Response to FOIA request for retirement board member travel costs is incomplete

February 8, 2026

February 24, 2026 - more material received

February 27, 2026 - more material received

On January 17, I sent this Freedom of Information Act request to the City of Lansing:

 

I would like travel expense records for Police & Fire and ERS Retirement System board members and their spouses for calendar year 2025. I would like records of all City expenditures associated with attendance at conferences out of state and outside of Lansing, for both board members and their spouses and retirement office staff members. That would include, but is not limited to, registration fees, travel, lodging and dining. I would also like the names of those persons incurring these expenses. Conferences would include, but is not limited to the following: MAPERS Spring Conference, May 17-20 at the Motor City Casino in Detroit NCPERS Annual Conference, May 18-21 in Denver MAPERS Fall Conference, Sept 13-16 in Grand Rapids (or was it Detroit?) NCPERS Fall Conference, Oct 26-29 in Fort Lauderdale (or was it Las Vegas?) IFEPB Conference, Nov 9-12 in San Diego ABS Emerging Market Conference in Boston

I knew about these conferences because they are mentioned in the board meeting minutes of Lansing's two retirement systems, the Police & Fire System and the Employees Retirement System. And I discovered later that I had missed one: the ACD Due Diligence meeting in Missouri. In the April 25, 2025 minutes, the ERS board OK'd attendance by the retirement technician. The date of the meeting was not given.

On February 6, in response to my FOIA request, I received several registration forms for the MAPERS Spring Conference, the NCPERS Annual Conference and the MAPERS Fall Conference. You can see them here, here and here, but below is a list of attendees and registration fees extracted from those forms:

MAPERS Spring Conference -Motor City Hotel, Detroit

	Jeremy Garza	ERS board member	$350
	Thomas Lindemann	Retirement technician	$350
	Dennis Parker	P&F board member	$350
	Terri Taylor	P&F board member	$350
	Christopher Wilcox	P&F board member	$350
	Eric Wohlfert	P&F board member	$350

NCPERS Annual Conference - Denver, CO

	Scott Dedic	ERS board member	$1100
	Matthew Kreft	P&F board member	$1100
	Justin Moore	P&F board member	$1100
	Chrystal Thomas	P&F board member/Finance director	$1100

MAPERS Fall Conference -Amway Grand Hotel, Grand Rapids

	Matthew Bahr	ERS board member	$400
	Scott Dedic	ERS board member	$400
	Larry Ebright	ERS board member	$400
	Darren Kalis	ERS board member	$400
	Matthew Kreft	P&F board member	$400
	Thomas Lindemann	Retirement technician	$400
	Justin Moore	P&F board member	$400
	Christopher Wilcox	P&F board member	$400
	Eric Wohlfert	P&F board member	$400
NCPERS Fall Conference - Fort Lauderdale, Florida - Oct 26-29
	Justin Moore	P&F board member	$1,050
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans - Honolulu, Hawaii
	Scott Dedic	ERS board member	*$2,350

* Includes $200 membership fee

The Office of the City Attorney handles FOIA requests, and in the message accompanying the registration forms they said "your request is granted in part and denied in part...the responsive documents were redacted..." I have no problem with the redaction of personal information. But what they have provided is incomplete. I know from the board meeting minutes that members attended at least two other conferences, the NCPERS Fall Conference in Fort Lauderdale and the IFEPB conference in San Diego. And registration fees are not all I asked for. I requested documentation of all expenses paid for by the City, including travel, lodging and dining.

I've complained to the City Attorney's Office. I will update this story as I learn more.

Also received February 24: Justin Moore's expense report for the NCPERS fall conference in Fort Lauderdale, October 26-29:

 

Parking at Lansing Airport Round trip flight to Ft Lauderdale Lodging Uber Meals TOTAL:

60.00 616.37 1,286.28 41.94 180.00 2,184.59

Received February 27: Justin Moore's expense report for NCPERS annual conference in Denver, May 18-21:

By the way, I have the retirement board meeting minutes for the last 15 years on this website. Links to them are on this page for ERS and this page for P&F.

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