5\/19\/17
\nI. IMPORTANT WEBSITE – PENSION
\nII. SOME INFO FROM THE SITE
\nIII. COMMENT
\nIV. EVENTS
\n…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer<\/p>\n
…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’\u2028scoring musician
\n…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician<\/p>\n
…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician<\/p>\n
===========================================<\/p>\n
I. IMPORTANT WEBSITE – PENSION<\/p>\n
We received this information from a reliable source.<\/p>\n
You need to follow this!:<\/p>\n
Hi everyone,<\/p>\n
As you all know we have a major problem with the AFM<\/p>\n
pension fund. It is actually far worse than we have been<\/p>\n
told by the trusties.<\/p>\n
A number of very smart dedicated people in the NYC<\/p>\n
area have started a committee to address this problem.<\/p>\n
They have created a website to inform you of the ACTUAL<\/p>\n
situations happening and the timeline in which they have<\/p>\n
happened. They have been involving billion dollar multi –<\/p>\n
employer hedge fund experts to advise them on some of<\/p>\n
these points.<\/p>\n
Please read the following website and sign up.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.musiciansforpensionsecurity.com<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A couple of the group members would like to come<\/p>\n
out and address you about this in the next month<\/p>\n
or so. I will be working with a couple of people from<\/p>\n
SoCal to try and set this up. I will also be attending<\/p>\n
the NY meetings as often as possible.<\/p>\n
We ALL have to get involved to fix this.<\/p>\n
PLEASE SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW<\/p>\n
THAT IS INVOLVED WITH THE FUND!<\/p>\n
=================================<\/p>\n
II. SOME INFO FROM THE ABOVE SITE<\/p>\n
Among other valuable info, you’ll find this on the<\/p>\n
PENSION SECURITY SITE<\/p>\n
As you may have heard, our hard-earned pension benefits
\ncould be slashed to a negligible monthly payout once we
\nretire.\u00a0Our Fund Trustees say this is due to a series of
\nunfortunate events, but it seems more and more clear
\nthat the true unfortunate event is that they are
\nresponsible for a decade of poor performance, and have
\nbeen less than transparent about the health of the Fund.<\/p>\n
It’s true that in 2008 we incurred catastrophic losses to
\nour pension fund. That was a terrible year in the market
\nfor all, and during that crash almost every multiemployer
\nfund suffered substantial losses. But our pension fund
\nperformed much worse \u2026\u00a0AFM-EPF lost nearly 40%
\n(AFM website) \u00a0of assets spanning the 18 months
\nsurrounding the crash, while other funds suffered an
\naverage of 25%. After that difficult period, the
\nmajority of multiemployer pension funds bounced
\nback, and 60% of those plans were back in the Green
\nZone by 2011 (PBGC).\u00a0Not ours, however. The AFM-EPF
\nfund continued to underperform every single year.<\/p>\n
Let’s talk numbers here for a minute\u2026
\nOver the past decade, our fund yielded a 3.2%
\nnet average return.\u00a0That’s 1.0% below our
\nalready low custom benchmarks (estimated
\nreturns on investments which are calculated
\nby Trustees and Fund Administration)\u00a0and
\ndrastically below the industry-wide yield of
\n6.8%\u00a0(according to Pension and Investments
\nmagazine).\u00a0Compared to our peers, we are
\nunderperforming.<\/p>\n
Our pension administration spent over $248
\nmillion dollars in administrative expenses
\nand investment fees over the past decade,
\nwhile returning only 3.2%\u00a0(5500s).\u00a0Last year,
\nfor example,\u00a0the Fund admitted to losing $10
\nmillion in value (AFM-EPF website), but paid
\n$25 million in administrative costs and
\ninvestment fees. Additionally, our Fund’s expenses
\nhave been unnecessarily exorbitant for years.
\nWe spend $190K\/month on rent in one of the
\nmost expensive real estate markets in the country,
\npay excessively high salaries to Fund administration,
\nhigh fees to investment managers (5500s), and
\nare unnecessarily overstaffed, in comparison to
\nsimilar funds. Not only are we paying employees
\nhigh salaries, but we are giving them raises almost
\nevery year in the past decade. We are rewarding t
\nhem for bad performance.<\/p>\n
We spent a lot of money to lose money.<\/p>\n
We can make a comparative analysis to a peer
\npension fund,\u00a0AFTRA\u00a0Retirement Fund. AFTRA is
\nsimilar to AFM-EPF in size, value of assets, and
\npersonnel (for example,\u00a0the consultant, accountant,
\nlawyers, and investment managers are all the same
\nprofessionals). \u00a0Although we utilize many of the
\nsame resources, AFTRA is under-spending us
\ndramatically. \u00a0Using Form 5500s for the years
\navailable to us,\u00a02009-2014, we created a comparative
\nfee and expense analysis between AFTRA Retirement
\nFund and AFM-EPF. For those six years,\u00a0AFTRA paid
\n$103 million\u00a0in investment fees and administrative
\ncosts, while AFM-EPF paid $153 million\u00a0in fees and
\nexpenses. The AFM-EPF paid an extra 50 plus million
\ndollars in fees and expenses more than AFTRA paid
\nfor the same six year period.\u00a0Despite the fact that
\nthese 2 funds are so similar in size and personnel,
\nthe AFM-EPF paid a third more in expenses and
\nfees than AFTRA for 2009-2014.<\/p>\n
“The Fund will be solvent until 2047.”<\/p>\n
Many AFM members didn’t know just how bad things
\nwere with the pension fund until they received a
\nDecember 2016 letter \u00a0from the trustees saying
\nthat the fund in 2016 spent 25 million dollars in
\nfees\/expenses and lost 11 million dollars for the
\nyear to date. In addition the trustees in that same
\nletter made it very clear that the fund is in trouble
\nand could quite possibly be in critical and declining
\nstatus in the near future, as soon as this summer.<\/p>\n
In this same letter, the trustees let us know that if
\nwe are in critical and declining status that the new
\npension law “MPRA” would apply to our fund. \u00a0“MPRA”
\nis a law that allows trustees to cut existing benefits
\nand gives workers little to no say in the process.<\/p>\n
What is hard to explain is the following articles written
\nin 2015 by AFM trustees and officials just one year
\nbefore we received the bad news in that now famous
\nDecember 2016 letter about possible benefit cuts
\nthrough the new pension law “MPRA. \u00a0 These articles
\nall make it seem like the new pension law “MPRA”
\ndoesn’t apply to our fund and we should not be
\nworried because our fund is projected to be
\nsolvent all the way till 2047.<\/p>\n
So what changed in that one year? \u00a0Why are the same
\ntrustees just one year later telling us that the new pension
\nlaw which allows trustees to make cuts to benefits
\ncould easily apply to our fund now all of the sudden?<\/p>\n
We deserve an answer.<\/p>\n
AFM President and co-Chair Trustee,\u00a0Ray Hair, said in
\nInternational Musician\u00a0in January 2015, “the AFM-EPF\u2026
\nis not projected to become insolvent, and the new law
\n[MPRA]\u00a0does not authorize benefit reductions to the AFM-EPF.”<\/p>\n
A month later,\u00a0Local 802 President Tino Gagliardi wrote
\nIn Allegro, “The new spending bill from Congress … includes
\na provision that applies to deeply-troubled pension plans
\nthat are near insolvency. As we have stated before \u2026 our
\npension fund is projected to be solvent until at least 2047,
\nwhich is the longest period for which the actuaries have
\nmade projections.”<\/p>\n
In the same publication, Local 802’s lawyer Harvey Mars
\nalso stated the fund would be solvent through 2047
\nand members should “rest secure”.<\/p>\n
Tino Gagliardi then agreed with a statement given by
\nfour Union Trustees —\u00a0Laura Ross, Brian Rood,\u00a0Bill
\nMoriarity and Phil Yao —\u00a0stating again that they believe
\nthe fund with be “solvent through at least 2047”.<\/p>\n
UNDERPERFORMANCE AND HIGH EXPENSES<\/p>\n
Christopher Brockmeyer, Co-Chair of the AFM-EPF, is
\nalso the Director of Employee Benefit Funds for The
\nBroadway League. He was actively involved with the
\ndevelopment and passage of MPRA. In Markets Media
\nin 2014, he said, “I spend a lot more time on investment
\nissues \u2026 than do a lot of the other trustees.”\u00a0He went
\non to say, “Every fund \u2026 is primarily motivated by
\ntrying to get its best return, which is typically 7.5%.”
\nIt’s troubling that Brockmeyer, a Trustee of 11 pension
\nplans in the entertainment industry,\u00a0and AFM-EPF
\nTrustee since 2007, believes our return should be
\nmuch higher than our 3.2%. \u00a0Where is the accountability
\nfor the Fund’s poor performance, after Brockmeyer
\nclaims to be the authority on “investment issues”? And
\nwhen our investment performance is failing, shouldn’t Mr.
\nBrockmeyer and other Trustees,\u00a0including Co-Chair Ray
\nHair,\u00a0attempt to cut costs?<\/p>\n
In 2009, Kilkelly’s salary jumped from $284K to $356K.<\/p>\n
The Trustees vote each year on potential salary increases.
\nOur Fund Administrator and Executive Director, Maureen
\nKilkelly, is now paid $422K a year (5500s). Kilkelly has
\ngotten a raise every year during the past decade, despite
\nthe Fund’s poor performance.\u00a0To add insult to injury,
\nin 2009, the year that New York’s Broadway musicians
\ntook a salary freeze, Maureen Kilkelly received a 25.1%
\nraise. Why did the Trustees vote to raise Ms.Kilkelly’s
\nsalary every year, regardless of the Fund’s performance?<\/p>\n
Where is the accountability?<\/p>\n
Has the Board of Trustees breached their fiduciary duties
\nby allowing for excessive fees,\u00a0poor returns and little to
\nno transparency for many years? \u00a0Our current trustees
\nseem incapable of or unwilling to rein in exorbitant
\ncosts. Why, after a decade of poor performance, has
\nthere been no change from the Fund’s leadership?<\/p>\n
The Trustees must explain the mistakes with full
\ntransparency, improve the administrative performance,
\nand drastically reduce the high overhead.<\/p>\n
===================================<\/p>\n
III. COMMENT<\/p>\n
Well Hooray for you. You hate my beloved AFM Local 47.
\nHow satisfying this must be to you and your vaunted
\n“Committee” giggle~ giggle.<\/p>\n
[EC: Did it every occur to you, that when the pensions
\nare slashed to a fraction of what you expected because
\nof the RMA leadership’s greed over the years (Plus a
\ntouch of technology), and their refusal to talk buyouts,
\nreducing our membership numbers, dues, pension
\nand health and welfare, (More taking out than putting
\nin) with the work going everywhere but here, YOU
\nare going to be f***ed?<\/p>\n
This committee has been trying to SAVE this union
\nfrom their damage, whether you realize it or not.<\/p>\n
At least direct your anger where it belongs,… those who<\/p>\n
caused this situation.<\/p>\n
===================================<\/p>\n
IV. EVENTS<\/p>\n
DEAN AND RICHARD
\nare now at Culver City Elks<\/p>\n
the first \u2028Friday of \u2028every month.<\/p>\n
7:30pm-10:30pm,
\n11160 Washington Pl.
\nCulver City, 90232
\n310-839-8891
\n————————————-
\nLA WINDS JAZZ KATS 584
\nNO COVER, NO MINIMUM.
\nEvery 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at
\nViva Cantina
\n7:30-10:00.
\n900 Riverside Drive, \u2028Burbank.<\/p>\n
Free parking across the street at Pickwick Bowl.
\nCome hear your favorite charts played the way
\nthey \u2028should \u2028be. \u2028\u2028We are in the back room called
\nthe Trailside Room. \u2028\u2028\u2028Come on down.<\/p>\n
Guaranteed to swing.<\/p>\n
—————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
5\/20-21\/17<\/p>\n
CENTER STAGE OPERA PRESENTS
\nThe Best of Broadway Volume III
\nPerforming Arts Center (on the campus of Reseda High School)
\nReseda, CA<\/p>\n
May 20th – 7:30 PM
\nMay 21st – 3:00 PM<\/p>\n
Music from
\nCamelot, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line,
\nSnoopy the Musical, Company, Sweet Smell of success,
\nMiss Saigon, Woman of the Year, Avenue Q, The Wiz, 70 Girls 70
\nand Annie<\/p>\n
Featuring
\nNick Navarra
\nStephanie Fredericks
\nKate Bass
\nDylan F. Thomas<\/p>\n
—————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
5\/21\/17<\/p>\n
SONG OF THE ANGELS FLUTE ORCHESTRA
\nFounder, Frederick Staff
\nMusic Director, Charles Fernandez<\/p>\n
JAZZY FLUTES!<\/p>\n
Sunday, May 21st 7pm at the
\nFirst Lutheran Church in Torrance<\/p>\n
Guest artists
\nAli Ryerson
\nDavid Shostac
\nFred Seldon
\nand Billy Kerr<\/p>\n
for tickets go here:
\nhttp:\/\/www.soafluteorchestra.com\/tickets\/<\/p>\n
—————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
5\/28 – 6\/2\/17
\nThe BBB\u00a0featuring\u00a0Bernie Dresel<\/p>\n
Mark your\u00a0calendars and\/or get tickets now:
\nplaying\u00a0TWO\u00a0daytime shows\u00a0near LAX\u00a0(Los Angeles Airport)
\nthis will be the only notice (earlier than usual) for these\u00a0rare
\n\u201cwest side\u201d shows<\/p>\n
1. \u00a0LA Jazz Institute Big Band Spectacular
\nSUNDAY May 28\u00a0from\u00a04:30-5:30\u00a0at\u00a0Westin LAX Grand\u00a0Ballroom
\nCall\u00a0562-200-5477\u00a0for $20 tickets or get them at the door.
\nhttp:\/\/lajazzinstitute.org<\/p>\n
2. \u00a0LA Audio Show
\nFRIDAY June 2\u00a0from\u00a05:30-7:00\u00a0at\u00a0Sheraton Gateway LAX
\npoolside deck Single day tickets for the\u00a010am-6pm\u00a0LA
\nAudio Show and the 5:30 concert are available for $25
\nat\u00a0http:\/\/www.laaudioshow.com\/register<\/p>\n
The deck area offers a variety of amenities from cabanas
\nto lounge seating and standing room where drinks,
\nappetizers and snacks can also be purchased. For those
\nwhose preference is indoors, the windows of the
\nCostero Bar, overlooking the pool, will be opened.
\nAnd, for attendees, and others, who have worked up
\nan appetite for more solid fare, the Brasserie restaurant,
\nalso with windows to the pool, will be serving.<\/p>\n
——————-<\/p>\n
6\/21\/17
\nDON’T MISS
\nTHE PHIL NORMAN TENTET
\nin West Los Angeles
\nSunday, May 21st @ 2:30pm
\n(doors open at 2pm)
\nContrapuntal Hall in Brentwood
\n655 N. Bundy Drive
\nLos Angeles, CA 90049<\/p>\n
For Tickets:
\nhttp:\/\/www.brownpapertickets.com\/event\/2951454
\nlimited seating; please reserve early<\/p>\n
Hear the Performance of
\n“THEN \u00a0AND \u00a0NOW”<\/p>\n
Remembering the classic sounds & variations of
\n12 jazz legends to include:<\/p>\n
The George Shearing Quintet
\nThe Dave Brubeck Quartet
\nThe Modern Jazz Quartet
\nThe Cal Tjader Quintet
\nthe Ahmad Jamal Trio
\nMiles, Dizzy and more<\/p>\n
—————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
5\/24\/17<\/p>\n
TALL AND SMALL<\/p>\n
Wednesday, May 24th, 2017 8 pm \u2013 10 pm<\/p>\n
featuring:
\nPete Christlieb & Linda\u00a0Small
\nPete Christlieb tenor sax; Linda Small trombone
\nsaxophones Tracy\u00a0Knoop, Travis\u00a0Ranney,
\nJeff\u00a0Kashiwa, Bill\u00a0Ramsay
\ntrumpets Mike\u00a0Mines, Jared\u00a0Hall
\npiano: David\u00a0Joyner
\nbass\u00a0Clipper\u00a0Anderson
\ndrums Tim\u00a0Malland<\/p>\n
Cover Charge: $5
\nB SHARP COFFEE HOUSE
\n706 Opera Alley
\nTacoma, WA 98402
\nDirections<\/p>\n
—————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
5\/27\/17
\nCULVER CITY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
\nMusic Director\/Conductor Arlene Cardenes
\nSaturday May 27th, 5:00PM
\nA Culver City Centennial Celebration
\nThis performance will feature a new
\nfanfare by Cary Belling.
\nAlso
\nAndres Cardenes, Violinist and COnductor
\nTurning Point School Auditorium\u20288780 National Blvd.\u00a0\u2028Culver City, CA 90232
\nClick here for ticket information<\/p>\n
—————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
6\/13\/17<\/p>\n
CalStateLA Symphony Orchestra\/Olympia Youth Orchestra<\/p>\n
Dear Friends & Colleagues:<\/p>\n
You are cordially invited to attend the admission FREE concert given by the CalStateLA Symphony Orchestra\/Olympia Youth Orchestra on Sunday, June 11, 2017 at 3PM at the historic San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, 320 S Mission Drive, San Gabriel, CA 91776.<\/p>\n
The orchestra is composed of young and talented students ages 12 through college age performing standard repertoire for orchestra from Baroque to Contemporary periods. Students win their positions in the orchestra through our annual competitive audition. The guest soloist this concert will be the renowned violinist, Timothy Fain, who was the recording artist on the sound track of the movie \u201cThe Black Swan\u201d. He will be performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor accompanied by the orchestra.<\/p>\n
Other works will include Wagner Tannhauser Overture, 2nd movement of the Dvorak New World Symphony, Mozart Adagio and Rondo for violin and orchestra(performed by our concertmaster, Jeongwon Claire An), and the 1st movement of the Tchaikovsky Symphony No.4.<\/p>\n
Looking forward to seeing every there..<\/p>\n
Sincerely,
\nFung Ho<\/p>\n
—————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
7\/11-14\/17<\/p>\n
SANTA BARBARA JAZZ WORKSHOP<\/p>\n
The LA Jazz Society is proud to partner with Kim Richmond
\nand Kimberly Ford in presenting the Santa Barbara Jazz
\nWorkshop,\u00a0July 11-14, from Tuesday afternoon to Friday night.<\/p>\n
A faculty of Jazz professionals teach instrumental\/vocal master
\nclasses, improvisation, Jazz Listening (How to listen, and who to
\nlisten to.), modern Jazz combo and Big Band playing with concerts
\neach late afternoon (open to the public) where advanced students sit in<\/p>\n
For more information, visit\u00a0www.santabarbarajazzcamp.com.<\/p>\n
Presented by Kim Richmond and Kimberly Ford
\nat the Marjorie Luke Theater and SOHO Jazz Club.<\/p>\n
You can read all previous offerings at:
\nhttp:\/\/www.responsible47.com<\/p>\n
—————————————-
\nUNTIL NEXT TIME,\u2028\u2028THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
5\/19\/17 I. IMPORTANT WEBSITE – PENSION II. SOME INFO FROM THE SITE III. COMMENT IV. EVENTS …Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer …The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’\u2028scoring musician …Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician …Reporting issues […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}