The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 5, No. 48 - November 26, 2015 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................10 Classifieds............................4 Community Briefs...............2 Film Review..........................4 Legals....................................9 Police Reports.....................2 Real Estate.........................12 Sports.................................5,8 TerriAnn in Torrance..........6 Weekend Forecast Torrance Memorial Lights Up Lives Lots of Love and Talent: Torrance Memorial Hospice staff, volunteers and the San Pedro City Ballet welcome and entertain all during the holiday season. For more photos see page 7. Photo by Wally Skalij. • City to Prefund Other Post-Employment Benefits Via CalPERS/CERBT By Cristian Vasquez A recommendation by the Finance Director Eric Tsao to approve the Agreement and Election of the City of Torrance to prefund Other Post-Employment Benefits through the California Public Employees’ Retirement System/ California Employers’ Retirement Benefit Trust was given the go-ahead by the city council. Funding for the prefund will be made available via the city’s operating budget in an amount no less than $5,000 and not to exceed $10,000. In addition, the mayor and council voted to approve a delegation of authority to request disbursements, as well as giving the city manager [or his designee] the authority to take all necessary actions to participate in the CERBT program. “Staff is recommending to establish an ‘OPEB Trust’ under the guidelines of Governmental Accounting Standards, which would allow the City to have OPEB assets invested in higher yielding investments,” states the staff report presented and signed by Tsao. “Currently, these assets are part of the City’s Investment Pool which which is restricted to fixed income investments with a duration of five years or less.” Medial benefits are provided to retired employees by the city. At the moment, any general employees that retire with the city and maintain health insurance via CalPERS are qualified to obtain $122 per month in health insurance benefits. Retired police officers that have served a minimum of 20 years and have reached the age of 50, they qualify to receive $332.62 a month until reaching the age of 65: at that age the monthly amount is reduced to $134 a month. Fire retirees are eligible for $146.50. “These benefits are referred to as Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB),” states the staff report. “The City’s OPEB benefits are paid at the time the expense is due (cash basis). This is unlike the other City pension expenses in where the expense is realized when earned (accrual basis).” Since the payment of OPEB expenses are due without being earned, they leave the city with unfunded liabilities growing over time. In a proactive move, the city began funding OPEB expenses several years ago through an actuarial basis. Since that time the city has accumulated $5.625 million in assets. “Currently, these assets are part of the City’s Investment Pool which is restricted to fixed income investments with a duration of five years or less. The City’s Investment Pool’s main purpose is to meet the cash flow needs of the City.” OPEB trust investments are considered to have more latitude in investment choices, putting them on pace to earn six to seven percent on average over time. Bartel & Associates was contracted by staff for assistance in finding an OPEB Trust provider for the city. B&A, which provides actuarial services to more than 250 California public agencies, sent our a Request for Proposals to known Trust providers and received five responses. Other respondents to the RFPs included: Keenan & Associates, Public Agency Retirement System [PARS], Public Financial Management [PFM] and Robinson Capital Management [RCM]. “Each of the responding companies are well known, have good reputations, are financially sound, and understand OPEB and OPEB trust services,” states the staff report. CalPERS/CERBT was selected based on a rating criteria created by the City and B&A, which factors in investment options, investment return, fee structure and cost, public Friday Partly Cloudy 61˚/46˚ Saturday Sunny 62˚/48˚ Sunday Mostly Sunny 62˚/46˚ See City Council, page 9 A Day in the Life of a Chamber CEO By Nancy Peters When Donna Duperron and her husband ventured on camping trips, they frequented the local Chamber of Commerce. That was where they would go to get maps and plan the family vacations enjoyed at camp facilities around the western United States. Donna knew little else about Chambers of Commerce. Her career path to be the President and Chief Executive Officer at the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce, where she has worked for the last 17 years, is circuitous at best. Her various jobs followed a path usually set by Gary, her husband of 38 years. She and Gary met at Knott’s Berry Farm when they were barely out of their teens. Gary worked at a parochial school as a teacher and coach. He learned of an opening at the school for which Donna might just be the right person---a physical education (PE) teacher and coach. “In high school I played volleyball, basketball, field hockey, and softball and was Athlete of the Year when I graduated. Being an athlete taught me teamwork, not to give up, respect hard work and, most importantly, the value of friendship. The opportunity to teach PE and coach volleyball and basketball was a dream for me,” said Donna. Over the next five years, Gary and Donna lived in Corona. Gary was hired as a teacher and coach at Notre Dame High School in Riverside. Donna was hired as a second grade classroom teacher at a parochial school in Norco. “I absolutely loved teaching second grade. Being See Chamber CEO, page 10
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