Retirement board members torn over pricey seminar in Honolulu
Published on January 3rd, 2007
STONEHAM, MA - The Town's Retirement Board recently set aside $15,000 for travel and seminar costs, including a planned conference trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, according to two sitting board members.
According to Retirement Board members Cosmo Ciccarello and Ronald Castignetti, the Stoneham entity voted 3-to-2 at its most recent meeting to increase its seminar and travel expense line items from $10,000 to $15,000 in FY07, an increase largely attributed to the planned Pacific Ocean excursion.
The two dissenting town officials, who failed to block the increase, further insisted that although the Retirement Board has not specifically authorized the cross-continent trip, at least two members, Elsie Wallace and Jim McDermott, indicated that they had solid plans to attend the annual conference.
"They're ridiculous," a frustrated Ciccarello, who was appointed to the group following his spring retirement from the Board of Selectmen, commented on Tuesday. "I told them point blank that I couldn't justify going to Honolulu."
"If it was within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, then I could justify it," the long-time town official furthered, referring to many trips to seminars within the state that he took during his tenure. "But they play their own games. They have their little empire there."
According to Town Accountant Ron Castignetti, who sits on the Retirement Board as a municipal representative, the discussion turned upon the reported four-day Hawaii seminar after he attempted to reduce the FY07 line item by $5,000.
Specifically, the financial office head recalled, he pointed to the fact that during the current fiscal year, only approximately half of the $10,000 appropriation for travel, mileage, and seminars was expended.
"The subject came-up while setting our 2007 budget. One of our line items is for seminars and travel. I recommended that the budget go down by $5,000. But then the discussion centered on, 'Oh, but we have the seminar in Honolulu,'" said Castignetti, explaining how the half-expended FY06 appropriation was ultimately raised in a 3-2 vote from $10,000 to $15,000.
"So it wasn't a vote for the trip, but before [going], you needed to vote for the budget. It was very disappointing. Cosmo and I were against it because we knew it would open the gates for Hawaii."
Reached for comment on the potential Honolulu seminar, which she and Retirement Board counterpart Jim McDermott allegedly announced their intentions to attend, Elsie Wallace denied that the increase was purely related to the conference.
The Retirement Board newcomer further rejected Castignetti and Ciccarello's assertion that both she and McDermott labeled themselves as definites attendees at the excursion, which is annually conducted by the National Organization for Retirement Systems.
"Absolutely not," said Wallace, when asked if the vote was strictly related to the seminar. "We were putting the budget together and we put aside some money for those costs. But we don't even know if anybody is going."
"Because it's the national seminar, we normally let two people go," the recently elected board member added. "But I don't believe anybody has signed-up for anything. I mean, it would be nice. But we want to see what is on the agenda and what the costs are before any decisions are made." Furious upon learning of the Honolulu trip, Selectman John DePinto, who was blasted by Retirement Board members at the last Annual Town Meeting for presenting an article seeking to turn the system over to the state, revealed his intentions to again bring forward the article again this spring. Last spring, the Selectman promised to drop the proposal if turning the system over to the state couldn't save retirees at least $150,000 a year. In turn, some Town Meeting attendees, who received word of the proposal from correspondence sent by the Retirement Board, chastised the Selectman for trying to turn over the system to the same people "responsible for the Big Dig".
"The Retirement Board is already investing its money with the state. They're just mailing out the checks and answering questions in the office," said DePinto on Tuesday, referencing that Big Dig criticism.
According to DePinto, the planned Pacific island excursion is just another example of how the Retirement Board expends funding at the expense of retirees, who could benefit from the savings gained from abstaining from such a seminar.
"I think this is outrageous. Everything you could possibly want to know about a retirement system is available online," DePinto responded. "Last year, I understand Jim McDermott went to Florida [for this conference] and all the Retirement Board got out of it was two books."
"If all they get out of a $1,400 trip is two books, then something's wrong. And you can quote me on that," the Selectman vented. "This is an example of how money shouldn't be spent. We shouldn't be spending money for a trip to Hawaii or $900 a year for a member to drive to Town Hall to attend meetings."
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