Macon Mayor Robert Reichert wants to remove a former fire and police pension chair from the board completely.
Lynn Wood lives outside the city limits but inside Bibb County. In an email to 13WMAZ, he describes the looming legal skirmish as an example of Reichert's "continuous interference and manipulation of the administration of this pension fund..."
Wood, who recently resigned as the board chair but stayed on as the citizen-at-large, says, "The fox has been guarding the hen-house (sic) too long, now is the time to protect this fund from outside interference..."
Reichert says a board rule requires the citizen-at-large live in Macon, but Wood counters that others have held the position on the pension board and lived outside city limits.
In a statement Friday morning, Reichert's spokesman Chris Floore told 13WMAZ that the mayor sent a letter to Superior Court Judge Ed Ennis this week asking the court to clarify the residency requirement.
According to Floore's e-mail, "This effort follows other clarifying efforts the past few months regarding the pension fund, including ensuring it remained actuarially sound and IRS qualified."
There is no word yet on when a Superior Court judge would rule and no indication which judge will consider the request.
The full text of Lynn T. Wood's email:
On September 20, 2012 I was notified that Mayor Robert Reichert has filed an action in the Superior Court of Bibb County to have me removed from my position as Citizen-at-Large on the Board of the Macon Fire & police Employees Retirement System. At this time, I have not been served with the lawsuit or seen the allegations contained therein. While I do not dispute that I live in Bibb County and not in the City Limits of Macon, Mayor Robert Reichert has know my residence address since January 18, 2011 when my appointment letter to the Board was mailed to my home address. Additionally, the previous Citizen-at-Large member, the late William C. Jones, resided outside of the City Limits and the current Citizen-at-Large member of the General Employees Pension Fund (whose Charter has similar language to the Fire & Police Employees Retirement System's Charter) resides in Houston County.
The Board of the Macon Fire & Police Employees Retirement System is left with no other alternative than to take action in Superior Court regarding the continuous interference and manipulation of the administration of this pension fund by Mayor Reichert and his administration. The fox has been guarding the hen-house too long, now is the time to protect this fund from outside interference so that it will continue to provide for our hard working police officers and firemen.
Thanks,
Lynn T. Wood