On Oct. 31, the PERS study commission, appointed by Republican Gov. Barbour with the Republican Gulfport Mayor Schloegal as chairman met, but revealed little information to anxious retirees and public employees.

Mayor Schloegal will wait until after the election on Nov. 8 to unveil his recommendations about cuts to the PERS system.

The mayor must be a vicious man. Just recently he vetoed a City Council proposal to help the City of Gulfport workers (PERS members) concerning accrued annual leave hours rolled over to PERS. This is a practice already employed by state agencies on behalf of their state employees.

Schloegal’s hostility to rank and file government employees is alarming in the light of his role as chairman of Gov. Barbour’s PERS Study Commission.

He appears to embrace the following options for cutting benefits. They are:

1.  Rollback of benefits to levels in 1999 (unless you already have 25 years of service on 7/1/2011).  This is a 5.63 percent benefit cut to a retiree with 30 years of service.

2.  Shift from guaranteed monthly benefit to a plan where your benefits vary according to the fluctuations in the stock market.

3.  Raising the amount deducted from your check each month for the PERS contribution (without any increases in benefits).

4. Raising the retirement age from 60 to 62, if you don’t have 25 years service before 7/1/2011.

A list of 19 lawmakers who voted against HB31 (the present PERS legislation which was passed in 1999) is available. District 97 Rep. Sam Mims was one of the anti-group.

You can go on the internet to info@honoryourpromise.us and request the list. The list was e-mailed to those of us who are  members of Honor your Promise group on Oct. 19.

Please note the PERS system is very sound and has had excellent analysts and investment personnel to guide our system through these times.

The governor wants to get the state government involved in the system and if it happens PERS will be in the same financial straits as the present state government.

I personally know that Sen. Bob Dearing has been a good friend to PERS and the elderly.

I ask you to contact the candidates for senator and representative in our area and the other state officials to be elected on Nov. 8 concerning their stand on PERS.

I realize they can tell you they are in favor of PERS as it is and then later vote against it.

There are 300,000 families who will be affected by these cuts.

Please make your vote count!

Corinne Randazzo

Vidalia resident

retiree from the Natchez-Adams School District