A PUBLICATION FOR THE Summer 2019 ACTIVE/RETIRED MEMBERS AND BENEFICIARIES OF THE HOUSTON FIREFIGHTERS’ RELIEF AND RETIREMENT FUND Investing for Firefighters and Their Families® A MESSAGE FROM CHAIRMAN BESSELMAN Dear Fund Members, First, it is an honor to serve as the Chairman once again. I continue to be in close communication with all Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retire- ment Fund (HFRRF or “the Fund”) members, both active and retired. Brett R. Besselman As I continually meet more members and listen to your stories about Chair your experiences in the Houston fire department, it re-affirms my com- mitment to the Board and the long-term health and viability of this pension fund. The appellate ruling in this latest round of court proceedings sided with the City of Houston re- garding the suit to stop underfunding our pension plan. On June 20, 2019 the Texas Court of Ap- peals, 14th Appellate District in Houston, affirmed a previous district court ruling that permitted experimental revisions relating to funding from the 2017 Texas Legislature to continue. We are very disappointed in this ruling but plan to continue our challenge to what we believe is an unconstitu- tional law in situations where the Board’s actuaries believe the City contribution must be higher. SB 2190 allows the City to short change the pension year to year, instead of producing long term pension security. We still believe SB 2190 conflicts with the Texas Constitution by taking away the Board’s right to select sound actuarial assumptions to be used by the Fund for this plan. The Board will continue to challenge this court’s ruling. We said good-bye to long-time Board member, Chaplain Garry W. Blackmon, Sr., who retired after serving 35 years in the Houston Fire Department. Blackmon served our Board in Trustee Position IV, since February 2014. We con- gratulate and wish Mr. Blackmon a very happy retirement and thank him for his dedicated service to our membership. Outlined in this edition of the Red Line newsletter is the schedule to fill Garry’s unexpired term. We move forward with the energy to strengthen the Fund and provide a se- cure retirement plan for our members. Chairman Brett R. Besselman presents Plaque of Appreciation to Lawmakers have com- Garry W. Blackmon, Sr. pleted the 86th session Trustee since February 2014 of the Texas legislature. Their primary focus was on issues of bipartisan concern that affected the whole state. We are pleased to report that there were no bills passed by the end of the session that negatively impact our Fund. The Board will continue to advance the interest of our active and HFD 35 Year Retirement retired members as we prepare for opportunities in the 87th HFRRF at Fire Station 8 on May 31, 2019 Texas legislature. The 87th session is scheduled to begin January 12, 2021. The dangers inherent in the fire profession are no secret. Many may suffer from long-term job-re- lated illnesses in the fire service. The state of Texas, recognizing the hazards of our profession passed a new bill (SB 2551) adding more illnesses to help firefighters make their case for worker’s compensation benefits. This legislation may make it easier to file claims with insurance carriers and may allow employees to recover attorneys’ fees from insurance carriers who act in bad faith. We ap- Continued on page 2 www.hfrrf.org Page 1 A Message from the Chairman, continued from page 1 plaud the efforts of the spon- Have a safe summer! sors for this very important legislation. Brett R. Besselman, Chair Since our last publication, Houston Firefighters’ we’ve welcomed 66 new Relief and Retirement Fund Fund members. These ca- Board of Trustees Chairman Besselman at Texas Association dets were sworn in on May 66 New Fund Members of Public Employee Retirement Systems HFD Cadets were sworn in on May 16, 2019 (TEXPERS) Pension discussion during 16, 2019; joining the ranks Texas’ 86th legislative Session of the Houston Fire Depart- ment, ensuring the safety of GOVERNOR ABBOTT NAMES STEPHANIE LEIBE the citizens of Houston. Houston is the fourth most populated city in CHAIR OF THE STATE PENSION REVIEW BOARD the nation, and with an estimated population of 2,312,717 (trailing AND REAPPOINTS MARCIA DUSH AND KEITH only New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). As you know, the next gen- BRAINARD eral elections are Tuesday, November 5, 2019 (election day) and will fill some key city leadership positions. Governor Greg Abbott has named Stephanie Leibe chair of the State Pension Review Board replacing In closing, the Fund was created by state statute and, since its founding Josh B. McGee as chair. Governor Abbott addition- in 1937, it has been administered by its Board of Trustees who have ad- ally reappointed Keith Brainard to the Board for a opted sound actuarial assumptions used by the Fund. HFRRF’s assets term set to expire on January 31, 2025 and reap- have grown steadily over the years. The market value of Fund assets pointed Marcia Dush for a term set to expire on in 1988 was approximately $468 million; today its assets are approxi- January 31, 2025. mately $4.2 billion. We look to the future as we work toward the con- Stephanie Leibe tinued growth of our investments and long-term health and viability of this pension fund. THE HISTORY OF THE HFD MEMORIALS | GLENWOOD CEMETERY AND THE FUND’S MEMORIAL GARDEN Today, the City of Houston firefighters have a beautiful garden located on pension Fund property called the “Houston Firefighters’ Memorial Garden” at 4225 Interwood N. Parkway, located off of Beltway 8 and JFK. It is in this garden, since 2001, that the Houston Fire Department (HFD) hosts its Annual Memorial Ceremony. At this ceremony HFD invites all the city to gather in the garden each year to pay tribute to HFD firefighters. The garden includes pavers, benches, the “Wall of Honor” and a breathtaking statue called “The Rescue”. “The Rescue” is the statue that memorializes all HFD firefighters lost in the line of duty, “who are gone, but never forgotten”. The “Wall of Honor”, which is also in the garden, holds the names and is a tribute to all deceased firefighters since the beginning of Houston’s paid firefighters. As many may know, the Memorial Garden location was not the orig- inal gathering place for this most sacred ceremony and tribute. The original HFD memorial’s home was and remains in the Glenwood Cemetery. Glenwood Cemetery is located on 84 acres at 2525 Washington Avenue, a short distance from downtown Houston. Glenwood opened as a private cemetery the summer of 1872. Prior to the beginning of the HFD paid department, Houston’s fire protection was comprised of vol- unteer fire companies. In 1888 the companies were: Protection 1, Hook and Ladder 1, Liberty No. 2, Stonewall No. 3, Mechanic No. 6 and Curtin No. 9. In May of 1888, these companies bought Plot 98 in Section C of the Glenwood Cemetery for $300. This plot was to be used for the members of the department. In June of that same year, the firefighters ordered a stone memorial to be erected on the newly purchased cemetery plot. On top of this monument was a life-sized statue, a likeness of the oldest living member at the time, Robert Brewster. The statue stands 5 foot 2 inches and weighs 1400 “The Rescue” memorializes all pounds. It was produced in Carrara, Italy and delivered to the firefighters on December 24, 1889. In firefighters lost in the line of duty 1895, the City of Houston went from a volunteer department to a paid department. Shortly after that www.hfrrf.org Page 2 time, the newly formed department took over ownership 2019 KEY DATES of the Fireman’s Plot. The monument was not officially dedicated until April 6, 1900. CALENDAR JULY AUGUST Today, there are a number of firefighter souls buried in S M T W T F S S M T W T F S the Glenwood Cemetery. The first volunteer firefight- 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 er Henry Kitely, died in 1888 and the last volunteer was 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Clarence Hartwell, who passed away in 1905. Sadly, there 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 have been more firefighters and line-of-duty deaths since 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 that time. Captain Mark Braswell and Firefighter Anne 28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Sullivan’s remains are also buried there. SEPTEMBER OCTOBER S M T W T F S S M T W T F S After the original dedication of the memorial, there were, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 as far as history can tell, no organized memorial services to honor the firefighters 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 buried there. So, as time marched on, the monument had lived in Glenwood through 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 at least two major floods and without much notoriety with the next event that took 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 place concerning the Fireman’s Plot occurring 87 years after the monument was 29 30 27 28 29 30 31 erected in Glenwood. NOVEMBER DECEMBER For whatever reason, in 1975, the HFD moved the S M T W T F S S M T W T F S monument to 410 Bagby, which at the time was HFD 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Headquarters.