The Executive Director of the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (CTPF) Carlton Lenoir is no stranger when it comes to making exceptions to the rule.
He is on a “Do Not Hire List” at the Teachers Retirement System of Illinois for forwarding hundreds of TRS member’s emails that included social security numbers to his personal email addresses.
And he was living in Springfield, IL when he first started working at the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund three years ago, according to his contract. Rather than ask him to move to Chicago, the CTPF agreed to pay him for his commuting costs between Springfield and Chicago.
“The Fund agrees to represent the Executive Director for his travel expenses from his home located in the Springfield, Illinois area to the Fund’s Office at 425 S. Financial Plaza, Chicago, IL. As long as the Executive Director lives in the Springfield, IL area, the Fund agrees to reimburse the Executive Director for his travel expenses to the Fund's office up to $750 per month for his travel expenses. The Executive Director shall provide documentation of travel and mileage expenses, and mileage reimbursement at time of travel.”
“I’m not aware of any other public pension fund that has an executive director that works remotely,” said Ted Siedle, a former SEC lawyer and an expert on forensic audits of pension funds. “And generally being an executive director is a hands-on job.”
His contract also states that the parties additionally agree that the Executive Director Lenoir will get a one-time reimbursement payment for travel expenses for the fiscal year for 2022 when he signed his contract.
“The Fund agrees to pay or reimburse the Executive Director for the cost of relocation and move-related expenses from the Springfield, IL area to the Chicagoland area at a cost not to exceed $10,000.”
What is not clear is if the CTPF Executive Director continues to live in Springfield and commute to the Chicago office. According to one insider, a CTPF Trustee asked Lenoir if he planned to move back to the city where he should be working and Lenoir stated he did not know yet.
I asked the CTPF Director of Communications and Stakeholder Relations Michelle Holleman if Lenoir still lives in the Springfield area, which is located 200 miles from Chicago and would take an estimated three and a half hours to travel one way.
“CTPF does not share address information for its employees,” Holleman replied in an email. “It is my understanding that you have received a copy of the ED’s contract through FOIA, and specific information about expenses and reimbursement are included in the document.”
I filed a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) with the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund to get a copy of Director Lenoir’s contract. It states specifically that his contract should be made public and encourages FOIA requests.
“No confidentiality. Executive Director understands and acknowledges that this agreement cannot be considered confidential and will be subject to disclosure as required in accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140.”
The Freedom of Information Act is a valuable tool for free speech in this country so people can be informed about their government. I have filed FOIA requests to get tapes of the monthly public pension board meetings and the travel expenses of the Fund’s trustees.
Sometimes you can even find malfeasance. The Dixmoor Village Trustees found out in 2020 that their city had overpaid Mayor Yvonne Davis more than $64,000 over two years, but only after the Trustees submitted a FOIA request because they were blocked from obtaining village documents, according to ABC7 Chicago News.
Lenoir’s salary compensation from July 1, 2022 through June 20, 2023 was $296,790. Additionally, he shall receive any annual cost of living increases.
“The Executive Director shall receive any annual cost of living increases as set by the Board each calendar year equivalent to such increases provided to other Fund staff. Furthermore each subsequent contract year the Executive Director annual salary may be increased at the discretion of the Board based on evaluation of performance in accordance with a rating and pay increase scale set forth in Section 7(b).”
The Cost of Living Adjustment or COLA is currently paid out at an annual 3 percent increase to retired CTPF members because their pension loses value over the years. Unlike active teachers who have a union that fights for raises in each contract to keep up with inflation, retired teachers get a cost of living adjustment each year. If a teacher retired 20 years ago and they received the same pension without any cost of living adjustments, their pension would not be enough to live on since inflation would eat away at the value.
While CTPF employees do not have a union, they say their pay and benefits mirror the unionized teachers. However, teachers get raises, not an additional COLA that Fund employees received.
DIrector Lenoir’s COLA is under review each year of his five-year contract, from July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2027. His salary for this year is $322,610.86, with a $26,000 raise due to the COLA.
That requires time and more investigative reporting. If they only still paid reporters to do this stuff!
Why did he get hired for this job? And who hired him? Can you find out, Jim?