Cincinnati NAACP
Media Release
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CINCINNATI, OHIO - DECEMBER 5, 2010 - Cincinnati retirees received
letters last week stating that their life insurance benefits would be
cut.  City workers gave 30 years of their life and now city hall is
breaking its promise.  "I can not imagine getting a letter that my
death benefit is being changed at 80 when I am no longer insurable for
private insurance.  No current retiree benefits should be changed
based on fund advisors losing $1 billion in the stock market,"
Christopher Smitherman, president of the Cincinnati NAACP said.
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A majority of City Council believes that changing current benefits is
a way to reform the City Pension Plan.  The first step in reforming
the pension plan is terminating the fund advisors who lost $1 billion
in assets.  Unfortunately, this is the beginning of the city stripping
retirees of benefits and cash.  " If the city retirement plan was
covered by ERISA city hall's actions would be criminal.  The only
people who got rich in this deal are the advisors who were paid $85
million," Smitherman said.