As I prepare this article, 2011 is quickly coming to an end. In recognition of our Association’s 50th anniversary, I want to share some of the interesting and noteworthy events from the early years that shaped our Association and influenced our retirement system.

It all began on June 7, 1961, when founder and first President Elsie Wiley held the first membership meeting at the Puppet Theater in Balboa Park. The number of members present was 70-75 (as reported in two separate early newsletter articles) and the agenda included topics of pending legislation related to retirees’ interests. The Association shared office space with the County Employees Association above the Mildred Street Credit Union and communicated via a column in the active employees’ newsletter.

In 1965, legislation amended the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (known as the 1937 Act) to allow an annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) to retiree pensions. The COLA increase or decrease was not to exceed 2% and was to be determined each year before April 1st by the Board of Supervisors using consumer statistical data. In 1967, a further legislative amendment allowed for a COLA up to 3%, due to a period of high national inflation. In San Diego this increase was not utilized, until 1972, after much lobbying by our Association’s members, the County Employees Association, and in particular by the efforts of our Association President Ed Rush.

Speaking of Ed Rush, in July 1970, he and his wife Kay authored, typed, duplicated and distributed the association’s first newsletter from their home. This newsletter entitled the Network, continued to be prepared in the same fashion, by Ed and Kay, for the next 15 years. Additionally, Ed served as the Association’s Executive Director and the Rush home served as the Association office also until August 1985. We clearly have come a long way. Ultimately, Ed “retired” from his volunteer assignments for the Association, which now had grown to 4000 members, and a new Network Editor was selected. Within a few months, the newsletter was commercially printed, folded and mailed using a computerized membership list.

In 1970, membership dues were $2 per year and were paid by sending a check to Association Treasurer Vi Osgood’s home in January. In May 1974, a CRCEA (California Retired County Employees Association) sponsored bill AB 2823, was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan amending the 1937 Act retirement law to permit a pension allowance deduction for retiree Association dues. In a subsequent Network article, under the heading “Going Modern”, members were urged to return authorization cards to allow for monthly dues deductions of 25 cents (annual dues now $3 per year) from their retirement checks to be effective in January 1976.

1976 was the year the Association presented the first of many pre-retirement seminars for active County employees. A helpful little booklet entitled So You’re Going to Retire prepared by member Ruth Cummins was given to attendees. The seminars became increasingly popular and were ultimately moved to the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in Mission Valley to accommodate groups as large as 500 in the early 1980s. Early on, the booklet and seminar program was shared with CRCEA member associations. Other County retirement boards and personnel departments requested copies of the materials to replicate similar pre-retirement programs in their counties.

Over the years, the leaders and dedicated volunteers of RESDC have carried on the tradition of those founding members who realized that retired employees have unique interests and concerns separate from those of active employees. They took on some lofty goals to advocate on behalf of retirees, at the local and state level, becoming politically active and savvy leading to meaningful modifications to the 1937 Act retirement law for the benefit of retirees in the 20 member counties. The past 50 years has seen great strides but the need for advocacy and on-going communication of important issues for retirees remains. Public pensions are frequently a topic of debate for political figures, watchdog groups and the media, often with little regard for the facts. Our Association will remain a strong advocate for San Diego County retired employees and continue to effectively participate in CRCEA, our state Association, due in large part to the ideals and dedication of those who served before us.