Chair Talk
July 2022
The August 5th Coordinating Council meeting will be held at the Citizens Forum at Marquette’s Lakeview Arena at 10:00 a.m. Registration is at 9:00 a.m. at which time, coffee and rolls will be available. Reservations are necessary and must be made either by email or phone with 906 Chapter President Tony Grudnoski: email atgrudnoski72@gmail.com or phone: 906-360-2275 or 231-709-8295.
If you have not attended a SERA meeting hosted by Tony Grudnoski (and SERA Chapter 906) in Marquette you are in for a treat. Tony puts on an interesting and enjoyable meeting whenever we go to the U.P. Also, there will be a 5-7 cookout the evening of Thursday, August 4th at the Ice Cream Store Pavillion on beautiful Presque Isle. All attendees of the Coordinating Council are welcome.
The past 2 ½ years have not been kind to SERA Chapters and members. I am sure that many of us have lost family members and friends because of the Covid-19 issue. Many state employees are still not back to their original work-stations full time. Many are still working from home. Due to the restrictions placed on us, we have had 3 Chapters that have been unable to continue due to loss of officers (Muskegon, Ypsilanti and Adrian) and loss of membership.
I attended the Lansing Chapter meeting on Wednesday, July 6th. Speaker at that meeting was Attorney General Dana Nessel. At the end of her presentation, I was able to bring up the issue that SERA no longer receives current state retiree lists without the retiree lists we can no longer recruit retirees to join SERA. The Attorney General’s response was that we should be able to work out a compromise. She assigned one of her staff to discuss the issue with me. Guess there may still be a way to resume getting retiree lists in the future.
Hope to see many of you in Marquette next month.
Editor’s note: Bob Kopasz is Chair of the Michigan SERA Council. He may be reached at P.O. Box 692, Mt. Morris, MI 48458; phone 810/240-8380.