Pension Fund

Pension Board President Votes Himself in as Executive Director

By Jim Vail

CTPF Jeffery Blackwell elected himself the
new interim executive director

The Chicago Teachers Pension Fund voted to name Board of Trustees President Jeffery Blackwell the new Interim Executive Director.

The vote at Wednesday's special committee meeting was split over giving Blackwell the top job at the fund. 

The trustees who voted in favor of naming Blackwell the new director included teachers trustees Phil Weiss, Jackie Price Ward, and Jim Cavallero, retired teacher Mary Sharon Reilly, principal trustee Jerry Travlos and board trustee Dwayne Truss. Chicago Board of Education President and pension trustee Miguel Del Valle abstained, as he usually does.

The trustees who voted against Blackwell included Tina Padilla, Maria Rodriguez, Lois Nelson and Gervaise Clay. Blackwell has lashed out against Padilla and Rodriguez for obstructing pension board meetings.

Jeffery Blackwell voted for himself!  

Ethics laws apparently don't concern the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund where you can vote to enrich yourself!

It is not clear what salary he will receive, or if he will take a leave of absence from his regular teaching job. He is reported to be meeting with the fund's lawyers to figure out his new salary.

Blackwell told Second City Teachers by phone that he was concerned with a proper succession of power. He did not respond to further questions about why he did not abstain from the vote and what his future plans are.

"The Board of Trustees has developed a transition and recruitment strategy for Fund leadership," he said in a press statement. "This new role is a short-term bridge to ensure continuity of service to our valued members as we continue the search for a permanent Executive Director."

Inside sources say Blackwell wants the position to become the permanent director despite having no financial background. Blackwell did not respond to questions to confirm this. They say the fund is spending $100,000 in its search for a new director.

Former CTPF President Jay Rehak was also named the interim director of the $11 billion pension fund after the director had to leave for health reasons. *Rehak took a leave of absence from his teaching job for a few months. His short reign was marred by an unfortunate snafu that resulted in angry pensioners storming his office in search of their pension checks that were never sent out. Rehak and Lois Ashford, who were first elected teacher pension trustees in 2009 on the Core ticket, both abruptly left in 2018.

Is real democracy functioning in today's pension fund or complete chaos?

Unlike the Chicago Board of Education where no dissent is expressed because the trustees were named by the mayor and they vote for whatever the mayor wants, the CTPF is a quite vibrant beacon of opposition.

Epic battles ensue as trustees like Rodriguez and Padilla ask important questions. The fund's leadership team has filed numerous whistle blower complaints against trustees, while trustees have filed complaints against fellow trustees.

In the case of voting in a controversial director who has invited the mayor's wrath with his incendiary comments, the vote did not follow party lines.

Blackwell's support, besides himself, came from newly elected member Phil Weiss, who ran on the Members First ticket. Weiss criticized the fund's disfunction under Blackwell's leadership during his campaign. However, he made the motion for Blackwell to be the director. Blackwell made Weiss the head of the investment committee to replace Tina Padilla who he has battled with. Insiders say Padilla also wanted to be president of the fund.

Blackwell was also supported by a CPS board trustee who represents a mayor who has publicly battled the Core lead Chicago Teachers Union leadership over re-opening the schools. Three Core teacher and retired teacher trustees also voted in favor of Blackwell.

But trustees who voted against Blackwell included fellow Core members Tina Padilla, Gervaise Clay and Lois Nelson. Maria Rodriguez, an independent retired teacher trustee who was a member of the old UPC party that Core ousted in 2010, also voted against Blackwell.

Blackwell is the first African American male to lead the 100 year old Chicago Teachers Pension Fund.

What happens next is anybody's guess. Stay tuned!

*Correction:  Jay Rehak stated that he had no intention to stay on as the permanent director of the teachers pension fund and the CTPF minutes will show this. We apologize for any misunderstanding.