the future of narfe committee tasked with charting the ...by paul h. carew, national vice president...
TRANSCRIPT
At the July National Executive Board (NEB) meeting, the following motion was unanimously approved:
“The NEB authorizes the National President to appoint a committee of appropriate size to address the futureof NARFE and the role of eNARFEchapters as a dominant – and inevitable – part of this future. The committeewill examine all significant issues that could affect the future growth and viability of this Association. The com-mittee will prepare a report with recommendations to promote strengthening and assuring long-term effective-ness of NARFE for the NEB to review, and, if approved, the report will be published in time for disseminatingat 2014 federation conventions and will be made available to the general membership.”
Pursuant to this motion, a new committee was appointed in August. The official name of the commit-tee is the Future of NARFE Committee (FON). The following 12 members – under the leadership of co-chairs William “Bill” Shackelford (VA) and Evelyn Kirby (MD) – were appointed to this committee:Rodney Adelman (AZ), Bruce Coleman (IA), Timothy Gartner (OH)*, Robert “Old Bob” Davidson (CA),
Gerald “Jerry” Hall (CA), Huelyn “Lynn” Harper(GA), Marc Harris (FL), Ted Jensen (MD), William“Bill” Leatham (FL), Clarence Robinson (GA) andNARFE’s National President as an ex officiomember.You may wonder why the NEB made the above
motion and/or why NARFE needs a committee tolook at its future.The answer to thisquestion can befound in the Asso-ciation’s evolutionduring its 92-yearhistory. NARFEwas formed in 1921
by 14 federal retireesdedicated to improvingthe status of retired fed-
eral employees. The Association’s first major victory came in 1926 whenPresident Calvin Coolidge signed a bill raising annuity rates. In 1947,NARFE’s constitution was amended to permit the chartering of chapters,and in 1950 California organized the first state federation. NARFE’s mem-bership peaked at nearly one-half million members in the 1980s.Presently, the Association has a little more than half that many mem-bers, though it boasts 54 federations and more than 1,300 chapters. NARFEHeadquarters presently has four National Officers and 52 employees
Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
Volume 1, Number 4 October 2013
In this issue …Introduction to FON..................1National Officers’ Columns
President ........................................2Vice President .............................3Secretary ........................................4
Legislative Update .....................4Chapter Idea Forum ..................7More from NARFE.....................7NARFE in the News................10Passages .....................................11NARFE Meeting Minutes
National Executive Board, July 9-11.......................................12
Annual Meeting, July 11 ........15
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association
The Future of NARFE Committee Tasked WithCharting the Association’s Course By Joseph A. Beaudoin, National President
Members of the Future of NARFE (FON) Committee metwith Association officers and senior staff at HQ in mid-September. Pictured (left to right) are four members: California District VP Jerry Hall, California Chapter Presi-dent Bob Davidson, Iowa Federation VP Bruce Colemanand Arizona Federation President Rodney Adelman.
2 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
(which is down from a high of approximately 90 employees in the 1990s). As NARFE prepares for the future, the committee will be asked to look at anything and everything;
and everything will be on the table. Some of the issues the committee will examine include: • How to increase our membership; how to be more effective in our legislative efforts; whether weneed four National Officers and 10 Regional Vice Presidents (RVPs);
• Whether our present structure of Headquarters, RVPs, federations and chapters is necessary orshould be modified;
• Whether new types of chapters (electronic) will replace our current chapters; whether our present duesstructure should be changed; whether Headquarters should remain in the Washington, DC, area;
• Whether we should change from a bottom-up to a top-down organization; • Whether we should hire a COO and all the elected National Officers should operate from home, onlycoming to Headquarters quarterly or when needed;
• Whether we should outsource most Headquarters operations, etc. NARFE needs to prepare for the future; and, hopefully, the Future of NARFE Committee will assist us
in this preparedness. The FON Committee looks forward to receiving your suggestions/comments/rec-ommendations/etc. You can forward your comments to any of the committee members or send them toone or both of the co-chairs: Evelyn Kirby ([email protected]) and Bill Shackelford([email protected]). Let’s all support the FON Committee’s efforts to assist us in moving forward in aplanned and organized manner.* Note: Tim Gartner replaced Jim Crawford, who had resigned.
2013 – A Year of Accomplishments and Challenges By Joseph A. Beaudoin, National President
Now that we are approaching the end of the calendar year, I would like to share with you some ofthe things we have been doing lately at Headquarters. We have taken a number of giant steps inour Information Technology (IT) Department. Besides updating most of our IT equipment, we
have − through the recommendations of the Configuration Advisory Board (CAB) − updated the Associa-tion’s online capabilities in order to provide more information and/or abilities for chapter/federation offi-cers and members. We hired a new IT senior applications developer, Jason Gao, at the end of August toassist our IT staff in improving the services that we provide.During Congress’ August recess, we recommended that our members contact their legislators to per-
suade them to vote against the Chained CPI, which would negatively affect anyone who receives a fed-eral benefit, including federal annuities. The easiest and fastest way for Headquarters to contact ourmembers, however, is via email/GEMS. Sadly, we have the email addresses for only 32 percent of ourmembers (or a little more than 80,000). When important legislation is being proposed or voted on, we areunable to contact nearly 70 percent of our members. This makes it difficult to mobilize the number ofmembers that we need to contact their legislators in support of NARFE’s position on specific bills orbudget proposals. NARFE’s mission is “to support legislation beneficial to current and potential federalannuitants and to oppose legislation contrary to their interests.” If you have access to a computer, pleaseshare your email address with Headquarters so that we can keep you advised of any adverse proposedlegislation that could or will affect your benefits. Members of Congress and their senior staff members lis-ten to their constituents − so it is important that you contact them.NARFE’s Membership Department, along with chapters/federations, is doing a great job in retention,
with about a 92 percent success rate. This does not make up for the fact that so far this year, NARFE sadlyhas lost nearly 4 percent (or more than 10,800) of its members due to death. In researching our records,
3 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
the National Treasurer discovered that 4,718 Life and/or Honorary members (part of the aforementioned4 percent) who had been counted as current members, had passed away during the preceding years. Onan optimistic note – as of July, 6,543 new members have joined NARFE. Of this number, approximately 20percent were recruited by chapters or federations. We all need to place more emphasis on recruiting new members in order to offset those members who
either dropped their membership or who passed away. It should be everyone’s goal or objective to ac-tively support our legislative agenda and to recruit new members. If we truly are a grass-roots organiza-tion, then recruitment, retention and legislation should commence at the chapter level. NARFE is like afamily; if we all work together, we can and should be successful in our various endeavors. You, as a mem-ber or officer, are an important part of the family, and I look forward to working with you until my termexpires at the end of October next year.
OAM Improvements Help Make NARFE Faster andMore EfficientBy Paul H. Carew, National Vice President & Director of Information Services
Amajor feature of the ever-evolving NARFE information technology (IT) architecture is the OnlineActivities Module (OAM), which was designed to provide chapters, federations and regions withinteractive applications on demand and in real time. The OAM, launched in May 2012, performs
intricate tasks such as:
• Maintaining and updating chapter officer rosters (F-7s) and state federation officer rosters (F-7As);• Monitoring all chapter and federation roster changes;• Retrieving membership activity data using a dozen specific criteria; • Generating second notices to members;• Label making;• Recording chapter and federation meeting times and locations; and• Handling chapter dues change requests.The OAM has been an outstanding success; and more is coming.
Two examples of OAM system enhancements and improvements in development are:
• Online registration for NARFE National Conventions, thereby significantly reducing – if not eliminat-ing – the error-prone paper registration forms;
• Creation of a messaging system that mirrors the GEMS system but is enhanced and more user-friendly. (The current GEMS system is too limiting and in need of a major overhaul.) The new OAMmessaging system will permit attachments, include a new and appealing electronic news format, andbe available for use by the chapters.Enhancing the usability and usefulness of the OAM is an ongoing and, indeed, exciting process for the
IT Department and for you – our users. Additional innovations are in the planning stage and will be an-nounced and launched in the near future.
4 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
Counts Show Gap Between Potential and Performed eAdvocacyThe table on p. 6 updates the state-by-state table of activists and messages that premiered in the July
Insider. This quarterly report again shows the latest counts for federal retirees, federal employees, the totalof retirees and employees, NARFE membership, NARFE members with a listed email address (GEMS) andthe number of members and officers in GEMS for each NARFE federation. The two columns to the far rightshow the number of individuals (eActivists) who have sent one or more messages using the Legislative Ac-tion Center since the convening of the current Congress on January 3, and the total number of messagessent to the House, Senate, president and the media using the Legislative Action Center. (The counts do notinclude U.S. Postal Service employees.) While the numbers appear large, given the size of NARFE’s membership, our activist counts should be
much higher. When you take a close look at the numbers, you can see that less than 10 percent of theNARFE membership is contacting Congress. If NARFE’s voice is going to be heard in the halls of Congresswe must do better.
Legislative UpdateBy Jessica Klement, Legislative Director, and Christopher Farrell, Legislative Representative
Headquarters’ Online Lead Generation Advertising CampaignBy Elaine Hughes, National Secretary
In the Summer 2013 edition of NARFE Insider, I discussed several aspects of prospecting for new mem-bers, including the critical need of those in the field to become involved in helping to build an in-houseprospect database. I discussed Headquarters’ conversion efforts − engaging prospects and converting
them to members. So what else does Headquarters do to prospect potential members? Beginning earlierthis year, we launched a much-needed change in NARFE’s advertising strategy – a very targeted onlinelead generation (prospecting) advertising campaign. The NARFE 2013 Membership Marketing Plan placesprospecting for new members on center stage and advertising as the leading star. Our media spending,once dedicated solely to awareness, now must work doubly hard by providing both high-volume brandexposure and a high volume of prospects.Testing has revealed that highly targeted electronic newsletters such as Government Executive, FED-
Week and Federal Daily are the most effective venues for NARFE placements. We are finding and engagingfederal employees where they gather online. Within the first eight months of online advertising, we sawnearly 13 million impressions (or views), clearly reaching our goal for NARFE brand exposure. In thissame time period, we met our prospecting goal with more than 8,000 leads generated. Perhaps the mostsignificant outcome has been that 92 percent of these prospects identified themselves as active federal em-ployees. As we round out the year, we will continue the already successful electronic newsletter media buys
and will research and test other media outlets that target federal employees. By growing the prospectdatabase through the combined efforts of our members in the field and the staff and officers at Headquar-ters, we can reverse the decades-long trend of declining membership numbers and grow our Associationto new heights.
5 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
For a more detailed description of the elements of the federal family, use the Protect Amerca’s Heart-beat Toolkit, which includes fact sheets and other advocacy material.
eNewsletters Offered FreeNational Journal publishes four electronic newsletters that are available free of charge. Much of the con-
tent also appears in subscription services your Association dues allow the staff to read. Two, The Edge andHotline’s Wake-Up Call, are dailies, and two by Charlie Cook are weeklies. For more information, go to: http://www.nationaljournal.com/newsletters.You can also get Congressional Quarterly’s CQ Roll Call delivered straight to your email account’s
inbox. Go to http://www.rollcall.com and scroll to the bottom to find “Subscribe.”
Competing CompendiumsRival publishers – Congressional Quarterly and National Journal − cover Congress and everything po-
litical. For each Congress, they both publish books with profiles of every member of Congress. Politicsin America 2014 from Congressional Quarterly is already in print. The rival, from National Journal, is TheAlmanac of American Politics 2014. We recommend both volumes.
NARFE-PAC Quarterly Contribution Report (A250)The Quarterly NARFE-PAC Contribution Report showing the number of contributors by chapter and
total contributions by chapter and federation is posted on our website. This “members only” feature re-quires a user to log in. The gateway address for all NARFE-PAC info is http://www.narfe.org/legislation/action.cfm?ID=1778. There you will find the latest A250, showing contributions for the firstnine months of the 2013-2014 election cycle. Please share this and all NARFE-PAC information with allNARFE members.
Adopt a RepresentativeThere appear to be many “orphan” representatives. Consider asking your federation president if you
could adopt yours and serve as the Congressional District Liaison (CDL). Others involved in this processare your federation’s National Legislative Chair and one or more District VPs or Area Officers. The Leg-islative staff is eager to work with CDLs to coordinate and orchestrate district advocacy.
House and Senate Floor VotesSix House and two Senate votes cast in this Congress are now available on NARFE’s Legislative Ac-
tion Center. There, you can easily find how your congressional delegation voted on budget and other keyissues. In addition to these votes cast during 2013, votes back to 2003 are shown. A colorful bar graph ex-ample will appear in the November issue of narfemagazine If you’ve lost the centerfold from the October2012 magazine (covering 112th Congress votes), these eight pages are available to members as a PDF file.Go to http://www.narfe.org/pdf/2012VoteAnalysis.pdf.
6 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
State # Retirees # Actives Total NARFE GEMS Ofc w GEMS eActivists eMessagesAL 58,890 41,744 100,634 4,662 1,173 104 319 2,093AK 7,714 12,457 20,171 874 302 19 71 348AZ 54,265 41,858 96,123 4,555 1,402 125 602 5,562AR 25,075 14,475 39,550 2,441 541 74 163 1,234CA 213,699 167,514 381,213 21,754 5,953 463 2,300 19,350CO 49,139 40,213 89,352 5,450 1,997 94 683 5,635CT 14,741 8,815 23,556 1,619 377 22 117 1,094DE 9,450 3,360 12,810 1,124 463 37 260 2,173DC 43,776 42,341 86,117 1,813 582 25 54 61FL 167,381 90,677 258,058 14,877 4,619 402 1,852 13,542GA 83,961 79,209 163,170 6,537 1,996 147 682 4,342HI 24,724 25,575 50,299 2,842 524 48 202 1,382ID 14,566 8,759 23,325 1,319 423 55 139 873IL 68,691 49,065 117,756 6,660 1,824 134 695 5,602IN 36,771 24,527 61,298 3,511 923 105 350 2,560IA 20,970 9,074 30,044 3,670 957 116 380 2,888KS 24,647 17,597 42,244 3,887 1,008 179 310 1,868KY 33,527 25,586 59,113 3,121 960 102 325 2,314LA 26,982 21,335 48,317 2,133 557 53 185 1,189ME 13,956 10,869 24,825 1,361 340 32 148 1,311MD 158,094 136,148 294,242 17,243 5,840 219 1,674 11,459MA 42,848 28,887 71,735 4,836 1,173 45 388 2,788MI 44,006 30,263 74,269 4,715 1,241 109 440 3,476MN 28,781 18,174 46,955 4,332 1,286 92 459 4,397MS 25,496 19,308 44,804 1,962 530 76 161 1,525MO 54,249 37,062 91,311 5,261 1,325 152 469 4,747MT 12,852 10,249 23,101 1,067 328 42 132 958NE 13,444 11,030 24,474 1,828 405 44 136 970NV 22,491 12,384 34,875 1,740 592 44 248 2,358NH 12,316 4,656 16,972 1,281 419 34 144 1,111NJ 54,575 26,305 80,880 6,448 1,934 81 672 5,306NM 27,941 25,720 53,661 2,411 810 66 318 2,718NY 95,411 67,517 162,928 9,410 2,300 119 828 6,946NC 73,591 45,270 118,861 5,786 1,778 198 673 4,901ND 6,430 6,375 12,805 1,369 430 49 89 668OH 75,036 52,312 127,348 7,536 1,846 137 611 4,643OK 48,255 39,218 87,473 3,553 887 103 243 1,287OR 33,351 20,098 53,449 3,418 946 95 377 3,382Panama 8,807 37 8,844 1,507 48 6 1 1PA 108,305 67,019 175,324 13,549 3,120 172 1,043 7,644Phl. 2,453 88 2,541 371 20 3 1 1PR/VI 12,032 11,707 23,739 607 86 9 23 61RI 8,240 7,377 15,617 1,183 281 15 70 685SC 43,747 22,679 66,426 2,886 874 107 362 2,343SD 10,253 8,697 18,950 1,588 444 71 175 1,598TN 46,310 28,711 75,021 3,375 1,014 148 400 3,079TX 168,519 142,708 311,227 10,106 3,095 302 1,179 10,680UT 34,937 28,342 63,279 1,164 272 23 130 1,028VT 4,439 4,754 9,193 440 123 14 37 234VA 142,228 149,591 291,819 17,453 6,567 329 1,887 12,585WA 66,021 57,473 123,494 6,763 2,190 132 795 6,501WV 17,868 16,090 33,958 1,578 496 60 186 1,646WI 26,971 16,205 43,176 3,885 977 86 336 2,335WY 5,734 5,811 11,545 571 101 19 51 367Guam 2,590 2,897 5,487 136 16 2 1 2Other 13,082 7,999
TOTALS 2,546,555 2,096,311 4,642,866 258,650 78,714 5,539 24,574 189,849
7 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
NARFE is pleased to announce that 60 highschool seniors throughout NARFE’s 10 re-gions, plus two in the International category,
have been awarded $1,000 college scholarships. The listof winners will appear in the December issue of narfemagazine. The next Scholarship Program will beginFebruary 1, 2014. Entries must be postmarked no laterthan April 25. Watch for the official scholarship application in your February narfemagazine, or down-load it from the NARFE website during the run of the program. To see a list of this year’s winners andtheir sponsors, click on this link: http://www.narfe.org/departments/home/articles.cfm?ID=2946.Many thanks to our dedicated team of regional scholarship coordinators and those who assist them, as
well as to the office staff at the Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund (FEEA) and local NARFEvolunteers. The NARFE Scholarship Awards Program is administered by FEEA and is made possible by contribu-
tions to the NARFE-FEEA Scholarship Fund. To make a tax-deductible contribution to the NARFE-FEEAScholarship Awards Program, checks should be made payable to NARFE-FEEA Scholarship Fund andmailed to:NARFE Scholarship Awards Programc/o FEEA3333 S. Wadsworth Blvd.Suite 300Lakewood, CO 80227To donate by credit card, call 800-323-4140 or click here: https://secure.feea.org/np/clients/feea/
donation.jsp?campaign=29.
2013 NARFE ScholarshipAward Winners Announced
>> More from NARFE
Chapter Facebook pages are a great way to reach out to current members and to engage prospectivemembers. On your federation or chapter Facebook page, you can post notices about upcomingmeetings, pictures from events, and information for your members and the larger community. To
create your own federation or chapter Facebook page, go to www.narfe.org and click on “Legislation,” thenchoose “Facebook Page Guide” from the menu on the left.If you have any questions about creating your own NARFE federation or chapter Facebook page,
please contact NARFE Legislative staff at [email protected] visit the NARFE Headquarters Facebook page, go to www.narfe.org, scroll down and click on
“Find NARFE on Facebook.” To locate the Association from your Facebook page, simply search forNARFE National Headquarters.
Chapter Idea Forum – How to Createa Facebook Organization Page
8 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
NARFE Federation Presidents and Contact InformationTo access this information online, go to: http://www.narfe.org/home/articles.cfm?ID=2276
ALABAMATom Smith
251-653-7258
www.narfeal.com
ALASKAMalin M. Babcock
907-789-9423
ARIZONARodney Adelman
623-505-4719
www.narfeaz.com
ARKANSASWinston Wolfe
501-922-1724
www.narfeark.org
CALIFORNIARichard C. Ostergren
559-289-2970
www.csfcnarfe.org
COLORADO Ted Van Hintum
719-395-5648
www.narfe-colorado.com
CONNECTICUTGerald J. Naves
203-743-5478
www.ctnarfe.org
DELAWAREWalter T. Berwick
302-436-4261
www.narfede.org
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIALinwood N. Watson
202-581-8767
FLORIDA Kenneth J. Thomas
352-666-5216
www.narfefl.net
GEORGIAClarence Robinson
404-312-8028
www.ganarfe.com
HAWAIIJohn C. Priolo
808-455-7331
tinyurl.com/narfehi/
IDAHOArnold F. Hartigan
208-377-3265
www.idnarfe.org
ILLINOISMargaret Murphy
847-255-7450
www.narfe.org/il
INDIANADonald Savage
812-923-3626
www.narfe.org/in
IOWA Mary Strassburger
563-386-4311
www.narfe.org/field/ia/default.aspx
KANSASCindy Renee Blythe
785-589-2266
www.ksnarfe.org
KENTUCKYNoreene Morgan
859-283-9688
www.narfeky.org
LOUISIANAEdwin P. Brannan
985-626-7232
www.narfe.org/la
MAINE Susan S. Hyde
207-594-2466
www.narfe.org/me
MARYLANDDaniel H. McGrath
410-641-5570
www.mdnarfe.org
MASSACHUSETTSMary Ann Blaisdell
978-388-1830
www.manarfe.org
MICHIGANDavid Adams
586-232-4594
MINNESOTAJohn A. Schmidt
218-736-7123
www.narfe.org/mn
MISSISSIPPIGerald M. Janci
662-412-2029
www.narfe-mississippi.org
MISSOURI Eric E. Bahl
816-478-0172
www.monarfe.org
MONTANAMary Williams
406-443-5016
www.narfe.org/mt
9 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
NARFE Federation Presidents and Contact InformationTo access this information online, go to: http://www.narfe.org/home/articles.cfm?ID=2276
NEBRASKABonnie M. Tabler
402-341-1102
NEVADAEileen R. Way
775-560-3248
www.narfe.org/nv
NEW HAMPSHIRE Nell R. Shea
603-275-1894
www.narfe.org/nh
NEW JERSEYLouis H. Katz
973-696-1130
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeon7y1/njfederationnarfe/index.html
NEW MEXICO Janice Baker
505-471-2448
www.narfe-nm.net
NEW YORKAnthony F. Montoro, Jr.
716-549-5347
www.narfeny.org
NORTH CAROLINASamuel E. Crain
828-926-0264
www.ncnarfe.info
NORTH DAKOTAHarold Weninger
701-627-4699
www.narfe.org/nd
OHIO Sondra K. Gartner
740-323-2356
www.ohiofederalworkers.org
OKLAHOMAJames R. Olden
918-493-2486
www.narfeok.org
OREGONRobert J. Leedy
541-474-4448
www.narfe.org/or
PENNSYLVANIAMaria I. Ritzman
717-270-1119
www.narfepa.org
PANAMA Carlos M. Caddle
PHILIPPINESFidel T. Dayrit
345-331-2514
PUERTO RICO/VIRGIN ISLANDS Luis Arroyo-Medina
787-529-6039
RHODE ISLANDDavid MacDonald
401-682-2292
SOUTH CAROLINAKathryn E. Hensley
803-957-7750
www.scnarfe.org
SOUTH DAKOTARoger E. Youngman
605-725-1777
www.narfe.org/sd
TENNESSEE James L. Henderson
731-784-0675
www.narfetn.org
TEXASMarshall L. Richards
903-660-2784
www.txnarfe.org
UTAHMarla Ramey
435-882-3876
www.narfeutah.org
VERMONTMary E. Nadeau
802-295-2123
VIRGINIA Luther L. Santiful
540-331-6012
www.vanarfe.org
WASHINGTONRichard Wilson
425-736-6899
www.narfewa.net
WISCONSINJ. Dobbin McNatt
608-831-5759
http://narfewi.tripod.com
WEST VIRGINIAWayne F. Mitchell
304-487-9335
www.wvnarfe.com
WYOMINGEdward E. Chase
307-472-6420
http://home.bresnan.net/~wynarfe/wyfed
Over the past few years, NARFE has enhanced its media outreach and, as a re-sult, has seen an increase in media presence at both the national and local lev-els. These results grew from efforts to increase awareness of the contributionsof federal employees to our nation, refute inaccurate perceptions about federal
pay and benefits, and voice our opposition to proposals to cut the benefits of active and retired federalemployees. Each issue of NARFE Insiderwill feature a selection of summaries of major media coverage, aswell as local news coverage generated by chapters and federations.
10 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
National Coverage● In an October 1 article titled “Government starts shutting down” in The Charlotte Observer, NARFEPresident Joseph A. Beaudoin is quoted as saying that he was deeply disappointed in Congress’ deci-sion “to allow politics to trump the best interests of the American people.” He went on to say, “Todayin communities across our country, vital federal services are being interrupted and hundreds of thou-sands of federal employees have been told to stay home without pay because Congress has failed tocarry out the most basic of its constitutionally mandated duties.”
● In his August 26 blog “By the Numbers” on www.governing.com, Mike Maciag mentions thatNARFE has launched a new web page that draws attention to the experience lost from retiring fed-eral workers.
● An August 30 article by Rob Stott on associationsnow.com also featured the NARFE RetirementTracker. Stott writes that according to the Tracker, “[NARFE] estimates that 10,000 years of institu-tional knowledge have been lost every day since January 1.”
● NARFE’s Director of Federal Benefits Service David Snell appeared on the August 21 edition of “YourTurn” on Federal News Radio, 1500 AM. He spoke to host Mike Causey about how self-plus-one cov-erage would benefit couples without children and about how the proposed Chained CPI would re-duce the size of future cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for federal and military retirees andpeople who receive Social Security benefits. The Chained CPI, if enacted, would trim future COLA in-creases by approximately 0.3 percent annually, so that retirees and their survivors would see a loss ofinflationary protection, Snell explained.
● In the August 5 Washington Post, a NARFE spokesperson is quoted in the Federal Eye column ad-dressing OPM’s delays in clearing the retirement claims backlog: “[NARFE] lamented the loss ofovertime, describing it as one of the primary causes of the continuing backlog. ‘We, again, imploremembers of Congress to take notice of the very real effects that austerity budgeting is having on gov-ernment services, including the ones on which our career civil servants rely.’”
● In an August 5 issue of Government Executive, reporter Eric Katz quoted a NARFE spokesperson in hisarticle “Fed Group Wants More Perks, Broader Eligibility for Partial Retirement”: “[NARFE] generallyapproved of OPM’s initial guidance – saying the plan would help improve the ‘continuity of govern-ment operations’ – but said the agency should guarantee more benefits for partially retired federalworkers.” Katz goes on to write: “NARFE also called for OPM to ensure phased retirees receive ‘ap-propriate’ agency matching contributions into their Thrift Savings Plan accounts” and that OPM“should ensure phased retirees younger than 62 are still eligible for their Federal Employees Retire-ment System supplement.”
Local Coverage● NARFE’s opposition to the Chained CPI received wide coverage from local media across the country,due in part to chapter members writing their local newspaper editors. In his letter of September 20, toThe Frederick (MD) News-Post, NARFE member William Elsen of Frederick urged Maryland lawmak-ers in Washington to reject the Chained CPI and provide America’s seniors, retired veterans and pub-lic servants, and individuals with disabilities the income protection they deserve.
● In an August 17th letter to The Cape Gazette, Walt Berwick, president of the Delaware Federation ofNARFE Chapters, warned that seniors’ standard of living would be threatened should the ChainedCPI replace the current CPI-W.
NARFE in the News
11 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
Barbara L. PretzerBarbara L. (“Barb”) Pretzer of Manhattan, KS, former chair of the NARFE-Alzheimer’sNational Committee, died August 3. A survivor annuitant, Pretzer joined NARFE in 1998.While remaining actively involved in her local chapter, Kaw-Blue Manhattan Chapter 336,her NARFE interests broadened to include responsibilities at the federation, regional andnational levels with the NARFE-Alzheimer’s Research Program. In addition to serving as theKansas Federation Alzheimer’s coordinator and Region V Alzheimer’s coordinator, Pretzerchaired the NARFE-Alzheimer’s National Committee from 2006 until February 2012, whenshe resigned for health reasons. Outside of NARFE, Pretzer also volunteered on behalf ofmany civic and charitable organizations.She is survived by two daughters, four grandchildren and three step-children.Donations to the NARFE-Alzheimer’s Research Program may be made in Pretzer’s memorythrough Manhattan Chapter 366; please send contributions in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, KS, 66502.
Sandra S. CagleFormer Washington Federation President Sandra Sue Redfern (“Sandy”) Cagle of Olympia,WA, died July 13.Cagle was a career federal employee with the U.S. Army. She joined NARFE in 2002,becoming active in her local chapter, Olympia-Timberland Chapter 236, eventually serving aschapter president. Cagle went on to become president of the Washington Federation, whileremaining an active volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America, American Sewing Guild andother organizations.She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Sam; three sons; and three grandchildren.Donations may be made in Cagle’s memory to the NARFE Silver Circle, 606 N. WashingtonStreet, Alexandria, VA 22314.
Passages
● On August 22, 30 NARFE members from NARFE chapters in northwest PA,met with Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-5th, and aides to Sen. Robert Casey, Sen.Patrick Toomey and Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, to express their concerns aboutthe Chained CPI and federal employee health care benefits. The meeting wascovered by WICU-TV 12 News in Erie.
● The Atchison Globe/Hiawatha World reported that Dora Slavin − adistinguished life member of NARFE’s Brown County-Hiawatha(Kansas) Chapter 2164 − turned 103 on July 22, 2013. Dora, whowas a spouse of a federal government employee, joined NARFE in1962. She became a distinguished member in 1987 and still attendschapter meetings.
Pennsylvania Rep. Glenn Thompson (left) poses with Robert Deloefrom NARFE Chapter 1782 at the August 22 question-and-answersession in Erie. Photo by William Hurrle, Sr.
Long-time NARFE member Dora Slavin celebrates her birthday.Photo © Atchison Globe/Hiawatha World
12 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
NARFE National Executive Board Meeting Minutes July 9-11, 2013, Rosen Centre Hotel, Orlando, FL
National President Beaudoin called the meeting to order.
National Treasurer Thissen presented a review and update of the 2013 mid-year budget. It reflects a reductionin projected revenue and expenses and includes purchase of the ISI software (NARFE’s database), renegotia-tion of the M+R contract, and adjustments required due to NEB-approved motions (March) and other ap-proved decisions since the 2013 budget was approved last November. (Mid-year budget on file)
Following questions and discussion, a motion was presented:
Motion #01-07-13. SUBJECT: 2013 Revised Budget. Motion made by National Treasurer Thissen and sec-onded by Regional Vice President (RVP) Ross “that the 2013 revised budget submitted to the July NEB mem-bers be approved.” The motion unanimously passed.
National Secretary Hughes stated for the record the vote results for both the approval to extend the M+R con-tract through September 30, 2013, and the approval to purchase the ISI database software. Both were approvedwith unanimous votes.
National Vice President Carew discussed the recommendations of a working group to determine steps neededto examine not only the future of NARFE as a whole, but also the role of electronic chapters and their impact onNARFE’s survival. Members of the working group were: National Vice President Carew, chair; David Snell, pres-ident of Chapter 2363; Chuck Timanus, secretary/treasurer of Chapter 2363; and Bill Shackelford, Virginia Fed-eration past president and chair of 2013 Bylaws Committee (RVP Ross also participated in the meeting).(Report on file)
Following the discussion, a motion was presented:
Motion #02-07-13: SUBJECT: Future of NARFE. Motion made by National Vice President Carew and sec-onded by RVP Stewart “that the NEB authorize the National President to appoint a committee of appropriatesize to address the future of NARFE and the role of echapters as a dominant – and inevitable – part of this fu-ture. The committee will examine all significant issues that could affect the future growth and viability of thisAssociation.”
“The committee will prepare a report with recommendations for the NEB to review and, if approved, the reportwill be published in time for disseminating at 2014 federation conventions and will be made available to thegeneral membership.”
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Call to OrderMoment of SilencePledge of AllegianceRoll CallPresentation of the Agenda
Present:
National OfficersPresident Joseph A. BeaudoinVice President Paul H. CarewSecretary Elaine C. HughesTreasurer Richard G. Thissen
Regional Vice PresidentsRegion I Arthur PikeRegion II Evelyn Kirby
Region III Donald StewartRegion IV Paul E. JohnsonRegion V Carol R. EkRegion VI Jerome S. SmithRegion VII Frank ImpinnaRegion VIII Helen L. ZajacRegion IX Lanny G. RossRegion X William F. Martin
StaffNational Executive Board (NEB) Executive AssistantMarian UffenDirector of Membership Bridget BoelLegislative Director Jessica Klement
GuestsVirginia Federation Past President Bill ShackelfordOhio Federation Vice President, Membership, Tim GartnerCalifornia Federation Past President Lea Zajac
13 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
*The motion was amended to insert a statement in the second paragraph after “The committee will prepare areport with recommendations.” The statement added is: “to promote strengthening and assuring long-term ef-fectiveness of NARFE.” The amended motion reads as follows:
Amended Motion #02-07-13: SUBJECT: Future of NARFE. Motion made by National Vice PresidentCarew and seconded by RVP Stewart “that the NEB authorize the National President to appoint a committeeof appropriate size to address the future of NARFE and the role of echapters as a dominant – and inevitable –part of this future. The committee will examine all significant issues that could affect the future growth and vi-ability of this Association.”
“The committee will prepare a report with recommendations to promote strengthening and assuring long-term effectiveness of NARFE for the NEB to review, and, if approved, the report will be published in time fordisseminating at 2014 federation conventions and will be made available to the general membership.”
The motion, as amended, passed unanimously.
The committee will submit its recommendations to the National President for review. If the National Presidentagrees with the recommendations, they will be submitted to the NEB for review. If the NEB approves, the rec-ommendations will be made available in time for the 2014 federation conventions and to the general member-ship.
Old Business:
RVP Kirby applauded the decision to invite each RVP to NARFE Headquarters for a week of observation andparticipation in the day-to-day business of NARFE. A report will be forthcoming once all visits are completed.
RVP Zajac stated that some members are complaining there are too many fundraisers.
➢ ACTION ITEM #1: The National Officers will discuss ways to better communicate to members the pur-pose of fundraisers and how NARFE is using the additional funds. A suggestion to prepare an article forNARFE Insider was mentioned as one possibility for distributing information regarding fundraisers. Note: In-formation relating to NARFE’s fundraising activities was sent to the RVPs and federation presidents on July23-24.
RVP Zajac stated that more public relations (PR) activities are needed to communicate information, suc-cesses, etc., regarding membership.
National Secretary Hughes responded that while there are a number of PR-related activities already in exis-tence, a very tentative plan to enhance federation and chapter services is being discussed for the purpose ofproviding greater communication and increase PR efforts.
New Business:
RVP Zajac recommended that additional membership prospecting/recruitment materials be either updated orcreated to assist the field.
➢ ACTION ITEM #2: NARFE Headquarters will assess the need for additional brochures, materials, etc., forthe field. (Note: The newly revised prospecting/recruiting kit was carefully and strategically designed to en-hance efforts by the field and limit the need for additional materials.)
RVP Ross suggested that the Configuration Advisory Board (CAB) consider adding a QR code capability forcertain NARFE materials. He also suggested that the CAB investigate creating a NARFE app for mobile de-vices.
RVP Zajac also suggested that the QR code be added to the NARFE posters.
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➢ ACTION ITEM #3: NARFE Headquarters, with assistance from the CAB, will assess the feasibility of thesuggestions.
National Treasurer Thissen discussed a proposal to eliminate all paper reports distributed by NARFE Headquar-ters. Currently, there are only 40 chapters that require paper reports at a cost of about $25,000 per year formailing. Federations are encouraged to assist those chapters by providing the paper reports required.
Following a discussion, a motion was presented:
Motion #03-07-13. SUBJECT: Written Reports. Motion made by National Treasurer Thissen and secondedby National Vice President Carew “that HQ stop providing written reports from the online reporting system, ef-fective October 1, 2013.” With a vote, the motion unanimously passed.
Legislative Director Klement discussed current activities relating to the “Protect America’s Heartbeat” (PAH)campaign. She discussed several issues surrounding the campaign, including changes in legislative staffing re-sponsibilities and her goal to create an in-house, grass-roots advocacy program. To accomplish this, six federa-tions were chosen to lead the PAH activities in creating a grass-roots advocacy model, which eventually will bedisseminated to all federations. The six chosen are: Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia, Maine andWashington. She also solicited assistance from the RVPs in working with the six states to ensure that the PAHcampaign continues to be successful.
Membership Crisis – “State of the Union” by National Secretary Hughes and Membership Director Boel:
National Secretary Hughes provided an introduction to the membership crisis overview and status report thatfollowed. She said the gain/loss statement, which is distributed monthly, can never reveal the depth of theanalysis beneath the numbers. Analysis indicates a slowing in the decline that has built over the past 30 yearsand a path toward reversal. The slowing in the membership decline is in spite of the accelerated number ofdeaths NARFE is experiencing and will continue to experience for the near future. The most significant news isthat without the analysis, strategic planning and new initiatives of the last two years, we would find ourselves ina far worse and perhaps unsustainable situation.
Director of Membership Boel made a PowerPoint presentation with emphasis on the following:
Loss Analysis – Reported deaths, renewal rate erosion, dropped for nonpayment
Gain Analysis – Reinstatements, retention, slowing the decline, recruitment efforts, prospecting efforts, effortsto get into federal buildings for recruiting purposes, eNARFE
The Bottom Line – The issues at hand and what do we take away from the discussion?
Brainstorming Priorities - How to best focus resources. The following priorities were recommended:• “Big” Idea. Resources placed for biggest impact.• Recruitment and Prospecting! New members are the critical focus as member deaths escalate.• Field Initiatives. Providing Information, tools and/or best practices for a greater volume of field-initiated recruitment and prospecting.
(PowerPoint on file and posted on NARFE website, www.narfe.org)
In a joint NEB/Federation Presidents session, 2013 Bylaws Committee Chair Shackelford presented an updateof the committee’s findings to achieve the mandate as prescribed by National President Beaudoin, which is to:• Identify provisions within NARFE’s Bylaws that do not reflect the requirements of the District of Columbia(DC) statutes; and
• Recommend any changes necessary to NARFE’s Bylaws to ensure that they meet the requirements of the DCstatutes and to adapt them, to the degree allowed, to the needs of NARFE.
(PowerPoint on file)
National Secretary Hughes presented a recommended process to begin the brainstorming session to addressthe membership crisis. The remainder of the afternoon was devoted to addressing the crisis.
The meeting adjourned.
15 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
The Board continued the brainstorming process to address the membership crisis.
In the afternoon, it began a very lengthy discussion of the morning’s brainstorming activities.
Following the discussion, the Board agreed to present its top four recommendations to the federation presi-dents on Thursday, July 11. They are:• The highest volume recruiters from each federation should be sent to federation and regional events and con-ventions, with NARFE subsidies, in order to share best practices.
• A new NARFE membership category, tentatively called “Supporting Member,” should be established, which willbe open to all. (Allowing anyone who would like to support the NARFE mission or who feels they may benefitfrom the mission to join).
• Federation-level district/area training should be initiated and focus on membership, legislation, the NARFEwebsite and the Online Activities Module (OAM).
• Federations should focus on rebuilding and strengthening chapters, with a focus on the importance of theNARFE mission to the overall federal community.
A discussion concerning the first-year, new-member dues followed, with regard to the $40 incentive foreNARFE membership versus the $45 for local chapter membership.
Following the discussion, a motion was presented:
Motion #04-07-13. SUBJECT: New Member Fee. Motion made by RVP Kirby and seconded by RVP Ross“that National Dues for all new members be $40, in accordance with Article I, Section 4.B. of the National By-laws, effective October 1, 2013.” With a vote of 10 yeas and 3 nays, the motion passed.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned.
Elaine C. HughesNational Secretary
The next scheduled NEB meeting will be November 19-21, 2013, at NARFE Headquarters in Alexandria, VA.
Present:
National OfficersPresident Joseph A. BeaudoinVice President Paul H. CarewSecretary Elaine C. HughesTreasurer Richard G. Thissen
Regional Vice PresidentsRegion I Arthur PikeRegion II Evelyn KirbyRegion III Donald StewartRegion IV Paul E. JohnsonRegion V Carol R. EkRegion VI Jerome S. Smith
Region VII Frank ImpinnaRegion VIII Helen L. ZajacRegion IX Lanny G. RossRegion X William F. Martin
StaffNational Executive Board (NEB) Executive Assistant Marian UffenDirector of Membership Bridget Boel
Others49 federation presidents (list on file), members of the2014 National Convention Host Committee, and otherNARFE members and guests.
NARFE Annual Meeting Minutes, July 11, 2013
16 NARFE Insider Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders
Thursday, July 11, 2013
National President Beaudoin called the 2013 Annual Meeting to order. The Annual Meeting is mandated in Article V, Meetings, Section 1A, Annual Membership Meetings, NARFENational Bylaws, adopted at the 2012 National Convention.
Invocation by John Priolo, president of the Hawaii FederationPledge of Allegiance led by Ken Thomas, president of the Florida Federation
National President Beaudoin presented the President’s Annual Report. (Report on file)
Highlights of the President’s Annual Report were: • Update on legislation, with regard to sequestration, pay freeze and furloughs;• narfe magazine redesign launched in January 2013; • Quarterly News for NARFE Leaders is now NARFE Insider and primarily features NARFE business; • Membership is in crisis, and all members of NARFE need to be more active in recruitment and retention, especiallyrecruitment;
• eChapter 2363, with more than 15,000 members, is doing very well;• NARFE has purchased the ISI software (NARFE database);• NARFE ended 2012 in the black.
As prescribed in Article V of the 2012 National Bylaws, National Treasurer Thissen presented the Treasurer’sAnnual Report. (Report on file)
Highlights of the Treasurer’s Annual Report were:• NARFE ended 2012 with a net increase of $131,458 from operations and a total increase in net assets of$659,456;
• NARFE did not withdraw money from investment funds;• The 2012 net increase in operations was the first in more than 10 years;• National Treasurer Thissen thanked the members for fundraising efforts;• 2013 continues to show a surplus, and National Treasurer Thissen is confident that we will maintain a surplus;• Savings will be realized with the purchase of the ISI software;• No funds are being withdrawn from the Life Member Trust Fund in 2013, allowing for additional growth;• The June M112 report will show a significant decline in membership with an additional 1,060 deceased mem-bers removed from the file. This has been an ongoing effort to clean up the membership file to reflect reality.
A question-and-answer session followed.
The annual meeting was adjourned.
NARFE Insider is posted on the website, www.NARFE.orgThe following members receive NARFE Insider for NARFE Leaders: Officer codes 1-Chapter President, 2-Chapter Vice President, 3-Chapter Secretary, 4-Chapter Treasurer, 5-Chapter Secretary/Treasurer, 6-Chapter Legislative Officer/National, 7-Chapter MembershipChair, 8-Chapter Public Relations, 9-Chapter Service Officer, 11-Chapter Editor, 12-Chapter Alzheimer’s Chair, 13-Chapter NARFE-PACOfficer, 14-Chapter Financial Secretary, 15-Chapter Other, 16-Chapter Net Coordinator, 17-Chapter Legislative Officer/State, 20-Federation President, 21-Federation Executive Vice President, 22-Federation Vice President, 23-Federation Secretary, 24-FederationTreasurer, 25-Federation Secretary/Treasurer, 26-Federation Legislative Chair/National, 28-Federation Legislative Chair/State, 29-Federation PR, 31-Federation Service Officer, 33-Federation Membership Chair, 34-Federation Editor, 35-Federation Alzheimer’s Chair,36-Federation NARFE-PAC Coordinator, 37-Federation Immediate Past President, 38-Federation Other, 39-Federation ExecutiveCommittee, 40-Pre-Retirement Speaker, 41-Federation Net Coordinator, 42-FEEA Coordinator, 43-Federation Area Officer, 44-RegionalAlzheimer’s Coordinator, 45-Regional FEEA Coordinator, 49-Regional Vice President, 50-Immediate Past Regional Vice President, 51-National Officer, 52-Past National Officer