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| In the winter of 1999, a group of Iron Range teachers decided to obtain legal advice over a pension issue that they felt was unfair. They were referred to Mr. Joseph O�Neill of the firm, O�Neill, Grills, and O�Neill in St. Paul. For a complete sketch of the background of Mr. O�Neill, go to: www.ogolaw.com Ironically, Mr. O�Neill was a legislator in the late 60�s and early 70�s and had been on the Legislative Pension Committee that created the five pension choices. Led by Larry Jacobson of Chisholm, these Iron Rangers retained the O�Neill firm. O�Neill remembered that his friend on the Pension Commission in the late 1960s, Cal Larson, was now a State Senator in the legislature. Together they rehashed the history of the inequity and knew that their intention had been to give teachers a choice of retirement plans and that the teacher�s choice was to be irrevocable. What Joe and Cal discovered was that in 1974, because the IMP plan was giving poor annual returns, the IMP teachers had approached legislators; a law was passed that gave the IMP teachers two choices of retirement plans. Together they decided to work to try to get justice for the teachers who only got one choice�and most had even that choice unilaterally altered. For the last four years, Joe has worked aggressively and endlessly on our behalf. Fortunately for us he has continued to work, even though we have not been meeting our financial responsibilities to him in the last two years. While a committee of teachers advises Joe and meets/writes with teachers and legislators to explain our situation, it is Joe who has been our principal throughout these four years. � He represented us in Ramsey County District Court and at the Appellate Court of the Minnesota Supreme Court. � He has met with Larry Martin of the Pension Commission to explain the situation and to draft our bill each year. � He regularly lobbies legislators and Pension Commission members. � He has met with Gary Austin of TRA several times to obtain information. � He has authored documents requesting information from TRA about the costs of our legislation. Since Senator Cal Larson is authoring our bill, he is the person who must officially request the information. � He advises us on our newsletters, web sites, and letters for content and clarity. � He continues to work for us even though we have not paid him in about two years. � He has never given up. When things have gone poorly, he and his positive Irish personality tell us not to give up. He always finds something else to give us hope that some equity might be met. We cannot overlook the effort and support we have from Joe's firm. His partners have allowed him the time to help us and his staff has always been patient and kind to all the Pre-1969 teachers. They have taken many phone calls, copied reams of paper, and helped in any way they could. P.S. The idea for this page came from members of the Pre 1969 Teachers' Coordinating Committee, not Joe. |
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| JOSEPH O'NEILL |
| OUR LEGAL COUNSEL, LOBBYIST, FRIEND, AND TIRELESS ADVOCATE |