This letter is in response to an editorial published in the Journal on Aug. 10 entitled “Investing in abuse.” It chastises PERA for investing in Bellwether Behavioral Health which was later purchased by Wellspring Capital Management.
Walker Stapleton, current state treasurer and Republican candidate for governor, finds it “troubling” that PERA chose to invest funds in a company that is being sued for Medicare fraud which resulted in harm done to severely disabled residents at a facility in Florida.
He also hopes that “PERA’s investment department ... looks into these allegations further.”
Since Mr. Stapleton has been a member of the PERA Board for the last eight years, I can’t help wondering where he was when that particular decision was made.
Investing funds responsibly as well as profitably can be a challenge for any organization. I believe that every member of the board needs to accept responsibility for those decisions.
Terri Helm
Cortez