Call To Order:
President Steve Rayne called the meeting to order at 9:40 a.m.
Prayer: Ed Rich Pledge of Allegiance: Ed Rich
Secretary's Report and Treasurer's Report:
v Motion by Bill Elkin, 2nd by Nelson Zoch to approve the minutes as printed. Voice vote. Motion carried.
Ted Karis - Liberty Mutual Insurance:
· Congress temporarily extended Flood Insurance coverage through September 30, 2010. Policies written before September 30th will be good for one year.
Lynn Bradshaw Hull, Candidate for Judge of the 280th District Court:
· The 280th District Court is a new Domestic Violence Court and should have a judge with experience.
· She has presided over 500 jury trials.
Member J.C. Hairrell - Psychological Aspects of Retiring:
· Teaches a TCLEOSE course on the financial and psychological aspects of retirement, usually at smaller departments and composites of regional academies.
· A successful retirement has three components: Financial, Physical and Mental.
· Financial Health - Have a plan, start early, educate yourself on tax advantage plans and monitor progress.
· Physical Health - Get annual physicals, eat healthy and exercise.
· Mental Health - Least discussed component, depends on both physical and psychological health.
· Common complaints of retirees include loss of self- esteem, loss of identity, boredom, depression, no purpose, relationship difficulties, anxiety, loss of routine, and thoughts of suicide.
· Suicide rates among police officers are much greater than the general public, which is 10 out of 100,000. Active officers are 6 times more likely to commit suicide; Retired officers are 18 time more likely and disabled retired officers are 45 time more likely to commit suicide. Main cause is lack of retirement counseling.
· Cycles of Life - First 20-25 years are growth and education
Next 30-40 years are family and work
Last 15-30 years are retirement
· 5 Phases of Retirement:
o Pre-Retirement: Anxiously counting days
o Honeymoon: Don't have to get up, drive to work, extra time
o Disenchantment: No structure or focus
o Orientation: What am I going to do with my time? What do I want?
o Stabilization: Meaningful ways to manage time, interest and relationships.
· Psychological Aspects of Retiring Survey was completed by 58 of 93 HPROA members attending the meeting. The average age of those who responded was 69.5 years, average time retired was 12.2 years with an average of 32.9 years in law enforcement.
o Did you retire too early? Yes-8 No-48
o Did you retire for wrong reason? Yes-5 No-47
o Did you have a plan? Yes-31 No-19
o Were you financially ready? Yes-41 No-3
o Would transaction program help? Yes-24 No-17
o How long did it take to adjust? 35 - 0 -6 months 9 - 6 mo. - 1 yr.
3 - 1 - 2 yrs
2 - 2 + yrs.
o What did you feel after retirement? 11 - Loss of Identity
7 - Boredom
3 - Inability to organize time. Did not know what to do
2 - Marital difficulty, Isolated, Lonely, Empty, Disoriented
o How do you rate your happiness? 25 - Very Happy
9 - Happy
o What causes you not to enjoy retirement? Poor Health
o What helps you enjoy retirement? Freedom, Time with family and friends, Structure, Travel, Church, Accomplishments, No Whitmire or Brown.
· 38% had a retirement plan.
· Think before you retire:
o Are you ready to not be a cop?
o What does retirement look like to you?
o What would be your ideal day?
o What would be your routine?
o What is your outside interest, hobby, etc?
· People who socialize more live a longer, healthier life.
· Work after retirement: 13 - Continued working
8 in Law Enforcement
4 outside Law Enforcement
5 - Returned to work
3 in Law Enforcement
2 outside Law Enforcement
4 - Work part-time
30 - Said no, they had enough
· Advice to those facing retirement: Plan ahead, watch finances, be debt free, have an interest or hobby, stay involved, travel, don't retire too young, fishing is not a plan, and try 1 or 2 month retirement.
· A good retirement includes good health, good income, good attitude, and good socialization.
Steve Rayne - President:
· 175 attended the Crockett Reunion. Thanked Silent Auction contributors and buyers.
· Members should have received their Election Ballots. Please be sure to follow the instructions.
· Ballots will be counted at the August General Membership Meeting. Any member interested in helping count the ballots please get to the meeting 45 minutes early. Your help will be appreciated.
· Newly elected Board Members will be sworn in.
· A complementary lunch will be provided following the August meeting.
· Contributions may be made to the HPD Assist the Officer Fund through the Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Donation Program. The HPROA website provides the information and letter containing the necessary barcode. Present the letter with the Assist the Officer barcode to the cashier upon checkout to be enrolled for the current year. Once the card is scanned with the barcode, it will be active for the remainder of the program year and must be renewed each year. Kroger will contribute a percentage of your eligible purchases to the Assist the Officer Fund.
Executive Director - Bill Elkin:
· Pension @ $2.976 Billion.
· 79 have retired to date - 10 in June, and 4 scheduled for July.
· HPOPS will not have a Retiree Seminar this year. The next Pension Retiree Seminar is planned for March or April of 2011.
· As part of the National Health Care Provision the IRS may include in your taxable earned income the amount of the health care benefit provided by the employer. You would be taxed on the adjusted income.
· Donna Mitchell, Health Benefit Office, invited representatives from police, fire, municipal and retiree groups to attend one of three focus groups on Wednesday, July 14, 2010, scheduled for 9:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. The purpose is to obtain opinions about potential plan changes and to determine which is more acceptable to plan members. A committee of 5 to 7 HPD retirees has been invited to participate. Steve Rayne, Bill Elkin, Jack Miller, Al Blair, Ben Bashaw and Bob Barnard volunteered to serve on the committee.
· Thank you notes were received from the families of Ernestine Sanford, Harold Stephens and O.A. Williams.
· Letters of appreciation were received from Ken Legler, Candidate for State Representative District 144 and Jim Murphy, Candidate for State Representative District 133.
Treasurer's Report - Steve Rayne:
· Jim St. John could not be here today.
Retired Badge - Nelson Zoch:
· Articles may be e-mailed directly to Zoch at lt2212d599@hotmail.com.
· Any member with an address change should contact HPROA Secretary Cathy Buckles at (713) 802-2967 or cathy@hpdretired.com.
Membership Chairman - Floyd Nettles:
· Working to hold our own and keep membership up.
Website Committee - Jim Ashby:
· Website had over 7,500 hits.
· If you are retired and bored get a computer. You will spend half your time on it and the other half waiting on the tech guy in India.
· You should be getting 3 to 4 E-blast weekly. If you are not receiving them contact Jim.
· Please send pictures to the Last Roll Call so we can match faces with names. The pictures will be returned.
· There is a place on the website for members to make changes to their address, phone number, or e-mail.
· Contact Ashby at (281) 498-3834, or at info@hproa.com, if you are having computer or e-mail problems, or have not been receiving the E-blast.
Entertainment Chairman - D. A. Miller:
· 175 attended the Crockett Reunion. Vicky Rayne and Karen Harris worked the Silent Auction which was very successful.
· There will be a complementary lunch after the August Election General Membership Meeting.
· The Hill Country Reunion will be Saturday, October 23, 2010 in Fredericksburg at Lady Bird Johnson RV Park Pioneer Pavilion. The host will again be Lamar and Dee Kimball. RV's should make reservations early by calling Dennis at (830) 997-4202. Hotel Information is on the website and rooms are in short supply.
Family Assistance Committee - Forrest Turbeville:
· Please consider attending as many of the funerals for retired officers as possible. It is very sad when only a few retired officers attend a service to honor a fellow officer.
· Due to health issues, the current FAC members are in need of help picking up, storing and delivering donated medical supplies.
· There are medical supplies, such as Ensure and Depends, as well as wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, etc. in the storage unit. Please contact us if you or someone you know can use these items.
· The sick and shut-in report is on the back table. Please pick one up. The oral report will cover only those added after the list was printed. Family Assistance Reports are updated on the HPROA website.
· We do not know all the sick and shut in members. Please contact a member of the Family Assistance Committee with information regarding any officer we need to contact.
o Nelson Foehner (281) 351-4669
o Delvin Kendrick (281) 482-6418
o Forrest Turbeville (713) 319-5466
Political Action Committee - Steve Rayne:
· The following contributions were made:
o Texas Senate: Glen Hegar District 18
o Texas House of Representatives:
Patricia Harless - District 126
Dan Huberty - District 127
Alan Fletcher - District 130
Jim Murphy - District 133
Dwayne Bohac - District 138
Ken Legler - District 144
Jessica Farrar - District 148
New Business:
· Bob Barnard thanked John Lawson and HPOPS for the great job they do managing the pension system and for keeping us informed.
· John Clinton, Speaker Committee Chairman, is working on getting Congressman Ted Poe to speak at one of our meetings.
· Discovery Channel is looking for female homicide detectives to travel from city to city opening cold case homicides and missing persons for a new television show. Details are on the website.
Door Prize Winners:
$50 - J.C. Hairrell
$50 - Johnnie Knott
$50 - Nelson Zoch
$50 - J.W. Williams
63 Members in attendance.
Meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
Sue Gaines
Board Secretary
