Teacher retiree group mad at Dewine over ouster of Steen
Gov. Mike Dewine on Friday replaced Wade Steen on the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio board with real estate investor G. Brent Bishop, but Steen said the governor lacks the authority to remove him.
The governor’s office said Steen was informed that Dewine needs an appointee on the pension board who can dedicate the necessary time and attention to the task. Steen’s board meeting attendance record was not immediately available.
Dewine’s move came a day before votes were tallied for another seat on the 11-member board, which oversees $95 billion invested for 500,000 teachers and retirees.
Berea teacher Pat Davidson easily ousted incumbent board member Arthur Lard, a Portsmouth teacher. Davidson, whose four-year term begins Sept. 1, received 20,140 votes to Lard’s 8,853 votes.
The STRS Ohio board has faced infighting and turmoil over the past few years. Retirees are angry over the elimination of cost-of-living allowances, a perceived lack of transparency and the payment of bonuses to pension investment staff despite investment losses.
Those retirees, who are active in Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association and STRS Watchdogs, have the ear of a growing faction on the board. They’ve called for a change in the pension leadership, more transparency in investment fees and consideration of an investment strategy pitched by a start-up company. Steen had expressed support for the start-up company and its approach.
Former Republican Gov. John Kasich first appointed Steen to the board in 2016 and Dewine reappointed him in 2020.
“I am also the board member who began asking hard questions which uncovered that STRS staff are getting paid bonuses on questionable performance benchmarks. I have spoken out for more transparency and accountability. This is what I have been fighting for and will continue to fight for until my term ends on September 27, 2024,” Steen said in a written statement.
Robin Rayfield, executive director of Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association, said in a statement that Dewine’s “attempt to manipulate” the board make-up hours before election results “only reinforces the broken trust that educators have with their pension system. To say this pours jet fuel on the fire is an understatement.”
Bishop, of suburban Columbus, has experience in insurance, securities, software and real estate investments. He also worked as a page in the Ohio General Assembly more than 50 years ago as a college student.
What’s going on at STRS Ohio?
Discontent has been building for a decade. In 2012, legislators approved a pension reform package that required public employees to work longer for fewer benefits. Starting in 2013, STRS retirees received lower cost-of-living allowances. Then in 2017, the cost-of-living allowances stopped.
The cuts were made to help shore up the pension fund. A one-time cost-ofliving allowance of 3% was restored beginning in July 2022, but it’s still not back to what retirees want.
In February, the board deadlocked 5-5 over a no-confidence vote in STRS Ohio Executive Director Bill Neville.
And in April, as STRS members began voting in the board election, a new group — Save Ohio STRS — sent mailers to pension fund members urging them to vote for Davidson over Lard. It is unclear who is funding the group.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.