SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association

ORMOND BEACH, FL., CHAPTER 2247

NEXT CHAPTER MEETING

SEPT.20, 2010 at 11:30 A.M.

RIVER GRILLE Restaurant

920 N. US 1 Ormond Beach

OFFICERS :

President, Bob Wehrli 441-9250

1^st Vice President, Cece Dougherty 672-5827

2^nd Vice President, Nicholas Calvano 676-4615

Secy., Mary Araya 386-437-1085

2^nd Secy., Eleanor Sherman 673-0871

Treasurer, Linda Gardner 677-0303

Service/Membership, Eleanor Sherman 673-0871

Sergeant-at-Arms, Donald Gaby 239-7639

Sunshine Person, Judy Boring 677-1060.

PROGRAM: Marguerite Hiemenz, Program Chair

Barbara Herrin, Deputy Treasurer of Florida Hometown Democracy, will give a brief Presentation on Amendment 4 at our September 20^th meeting. Gwen Azama-Edwards of the same citizen group will also be available to answer questions about controlling growth in the State as well as the Ormond area. These issues are concerns that we should all be aware of in order to vote wisely in November.

SUMMARY of AMENDMENT 4:

Amendment 4 establishes that before a local government may adopt a new comprehensive land use plan, or amend a comprehensive land use plan, the proposed plan or amendment shall be subject to vote of the electors of the local government by referendum, following preparation by the local planning agency, consideration by the governing body and public notice.

ACTION ALERT by Robert Wehrli

All federal retirees, both CSRS and FERS, should be concerned about the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Chaired by Bowles and Simpson. A majority of the members are not necessarily advocates for Federal Employees. In fact, they are just the opposite, plus they are not enlightened on our earned federal civilian retirement or on the details of our health plans. They look at our earned entitlements as the same as Social Security with the exception that we are a much smaller group and thus will be an easier target for cuts. Sadly for us , the Congressional Leadership has agreed to put the Commission’s recommendations on “FAST TRACK”. That means there will be no modifications, eliminations or changes to their recommendations’. We must reach members on the commission before their final report is due at the first of the year.

One important argument in our favor is that our Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF) is fully funded and actuarially sound. This is not true for Social Security. The CSRDF is solvent and will actually grow with time as opposed to Social Security. Further the size of the fund is not dependent on the general population. The size factor of the work force has been accounted for in the system, thus enabling CSRDF to be solvent in the future as well. The Commission must be made aware of these facts.

I urge all NARFE members with access to e-mail to send a MESSAGE to your Representative and two Senators by using the Legislative Action Center link: http://capwiz.com/narfe/issues/alert/?alertid=14982226

You may use the prepared message or write your own, but send a MESSAGE. We are asking for no more than what we earned by dedication and hard work.

RESULTS of the NATIONAL CONVENTION

The following are some of the results the NARFE NATIONAL Convention. Our new National Officers are:

President: Joe Beaudoin

VP: Paul Carew

Secretary: Elaine Hughes

Treasurer: Charlie Saylor

Region III VP: Don Stewart

We also have a new Dues structure for our National Organization:

$40 for one year;

$72 for two years;

$102 for three years;

Dues Withholding will be $34.00 per year.

These sums do not include Chapter dues.

For our Chapter that means our Chapter dues remain the same at $5.00, but National Dues are increased by $11.00 to $40.00. The Total for one year is $45.00 including your Chapter dues. Dues withholding will be $39.69 per year or $3.31 per month.

The Chapter wishes to thank Shirley Honey, President of NARFE Chapter 1137, for representing our Chapter at the National Convention. Shirley did a great work.

Address Change

If you have a changing address for any reason, please inform either John Lowe 672 -8517 or Bob Wehrli 441-9250. This will ensure continuous communication between you and the Chapter.

CHAPTER SERVICE DATABASE

By Nicholas Calvano

Whenever I need a dentist, plumber, urologist, roofer or anything else, for that matter, I hate to pick one from the yellow pages. I prefer to call a friend and ask for recommendations because most people are happy to recommend someone who has done a good job at a reasonable price. Similarly, they are anxious to steer friends away from merchants whose work was shoddy or too expensive. Recommendations have worked well for me. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to find someone who has had direct experience with a merchant in the area of your need.

That is why I want to set up a database of merchants for members of our NARFE chapter. To begin, I will need input from members. It will be simple enough: just send me the category name (dentist, electrician, etc.), of the merchant and your rating between 0 and 5 with 0 being “terrible, avoid at all cost” and 5 being “outstanding work at a good price.” You can also add brief comments such as, “Very good work but expensive” or anything else you care to include.

To make this work we will need a lot of input so don’t hold back. Once this is set up, you will not only help other members but also be able to use the database to guide you in selecting a merchant.

Examples:

Roof repair - Triangle Roofing - 5/5: Responded quickly and told me they could fix the roof for $1100 or I could make a temporary fix by caulking myself in a few minutes.

Urologist - Dr. Dineen - 3/5; Technically good but always keeps patients waiting 40 minutes or more, even for the first appointment of the day.

Heater/Air condition repair - Ash-Lee-Air - 5/5: Quick response and made repair at a very reasonable cost. Estimate charge of $35 was applied toward repair which was less than $150.

Send your ratings and comments to me at fotonick@yahoo.com or phone me at 386-676-4615.

Here’s your chance to reward the good guys.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

Michael Shiles, a vocalist and comedian, will provide

us with entertainment at our Christmas Party.

Mark your calendar now for December 8^th.

BOOSTER CLUB

People have two kinds of generosity. There are those that give their time and service and then there are those who donate money or material goods. Luckily we have an abundance of both kinds among our members. The sound system is one example of a member seeing a need and stepping up to solve the problem. We have numerous other examples of solutions that have been provided such as flags and items for the Senior Expo. We have examples of people providing services and in some cases transportation. We also have members who have donated money to a cause like the expense of storage or entertainment. In many cases the Chapter has existed on the donations and contributions made by individual members. We owe a great deal of thanks to those members who donate their time, money or both to the existence of the Chapter. The Board has referred to these members as BOOSTERS or the Booster Club.

The Treasurer keeps a record of actual funds contributed, but it is difficult to estimate the value of gifts, time and services. At the present the Booster account has $217.35.

At the next meeting the Board would like to entertain a motion that would “Establish the Booster Fund as a permanent account to be used for specific goals, but also to support the Chapter account if necessary.”

The Chapter account is losing about $130 very year. This means we should raise the Chapter dues. However, by allowing the Board to transfer funds between the Booster account and the Chapter account we may be able to postpone increasing the dues.