Pension board backs executive director
Some members had made charges of improper pay raises
SANTA FE — The board in charge of a pension system covering 40,000 retirees soundly rejected a proposal Thursday to fire its executive director, Wayne Propst.
A few board members for the Public Employees Retirement Association have repeatedly accused Propst of improperly orchestrating pay raises for himself and others.
But two state agencies — the offices of the state auditor and attorney general — each say they found no evidence of wrongdoing by Propst, though they said PERA should take steps to clarify some procedures.
During a meeting Thursday, the PERA board ended the debate over Propst by voting 8-4 against a motion to fire him.
The board also ratified a 10% pay raise Propst received in 2014 to settle any lingering questions over the
issue.
John Melia, an Albuquerque firefighter and vice chairman of the PERA board, said Thursday that Propst deserved credit for quietly enduring professional and personal attacks this year while guiding the retirement system’s staff. He apologized to Propst for the way he’d been treated.
“I’m embarrassed and disgusted by the actions of several of this board’s members,” Melia said.
Critics of Propst were unswayed.
Patricia French, a board member and city of Albuquerque employee, said she had no reason to apologize. It was her duty, she said, to question PERA spending and follow up on allegations of wrongdoing.
“I’m never going to apologize for looking into something,” she said. “That’s our job.”
Voting to terminate Propst were State Treasurer Tim Eichenberg and board members French, Loretta Naranjo Lopez and Claudia Armijo.
Eight board members voted to keep Propst — Secretary of State
Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Melia, Jacquelin Kohlasch, Stephen Neel, David J. Roybal, Lawrence L. Davis, Shirley Ragin and Daniel Mayfield.
The bitter debate took place in front of dozens of retirees and PERA staff members at the agency’s Santa Fe office.
The board spent about 3½ hours behind closed doors Thursday morning to discuss the employment of Propst and other matters.
But the motion to fire him came in open session and triggered intense debate.
Naranjo Lopez, a board member and retired Albuquerque city planner, read a lengthy statement into the record accusing Propst and others of wrongdoing.
In the end, however, some board members said it was time to move on and focus on improving the financial standing of the state’s underfunded pension system for public employees — work that will require action by the governor and Legislature.
“Hopefully, we can put this behind us,” said Roybal, an employee in the state Department of Workforce Solutions.
The debate is playing out as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state lawmakers consider broad changes to the retirement system for public employees — including a reduction in the cost-of-living adjustments received by most retirees over the next three years.
Propst was a member of the task force that recommended the COLA changes, among other steps intended to shore up the pension system’s finances.
The proposal would require action by the Legislature to go into effect.
As for Propst’s pay, the debate will continue in court. In September, an advocacy group for retired employees filed a federal lawsuit against PERA over the pay raise issue.
Propst, for his part, sat quietly in the audience Thursday as the pension board voted against his termination.