Pension News - FABF
Pension News - FABF
Pension News - FABF
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FROM THE SECRETARY (cont.)<br />
the member’s treating physicians who clearly indicated that this individual could not return to full duty (remember, full<br />
duty requires very heavy lifting capability per OSHA guidelines). The Sun-Times investigation implicated this disabled<br />
participant as an abuser even though she, with full knowledge of this Board, subsequently obtained new employment in<br />
a less physically demanding career in a neo-natal unit of a hospital. I very much disagree with the Sun-Times. Other<br />
than a few accommodations requested by members under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Chicago Fire<br />
Department does not currently have a program that requires members on disability to accept any “light duty” assignment.<br />
There is nothing currently in state statutes that restrict members on disability from obtaining outside employment. The<br />
Board actively reviews the job descriptions and duties of such members to insure that they are not performing tasks that<br />
would refute their testimony about their disabled status. In my opinion, the Sun-Times should have commended this<br />
person for overcoming her limitations and becoming a contributing, productive member of the community.<br />
The very nature of the work of the Fire and Police Departments is hazardous. In spite of these assumed hazards,<br />
the Board has been vigilant to prevent any abuse. The Chicago Fire Department and the Firemen’s Annuity and Benefi t<br />
Fund of Chicago maintains a very favorable disability experience with a lower proportion of members receiving disability<br />
benefi ts than any other large U.S. city fi re department. The Retirement Board revised its own internal disability policy and<br />
procedures manual over ten years ago. We initiated active individual case management where necessary. Working with<br />
Local 2, the fund also had legislation passed to allow us to better assess participants’ disabling conditions and track their<br />
progress while in receipt of disability benefi ts. These efforts have helped not only maintain the integrity of our disability<br />
process but has also been a factor in reducing the number of our participants in receipt of disability benefi ts from 504 to<br />
350 over the past fourteen years.<br />
Thankfully many in the media, as was seen with the media coverage of departed members Herbie Johnson and<br />
Walter Patmon, do know that being a Chicago fi refi ghter, paramedic or police offi cer is a dangerous job. There have been<br />
562 Chicago police offi cers and 566 Chicago fi refi ghters that have died in the line of duty. Both jobs have extraordinary<br />
risks and both departments have extraordinary members who answer the calls without question. In spite of being blamed<br />
for the city’s pension mess and being asked to allow a reduction to their future retirement benefi ts, I still believe that<br />
sworn personnel of both departments love their careers. Most fi refi ghters, paramedics and police offi cers are at peace with<br />
the risks and the pensions they were promised was a factor in accepting those risks.<br />
As a fund trustee for over ten years, I have been honored to serve our participants. I have seen progress on many<br />
issues affecting the administration and management of our pension fund. Trustees and staff have worked to reduce expenses<br />
while maximizing investment returns. These efforts have included the creation of the position of Chief Investment Offi cer,<br />
a thorough revision of our investment policies, reconstructing our investment portfolio, investing in new categories of<br />
investments and negotiating investment fee savings in the process. The results speak for themselves. Over the past ten<br />
years, which has witnessed two major recessions, our investment returns have averaged 9.02%, placing us in the top 11%<br />
of all large public pension funds tracked by Northern Trust and Wilshire and Associates. The fees we pay our investment<br />
managers (approximately a half of one percent on average) are among the lowest in the country and we have also reduced<br />
our active brokerage expenses by over 50% from where they were in 2002. As you also know, we moved our offi ce to<br />
save money and have reduced travel and educational expenses too. We have tried to leave no stone unturned in meeting<br />
our fi duciary duty to the participants of the Firemen’s Annuity and Benefi t Fund. Despite these and other administrative<br />
improvements, the current unfunded status will continue to attract detractors, many with self serving motives.<br />
In conclusion, and contrary to the perceptions painted by some members of the news media, civic leaders and<br />
politicians, this fund has been diligent and has accomplished many good things long before the media and our legislators<br />
began focusing their attention on the retirement system problems that they ignored for so long. When I started on the CFD<br />
nearly twenty fi ve years ago, and for many years before becoming a trustee, many former trustees including Joe Quinn,<br />
Jim Nolan, Norm Holland, George Korda, Bill Wilkinson, Fred Gawryk and Tom Luczak were sounding the alarm with<br />
respect to funding. Since becoming a trustee, the Fund has continued to communicate the need for more funding every<br />
year to the city as well as inform all interested parties through publishing our annual reports on line and via mail to our<br />
participants. This problem is not new but rather is truly getting old. Chicago fi refi ghters and paramedics have nothing to<br />
be ashamed of when it comes to expecting the retirement benefi ts they have contributed toward and deserve nothing less<br />
than an adequately funded, secure retirement system.<br />
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