PERA Board Announces Results of 2025 Trustee Elections; New Vice Chair Elected

DENVER—The Colorado PERA Board of Trustees today announced that two new Trustees have been elected, two Trustees were reelected, and one returning Trustee was elected to serve on the PERA Board:

• School Division: Trustees Marcus Pennell and Eunice Botchway were each reelected to 4-year terms and Tonya J. Thompson was elected to a 1-year term.
• State Division: Maruti D. Moré was elected to a 4-year term.
• Retiree: Tina Mueh was elected to a 4-year term.

Pennell is a physics teacher in Jefferson County Schools R-1. He joined the Board in 2003 and served as Chair from 2021 to 2025.

Botchway is a special education teacher in Cherry Creek School District 5 and has been on the Board since 2023.

Thompson is general counsel for Academy School District 20. She fills a seat currently held by Louis Fletcher and will serve the remainder of that seat’s term.

Moré is the chief investment officer of the Colorado Department of the Treasury. He fills a seat currently held by Ashley Smith, who did not seek reelection.

Mueh is a retired science teacher from the Boulder Valley School District. She fills a seat currently held by Julie Friedemann, who did not seek reelection. Mueh previously served on the Board from 2017 to 2022.

Elected Trustees will begin their terms on July 1.

In addition to the above election results, the Trustees voted to elect Trina Ruhland as Vice Chair of the Board. Trina Ruhland fills the role that was vacated by Hon. Rebecca R. Freyre, who assumed the role of Chair to replace outgoing Chair Taylor McLemore.

McLemore was one of three governor-appointed Trustees on the Board. Gov. Jared Polis nominated Cynthia Loh of Boulder to fill McLemore’s seat. Loh will serve the remainder of McLemore’s term, ending in July 2028. In addition, Polis nominated Andrew Schremp of Denver to fill a seat that will be vacated by Norm Franke at the conclusion of his term July 10. Schremp will serve a four-year term ending in July 2029. The Colorado Senate must confirm the appointments of Loh and Schremp to the PERA Board.

By State law, the Colorado General Assembly sets contribution rates and benefit levels and the PERA Board of Trustees has oversight of investments and benefit administration. The Board is composed of 16 Trustees, 11 of whom are elected by the PERA membership, three Governor-appointed Trustees, a non-voting ex officio member elected by the membership from the Denver Public Schools Division, and the State Treasurer who serves as an ex officio voting member of the Board.

More information about the Board of Trustees is available at copera.org/board-and-leadership.

About Colorado PERA

Colorado PERA provides retirement and other benefits to over 700,000 current and former teachers, State Troopers, corrections officers, snowplow drivers, and other public employees who provide valuable service to all of Colorado. PERA is a vital and stable contributor to Colorado’s economy, distributing $4.6 billion in benefits in 2024 to more than 115,000 retirees who live in Colorado.