Serving on the COAERS Board

The COAERS Board of Trustees are fiduciaries of the retirement system and discharge their duties in the exclusive interest of members and beneficiaries for the purpose of providing promised benefits to participants and their beneficiaries. Trustees work with professional staff and service providers including investment consultants, actuarial consultants, and legal counsel. 

COAERS is governed by an 11-member Board of Trustees that is comprised of:

• Three elected active City of Austin employees 
• Two elected retired employees 
• Two City Council appointed citizens 
• One Board appointed citizen
• One City Manager designee
• One Director of Finance of the City or designee
• One City Council Member

Responsibilities of the Board of Trustees include:

• Establishing and reviewing the mission and setting the strategic direction of COAERS;
• Adopting policies, resolutions, and bylaws appropriate for the administration of COAERS;
• Hiring and performance evaluation of the executive director;
• Approval of the annual administrative budget;
• Oversight of investment program and asset allocation of the fund;
• Establishing the actuarial assumptions with the assistance of professional staff and consulting actuary; and
• Approval of disability retirement applications. 

If you are interested in serving on the COAERS Board, please review the information below about open positions for Active members, Retired members, and citizen appointments. 
 

 Open Board Positions:

2023 Election Candidates

The following active members have been certified as candidates by the Nominating & Election Committee. Candidate statements are provided below. English candidate statements have been copied verbatim from each candidate's application.  

2023 Voting Period

COAERS members have the option to cast their vote through the mail-in paper ballot or by voting online. Only active-contributing members of COAERS are eligible to vote in this election . Members who have an email on file with COAERS will receive an email from our vendor YesElections with instructions for voting online.

• Mailed Ballots
  Ballots for the 2023 COAERS Board Election will be mailed to active members in mid-October. Each ballot contains unique voting credentials assigned to each active member. On the paper ballot, members should select only one candidate from the slate. Once you’ve filled out your ballot, use the business reply envelope to return your completed paper ballot in the mail. No postage is necessary to mail your ballot.
• Online Voting
  As an alternative to the paper ballot, COAERS members can vote online. COAERS has partnered with YesElection once again to make online voting possible. Online voting information is located on the paper ballot, along with each COAERS member's unique election code and pin. To vote online, enter your identification information, and follow the instructions to cast your vote.

The deadline to vote is 5:00 pm Central Time on December 1, 2023.

For assistance with election materials, please contact us.

Election Process

Board elections are held every year for active and retired trustee positions and are overseen by a volunteer committee called the Nominating and Election Committee. Terms for elected board members are four years and the terms are staggered so that there is an active or retired place for election every two years. As an active employee, you have the opportunity to vote for peers running for active board positions. When you retire, you can vote for the retired positions. You can also be a candidate yourself for these positions.

The volunteer Nominating and Election Committee meets approximately four times in the election year: once to kick off the election season, next to review candidate qualifications, then prepare ballot, and lastly to tabulate votes. All meetings are held at the COAERS Boardroom at 6850 Austin Center Blvd, Suite 320. If you are interested in being a volunteer, please send a message to Michelle Mahaini.

Candidate applications are submitted in September, with ballots mailed out in October and voting by December. The newly elected board member will begin their new term the upcoming January.