Annie Chao - LACERS Active Employee Elected Commissioner
"I am 100% behind Susan Liem.
Susan will make a fantastic LACERS Commissioner. With her pension
investment experience, her dedication to help others, and her unwavering ethics, she will serve LACERS
members well. I know this from personal experience. Susan and I have worked in pension investing for
over 12 years. I have always been impressed by her knowledge, judgement, and willingness to speak up.
She will be an advocate for LACERS members.
Having served on the LACERS Board for over five years, I have seen some ugly Board politics and
shenanigans.
I can say with confidence that:
- Susan will not be asking LACERS to pay for audits or unnecessary consultant studies that will only benefit City Hall
- Susan will not be asking LACERS staff to look at ways to change plan calculations to help an elite few City managers or ex-City managers
- Susan will not be using the position of LACERS Board Commissioner for personal gains
- Susan will not be trading votes or violating the Brown Act by having secret conversations and
serial meetings
LACERS members will be very lucky to get Susan Liem working for them. I encourage all City employees
to vote for Susan Liem. I am!!!"
Mike Wilkinson -
Elected Retired Member, LACERS Board of Administration*
* For identification purposes only
There is an election coming up for the other active member Board seat with ballots having gone out on 3/28 and election day (last day for ballots to be dropped off at the Elections office) of 4/14. I am endorsing Susan Liem, a 16-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions' (LAFPP) Investments Division. She would be a terrific commissioner and is also endorsed by senior level pension investment professionals, Annie Chao (Elected Active Member, LACERS Board of Administration*), Rick Rogers (Former Elected Active Member, LACERS Board of Administration*) and Tom Lopez (current LAFPP Interim Chief Investment Officer and former 20+ year LAFPP Chief Investment Officer*). It would be wonderful to have another commissioner on the board with pension investing experience as we look forward to making good decisions for the plan.
Tom Lopez - Current LAFPP Interim Chief Investment Officer (CIO) & Retired 20+ year LAFPP CIO
"I was the Chief Investment Officer for the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System for over two decades and retired from the City after 40 years. As you might guess, I have a keen interest in the well-being of the LACERS retirement system and I know Susan Liem will do an excellent job looking out for the members of LACERS. I hired her at Fire and Police Pensions over 16 years ago. She is honest, hardworking, and knowledgeable about pension plan investments and defined benefit pension plans. She takes her responsibilities very seriously and will look after the interests of LACERS members."
Tom Moutes - Retired LACERS General Manager
"I endorse Susan Liem for the LACERS Board and encourage you to vote for her and suggest that your friends vote for her. This is for one of the active member elected seats (not the retiree elected seat).
The reason for my endorsement is Liz Lee’s nomination of Nilza Serrano as Board President in 2022. In my opinion, Ms. Serrano is the most incapable Board Member I worked with at LACERS in my 16 years working there and in the 5 years since while monitoring LACERS meetings. Anyone who has been on the Board for any length of time, including Ms. Lee should know that and never should have nominated Ms. Serrano for a position that greatly impacts members.
The nomination by Ms. Lee of such an incapable person (again, in my opinion) should automatically disqualify Ms. Lee from consideration by anyone who cares about LACERS and our hard-earned benefits.
I would ask what was in it for Ms. Lee? Was it a coincidence she subsequently was nominated by Ms. Serrano and voted in as Vice President? I say, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
Based on the above, I strongly urge you to not vote for Ms. Lee and instead vote for Susan Liem for LACERS Commissioner. Let’s get someone in that seat who can make better decisions for us.
Please know that these are low turnout elections and every vote is very important!"
Stephanie Clements - Public Works Assistant Director & Former Candidate for LA City Controller
"Pension Boards don’t set benefits, but they should protect your pension investments and they should be fiduciaries of the system and your future assets. That’s why Susan Liem is my choice for the LACERS active employee Board Commissioner.
Susan would take being a fiduciary of your retirement funds very seriously. Not only does Susan have more than 16 years of LAFPP pension investment experience, working in the Investments Division that oversees about $28 billion of assets, but I personally worked with Susan for five years at LAFPP. I directly saw how hard working, smart, kind, with loads of integrity, character, and heart.
And she’s also a military veteran too, need I say more? Thank you for your service!"
Rick Rogers - Former LACERS Active Employee Elected Commissioner