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. 

Election Process Overview

Election Cycles

• 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.
• The volunteer Nominating and Election Committee meets approximately four times in the election year:
  • to kick off the election season
  • to review candidate qualifications
  • to prepare ballot; and
  • to tabulate votes.
• All meetings are held at the COAERS Boardroom at 4700 Mueller Blvd, Suite 100. If you are interested in being a volunteer on the Nominating and Election Committee, please send a message to Michelle Mahaini.

Term of Office

• 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 current City employee, you have the opportunity to vote for peers running for active board positions. When you retire, you can vote for the retired positions.

Candidate Application

• Any eligible current City employee or retired member can apply to be a candidate for active or retired member open positions, respectively.

Election Timeline

• 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.

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:

Retired Member Place 10 Candidate Statement:

Active Member Place 7 Special Election
Candidate Statements: