Former Council Members Cast Doubt on Pension Briefing
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Two former Baltimore County Councilmen say they cannot recall and do not believe they were ever briefed on a $21 million pension investment loss.
Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder, a Fullerton Democrat, and Bryan McIntire, a Timonium Republican, both served on the County Council in 2008 at the same time county officials requested changes to pension regulations. Some of those changes instituted prohibitions on the county's ability from investing pension funds in derivatives and mortgage-backed funds.
Bartenfelder said the discussion of the requested changes five years ago was very general.
"There was nothing specific and no mention of a $21 million loss," said Bartenfelder. "They were just saying there had to be changes because of a loss but how much was lost was never mentioned."
McIntire had a similar memory.
"I certainly don't recall and I just don't think I'd forget a $21 million loss," said McIntire. "That's not pocket change."
The recollection of the two former county councilmen directly challenge a statement made by County Executive Kevin Kamenetz during an interview on WBAL TV.
"The council was informed," said Kamenetz, who chaired the council in 2008. "We were aware of the nature of the loss and enacted changes to our bonding portfolio concept so this would not occur again. Now we're investigating the opportunity to pursue a cause of action and if we can recover something it would be great."
There are no minutes from the January 2008 council work session that show the loss was discussed publicly.
County officials met April 13 in secret with members of the council to discuss a possible lawsuit against Merrill Lynch related to the bad investment in a fund known as Mainsail II LLC, which was backed by subprime mortgages.
The county plans to ask the council in two weeks to approve a contract to hire an outside attorney to pursue a lawsuit against Merrill Lynch.
The investment firm is being sued in federal court by King County, WA over investments in the same fund. That suit was filed in 2010.
brenda ruminer
2:51 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
The next logical people to ask would be Mr. Oliver and Mr. Olsziewski , who were also on the council in 2008. It will be interesting if they say they recall such a briefing. Because the next question would be why didn't you make any recommendations as to how we could recover, or at least pose questions concerning what next steps would be taken.
Calm down
11:39 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
We, the facts come out that Kevin was right and Bartenfeder and McIntire should be enjoying their Retirement and council pensions!
JDStuts
3:16 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
Let's just nip this in the bud and get a couple of subpoenas going. Once perjury is on the table the truth tends to rear its beautiful head.
Buzz Beeler
9:52 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
I would start with the broker. He could be the weak link or at least they might be able to connect the dots.
George Krach
3:01 pm on Thursday, April 26, 2012
I agree JD, because we all know in the end who will pay, the citizens of Baltimore County.
Emma Norton
6:06 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
I agree with JDStuts....it's time for a formal investigation by state and federal authorities. But more to the point, if Mr. Kamenetz said he was briefed and he was council chair, why in the world did he not make a disclosure of the loss to his constituents and county citizens, and what did he do with the information? Did he recommend any sort of action, or did he too sweep it under the carpet!!!
John Gooder
7:08 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
Ha! Dumb and dumber. That's why they both lost their election.
kevin
10:29 am on Tuesday, April 24, 2012
No they weren't in bed with Smith and O'Malley .That is why they lost .
Calm down
11:45 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
I guess the truth is clear: Dumb and dumber!
Trixie Leigh
7:45 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
How many more lies are we going to uncover? You know, if you lie once, you will lie again. And every time you do, the trust of the people goes down the toilet. I lost count on all of the lies that have been uncovered since KK took office. Sad, very sad!
Ron Burgundy
10:26 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
Trixie, please list them? Here we go again, I hate the CE and I'm going to write all negative comments with no proof. BORING!
What's secret,they've admitted to trying to recoup funds. It's not exactly a well kept secret. If someone was enriched on the deal that shouldn't have been, throw the book at them. Prosecute to the full extent of the law. If it were just making a bad financial decision, and they would not be alone in that arena, then give it a break. It needs investigating and no "rush to judgements". Lets see where this takes us. But all of you have everyone guilty as charged before we know any facts, other than the County is down 21million. Please show some rational thinking and not go off half-cocked thinking everyone got rich somehow. Investigate, then proceed before throwing everyone in jail.
Calm down
11:46 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sorry, Trixie Republican. Sad that you don't accept the truth.
Ron Burgundy
10:28 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
PS. McIntire was a nice man, I don't think I'd build my investigation around his thoughts and memory capabilities.
momoftheyear
11:15 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
Ron Burgundy is Don Moehler in blog-disguise. You are earning your brownie points well. Pathetic.
momoftheyear
11:17 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
Hey Don. We have seen your posts in all of these articles. Attacking the council, attacking the delegates, attacking senators, attacking former council members, attacking the unions. Are you acting under Kamenetz's supervision or are you going to pretend you are doing this on your own. Is there anyone your administration won't attack. Do you have any allies at all?
Bart
7:02 am on Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Don has lost all credibility with his trash posting on here.Totally unprofessional. I wnder if King Kevin has something to say abut it.
Calm down
11:47 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Poor Bart.
tipyourhat
10:51 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012
John,
Dumb and Dumber? Who's the "DUMMY" who admits to knowing about the $21 million in losses, oh yeah that's right - The Dumb Ring Leader for the County, Mr. Kevin Kamenetz!! Kamenetz and his cronies bullied their way through the election; he swept so much under the rug and figured the constituents of Baltimore County would be too stupid to see it.
FYI: John
Where are all KK’s good Deeds? I haven't seen one.
During the 2010 election, Mr. Kamenetz acted like all was well in the county. Now we move forward to 2012 and we have several people laid off, forced in to retirement to save money and K.K. acted like it was going to be just fine. Now we discover a $21 MILLION DOLLAR LOSS and Kevin knew ALL ABOUT IT!!
It's sad to see how uneducated you are, dumb and dumber really...is that all you got!
brenda ruminer
8:20 am on Tuesday, April 24, 2012
before we lose track of things, lets make sure we hear from Mr. gardina and Moxley, both of whom were on the council at the time of the alleged briefing. but they both owe there high paying jobs to the Executive, so that should be a real test of their "memory." As far as an investigation, this group thinks they are smarter than everyone else, but aas a former poster said, the truth has a way of coming out when subpoenas are issued.....
Calm down
11:42 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sorry Brenda republican, the facts are that you are wrong,
charles richardson
6:34 pm on Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Bart, you're extremely hard and offbase with your remark to Ron. I agree he or she sounds like a supporter of this administration and there's nothing wrong with that. Most of the posts I've witnessed have been highly critical of the administration. To hear the other side doesn't appear very often. As I look at this situation I would say investigation is not only likely but necessary. The calls for subpoenas seem a bit premature. I would like to see cooler heads prevail, investigate, find the root of the problem then make informed,intelligent decisions. If at that point heads or jobs are at stake so be it. Remember, we had an entire system on the verge of collapse and to date not one person has gone to jail. Greed is not necessarily a crime and neither is stupidity.
JDStuts
10:11 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
I agree to some degree and that is why subpoenas are needed. This case is at the intersection of politics and finance. Money never lies but politicians do.
From the Sun article today it appears, as many suspected, Merrill was ordered to execute the original trade in Mainsail II by the county. This is not the result of some Lynch CFA following a structured investment strategy and making a decision.
Who made the call? Simple question.
Was someone approached by an institutional sales rep at a Ocean City conference and get hooked on Mainsail? Did someone's spouse happen to be working the road show for Solent Capital and nudge them to mezzanine notes and commercial paper?
Perjury strips out the politics and the no comments. Simple questions, simple answers, complete accountability.
Your Bill Miller's of the world are allowed to make investment mistakes. If he's wrong, the market and Legg hold him accountable. It doesn't work that way at the county level. When you assume the mantle of public affairs you must be forthright honest to maintain the trust. That's the agreement. The consequence of failure shouldn't be job protection and anonymity.
Calm down
11:48 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
JD cole Weston, time for you to crawl back in your hole.
Buzz Beeler
11:47 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
An interesting piece on "60 Minutes" Sunday. Makes for good viewing and pondering.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7406224n
Who's watching the county?