COLUMBUS Leaders want head of STRS to step down

Employee bonuses of $14 million and artwork costing $869,000 raised ire.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Nearly all of Ohio's 33 state senators and three-quarters of Ohio's 99 state representatives have banded together to call for the resignation of the executive director of the State Teachers Retirement System amid reports of what one lawmaker has called "lavish expenditures."
A bipartisan group of 31 state senators and 74 state representatives attended a Statehouse news conference Wednesday calling for the ouster of STRS Executive Director Herb Dyer.
"We're all here standing in unanimity for one cause," said state Sen. J. Kirk Schuring, a Canton Republican. "We need to end the culture he has created."
Dyer has come under fire from retirees and others amid news reports that the teachers retirement fund had given about $14 million in bonuses to employees since August 2000 and spent $869,000 on eight pieces of artwork for its renovated office building in downtown Columbus.
Fund's assets
According to news reports, over the same time, the value of the fund's assets had declined by $12.3 billion.
"I was outraged when I read the news reports relative to the lavish expenditures," Schuring said.
"We are appalled at the culture he has created," said state Rep. Michelle Schneider, a Cincinnati Republican.
State Rep. Ken Carano of Austintown, D-59th, and a retired teacher, said he's heard complaints from constituents about the spending practices of the retirement system.
"Nobody can get answers and the answers we do get are a slap in the face," said Carano.
State Rep. John Boccieri of New Middletown, D-61st, who sits on the bi-partisan Ohio Retirement Study Council, said he's asking the council to conduct audits of the pension funds in the state, beginning with the STRS this July.
"Many teachers have contacted me and want answers," Boccieri said. He said he wasn't one of the lawmakers calling for Dyer's removal because he believes Dyer needs to come before the council again.
The STRS serves more than 400,000 active and inactive teachers statewide. The fund has assets of about $46.5 billion after peaking at $58.8 billion nearly three years ago.
Dyer couldn't be reached to comment Wednesday. Damon F. Asbury, the deputy executive director for administration, said all calls for Dyer were being forwarded to Deborah Scott, the chairwoman of the STRS board.
Scott didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.