Valeri Reelected President, Duhamel Appointed CEO

Bylaw Changes Aimed at Membership Growth & Increased Grassroots Outreach

A Special Message from Mass Retirees President Frank Valeri

SEPTEMBER 7, 2019: Yesterday, we held our Mass Retirees Annual Meeting at The Lantana in Randolph. The several hundred members in attendance voted to elect our Association’s executive officers to a new two-year term.

Bylaw Changes Aimed at Membership Growth & Increased Grassroots Outreach

A Special Message from Mass Retirees President Frank Valeri

SEPTEMBER 7, 2019: Yesterday, we held our Mass Retirees Annual Meeting at The Lantana in Randolph. The several hundred members in attendance voted to elect our Association’s executive officers to a new two-year term. Members also voted to approve changes to our bylaws that expand our Executive Board, allow for retirement-eligible active employees to subscribe to our newsletter and create the position of chief executive officer.

I cannot thank those members in attendance at today’s meeting enough for their support and confidence. Serving as your Association’s president is a true honor and I am excited to begin a new term.

The changes approved today will help Mass Retirees to grow, as well as ensure the long-term success of the organization – now entering its 51st year. Expanding our Board means that every geographic location across Massachusetts is represented, which also allows for us to be more visible and engaged at every level of government.

But the change I am most excited about is the creation of a Chief Executive Officer for Mass Retirees. I have appointed and our Executive Board unanimously approved Shawn Duhamel as our new CEO. The creation of this new position and Shawn’s appointment were then ratified at the Annual Meeting. Shawn is no stranger to our members, having served the Association since 1994. Over the past 25 years he has worked his way through the ranks, serving as our legislative liaison and legislative director. He will now be responsible for the day-to-day administration of Mass Retirees. I firmly believe that no one is better suited to be our CEO than Shawn Duhamel.

Shawn’s new role will afford me the opportunity to work more closely at the grassroots level, directly engaging with members all across the state in your communities. Together with our executive officers, I will also be increasingly active at the local level in our efforts to recruit new members.

To watch the video of the meeting, click the link below.

https://youtu.be/y93bIzQOwK8

We are truly blessed to have a top-notch professional staff here at Mass Retirees – a staff that our former President Ralph White put great effort into building. By further professionalizing our day-to-day operations, we can ensure that Mass Retirees will be well equipped to serve the current and all future generations of retirees.

At today’s meeting we also discussed the important issues now facing our public retirees. Social Security WEP reform, addressing health insurance affordability and creating a new enhanced COLA benefit were all discussed at length.

We will have further details on these and other issues in the November edition of The Voice.

I want to thank State Treasurer Deb Goldberg for joining us as our guest speaker. We have no bigger friend or advocate for public retirees than Treasurer Goldberg. Also, thank you to Representatives Marjorie Decker and Bill Driscoll, as well as Senators Mike Brady and Walter Timilty for joining us. All are key advocates for the issues most important to public retirees.

Thank you again for your support and for your dedication to Mass Retirees. 

Most sincerely, 

Frank Valeri

President

Ps: I also announced plans to create a Mass Retirees specialty license plate here in Massachusetts. Work on the plate, which will cost $40 (in addition to normal registration fees), is now underway. Details will be published in the November newsletter, as well as emailed and made available online. Stay tuned!

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