Skip to main content

TVARS Board Election Results

Thank you very much for the confidence you have shown in me by letting me run unopposed for another term as an elected TVARS board member! 

The TVA Retirement System (TVARS) recently accepted nominations for a three-year term as an elected member of the TVARS board of directors. At the close of the nomination period deadline, the only nomination petition received was for Leonard J. Muzyn, who currently serves as an elected director on the board. The TVARS rules and regulations state in the event only one person is nominated for the director position to be filled, the board may declare such nominee elected without the necessity of formal balloting by the membership. Therefore, in a special called meeting on July 24, 2015, the board approved a resolution declaring Mr. Muzyn re-elected as a director of the TVARS board for the three-year term beginning November 1, 2015, through October 31, 2018. Mr. Muzyn’s candidate information form is available for review on the TVARS website.

Also, during this meeting, the TVARS board selected Allen E. Stokes, who currently serves as the 7th director on the board, to serve a new three-year term as its 7th director from November 1, 2015, through October 31, 2018. Stokes retired in January 2007 after a 30-year career with TVA, having last served as senior manager of Special Projects in Human Resources’ Information Services. Mr. Stokes was re-selected after informing the TVARS board of his interest in being re-selected for the 7th director.

In making the selection, the TVARS board considered Mr. Stokes, along with other potential candidates, and acknowledged Mr. Stokes’ experience serving as 7th director for four years, along with his qualifications, met the desired characteristics for the 7th director position. In addition, the board considered the need for continuity in the position given certain matters currently before the TVARS board, including the current lawsuit against TVARS and the implementation of a new 401(k) Plan investment menu.


Muzyn candidate information form:

Leonard J. Muzyn, Jr., CFA
Energy Market Analyst, Enterprise Planning, Chattanooga
25 Years of TVA Service

Education and Professional Designations: MBA in Finance, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Earned the right to use the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation by passing three six-hour exams on investments, portfolio management, quantitative methods, economics, financial reporting, analysis, finance, and risk management. BS in Electrical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh. Member of the CFA Society of East Tennessee.

Previous TVA Experience: Elected TVARS board member for twelve years. Current chairman of the Audit Committee and vice chairman of the Investment Committee. Senior Energy Market Strategist, Chattanooga. Fuel Supply Analyst, Chattanooga. Financial Analyst, Knoxville. Control Analyst, Knoxville.

Other: Thank you for your continuing interest and support in protecting our Cash Balance, Original, and 401(k) benefits. For more information and future updates, please visit my TVARS blog site (http://tvarsmuzyn.blogspot.com/), friend me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, and/or e-mail me at tvarsmuzyn@gmail.com.

The TVARS board and staff are currently working to:
  • provide you with a new simpler menu of lower cost and better performing 401(k) investment options, including very low cost index funds. We plan to make these available by the end of the year.
  • increase TVARS’ independence and reduce potential conflicts of interest by signing a loaned employee agreement with TVA. TVARS employees would report to the TVARS board instead of TVA, yet would remain TVA employees. In addition, the board would be able to negotiate for services and office space.
Please express your thanks to the other TVARS board members and the TVARS staff for their continuing hard work on your behalf.

The lawsuit filed by TVA employees and retirees (plaintiffs) against TVA and TVARS (defendants) remains pending in Federal Court. The judge has yet to rule on several motions before her. The suit contests $300 million in benefit reductions to our Cash Balance and Original pensions that were approved in 2009. The reductions with the highest overall dollar impact to employees were those affecting future cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs).

On March 6, 2015, the TVARS board requested the court to:
  • agree with plaintiffs that COLAs should not have been reduced.
  • schedule a conference to determine remedies.
I continue to believe that the pension benefit reductions supported by TVA in 2009 were meant to be the first of many. I believe there would have already been additional benefit reduction attempts if not for the pending lawsuit. The interests of TVA employees appear to be misaligned with those of TVA executives with regards to pensions. Our Cash Balance and Original pensions are currently funded at 61 percent with a $4.8 billion shortfall. This is a larger pension shortfall than any of the six large utilities surrounding TVA. Yet, TVA continues to fully fund its executive pension while it defers more of our pensions’ expenses into the future. TVA continues to contribute less to our pensions than the TVARS board recommends.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why do TVARS board meetings remain closed?

Within the next couple of months, the TVARS board must vote on a contribution amount to recommend that TVA make in fiscal year 2014. In conjunction with the contribution amount, it is possible the vote will include amendments to the rules. In conjunction with the contribution amount in 2009, the rules were amended to: suspend contribution requirements and related actuarial valuations for four years (Section 9B9); suspend the requirement that part of the contribution go to the “excess COLA account,” which was designed to accumulate and grow funds to be used for payment of future COLAs (Sections 9B9, 10D1 and 10D2); and reduce legitimate accrued pension benefits (Sections 6I, 7L and 18C3). The vote in 2009 was not open to observation, and unless the TVARS board takes action, neither will the vote this year. Not one of the six other TVARS board members would second the motion I made in December to open TVARS meetings to observation. All that is required to open future boa...
18 comments
Read more

Introduction

This is my personal blog to facilitate communication among TVA employees, retirees and beneficiaries who are members of TVARS and who wish to preserve their retirement benefits. Please join my site and post your comments.  I have been an elected member of the TVA Retirement System (TVARS, or the system) board of directors since 2003. I am not speaking officially for the TVARS board of directors or TVA management. TVARS is an entity legally independent of TVA. Three of the board members are TVA employees (including myself), three are appointed by TVA management (currently all TVA executive managers), and the seventh is generally a retired TVA employee (appointed by the other six). As TVA employees, we all have a duty of loyalty to carry out directives issued by TVA management in our regular TVA jobs. However, each board member has a fiduciary duty to all the members of the system when performing TVARS duties. This fiduciary duty legally supercedes our duty of loyalty to carry out di...
21 comments
Read more

Why isn't the TVARS board protecting TVARS members?

In order to protect TVARS members in the event the federal government divests TVA, the TVARS board can clarify in the TVARS rules that COLAs are vested benefits . (See support from Dennis To here .) Time is very critical now that TVA is working with President Obama’s administration on a financial review of TVA which includes the option of TVA being divested from the federal government. (See here .) TVARS could be terminated upon divestiture. It is very important that the TVARS board take steps to safe-guard benefits before this occurs. If system termination occurs while TVARS remains significantly underfunded, TVARS may never be able to achieve fully funded status. Not one of the six other TVARS board members would second the motion I made in June 2012 to clarify that COLAs are vested benefits. Once again, I would be glad to forward any e-mails from you to the entire TVARS board. Please e-mail them to me at ljmuzyn@tva.gov .
20 comments
Read more