The Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS) is seeking candidate nominations for one of the two retiree representatives on its Board of Trustees and is holding a runoff election for the Board’s Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) employees’ representative.
Nominees for retiree representative must be retired PERS members receiving a retirement allowance from PERS and must submit a completed nomination form by 5 p.m. November 29. The Nomination for Retiree Representative Candidate form and the election schedule may be downloaded from www.pers.ms.gov. The retiree representative term will run from May 1, 2017, to April 30, 2023. The term for current retiree representative Dr. Richard C. Miller expires April 30, 2017.
The runoff candidates in the IHL employees’ representative election are Dr. Brian Rutledge, University of Mississippi Medical Center chief of staff, and Porter Richard Swann, Mississippi State University Extension Service fiscal administrator. Ballots for the runoff will be mailed November 8 to eligible voters. Deadline to cast runoff ballots is 5 p.m. December 8. A sample ballot and election schedule may be downloaded from www.pers.ms.gov. The IHL representative term will run from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2022, and will fill the vacancy left by the passing of Dr. Cecil L. Hill.
The 10-member Board includes the State Treasurer, a gubernatorial appointee who is a member of PERS, two PERS 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.