The Mississippi Retired Public Employees’ Association (MRPEA) is surveying candidates running for one of two retiree representative positions on the Board of Trustees of the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS). All candidates are invited to complete the survey and return it to MRPEA. Click on the names listed below to review the responses received; additional responses will be added to this page as received from the candidates.
Twenty-three candidates qualified to run for this position. Visit www.pers.ms.gov to view the election schedule and a sample ballot listing all the candidates, their biographical information, and their candidate statements. Voting is open through 5:00 p.m., February 6, 2017, and the PERS Board will certify the election results at its February 28 meeting. The new term for this position will run from May 1, 2017, to April 30, 2023.
PERS mailed the ballots on or about January 6 to PERS retirees to elect a representative to replace Richard C. Miller, whose term will end April 30, 2017. When he leaves the Board, Miller will have served nearly 22 years as a trustee. He served from January 1993 to June 2008 as the Institutions of Higher Learning employee representative. His six-year term as a retiree representative began May 2011.
The 10-member PERS Board includes the state Treasurer, a gubernatorial appointee who is a member of PERS, two retirees, two state employees, and one representative each of public schools and community/junior colleges, Institutions of Higher Learning, counties, and municipalities. With the exception of the state Treasurer and the gubernatorial appointee, board members are elected to staggered six-year terms.