ERS Trustee Elections and Appointments
Section 815.003(d) of the Texas Government Code states that before August 31 of each odd-numbered year, the Board of Trustees (Board) of the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) is required to hold an election for the members and retirees of the system to nominate and elect a trustee.
NOTE: ERS does not provide state employees’ or state retirees’ contact information to candidates for campaign or any other purposes.
ERS certifies new trustee
On July 20, ERS certified Stuart Greenfield as the winner of the 2023 ERS Board of Trustees election. Greenfield is a retiree from the Office of the Texas Comptroller. He will fill the position currently held by Catherine Melvin, whose term ends on Aug. 31. Greenfield’s term will begin Sept. 1, 2023.
A total of 36,300 ERS members and retirees voted in this year’s ERS Board election, according to election administrator YesElections. Only YesElections knew the election results prior to ERS’ July 20 certification ceremony.
Get to know the trustee
Click on Greenfield’s name below to read the personal statement he submitted to ERS during the election about why he wanted to serve on the ERS Board. Note: Statements were limited to 250 words. Greenfield’s statement below appears exactly as he submitted it to ERS.
In the coming weeks, ERS will provide more information on this webpage and in our employer, member and retiree newsletters about Greenfield and his interest in representing ERS members and retirees on the ERS Board.
I was hired as an Economist by Comptroller Bullock in 1977 and retired from the Agency in March 2000. In 2001 ERS provided retirees with a 13th check and a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Since then, retirees have received neither, decreasing the purchasing power of our annuities. My retirement's purchasing power is now 62.7 percent less than it was in 2001. Why has there been no 13th check since 2001? The primary reason is the dismal investment performance of ERS. According to ERS, the 10-year investment return for ERS averaged 8.37%. On the other hand, the S&P 500 had a 14.1 annual return between 2013 and 2022.
Had ERS invested solely in the S&P 500 beginning in 2002, the average rate of return would have been 12.44 percent, resulting in a 50 percent increase in investment returns and increasing the likelihood of us retirees receiving a 13th check post-2001.
My three objectives as an ERS board member are:
- Spend every working minute advocating for investments to ensure retirees will receive a 13th check before 2050.
- As someone who has lived with diabetes for 58 years, I want to ensure everyone covered by the ERS health plan knows all the benefits available to improve their lives.
- How active state employees can use the tax-free benefits provided through ERS to increase their take-home pay.
One can view https://sites.google.com/view/ers-election/home for additional information on why you should VOTE for me.
Candidate | Votes | % of Vote |
|---|---|---|
Stuart Greenfield | 11,244 | 30.98 % |
Ilesa Daniels | 8,500 | 23.42 % |
Jimmy Jackson | 7,483 | 20.61 % |
Suzy Whittenton | 4,559 | 12.56 % |
| Chris Nelson | 4,514 | 12.44 % |
| Total | 36,300 | 100 % |