7/28/17
I. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (FIRST QUORUM IN 16 MONTHS)
II. LAWSUIT CLAIMS AFM PENSION MISMANAGEMENT
III. EVENTS
…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer
…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’
scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician
…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician
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I. UNION MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, JULY 24TH.
Union meeting Monday – July 24th
For the first time in 16 months the meeting reached a quorum.
Quorum was met at 7:41, surprising for a July meeting.
A vast majority (but not all) were invested either as board or
committee members.
President Acosta talked about building plans and
plans for the union.
The Strategic Planning Committee
John Acosta, President
Rick Baptist, VP
Gary Lasley, Secretary
Booker White, Rank and File Rep – Disney Copyist
David Wheatley, Rank and File Rep
Lydia Reichenbach, Rank and File Rep
Steve Dress, (Acosta listed him as Rank and File Rep,
not bothering to point out that he is also president of
the RMALA.)
Jefferson Kemper, Local 47 organizing coordinator
Their Priorities
DEVELOP EMPLOYMENT
-Generate union work oppor. /Increase Union Density
(composers, Contractors, Producers, Music -Coordinators
Agents
-Tax Credits for recording
-Improved contracts
-Interactive
-1-hour independent film Festival Call
-Benefits only jobs.
Employer Outreach and Education
PROVIDE MEMBERSHIP SERVICES AND BENEFITS
-Online Resources
-Contract Access
-Healthcare
-Pension
-Responsiveness / Efficiency
-Tech
ENGAGE AND EDUCATE MEMBERS
-Survey Memberships to join u
-Create reasons to join union
-New Building Launch
-Perf Space
-New Member Showcase
GETTING MEMBERS TO COME BACK
-New Member Training
-Masterclasses
-Establish Brand
-Foster Volunteerism
-Increase Responsiveness
BUILD / REBUILD ALLIANCES RELATIONSHIPS
-elected officials
-Labor Union
-Personal Outreach
-Educational Institutions
-Community
-Employers
-Alliance of Woman Film Composers
-Composers Caucus
BE POLITICALLY ACTIVE – LAWS PASSED
-Tax Credits
-National Right to work
-ACA / CHC affordable health care
-Musicians pol Action committee
-Encourage Activism
-Support Volunterism
CONTRIBUTE TO COMMUNITY
-Relief Fund
-Musicians Foundation
-Music ED
-Promote Member contributions
-Encourage Volunteerism
-Guidelines for Donating Musical Services.
PRIORITIZE PRIORITIES
-Craft a positive and dynamic Local 47
Mission Statement that aligns with priorities
-1,3, 5 year plan
-Establish Goals for each strategy
-Present it to the members
-Ratify Strategic Plan
-Form Committees to achieve goals.
Various questions from various people.
Members need to get word out to the public and decision makers.
RMA leaders took over meeting for 10 minutes,
until Pres. Acosta said “Thank you”
Their Leaders blew a lot of smoke talking about how
Tax incentives will a bring a lot of work back.
It’s the BACKEND! Everyone knows this.
Members Asked about benefit only projects – Charities,
to enable folks to play for those events. Only charities
mentioned. Pres. – Tough to allow, but need strict requirements.
Comm. Member – to reach a goal you have to know how
you’re going to get there.
Comm. Member – Plan is for the membership.
Need to support the leaders.
Chair makes motion to adopt the plan:
Plan is adopted – that will do nothing to fix the situation
without taking on the backend.
PRESIDENT REPORT
Lots about the move to Burbank.
3220 Wiwona – are in the back
in two modular buildings.
In Phase I – all offices, afm offices, rehearsal rooms – Sept 8th.
Building – 5.5 million budget – says it’s all union labor.
Phase II – Exterior painting – Over 1 MILLION Budget for Phase II
Building cost 13 million.
So total spent is over 18 million. With the total sales of the
building coming to approx – 24 million.
That leaves about 4.5 million
Investment monies left over: $4.5 million left over.
When did the board decide to change the terms.
We were told it would be 10-12 million left over
for investment, now we hear it’s going to be 4.5
million.
[Recap: initial building was going to cost $10,000,000,
plus three businesses to cover the property taxes of
approx. $120,000. The sale was approved on these
terms.
Then, lost that building, wound up paying 13 million
for a building with NO businesses to cover property
taxes. Pig in a poke?]
We believe that money will be gone in less than 5 years,
UNLESS backend payments are reduced or illuminated.
SAG/AFTRA CREDIT UNION now combined with
Local 47 Credit Union.
Will be vending area / Musicians Lounge.
Will be an elevator.
3 big band rooms.
LA Phil, LA Opera, New West, Angelica, San Bernadino,
Pasadena Sym, nego., Dance at the music center, Riverside
ongoing, plus others.
Legal: Prevailed against Magic Castle,.. mostly. Lost on
shift changes
Instrumental Casting – Trashed that group. Discussed
nonunion
gig at Hollywood venue. Charges were filed.
Union protestors were almost arrested at (Instrumental
Casting) protest.
Wordless music, planned non-union job music to film –
filed charges. (More jobs lost to professional musicians
only trying to pay their bills)
Union screws the rank and file again who aren’t the
privileged.
Organizing: Discussed plans.
[EC: Why do these folks keep talking about TAX
Credits as though that will make any difference
at all except for the have’s.
We all know why, don’t we.]
OCTOBER 7th – Will honor Lalo Schifrin to raise
money for the music fund.
VP REPORT
-Oct 16th – golf tournament to benefit music fund.
I’m the chair.
-Going to Central Avenue Jazz Festival will be
honoring Clora Bryant on Saturday.
-Going to NY to nego, live TV contract.
-Went to Cabrillo Music Festival to see Peter
Pan. Dan Redfeld conducted.
Archive: is in storage – 74 Three drawer filing
cabinets of old contracts. Rehearsal rooms –
Talked to groups that rehearse – starting on
Sept 14th: 13 piano, 7 sets, 6 Timp, Will have
mikes and speakers. Can room be rented for
recitals? – Yes, to a degree.
SECRETARY:
General fund: 1st quarter
Revenue $1,643,291
Expenses $1,105,038
Over 500,000 in profit.
Overture is printed 4 times a year, but everyone
month electronically.
Can download app. For your phone.
Music Club
Rev 81,782
Exp. 1150.995
$69,215 dollars in the red
Final sale of building. 24,750,000
Cost of New building 13,431.98
Over $500,000 paid by Music Club
to settle bills.
$43,000 plus for legal
$175,000 lease back
$1,392,751 to renovations
$1,880 for utilities
$3,933 – accounting
$1,280 on elevator repair
$5,074 insurance
$6,464 dollars on office furniture.
Over 5 million put with Merrill Lynch.
$2,400.000 in fixed income
$2,100,000 equities
Investment policy:
First priority: Preserve principal
55% bonds-fixed income / 45% in stocks and mutual.
OLD BUSINESS
Member asked:
April 24 there was no quorum – was the resolution
passed? Was amended version Published?
[Yes]
Did Amended version go through the legislative
process?
A replacement amendment was published.
If so, you cannot amend an outstanding motion.
Parliamentarian: Process at meeting was followed
as per bylaws and Robert Rules of Order.’
[We don’t think they followed proper procedure,
hoping no one would press it.]
NEW BUSINESS
President Acosta Announced: Isabel Baskoff
passed, service Friday at 10 am.
Adjourned 9:30 PM
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II. LAWSUIT CLAIMS MISMANAGEMENT OF MUSICIANS
UNION’S TROUBLED PENSION PLAN
David Robb July 24, 2017 5:09pm – DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD
UPDATED with statement from the plan’s executive director:
The American Federation of Musicians’ beleaguered $2
billion pension plan, which had a $122 million shortfall
last year, has been hit with a class-action lawsuit that
claims its trustees have made a series of risky
investments that have endangered the pensions of
thousands of musicians. The suit, filed in the U.S.
District Court in Manhattan, seeks the appointment
of an independent fiduciary to administer the plan
and the management of its investments.
Like many multi-employer pension plans, the
AFM plan was hit hard by the recession and
market downturn of 2008. But the musicians’
plan was hit harder than most, losing 40% of
its value in 18 months. A lawsuit filed by musicians
Andrew Snitzer and Paul Livant in New York
District Court claims that the plan’s trustees
and investment committee tried to make up
for this staggering loss by investing in
questionable stocks.
REX/Shutterstock
“With the fund in critical status resulting from
bad investment decisions,” the 66-page suit
claims (read it here), “defendants chased
recovery of lost investment returns by repeatedly
gambling on the hope of high investment returns
from the highest risk asset classes, in breach of
their fiduciary duties under the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act. Defendants
failed to prudently invest hundreds of millions
of dollars of fund assets and monitor and manage
risk tolerance and exposure in the stressed financial
circumstances facing the fund.”
Maureen Kilkelly, executive director of the pension
plan, called the suit “entirely without merit,” saying
that the board of trustees and staff of the fund “have
always taken our fiduciary responsibilities very
seriously. Every step of the way, we have consulted
with respected and experienced investment experts
in the industry, closely reviewed investment options,
and always acted in the best interests of the fund’s
nearly 50,000 participants and beneficiaries.”
According to the lawsuit, “Defendants invested
approximately $243.5 million of the fund’s assets
over the period since 2010 in high-risk, high-cost
international emerging markets equities, gambling
on outsized growth in international emerging markets’
economies and coincident investment returns consistent
with returns in the previous decade. Defendants further
gambled on the investment managers they hired to
outguess the market and produce better returns for
their excessively high costs and fees. As the investment
lost market value, defendants chased recovery of the
lost returns with further fund assets. Defendants
knew, or should have known, this continuing and
increasingly risky gamble exposed the fund to
imprudent and excessive risk when the fund’s
returns were vital to recovery.”
The suit claims that the trustees tried to recoup
losses by investing ever greater percentages of
the fund’s assets in risky emerging markets
equities. “Defendants knew the average pension
plan had 4.5% of total assets invested in emerging
markets equities,” it alleges. “Defendants approved
a policy to invest up to 5% of total Fund assets in
emerging markets equities, and then, following
negative returns, more than doubled the high
risk investment to 11%, only to again double-down
and increase the fund’s investment to an extra-
ordinary 15% of fund assets. Defendants’ process
of chasing recovery of lost returns with increasingly
risky asset allocations, in an attempt to meet or
beat the actuarial return assumption, was imprudent
and resulted in substantial injury to the fund. Like a
gambler chasing his losses, defendants did so
despite the high-risk nature of the asset class,
substantial and continuing declines in the market
value of the investment, increased uncertainty
concerning volatility and growth prospects in
emerging markets, substantial underperformance
by the managers, substantial underperformance
of the fund versus its peers, and the mounting
substantially negative impact of the investment
on the fund’s returns.”
In December, the trustees told participants that
the fund “has now been in critical status for six
years and is projected to remain so for the
foreseeable future…We currently have a plan
that incorporates reasonable measures available
under the law to address our situation. At this
time, we are reliant on the fund’s investment
performance and to a much lesser extent
employer contributions.”
In her statement to Deadline, the plan’s exec
director Kilkelly said the suit “is directed at
the performance of fund investments, but
there are many other causes of the fund’s
present financial predicament. Many
multiemployer pension plans across the
nation are struggling with a similar ‘perfect
storm’ of challenging factors.
These include the volume of Baby Boomers
taking retirement; more benefits being paid
out to retirees and beneficiaries than
contributions coming in from actives;
and significantly longer pay-outs because
participants are thankfully living longer.
Additionally, two major recessions since 2000,
the one in 2008-09 being of epic proportions
and causing the collapse of financial markets
worldwide, have profoundly impacted pension
plans across the nation.”
She said that she and the trustees and the
staff of the fund “have responded prudently
to all challenges and have consistently based
their decisions on the counsel of proven
investment advisors and actuaries. We will
vigorously contest this lawsuit, and expect
to prevail. Our focus will continue to be
on doing everything we can to preserve the
hard-earned benefits of our participants
and beneficiaries.”
FROM DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD
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III. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first
Friday of
every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891
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LA WINDS JAZZ KATS 584
NO COVER, NO MINIMUM.
Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at
Viva Cantina
7:30-10:00.
900 Riverside Drive,
Burbank.
Free parking across the street at Pickwick Bowl.
Come hear your favorite charts played the way
they
should
be.
We are in the back room called
the Trailside Room.
Come on down.
Guaranteed to swing.
http://www.responsible47.com
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7/29/17
SESSIONS AT THE LOFT
ASHLEY BRODER AND FRIENDS
Event to be held at the following time, date, and location:
Saturday, July 29, 2017 from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM (PDT)
Sessions at the Loft
2465 Ventura Blvd
Camarillo, CA 91320
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7/30/17
The BBB featuring Bernie Dresel
(Direct from Italy!)
THIS SUNDAY July 30 from 7:00pm-8:30pm
at Bogies in Westlake Village, CA
(right off the 101 at Lindero Canyon Road exit.)
Big Band Extravaganza!!!
32001 Agoura Road, Westlake Village, CA 91361
Call 818-889-2394 for ticket reservations!!
or Go to: http://www.bogies-bar.com/events/
and click on the RSVP tab for our July 30 show.
or cross your fingers and JUST SHOW UP!
$20 cover charge
Come join The BBB featuring Bernie Dresel,
(13 horns, upright bass, guitar, and plenty of
drums) swingin’ & rockin’ selections from our
brand new album, Live n’ Bernin’.
The club is gorgeous, the food is great, and
the sound system is perfect! Come welcome
me & Vicky as we arrive back to Los Angeles
from our beautiful honeymoon in Italy!!
Our new album Live n’ Bernin’ will be
available for sale at this show.
(Also available online at CDBaby Amazon,
and ElusiveDisc; as well as downloads on
iTunes, CDBaby and Amazon).
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8/2/17
PRESS RELEASE/Wed AUGUST 2, 2017 at
12:10-12:40 pm at the Free Admission
GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS/
Pianist NANCY FIERRO:
Music from the Belle Epoque.
Thank you!
Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, Glendale Noon concerts
818 -249-5108
http://www.glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com
UNTIL NEXT TIME, THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47