the experience with NPERS. Governor’s Employee Recognition As Infrastructure and Support Lead, Chad Schlotfeld supports our serv- ers, network and technical environments and has been with NPERS for over Program held in October. NPERS seven years. congratulates our dedicated staff Norene Brauner has been with NPERS for over 12 years (ten in the IT members for their service to the state: Department). Norene provides desktop support to staff and assists other IT Melissa Mendoza, Tauna Meints, functions. Dennis Cooper, Johnetta Lang, Ann Melissa Kolm and Viji Pushkaran are our application developers from the Hille, and Fred Turner, 10 years; Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). Melissa and Viji provide Dana Dingledine and Brenda Dinges, application development support to NPRIS. 20 years, Liz Pomajzl, 25 years; and Vicki Frey for 30 years of service. 2 What a Difference IMPORTANT CHANGE TO RETIREMENT NEWS! a Year Makes! by Jeff States, State Investment Officer Retirement News will now be distributed by email to actively employed School members via their employers. Inactive School Similar to the broad markets, the perfor- members will receive a printed copy of this newsletter by mail one mance of the Nebraska Investment Council final time. Like other State agencies, NPERS has experienced a reduc- (NIC) investments for the defined benefit and cash balance programs were impacted by the tion in our budget. Cutting back on our newsletter printing and distri- credit crisis and global economic slowdown bution will significantly reduce expenses. that began in the summer of 2007. There were few, if any, places to hide to avoid being We apologize for the short notice and any inconvenience. Yearly impacted negatively. However, after a disap- member account statements will continue to be mailed, and all news- pointing investment return for calendar year letters will be available on the NPERS website at npers.ne.gov. If 2008 of -27.8%, the NIC has seen a strong rebound in 2009. The investment return year- you do not have access to email or the internet, you may call NPERS to-date as of December 31, 2009, at 402-471-2053 or toll free at 800-245-5712 and we will send you a is 22.1%.