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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Wednesday, August 09, 2023

Retirees May Invite County Candidates to Next Luncheon

Northampton County retirees get together twice a year for lunch, in the Spring and Fall. This year's Fall luncheon is scheduled for October 10.  These affairs usually attract 200-300 of the county's 1,300 pensioners. Guests always include members of both the county administration and Blue Cross. This year is a municipal election year with lots of important races, so the retiree association is considering inviting the candidates for judge, DA, Controller and County Council. Because there are so many, they will probably just be introduced and then meet with people after the meeting. 

I told you yesterday that the county's pension fund is $463,795,774. The OPEB fund, which pays retiree medical expenses, is $48,534,422. I neglected to tell you that both are fully funded, meaning there are enough assets to pay every pension and medical claim. These are among the best performing funds in the state, if not the country. 

At the October meeting, retirees will select three individuals to serve on the Retirement Board, and County Exec Lamont McClure will select one of these names for confirmation by county council. The current retiree rep is Gerald E "Jerry" Seyfried, but he told me he's pretty busy conducting tours of the  Gerald E "Jerry" Seyfried swamp at Minsi Lake.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I go to the lunches to socialize with fellow retirees, not to meet political candidates. Bad idea. I won't go in the fall is this is the plan.

Bernie O'Hare said...

As a retiree, you should know that candidates are almost always invited to the luncheons. But if that is how you feel, you can make your concerns known ... if you really are a retiree.

Anonymous said...

I am. And this would be the first time local candidates, not just elected officials, will be invited and introduced. Why else would this even be a blog hot take?

Anonymous said...

Inflicting elected officials and political candidates on retirees falls into the category or elder abuse

Anonymous said...

I Don't know what the final outcome of this will be, however, aren't these the people who will determine what our benefits will be and what type of insurance we will have for ourselves and our family? The only people who would be opposed to having candidates present are the incumbent candidates who have been voting to screw us all these years. I trust our officers to do the right thing by us. J E R R Y........Please no speeches. Thank You.

Anonymous said...

if Tara stops by my table, I am afraid I might puke all the delicious food over everything.