The Golden Rain Foundation of Laguna Woods passed a resolution to adopt a revised investment policy during a regular meeting last week.
The board, in conjunction with investment firm Sageview and the Finance Committee, reviewed the policy after members of the community expressed their disapproval of the policy early this year, according to a Village Management Services staff report.
“We rewrote the essence of the policy – not the strategy itself,” Director Jim Hopkins, who serves as treasurer to the GRF board, said in the meeting Dec. 6.
The changes aim to clarify the purpose of the investment policy, with emphasis on the authority of the managing agent and the investment advisor.
Hopkins explained that the responsibilities of a managing agent are to deposit funds into specific types of accounts, known as investments. The separate action of directing the board to deposit money into an investment account falls under the duty of an investment advisor.
The managing agent “does have certain non-discretionary ability to invest, but they must invest in federally backed instruments,” Hopkins said. “We wanted to clarify that.”
The investment strategy is reviewed monthly by the Finance Committee alongside a Sageview representative, Hopkins said. Every six months, these reports are shared in an open committee meeting.
Hopkins said the next opportunity for residents to attend a Finance Committee meeting and contribute via an open forum will be in February.
GRF approved the resolution 9-0-1, with Director Egon Garthoffner in abstention, on second reading. It takes immediate effect.
COVID-19 update
As of Tuesday, Dec. 14, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the city of Laguna Woods is 584 – more than a dozen additional cases since mid-November.
Three additional deaths were reported in the same period, totaling 59 fatalities.
Countywide, public officials reported that the latest COVID-19 case rate for Orange County is 6.4 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the OC Health Care Agency. This indicates about a 1 point drop in daily case rates since mid-November.
VMS CEO Jeff Parker said that although ICU and hospitalization rates have stabilized over the past month, he expects to see a holiday season spike.
“We have a new variant out there,” Parker said. “Although we haven’t seen quite the impact yet in California, we know (the variant is) in California now and it’s going to be spreading across the U.S. during the holiday season, unfortunately.”
New director
To a warm round of applause, Reza Karimi joined the GRF board following an election by acclamation.
The vacancy was left by Director Maggie Blackwell, when she was elected to serve on the United Mutual board in October.
Karimi has been an active member of the community since moving to the Village in 2018, serving a partial term on the VMS board in his first year before being appointed to the Third Mutual board in 2019.
Karimi holds a master of science degree in biochemistry, a master of science degree in petroleum engineering and a Ph.D. in chemistry. Professionally, he has experience managing multifaceted projects within financial strains.
Karimi will be fulfilling a two-year term ending in 2023.
Parking fees
GRF passed a resolution that would reduce parking fees for nonresident students who take Saddleback College Emeritus Institute courses in the Village to mirror district campus parking fees.
As proposed, student parking fees would be reduced from $50 per fall/spring semester ($30 per summer semester) to $40 per fall/spring semester ($25 per summer semester), according to a VMS staff report.
The pricing would be subject to change each semester in alignment with South Orange County Community College District rates, the report said.
Director Juanita Skillman noted this reduction will be offset by a service fee – currently being discussed in closed session – set to be disclosed in January.
The board unanimously approved the resolution upon first reading. It must now satisfy a 28-day notification requirement for member review.