Shelby County resident Merrill Asher, second from right, is sworn in as a Peri board member.
Courtesy photo Shelby County PERI
COLUMBUS — The 49th Annual Meeting of the PERI (Public Employees Retirement Inc.) was held at the Crowne Plaza, Columbus, Ohio. There are approximately 200,000 OPERS (Ohio Public Employee Retirement Services) beneficiaries. The speakers included the Board Chairman Richland Ross of Morgan County; Rep. Mary Lightbody, Franklin County, keynote speaker, and Rep. Rodney Creech, Preble County, keynote speaker.
According to Lightbody and Creech, who both serve on the Pension Committee and the Agriculture Committee, these committees are significant to Ohio. Ohio has a top in the nation pension fund and Ohio’s No. 1 business is agriculture. In breakout sessions, topics for discussion included legislative updates, a report from the State Attorney General’s Office, OPERS giving an overview of benefits and the upcoming open enrollment dates, OSHIIP (Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program) and AMBA (Association Member Benefits Advisers).
Shelby County Chapter 11 was represented by Jack Toomey, president, and Diane Dempsey, vice president. Also in attendance was local Treasurer Mike Fischbach, Secretary Shari Eilerman, the State Legislative Liaison Merrill Asher and committee member Anita Miller. Each member attended a separate session to hear the latest updates and to learn information that will be helpful for membership in Shelby County.
The networking and programs are designed to assist and enhance the educational value for all attendees. One tip that the team learnt was that the Ohio legislative committees can be observed in session on www.ohiochannel.org .
The Shelby County chapter has the following meetings schedule at the Amos Memorial Public Library in Sidney:
• Oct. 12, 2023, at 1 p.m. with a speaker from OSHIIP and the topic is Medicare Updates and Open Enrollment Information. This information can be very helpful in making decision and planning for Medicare or changes to Medicare plans.
• Dec. 14, 2023, at noon will be a box lunch and at 1 p.m. with speaker, Lezlie Garcia, executive director of PERI. Garcia will give an overview of the current state of PERI and the plans going forward.
All OPERS members are welcome; working or retired.
Toomey said, “that on behalf of the committee officers and myself, I want our local membership to recognize the importance and value of our attendance at the next two meetings and more importantly, for OPERS beneficiaries to take part in our local chapter.”
He reminded the group that the upcoming meeting with Garcia is significant and wants to encourage everyone to attend. Toomey also shared for members to encourage and invite anyone from their former workplace that has retired to join our efforts for advocacy of PERI. The goal is to keep the membership strong so we have a strong and united voice when it comes to effectively making changes for current and future retirees. It is imperative that members advocate for the retirement system to the Senate and House representatives.
To learn more about PERI, go to www.operi.org or for more information regarding the local chapter, contact Anita Miller at [email protected].
