MINUTES
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE CITY EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT FUND AND THE BOARD
OF TRUSTEES OF THE POLICE & FIREMEN’S PENSION FUND
November 2, 2016
A SPECIAL JOINT MEETING of the Board of Trustees of the City Employees Retirement Fund and the Board of Trustees of the Police & Firemen’s Pension Fund was held on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 in the City Hall Auditorium.
Those in attendance included Mayor Elinor Carbone, members of the Board of Trustees of the City Employees Retirement Fund Drake Waldron, Anne Ruwet, Daniel Farley, Raymond Drew, and City Treasurer Arthur Mattiello.
Also present were members of the Board of Trustees of the Police & Firemen’s Pension Fund Robert Conforti, Richard Zaharek, Douglas Benedetto, Darlene Battle, Angelo LaMonica, Glenn McLeod, Oscar Segui and Todd Fador.
Members Gregg Cogswell, Paul Cavagnero, Luisa Noujaim, Christopher Paganini, Stephen Krzanowski and Edward Delisle, Alex Rehnberg, Mark Zordan, Alan Regner, Nancy Michna and Sheryl Lewis were absent.
Others in attendance included Personnel Director Thomas Gritt and Labor Counsel Victor Muschell.
Mayor Carbone called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Minutes
On a motion by Commissioner Battle, seconded by Commissioner Zaharek, the Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen’s Pension Fund voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the regular meeting held September 7, 2016.
Pension Comp. for P. Kalisz
On a motion by Commissioner Benedetto seconded by Commissioner LaMonica, the Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen’s Pension Fund AFSCME Council 15, Local 442 voted unanimously to accept the pension computation effective November 3, 2016, for Paul Kalisz, Police Officer for the City of Torrington Police Department.
Pension Comp. for M. Johnson
On a motion by Commissioner Battle, seconded by Commissioner Conforti, the Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen’s Pension Fund IAFF Local 1567 voted unanimously to accept the pension computation effective October 7, 2016 for Marquam Johnson, former Fire Chief for the City of Torrington Fire Department after 10 years of service.
Pension Comp. for R. Lizotte
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Mr. Drew, the Board of Trustees of the City Employees’ Retirement Fund UPSEU Local 424 Unit 78 voted 5 to 1, with Councilor Ruwet opposed, to accept the pension computation effective October 15, 2016 for Robert Lizotte, Superintendent for the City of Torrington Street Department after 22 years of service.
Councilor Farley asked for more information. Labor Counsel Muschell explained the municipal pension statute that says in certain circumstances, a pension can be prohibited when a city employee commits a crime unless there’s a contract that provides a pension. He said that in this case there is a municipal bargaining agreement, so the City cannot take away that pension. Atty. Muschell noted that the only thing that can be done is to bring the matter to court and have the pension reduced by the amount stolen. Mayor Carbone added that Atty. Muschell’s memo* gave a comprehensive explanation. *(addendum 1) Mr. Mattiello noted for the record that if there is an amount that comes back from the court proceedings, the City should revisit this pension and adjust it accordingly. Atty. Muschell said he
thinks there will be an order of restitution.
Councilor Farley noted that he felt the Board has no choice but to approve this pension, and that he is offended by what he felt is a huge betrayal of trust to the City. He said there should be repercussions for it. Mayor Carbone said her goal is to seek restitution.
Pension Comp. for R. Savanella
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Ruwet, the Board of Trustees of the City Employees’ Retirement Fund AFSCME Council 4, Local 1579 voted unanimously to accept the pension computation effective March 3, 2015, for Ronald Savanella, Custodian for the Board of Education, after 22.02 years of service.
Pension Comp. for B. Sekulski
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Farley, the Board of Trustees of the City Employees’ Retirement Fund AFSCME Council 4, Local 1579 voted unanimously to accept the pension computation effective August 3, 2015, for Brian Sekulski, Custodian for the Board of Education, after 19.08 years of service.
Pension Comp. for M. Kugler
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Ruwet, the Board of Trustees of the City Employees’ Retirement Fund AFSCME Council 4, Local 1579 voted unanimously to accept the pension computation effective April 1, 2016, for Mark Kugler, Custodian for the Board of Education, after 27.03 years of service.
Pension Comp. for S. Dorie
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Ruwet, the Board of Trustees of the City Employees’ Retirement Fund AFSCME Council 4, Local 1579 voted unanimously to accept the pension computation effective April 1, 2016, for Stephen Dorie, Custodian for the Board of Education, after a total of 20.58 years of service, including 2.92 years of military buy back time.
Pension Comp. for J. Kelley
On a motion by Councilor Waldron, seconded by Councilor Farley, the Board of Trustees of the City Employees’ Retirement Fund AFSCME Council 4, Local 1579 voted unanimously to accept the pension computation effective July 30, 2016, for John Kelley, Custodian for the Board of Education, after 29.03 years of service.
Adjournment
On a motion by Councilor Ruwet, seconded by Councilor Farley, the meeting was adjourned at 7:12 p.m.
ATTEST: Joseph L. Quartiero, CMC
City Clerk
Carol L. Anderson, CMC
Asst. City Clerk
(addendum 1)
MEMORANDUM
To: Tom Gritt
From: Vic Muschell
Date: August 24, 2016
Subject: Pension Forfeiture
You have asked whether there is any way to terminate a City employee’s entitlement to a pension if he/she is guilty of a crime in the course of his/her employment. We must look first to the collective bargaining agreement which covers the employee. The City has five (5) such agreements and they all contain the provisions covering pension entitlements. Those provisions are quite uniform. For instance the Bargaining agreement for the City Supervisors, Local 424, provides as follows in Section 19.5:
Any employee who shall have completed five (5) years of service with the City of Torrington and who thereafter has his/her employment terminated shall, upon reaching the age of sixty-five (65), be entitled to a pension, the amount of which shall equal two percent (2%) per year for the number of years of completed service with the City of Torrington. (Emphasis Supplied)
The agreements covering the Public Works employees and City Hall employees (Local 2212) both contain the following provision:
Any employee who shall have completed five (5) years of service with the City of Torrington and/or Torrington Board of Education, and who thereafter has his/her employment terminated shall upon reaching the age of regular retirement, be entitled to a pension,……. . (Emphasis Supplied) City Hall Contract, Section b; Public Works Contract, Section 1 b
The Police and Fire contracts are similar and I will not recite them here.
It is quite clear that the language of the pensions do not differentiate between the various potential causes of employment termination. So an employee who merely retires in the normal course is considered to have had his employment terminated. The same must therefore be said for an employee who has had his employment terminated for cause. There is no language anywhere in the pension document that permits the City to pay out the pension in one case but not the other.
While there is no provision locally allowing a forfeiture of a pension benefit, state law allows such a result under limited circumstances. Section 1-110- to 1-110d entitled “Pension Revocation or Reduction for Public Officials and State or Municipal Employees” provides in part:
Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, on or after October 1, 2008, if any public official or state or municipal employee is convicted of or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to any crime related to state or municipal office in state criminal or federal criminal court, the Attorney General shall apply to the Superior Court for an order to revoke or reduce the pension of any kind to which such public official or state or municipal employee is otherwise entitled under the general statutes for service as a public official or state or municipal employee. Section 1-110a (a)
The Court must consider a number of criteria such as the severity of the crime, the amount of monetary loss if any, the needs of the employee’s family. It also may order a reduction of benefits if it deems that appropriate in any given circumstance. If any of these sanctions are allowed the employee is entitled to a prorate refund of pension benefits.
But significantly, the Court may not reduce or revoke a pension benefit if it results in “…the unilateral breach of a collective bargaining agreement…. .” In such a case Court may only “…issue an order for the reduction of such pension provided any such reduction ordered by the Superior Court shall not exceed the amount necessary to satisfy any fine, restitution or other monetary order made by the criminal court in addition to the amount necessary to pay the cost of such state or municipal employee's incarceration.”
Thus there is a process that may be used to deny a person a pension under the circumstances described. It is quite complicated, requires litigation and because we have contractual language which the Court may not breach, the pension benefit may only be reduced by the amount of monetary loss if any plus costs.
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