JIM YOUNGBLOOD (79)

Jim Youngblood a long time active member of NARFE died on August 30 2012. True to form for Jim he remained alive long enough to be sure that his wife Joan had completed a successful operation in another hospital.

NICE GOING JIM!

Jim worked the counter of the Ormond Beach Postal Service and had a smile for everyone that came to him for assistance. He was a happy man in his job.

Both Jim and his wife Joan have gone the extra mile in membership drives at Senior Expo’s and postal conventions.

As a Chapter we would like to support Joan and her family in our loss of a generous and happy man.

OPM Open Season Dates

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has announced that this year’s Federal Benefits Open Season will run from Monday, November 12, through Monday, December 10. 

New for this year, all Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) plans will provide on their websites a summary document – a Summary of Benefits and Coverage – detailing information about health plan benefits and coverage, as required under the Affordable Care Act.  The Summary will provide information on costs such as deductibles and co-payments/coinsurance, what is covered and what is not covered, enrollees’ rights to continued coverage, and grievance and appeal rights. Plans will make a paper copy of the Summary available. OPM said the plan brochure will be the official statement of benefits. 

The annual Federal Benefits Open Season covers the FEHBP, the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) and FSAFEDS.

NARFE magazine will provide comprehensive analysis of many FEHBP plans in its October, November and December issues.

July 27, 2012, NARFE NewsWatch

LEGISLATION

What can one say? Our Congressional District will have a new representative after the November general election. Until then nothing much will happen because of the dead lock in Congress. After the election our Representative, regardless which party the person belongs to, he or she will be a junior and expected to take the back bench. He or she will owe a large debt to their party which has to be paid off in loyalty to the party. In other words, the possibility of our representative initiating any real act on our part or for the benefit of anyone else is near zero.

The positive side to our problem is the junior might be more will to learn and hear our arguments for justice. The junior might also make their person available to us either at the office or at one of our NARFE meetings. It has been a long time since we actually saw our Representative.  Yes, we have seen office staff and managers, but not the Congressperson.

National Regional III Vice President

NARFE National Regional III Vice President

Thanks a million for your chapter's (Ormond Beach 2247) support and vote for my re-election as the Region III Vice President.  I truly appreciate your very kind words and I will do all in my power to continue to deserve the trust you and your chapter have placed in me if re-elected.

Please convey my deep gratitude to the entire chapter.

Don Stewart, VP RIII

Bob Wehrli wrote:

NARFE National Regional III Vice President

The Attachment indicates that there is a challenger for position of the National

Regional III Vice President, a position held now by our own Donald Stewart from

Coral Gables Florida.

I'm not suggesting that we should vote for Don merely because he is from

Florida, but because he has served us well as Florida Federation President and as the National Regional III Vice President. He has an excellent record of communicating with the Chapters and answering specific questions and issues raises by specific chapters but applying to all NARFE chapters. While on the

National Board Don supported or raised issues regarding Membership, Retention, Electronic Communication, and E-Chapters.

Dorothy Willis, Ormond Beach Chapter 2247 gave you our proxy vote with full

trust that you would perform your duties at the Nation Convention for the best interests of NARFE. We did this willingly because you would be there with more up to date information than what we had then or now.

This point applies to Don as well. He has attended the National Board meetings and before the secretaries notes were written Don was informing the chapters of issues that were important and needed action. In short, he inspired leadership at the regional level.

Therefore the Ormond Beach Chapter fully supports Donald Stewart as the National Regional III Vice President, and instructs you to use our votes to support Don in the upcoming election.

--

Bob Wehrli

Attached Message

From:	NARFE National Headquarters
To:	RWEHRLI1@CFL.RR.COM
Subject:	NARFE Candidate Statement Mary Pierson Region3 RVP
Date:	Mon, 23 Jul 2012 11:59:16 -0400 (EDT)

Mary Pierson
Candidate for Region III Vice President

This is to announce that I am a candidate for Region III Vice President.

My federal career started in 1961 at Keesler AFB, MS and then in 1974 transferred to the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office at Stennis Space Center.  I wore several hats and one was Command Inspector, I have traveled to every continent except Australia.  I retired after 36 years of service to our country in December 1997.

My career with NARFE started in 1998, serving my Chapter as President.  Attending the 1999 Mississippi Federation Convention I was appointed as the Membership Chairman.  In 2000 I was elected 2nd Vice President of the Mississippi Federation, and in 2003 I was elected as the Federation President.  During the same time, I served NARFE National as the Region III Pre-Retirement Seminar Coordinator and assisted Director Ken Glass, when Ken retired, I was asked to accept the office of Director of Pre-Retirement Seminars.

I have attended numerous conventions, both National and Federations, not only in Mississippi, but other states as well to increase my overall knowledge and understanding NARFE’s goals and operation.  

As Region III Vice President I will work with Federations as liaison between them and National Headquarters.  I will work to grow membership and increase the member’s knowledge and personal activity in all legislation to protect the benefits of Federal Employees. I will also work with all Federations and Chapters to increase their visibility in their State and local city by joining with other organizations to sponsor various occasions that enable us to display the NARFE name and banners.  We are 91 years old and there are too many Federal Employees that do not know who we are or what we do for them.

I am married to my husband Donald and we have one daughter and two sons and 4 adult grandchildren.

NARFE 2247 NEWS #52

Palm Coast Chapter 1557 of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) will hold a special evening meeting at the Palm Coast Community Center from 7 - 9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26.

 Easiest way to arrive at the Palm Coast Community Center is to go to I-95, Exit 289, and then approx 1 mile east on Palm Coast Parkway to Club House Drive. Turn left, for a few hundred yards to the Community Center on your left.

Candidates for the new Congressional District 6 have been invited to this event.  All active and retired federal employees are encouraged to attend.

Bob Shaughnessy , President of  NARFE Chapter 1557, is  asking attendees to submit questions  in advance, either by E-mail or when signing-in. Bob will pick the questions and put them to the candidates. Due to time constraints, questions must be limited to "NARFE topics" (pay, benefits, etc.)

Light refreshments will be served.  For information, call Brian Mertz, 386-569-3365 or Larry Cook, 386-246-3207.

NARFE 2247 Chapter fully supports this activity and encourages its members to take advantage of this opportunity to meet the candidates for our District and also cooperate with the Palm Coast Chapter 1557. This could be a real opportunity for working Federal Employees and there must be many in the area.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

John Mica and Sandy Adams will no longer represent any of our Chapter members after the next election. John Mica and Sandy Adams will compete for the Republican Congressional Representative seat from the new District 7. At the present time four Republicans candidates, Fred Costello, Craig Miller, Ron DeSantis and Richard Clark have announced for District 6. The Democrats candidates are: Heather Beven and Vipid Verma.

Our Chapter 2247 goal should be to make ourselves known to each candidate. Ultimately the ideal situation would be a face to face meeting with the Republican and Democratic candidates who will face each other in the fall election.

The following contains a detailed plan how we might achieve our ultimate goal.

Please read the following and volunteer to participate in the plan. For now I will be the contact person 441-9250.

A five part plan:

1. Information Gathering: Prepare a one-page summary on each candidate taking information from their web-sites giving basic biographical information and their known positions on Federal Employee issues.

2. Meet with each candidate: We will request a meeting with each candidate for two purposes: (1) To provide essential information on the Federal Civil Service and let them know who we are (put a face on the faceless bureaucrat) , and (2) find out their positions on issues important to us: i.e. (a) Employee pay freezes, (b) Changes to Federal Employee Retirement programs, including increasing amount Federal employees must pay into their pension, (c) Changes to FEHB including increasing employee/annuitant contributions, (d) cutting of Federal Workforce by 10% and (f) Social Security provisions on Pension Offset and Windfall elimination. We will invite a representative from each chapter to participate in scheduled meetings. If the candidate is sympathetic to Federal issues, we will inform them on how they can contact the NARFE PAC for financial support. The above summaries will be modified to include positions provided and whether they met with us.

3. Sponsor a debate after the primaries inviting the Democratic and Republican nominees to participate. Since Ormond Beach is central to the District, the Ormond Chapter has agreed to host the debate. All members of the 7 chapters will be invited to participate.

4. Encourage members to support the candidate that best reflects their opinions both financially and as campaign workers.

5. Monitor positions of candidates and notify members of changes in position on our core issues.

ABOLISHING MEDICARE

Four prominent senators called a press conference to announce their plans for Medicare reform or more precisely abolishing Medicare. They called for dismantling Medicare as we know it in favor of a private plan that would raise the eligibility age from 65 to 70 and shift much of the cost of health-care coverage from the government to the elderly. This will eventually affect every one of us. It may well affect our earned medical health plan as well.

“This will be the new Medicare,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the proposal’s author, announced.

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month.

The heart of a volunteer is not measured in size, but by the depth of the commitment to make a difference in the lives of others. -- DeAnn Hollis