Pension News - FABF

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