Member Communications Is Everywhere You Want To Be

Online, In-Person, and In Your Mailbox, LACERS is Here for YOU

At the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System, Member Communications staff works hard to provide Members with information so each retirement is a successful and healthy one.

Member Communications products and services include:

Planning for Retirement Seminars held twice monthly at LACERS headquarters (Friday and Saturday mornings)
Member Statements
Quarterly Paycheck Flyers
Lunchtime Lecture Series held monthly at LACERS headquarters
Newsletters
LACERS at your service 24/7 at www.LACERS.org
Member outreach events
Member surveys
Summary Plan Description 2007 (A document outlining your retirement plan’s features)
Information sheets and brochures in specialty areas providing detailed explanations of those programs

The Member Communications Section is comprised of two units. The Member Outreach Unit is responsible for all the correspondence, outreach materials, website development, media relations and special events coordination for LACERS. Linda Aparicio is the Director of Member Communications. Staff includes Steven Reifel, Principal Public Relations Representative; Christal Chacon and Debra Fleming, both Management Assistants; and Monica Smith, Benefits Specialist, who is the supervisor of the second unit, the Member Information Support Service Center (MISSC).
MISSC is staffed by Senior Clerk Typists Laura Acevedo, Kimberly Baldwin, Adriana Beltran, Bernadette Molina and Rae Williams. Their assignments include staffing the call center to answer Member questions, handling the reception desk and scheduling counseling sessions and retirement seminars. MISSC is available to take your call from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday, and can be reached at (213) 473-7200 or (800) 779-8328. They also provide administrative support to the Member Outreach Unit.

“We are well aware that we are the first contact our Members have with LACERS. It is important to us our Members feel like customers. Each encounter should be a positive one,” said Aparicio. “Retirement is a special milestone for all City employees and their families. We help Members plan for their retirement, assisting them in meeting their retirement goals and processing the necessary paperwork. Ultimately, LACERS may be their only connection to the City of Los Angeles after they retire.”

In the first and second quarters of 2007, Member Communications held Planning for Retirement seminars for more than 750 LACERS Members and their families, serving nearly 300 more Members than in the first two quarters of 2006. Additionally, Member Communications staff conducts off-site Planning for Retirement seminars at other City facilities if there is commitment of 30 persons. E-mail your request to lacers.services@lacity.org.

As with any cutting-edge organization, the Member Communications Section is always reevaluating and revising ways to reach out to members. In the next few months, Members can expect to receive the latest LACERS Summary Plan Description (SPD). The SPD explains the basic information about LACERS administration of the City’s defined benefit plan in an understandable, reader-friendly format. Members can also expect to see a new look on the website next year.