In a recent article written by Dustin Hurst of the Idaho Reporter, he talked about J. Kirk Sullivan a member of the PERSI Board who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona and how he has spent over $14,000 of our taxpayer money for travel expenses. Mind you this money comes out of the State Employees Retirement Fund. You would think that we have enough bright people in Idaho that would be capable of sitting on this board to help make decisions. Why did this man get picked for this particular job if the state employees have to pay for his travel expenses?
Sullivan has made 19 flights between Arizona and Boise to attend board meetings, portfolio meetings and investment meetings for a total of $9,289 in airfare since 2012. Now here is the kicker, Sullivan has spent $5,126.00 since 2012 on taxi fares when traveling to and from Boise. This month’s cost for taxis for the retirees was $365.00. Makes you wonder what kind of taxis he is using. Well, as it turns out, Mr. Sullivan prefers using American Luxury Taxi which just added a Mercedes R-350 to its fleet, and in Scottsdale, he uses Top Notch Transportation, which uses Cadillac Escalades and Lincoln Town cars to transport its passengers. It appears that Mr. Sullivan has some real extravagant taste when it comes to traveling on someone else’s dime. It was also noted that Cross walks with a cane but didn’t mention anything about his disabilities, but the fact that someone uses a cane doesn’t mean they have to travel in the most expensive vehicles available?
Now, why do you think Mr. Sullivan is permitted to spend state retirees’ money in such a willy-nilly manner? We would have to guess that he is a member of the “Good Old Boys Club”. It seems that he served as government affairs manager of Boise Cascade and founded the lobbying firm of Veritas Advisors. Oh but that’s not all, he chaired the Idaho Republican Party and has served as a board member of PERSI since 1996. Now if I remember correctly, PERSI is having a bit of difficulty in keeping up with the amount of money needed to pay future retirees their benefits. This means that the board has not been doing such a great job of making the investments necessary or the State of Idaho is promising way too much in benefits to those retiring.
Just like everything else in our state government, the corny politicians and their friends get the gold mine and the taxpayers get the shaft. I’d say it’s time we replaced Mr. Sullivan and in fact took a look at the entire PERSI board of directors for replacement. Keep in mind people, the taxpayers of Idaho are on the hook for any money that the pension fund falls short on in meeting the needs of the state retirees. We are the ones who will pay if the fund falls short of its investment objectives. Once again the Crony politicians Play and the taxpayers Pay. When will the electorate get smart enough to stop electing the very people who are pilfering our tax money? When will we understand that we don’t have a conservative government in Idaho; we have an establishment government that has been moving to the left since 2006. Make the change in 2018 and elect real conservatives that care about you and your families instead of the greedy politicians who currently run our legislature.
