Pensioners Rick Jones, Tom Reich vie for Eaton sheriff job
June 5, 2019; updated 7/26/19
See 6/6/19 response to me from Rick Jones
below. And following that, his
7/25/19 email to Eaton County
commissioners.
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Tom Reich is the current Eaton County sheriff. He
became sheriff in 2012 and is running for
reelection.
Rick Jones is a former Eaton County sheriff. He is
running against Tom Reich. From
WILX:
Jones served 31 years with the
sheriff's office including one four-year term as sheriff
[2000-2004]. He was elected to the State House in 2004
and served the maximum three terms. He then served two terms
in the State Senate before he was term limited.
Mike Raines served two four-year terms in between
Jones and Reich.
Jones, of course, is receiving a pension from Eaton
County. Here is
his pension calculation sheet. His pension is limited to 80% of
final average compensation (FAC). 80% of $77,352.84 is $61,882.27, his
straight life pension. He chose an option that allows his wife to
receive his full pension after his death, which required a reduction in
the annual amount to $56,110.51. The current amount is $74,346.84 due to 13
years of non-compounding, 2.5% COLA increases, which were discontinued this year.
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My original estimate of his current pension
was $79,282.68. Jones corrected me. My first mistake was
thinking the COLA increase was compounding. It is not. My second
was thinking it was applied over 14 years instead of 13.
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When retirees return to a non-elected position,
they are limited to 1000 hours a year, but there is no limit for retirees
returning to elected positions. Such are the
rules for retirement systems administered by the Municipal Employees
Retirement System (MERS). So if Jones wins, he will receive his $79,282
pension on top of his $102,274 salary (source,
last page). |
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Tom Reich receives a pension too, and has been
doing so since 7/1/1998, when he retired from the Ingham County Sheriff
Department at age 43. Here is
his pension calculation sheet. He had the same 3.2% multiplier as
Jones. His straight life
pension amount is $45,609.96. He, too, chose an option that allows his
wife to receive his full pension after his death, which reduced the
annual amount to $42,191.04. Reich became a Ingham
County deputy right out of high school, which is how he had his 25 years in by age
43. |
The stars aligned for Tom Reich as he neared his
7/1/1998 retirement date. In August 1996, his union, the Fraternal Order
of Police Capital City Lodge #141 - now called the Capitol City Labor
Program - petitioned the
Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) for binding arbitration
under Public Act 312. Negotiations between Ingham County and the union
dragged on until July 1997. Among the union's requests was an increase
in the pension multiplier for sheriff supervisors from 2.5% to 3.2%. The
union promised to pay the full cost by increasing the member
contribution from 9.16% to a whopping 19.61%. That
request was granted by the arbitrator. What he may not have foreseen is that eight of those supervisors - including Tom Reich - would
qualify for retirement within the next year. They would benefit from the
increased multiplier after having paid the
19.61%
contribution for only a few months. It increased their pensions by 28%. I wrote a
story about this in October
2015.
Update:
Tom Reich named Michigan Sheriff of the Year by the Michigan Sheriffs'
Association.
If he loses the election, Reich won't have the 10
years of service he needs to qualify for a pension from Eaton County.
7/26/19 update: I may be wrong
on the above. It appears that Reich can use his years at Ingham for
vesting at Eaton. This is from page 4 of MERS'
Defined Benefit Plan Participant Handbook:
If
he wins, his pension after one more 4-year term will be about $24,546
($102,274 x 12 years x 2%). The 2% multiplier is new; it was reduced
from 3.2% in December 2018 as a result of another MERC arbitration. Here
is the employer's last best offer from page 18 of the
arbitration
report:
Are pension calculation details exempt
from FOIA? Or not?
I was pleased that Eaton and Ingham counties -
without hesitation - gave me pension calculation sheets for their former
employees. They were apparently unaware that it was against state law to do so. That law says
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, information
regarding the calculation of actual or estimated retirement benefits
for members of the system is exempt from disclosure by the system or
the political subdivision sponsoring the system pursuant to Section
13(1)(d) of the Freedom of Information Act, 1976 PA 442, MCI 15.243.
The law was quietly inserted into Senate Bill 797
of 2012, an otherwise boring refinement of public pension investment
regulations. The exemption is not in the Freedom of Information Act, but
the Act does exempt "Records or
information specifically described and exempted from disclosure by
statute."
The City of Lansing is aware of
the law, and they LOVE
it. They even went to court to avoid giving me pension calculation
sheets with the calculation details redacted (story
here). But although Lansing is protective of the calculation
details, they have no problem with providing the pension amount.
In August of 2017, they gave the Lansing State Journal the pension
amounts of all city police and firefighters. The LSJ published a story
about it titled
Overtime spikes pensions for dozens of Lansing police, fire retirees.
Nor does
the State of Michigan have problem with releasing pension
amounts. In August 2017, I got an email from the Office of Retirement
Services. (I am a retired state employee.) It said ORS recently
received a FOIA request from an outfit called American Transparency
asking for each retiree’s name, pension amount, and retirement effective
date. And, it says, the FOIA requires ORS to comply with this request.
Here is the letter:
And then there is the Municipal Employees
Retirement System. MERS administers pension systems for Eaton and Ingham
counties and hundreds of other municipalities around the state. I sent
them a FOIA request asking for Rick Jones' current pension amount so I
could confirm my calculation of its growth with the 2.5% COLA. I didn't
ask for the calculation details - just the amount and any deductions.
They denied my
request. I appealed to the MERS board.
They denied the appeal.
Send comments, questions, and tips to
stevenrharry@gmail.com, or call or text
me at 517-505-2696. If you'd like to be notified by email when I post a
new story, let me know.
Previous stories
Email from Rick Jones, 9:35 am on Thursday, June 6:
Steven,
I read your blog this morning. More information:
ECSD Sgt. Jim West was savagely beaten on the head with a flashlight by
a man he was attempting to arrest for parole violation. This formed a
brain lesion that grew over the years into epilepsy. The on-duty cause
of epilepsy was confirmed in writing by experts at UofM and MSU. The
epilepsy is under control with medication and West has had no seizures
for two years.
West needs 18 months to get his pension and health insurance. He asked
Reich for any duty to complete his time and Reich said NO! Driven
almost to bankruptcy West is suing for a medical pension (partial
pension).
This mistreatment of a 23 1/2 year veteran officer has caused horrible
morale at ECSD. Both road deputies and jail deputies have asked me to
come back. That is why I made the announcement; to give them hope of
change.
When I started at ECSD I made $7000. a year. I could have made 4 times
more at General Motors (Oldsmobile). I always worked a second job to
take care of my family. For that low pay I was shot at on two different
occasions. Stopped an armed robbery on a third incident and had to talk
other people out of guns and butcher knives many times. I should have
died at least three times.
Over the years the pay gradually got better. County Controller Jim
Stewart (retired) suggested to the Union to go for retirement benefits
and not pay increases. He also benefitted from changes.
Deputies were required to pay 14.5% of pay into MERS. Command officers
required to pay 16.5% into MERS. As Sheriff I was required to pay
approx 23% of pay into MERS.
It is currently costing the county approx. $14,000.00 for health
insurance on Reich and spouse (per the Controller).
I have told several county commissioners and will make a public
announcement before the election that says:
I will sign a contract for $50,000 per year
I will take NO health insurance. NO cost to the county.
Reich works part-time at best. Usually comes in for an hour and
disappears. The Undersheriff is running the dept. I have great work
ethic and will work 100%. If Reich is re-elected he will not only
receive a 2nd MERS pension. He can literally stay home for 4 years and
let his Undersheriff run the department.
I wanted to provide you with the “rest of the story”. You now have a
media scoop.
Rick Jones
Email from Rick Jones to Eaton County
commissioners, 7/25/19:
From: State
Senator Rick Jones <rickjones24@gmail.com>
Date: July 25, 2019 at 9:39:14 AM EDT
To: jfuentes@eatoncounty.org
Subject: Please forward to all county commissioners. Thank
you
Dear Eaton County Commissioner,
At the request of many deputies and citizens of Eaton County I have
decided to run for Sheriff. I will bring back Experienced Leadership,
Common Sense, and Work Ethic.
I checked with MERS. If the current sheriff is re-elected the county
will have to pay him a second MERS pension. He will have one from
Ingham and Eaton. Even if he continues to work part time.
MERS says my pension cannot be enhanced or improved in any way by my
election. And of course I will NOT get a second one.
Both the current sheriff and I had a 401K only from the State.
In October the Sheriff will make approx. $103,000 and it will cost over
$14,000 for his health insurance.
I’m pledging to you and the citizens of Eaton County to work for only
$50,000 and NO health insurance. (I have Medicare and pay for a
supplement). This will save the county over $67,000. I want to help
keep a Deputy on the road.
When I was Sheriff I drove one of the oldest cars in the fleet. I will
never require a new vehicle. I also will NOT take the sheriff car on a
vacation!
I also pledge to work with the county commission to look for innovative
ways to reduce costs and still operate the jail and road patrol.
Rick Jones
Contact me anytime:
Cell: 517-410-9495
Email: rickjones24@gmail.com
Public
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