At an Administrative Service staff meeting in April, 2003, Lynda Pittman, who was in charge of Marketing, talked at length about the complaints she was getting from municipalities about calls to Member & Retiree Services. They'd been telling her that they were not allowed to talk to the staff person they asked for, and the staff they were directed to instead seldom were able to answer their questions. She said they'd been calling her in frustration.

I had heard other staff grumble about the "Call Center", so I took it upon myself to write up my perception of the problem. I then sent an email to one of the two Call Center staff members, attaching my write-up. I asked this person to read it and let me know if I was getting my facts straight.  Shortly after that, Ron Beaton - my supervisor and the head of Administrative Service (at that time) - asked me to a meeting in the Board Room. Waiting for us there were executive director Anne Wagner, Member & Retiree Services director Kathy House, Kathy's deputy Deb Peake, and Lynda Pittman. Apparently the Call Center staff person I'd emailed took my little essay directly to her supervisor, Kathy House.

Anne said that the Call Center concept came out of a visit she and Kathy had made to CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System. It worked for CalPERS, so they thought it would work at MERS. (As of June 2004, CalPERS had 1,002,067 active and inactive members and 416,783 retirees. MERS has 37,000 active members, 4,000 deferred vested (inactive) members, and 8,000 retirees.)

Anne questioned my statement that the "Call Center seems to provide the worse possible service to customers" and I acknowledged the exaggeration.

Lynda Pittman spoke up to say that it was wrong for me to use her name in my essay without her permission. I did not defend myself, but I did not agree. She is a supervisor and she made the statements in a staff meeting. She had no right to think her statements would not be repeated. It was just an excuse to beat me up, which she was happy to do. I can't help but like Lynda, but there is nothing she would not do to please Management.

Deb Peake asked me who among the other staff had talked to me about problems with the Call Center. I declined to name anyone. She persisted; I refused.

I reminded those the meeting that it was MERS policy to encourage staff to question Management decisions. My essay was a step in the process of researching the Call Center situation.

I was not disciplined for criticizing the Call Center, but I did not pursue it. And to my knowledge, no one else has, either.