A.G. Gancarski
The big story from the Friday meeting of the Jacksonville Police & Fire Pension Board of Trustees: the appointment of an interim executive director and administrator: Beth McCague.
McCague, a veteran finance professional, was approved by a vote of the board to start on Dec. 1, and to serve for up to a year, or until the point that the board agrees on a permanent replacement. Meanwhile, former executive director John Keane will stay on in a reduced role as a consultant, for no more than six months, serving under McCague.
Bill Scheu, who was instrumental in the pension reform brought forth under the Alvin Brown administration, introduced McCague, whom he’s known for 25 to 30 years, with laudatory language.
Scheu described McCague as a “capable, qualified, recognized … leader in banking. [and] community leader” with “managerial experience,” including running the Jacksonville operations for Atlantic Bank and First Union National Bank.
Scheu, talking about Keane, said that while the move was “not about John,” Keane had become a “lightning rod” for media criticism.
Meanwhile, Scheu added, “I do not see John just walking away,” but “the time is right for an interim director” as a “breath of fresh air.”
McCague, addressing the board, stressed that she wanted to help with the search and, while not vying for the permanent job, she believed that she could “help with the credibility issue for this board.”
Despite the refusal of Lynn Wenguer to take the position, McCague opined that “many people with technical and strategic experience” are out there who would be good fits and “could make a long-term commitment.”
As well, she wants to help find that candidate, and her time frame is reasonably elastic.
“I can live with nine months [or] a year.”
After a year, McCague posited that some would wonder “why is it there’s no permanent director in place? Is something else going on?”
Board member and former Sheriff Nat Glover, meanwhile, agreed that Keane had become a “lightning rod,” adding a qualifier.
“If you’re in these positions, there might be what’s called in the common vernacular, ‘heat.’ ”
Board member Richard Tuten, meanwhile, gave a dire warning, as part of the ongoing contretemps between the PFPF and The Florida Times-Union, referring to how the local paper, “after the alleged forensic audit,” had an “opinion piece that said John and the board was corrupt.”
Tuten theorized that a “new face” may be graced with a “period of goodwill,” but soon enough, the narrative would sour.
After “one or two or three months,” Tuten continued, the media critics might pose questions like “is she part of the grand corruption at the pension office?”
Tuten also expressed a “fear” that even if a “headhunter” is hired, candidates may Google the Police and Fire Pension Fund and “see a hailstorm of criticism.”
Addressing McCague directly, Tuten warned her that “you are going to be the face of the Police and Fire Pension Fund … the tip of the spear.”
Council Liaison Tommy Hazouri, meanwhile, was less dire in his predictions, calling McCague “transparent” and saying that “her involvement would add a lot of credibility” and bring a “fresh approach” to the PFPF.
Keane, said Hazouri, is “loved by the rank and file” but is “ready to retire.”
“John’s done his job,” said the former mayor, “now it’s time to move on.”
Then, throwing a bomb at his City Council colleagues, Hazouri griped that “I have to listen to stuff on Council,” and those critics should not “judge unless they’re here to listen.”
Then Scheu, one of the most universally respected men in Jacksonville, jumped in with some thoughts about the “forensic ‘whatever,’ ” calling it a “mat you walk on” and asking why Council is “paying this guy $85,000” for “cutting clippings out of the newspaper.”
“It’s embarrassing that City Council [would] pay $85,000 for that quality of work,” Scheu said, asking Hazouri to bring that issue up in Rules or Finance.
Of course, Hazouri isn’t on Finance; Bill Gulliford, the guy behind the audit, chairs that committee. Though he is on Rules, the proper posture for such questions would be on Finance, which would set up a fairly epic confrontation between the two septuagenarian politicians.
Hazouri mentioned that he did bring it up to Gulliford, questioning the “way it was done” and what “is and isn’t fiction,” saying the “forensic investigation” was “not what we’re about as public officials.”
Hazouri also reiterated concerns about Gulliford knowing about applicants for the executive director gig before the PFPF Board did.
“Larry [Schmitt] didn’t hear anything until a councilman got it … I’m not going to defend us for doing things the way they shouldn’t be done.”
Beyond that drama, there were other highlights:
- The search for a fifth member to replace Nat Glover, who has been looking for the exit door for some time now, continues for another month. Richard Townsend was a nonstarter for the board. Former undersheriff Frank Mackesy was advanced as a candidate by Scheu. That vote is slated for the Dec. 18 conclave.
- So much shade was thrown at the local media that you would have needed a floodlight to see after a while, with speakers, such as Scheu, wanting to ensure that “just so it’s reported correctly,” Keane is a “consultant.” And Tuten, regarding his concerns about confusion, quipped that “I can see the future Times-Union headline: Why does the Police and Fire Pension Fund have two directors?”
- Larry Schmitt, the PFPF pension board chairman, reiterated his critiques of the forensic audit, saying that the fund is “structured intentionally to have governance and oversight” from professionals independent of the board itself, and that the real issue is because of city underfunding, especially regarding property tax rates being lowered continuously from 1995 to 2008. The “correlation” between decreased tax rates and increased unfunded liability is, as he said before, unmistakable.
- City Treasurer Joey Greive discussed the future of investment, noting that plan administrators should expect a “series of interest rate hikes over the next couple of years,” suggesting that the fund “reduce government bond exposure because of perceived risk.”
