The results are in, and four members will begin serving on the PERA Board of Trustees on July 1. Colorado PERA members elected the Honorable Will Bain from the Judicial Division, David Hall from the State Division, Robert Lamb from the Local Government Division, and William N. Parker from the School Division to the 16-member Board.

• Bain is a District Judge in the 4th Judicial District and replaces Judge Brian T. Campbell who has served on the Board since 2015 and did not seek re-election.
• Hall is a Sergeant and Legislative Liaison with the Colorado State Patrol and replaces Richard Delk who has served on the Board since 2008 and did not seek re-election.
• Lamb is the Finance Director for Boulder County and fills the seat he was appointed to in 2015.
• Parker is the International Baccalaureate Coordinator and Literacy Teacher at Northeast Elementary School in Brighton School District 27J and replaces Amy Nichols who has served on the Board since 2000 and did not seek re-election.

Even though Trustees are elected by certain segments of the PERA membership, all Trustees serve as fiduciaries. This means they must act in the best interests of all plan members and benefit recipients. However, acting in the best interest of the membership does not mean the Board only advocates for benefit improvements. In fact, the opposite has often been true. (Note though that only the Colorado General Assembly, with the approval of the Governor, can change PERA member benefits.)

In 2009, the General Assembly asked that the Board develop recommendations to return the trust funds to long-term sustainability after the Great Recession. The Board put together a comprehensive package of benefit reductions and contribution increases that was largely enacted by the legislature in 2010 and signed by former Governor Ritter in late February of that year.

The PERA Board of Trustees, a majority of whom are elected by the PERA membership, voted unanimously in 2009 for the Legislature to cut benefits for all PERA members – including themselves. The results of the Trustees’ decision led to successful recommendations and bipartisan support for a reform package that was one of the first in the country to implement responsible reforms for a public retirement plan. As fiduciaries, Trustees understood that taking a shared sacrifice approach to returning PERA to financial stability meant that everyone had to give up something in order for everyone to benefit in the long run.