Hampden County retirement board members say ‘system is sound,’ but some officials unsatisfied with answers about audit
Updated Mar 03, 2021;
Members of the Hampden County Regional Board of Retirement say they are confident they can continue managing the system, despite a recent audit flagging issues with the board’s spending and questioning documentation but several representatives from communities within the system say they aren’t convinced.
In a discussion that was at times heated Wednesday, the five board members as well as Executive Director Julianne Bartley fielded questions from town officials across Hampden County. The participant list included board Chairman and Treasurer Richard M. Theroux and board members Patricia C. Donovan, Karl J. Schmaelzle, Patrick O’Neil and Laurel A. Placzek.
Hampden County retirement board hosts ‘chaotic’ phone meeting over audit findings; heckler asks, ‘$400 . to stay at your own house?’
Updated Mar 03, 2021;
The Hampden County Regional Retirement Board came under heavy fire from municipal leaders and members during its first public meeting since the release of a brutal state audit questioning a range of apparent financial missteps.
The telephonic meeting was solely focused on the 17-page audit conducted by the state public employees retirement commission, which oversees more than 100 regional and municipal retirement boards. Five board members including Chairman Richard M. Theroux fielded questions from town leaders and members in addition to an anonymous heckler who seemed laser-focused on mocking Theroux.
‘An honest mistake’: Former state senator Steve Buoniconti steps down as Hampden County retirement board lawyer after flap over audit
Updated Mar 03, 2021;
Facebook Share
Former state Sen. Stephen Buoniconti has left a longtime post as legal counsel for the Hampden County Regional Retirement Board amid a flap over a recent state audit portraying the board as a poorly managed trough for political insiders.
Buoniconti, of West Springfield, is a former prosecutor turned state representative, turned state senator who has been living quietly as a Beacon Hill lobbyist since losing a bid for Hampden District Attorney in 2010. The onetime legislator said Monday that he stepped down from his position with the retirement board Friday, after 15 years, days after the board said it planned to terminate its agreement for legal counsel.
In wake of critical audit, local officials to question Hampden County Regional Retirement System board members Wednesday
Updated Mar 03, 2021;
While members of the Hampden County Regional Retirement System do not have the authority to remove those who sit on its governing board, interim Hampden Town Administrator Bob Markel is hopeful that if there’s enough outcry, change can come.
In a strategy session Monday attended by community representatives from the western edge of Hampden County in Chester to its eastern reaches in Wales, Markel spearheaded a discussion of the next steps in the wake of a critical audit released in February by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission.
‘Scathing’ audit of Hampden County retirement board referred to state attorney general, inspector general and Ethics Commission
Updated Feb 27, 2021;
AGAWAM The commission charged with oversight of the state’s public pensions has sent a recent audit of the Hampden County Regional Retirement System to several enforcement agencies for review, according to letters obtained by The Republican.
The letters show the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission voted Feb. 10 to forward the audit to Attorney General Maura Healey, Inspector General Glenn A. Cunha and State Ethics Commission Executive Director David Wilson.
“Our staff is available to your office at your convenience for consultation and further documentation,” said each letter, signed by John Parsons, the commission’s executive director.