You have to have a sense of humor if you follow Kentucky politics.
Otis is back.
Here is his web site and a story from the Harlan Daily Enterprise.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Fiduciary
From the FreeDictionary.com
fiduciary 1) n. from the Latin fiducia, meaning "trust," a person (or a business like a bank or stock brokerage) who has the power and obligation to act for another (often called the beneficiary) under circumstances which require total trust, good faith and honesty.
Let’s talk about the Board of Trustees of the Kentucky Retirement Systems.
According to an Attorney General’s opinion written while Ben Chandler was the Attorney General, “The Board oversees the combined system in a fiduciary capacity, and administers the plan "solely in the interest of the members and beneficiaries . . . ."
The opinion concludes:
“The Legislature, as it can do, has devised a retirement plan for the public servants of this Commonwealth. In so doing, it also provided for an appropriate and responsible governing structure to best insure the responsible operation of that plan. We think it a simple matter to conclude that the persons governing those funds and managing that system are holding a "State Office." Moreover, the law plainly and unequivocally dictates that result.”
So, the members of the Board of Trustees are State Office Holders administering the retirement plan solely for the benefit of the members and beneficiaries of the Kentucky Retirement Systems.
According to the organizational chart in the 2005 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) the Finance Committee and the Audit Committee appear to report directly to the Board of Trustees, they do not report to the Executive Director. Some of the blocks on the chart are connected with dotted lines and some aren’t connected at all.
This may be a graphical Freudian slip that reveals how this place really runs.
Three names that appear on the chart are John Krimmel, Gordon Mullis and J. Eric Wampler, I talked about these guys before but let’s concentrate on the Board for now.
To put it in simple terms the Board of Trustees should be the sheriff’s of this here town. But who are the trustees?
The members of the Retirement System elect five (5) Board Members, three (3) are appointed by the Governor, and one (1) is the Secretary, Personnel Cabinet (who is also appointed by the Governor).
The current Board of Trustees are:
Randy J. Overstreet, Chair
Walter J. Pagan, Vice Chair
Brian J. Crall
Bobby D. Henson
Susan Smith Horne
Vince Lang
Patricia Ballenger
Larry C. Conner
Lynn T. Harpring
So today let’s look at the political appointees on the Board:
First, Walter J. Pagan, Vice Chair:
Wally Pagan, was a Covington city manager the late 1970s, who was named director of SouthBank Partners, a civic group seeking to coordinate development on the Ohio River in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. Pagan resigned his job as director of the Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky to take the SouthBank post.
His experience with the Telecommunications Board seems to have prepared him well for his stint on the Retirement Systems Board.
From an Attorney General’s Opinion:
This matter comes to the Attorney General on appeal from the Kenton/Boone Counties Cable Television Board's (hereafter “Board”) denial of Mr. Donald J. Ruberg's open records request to inspect certain records of the Board….
By letter dated February 27, 1996, Mr. Walter J. Pagan, Executive Director, Kenton/Boone Counties Cable Television Board, responded to Mr. Ruberg's request……
We conclude the Board improperly denied Mr. Ruberg's request to inspect a copy of the Interlocal Agreement that had been forwarded to the Attorney General for approval.
Of course he has also demonstrated how he builds the confidence in how he manages other people’s money.
From the Enquirer:
COVINGTON - City commissioners have approved a general fund budget of about $41 million for the fiscal year starting today, a 7.7 percent increase from last year.
Commissioner Bernie Moorman cast the only dissenting vote. He said Covington isn't getting enough results for the $65,000 it's paying Southbank Partners for economic-development work on behalf of the city.
"Wally (Pagan, president of Southbank Partners) is a wonderful guy,'' Moorman said.”Southbank is a wonderful program. But you don't pay anybody unless they do something for you.''
Moorman said he hasn't seen results from Southbank in the past year and a half.
"Newport pays Southbank Partners some $43,000, and they get the bulk of Southbank's time and talent and effort,'' Moorman said.
Pagan could not be reached for comment Wednesday. "
But of course Wally does like Republican Senator Jim Bunning.
“The State of Kentucky and our entire region are fortunate to have strong advocates in Washington, like Sen. Jim Bunning, who get behind visionary ideas like the National Submarine Science Discovery Center,” said Wally Pagan, president of Southbank Partners and leader of the Riverfront Commons development project, which includes the USS Narwhal exhibit."
Just what everyone needs, a moth balled sub, truly visionary.
Second, Lynn T. Harpring:
Lynn T. Harpring was appointed by indicted Governor Ernie Fletcher.
According to the news release at his appointment:
“Lynn Harpring is currently a financial planner with Harpring & Pope in Louisville. Harpring has served on numerous boards and civic organizations including as the Past President of Louisville Estate Planning Council, Louisville Association of Life Underwriters, Bellarmine College Board of Overseers and the Board of Directors for the Executives Club of Louisville. “
Harpring’s main qualification, other than running his business as a financial planner is contributing to Anne Northup. Over the years Harpring and his wife have contributed over $6,500 to Northup.
and the third appointee Larry C. Conner
From the Herald-Leader:
Profession: Chief operations officer for the Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville; officer of special instructional services for the Kentucky Department of Education's Visually Impaired and Deaf/Hard of Hearing Team.
Background: Conner was formerly a high school teacher. His prior activities include serving on the Bryan Station High School site-based decision-making council and as a division director and consultant for KDE. He has a master's degree in education from Eastern Kentucky University and studied labor market planning and analysis at the University of Louisville-Urban Studies Center and the University of Mississippi/ Memphis State University. Conner is a member of the Kentucky State Retirement Board of Directors and has served on the Bluegrass Area Development District Board of Directors as well as being chair of the Lex-Tran Board. He has been married for 35 years and has three children, Nicholas, Alanna and William.
Conner appears to be a nice guy with a lot of the right credentials for this job. But he may not be as forceful as he needs to be.
This from the Reporting Times:
Lexington, Kentucky – (April 25, 2004) – Inconsistency and poor communication resulted- in fewer central office staffing cuts last spring than the Fayette County Board of Education expected, former Schools Superintendent Ken James concluded.
But James' report -- portions of which were released Friday night -- has left some school board members with questions. And since James has already resigned his post, interim Schools Superintendent Marlene Helm is now working on her own investigation.
Board members say they not only want to know what happened to the jobs they were told would be cut a year ago, they also want a full count of who works in central office and what they do……..
"I was disappointed," said school board member Larry Conner, explaining that the report lacked the specifics the board had sought.
"We did not have the detail that we expected," he said. "Perhaps it warranted further investigation by Dr. James or perhaps he just chose to do the best he could do with the time constraints he was under."
The real down side to Conner is that his term expires March 31, 2007. That means that indicted Governor Ernie Fletcher gets to appoint someone like Pagan or Harpring.
Remember these are the watch dogs on millions of dollars of tax payer and public employee’s money.
fiduciary 1) n. from the Latin fiducia, meaning "trust," a person (or a business like a bank or stock brokerage) who has the power and obligation to act for another (often called the beneficiary) under circumstances which require total trust, good faith and honesty.
Let’s talk about the Board of Trustees of the Kentucky Retirement Systems.
According to an Attorney General’s opinion written while Ben Chandler was the Attorney General, “The Board oversees the combined system in a fiduciary capacity, and administers the plan "solely in the interest of the members and beneficiaries . . . ."
The opinion concludes:
“The Legislature, as it can do, has devised a retirement plan for the public servants of this Commonwealth. In so doing, it also provided for an appropriate and responsible governing structure to best insure the responsible operation of that plan. We think it a simple matter to conclude that the persons governing those funds and managing that system are holding a "State Office." Moreover, the law plainly and unequivocally dictates that result.”
So, the members of the Board of Trustees are State Office Holders administering the retirement plan solely for the benefit of the members and beneficiaries of the Kentucky Retirement Systems.
According to the organizational chart in the 2005 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) the Finance Committee and the Audit Committee appear to report directly to the Board of Trustees, they do not report to the Executive Director. Some of the blocks on the chart are connected with dotted lines and some aren’t connected at all.
This may be a graphical Freudian slip that reveals how this place really runs.
Three names that appear on the chart are John Krimmel, Gordon Mullis and J. Eric Wampler, I talked about these guys before but let’s concentrate on the Board for now.
To put it in simple terms the Board of Trustees should be the sheriff’s of this here town. But who are the trustees?
The members of the Retirement System elect five (5) Board Members, three (3) are appointed by the Governor, and one (1) is the Secretary, Personnel Cabinet (who is also appointed by the Governor).
The current Board of Trustees are:
Randy J. Overstreet, Chair
Walter J. Pagan, Vice Chair
Brian J. Crall
Bobby D. Henson
Susan Smith Horne
Vince Lang
Patricia Ballenger
Larry C. Conner
Lynn T. Harpring
So today let’s look at the political appointees on the Board:
First, Walter J. Pagan, Vice Chair:
Wally Pagan, was a Covington city manager the late 1970s, who was named director of SouthBank Partners, a civic group seeking to coordinate development on the Ohio River in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. Pagan resigned his job as director of the Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky to take the SouthBank post.
His experience with the Telecommunications Board seems to have prepared him well for his stint on the Retirement Systems Board.
From an Attorney General’s Opinion:
This matter comes to the Attorney General on appeal from the Kenton/Boone Counties Cable Television Board's (hereafter “Board”) denial of Mr. Donald J. Ruberg's open records request to inspect certain records of the Board….
By letter dated February 27, 1996, Mr. Walter J. Pagan, Executive Director, Kenton/Boone Counties Cable Television Board, responded to Mr. Ruberg's request……
We conclude the Board improperly denied Mr. Ruberg's request to inspect a copy of the Interlocal Agreement that had been forwarded to the Attorney General for approval.
Of course he has also demonstrated how he builds the confidence in how he manages other people’s money.
From the Enquirer:
COVINGTON - City commissioners have approved a general fund budget of about $41 million for the fiscal year starting today, a 7.7 percent increase from last year.
Commissioner Bernie Moorman cast the only dissenting vote. He said Covington isn't getting enough results for the $65,000 it's paying Southbank Partners for economic-development work on behalf of the city.
"Wally (Pagan, president of Southbank Partners) is a wonderful guy,'' Moorman said.”Southbank is a wonderful program. But you don't pay anybody unless they do something for you.''
Moorman said he hasn't seen results from Southbank in the past year and a half.
"Newport pays Southbank Partners some $43,000, and they get the bulk of Southbank's time and talent and effort,'' Moorman said.
Pagan could not be reached for comment Wednesday. "
But of course Wally does like Republican Senator Jim Bunning.
“The State of Kentucky and our entire region are fortunate to have strong advocates in Washington, like Sen. Jim Bunning, who get behind visionary ideas like the National Submarine Science Discovery Center,” said Wally Pagan, president of Southbank Partners and leader of the Riverfront Commons development project, which includes the USS Narwhal exhibit."
Just what everyone needs, a moth balled sub, truly visionary.
Second, Lynn T. Harpring:
Lynn T. Harpring was appointed by indicted Governor Ernie Fletcher.
According to the news release at his appointment:
“Lynn Harpring is currently a financial planner with Harpring & Pope in Louisville. Harpring has served on numerous boards and civic organizations including as the Past President of Louisville Estate Planning Council, Louisville Association of Life Underwriters, Bellarmine College Board of Overseers and the Board of Directors for the Executives Club of Louisville. “
Harpring’s main qualification, other than running his business as a financial planner is contributing to Anne Northup. Over the years Harpring and his wife have contributed over $6,500 to Northup.
and the third appointee Larry C. Conner
From the Herald-Leader:
Profession: Chief operations officer for the Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville; officer of special instructional services for the Kentucky Department of Education's Visually Impaired and Deaf/Hard of Hearing Team.
Background: Conner was formerly a high school teacher. His prior activities include serving on the Bryan Station High School site-based decision-making council and as a division director and consultant for KDE. He has a master's degree in education from Eastern Kentucky University and studied labor market planning and analysis at the University of Louisville-Urban Studies Center and the University of Mississippi/ Memphis State University. Conner is a member of the Kentucky State Retirement Board of Directors and has served on the Bluegrass Area Development District Board of Directors as well as being chair of the Lex-Tran Board. He has been married for 35 years and has three children, Nicholas, Alanna and William.
Conner appears to be a nice guy with a lot of the right credentials for this job. But he may not be as forceful as he needs to be.
This from the Reporting Times:
Lexington, Kentucky – (April 25, 2004) – Inconsistency and poor communication resulted- in fewer central office staffing cuts last spring than the Fayette County Board of Education expected, former Schools Superintendent Ken James concluded.
But James' report -- portions of which were released Friday night -- has left some school board members with questions. And since James has already resigned his post, interim Schools Superintendent Marlene Helm is now working on her own investigation.
Board members say they not only want to know what happened to the jobs they were told would be cut a year ago, they also want a full count of who works in central office and what they do……..
"I was disappointed," said school board member Larry Conner, explaining that the report lacked the specifics the board had sought.
"We did not have the detail that we expected," he said. "Perhaps it warranted further investigation by Dr. James or perhaps he just chose to do the best he could do with the time constraints he was under."
The real down side to Conner is that his term expires March 31, 2007. That means that indicted Governor Ernie Fletcher gets to appoint someone like Pagan or Harpring.
Remember these are the watch dogs on millions of dollars of tax payer and public employee’s money.
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