I hope this letter finds everyone in good health and spirit. We are all very busy right now and many changes and activities are taking place within our Department and our Local.

Some of the items your Union is working on include, reviewing health and safety around our Department, writing new language for our contracts, creating a fund raiser activity and exposing ourselves in the political area.

Health and Safety. Jeff Guthrie and Dale Flateau are working on gathering information from the different stations to gauge where we are on such items as station and truck conditions. When they contact you please help them out in gathering needed information. This will allow the Union to work with administration to correct any deficiencies that may exist.

Also, I believe that health is a personal decision. The main station crew on A Shift with motivation from Paul McKelvery has developed a small informal workout program. We drag hose, flip tires, lift weights and carry hi-rise packs all in gear. He and I are also working to formalize a program that we could use for a possible Department agility test during our hiring process and an interdepartmental competition. I know that many stations do not have immediate access to this type of equipment but if each station were interested in putting together a few simple exercise tasks, we could pool some resources and make some things happen. Possibly combining stations in a central location. I feel that if we show a Departmental wide enthusiasm for this benefit we could work with Chief Patterson to create a process for this. Please contact Paul to express your desire to get healthy! Also the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has declared that June 20-26 as Fire and EMS Safety Week. They have developed the "Fit 4 Duty" Program that demonstrates health and safety tailored to our career. If you’re interested in helping in this area contact Paul or Dale.

Contract. Bryan, Nelson and I are working on the contract with input from the membership. We are close to working with HR to schedule the first negotiation meetings and will keep you informed as to when they are. After our strategy session on 5/26, it was decided to open the entire rank and file contract. The reasoning behind this decision was to fix many long standing housekeeping issues and look to improve incentive monies and working conditions. I will be forwarding a letter to Administration to schedule our first negotiation session. A big thank you to the members that submitted input.

It would be great to have one or two members in with us to observe the sessions. It’s a great way to learn what’s happening.

Fund Raising. Andy Owens is working on a bowl-a-thon fund raiser that may benefit Camp Amigo (children burn survivors) as well as other local charities. I have been involved in these before and they are a lot of fun. As soon as more details are ready we will fill everyone in.

Politics. This area has been a wild ride as of late. We attempted to hold a General Union Meeting on May 6 to make some political decisions but were not able to due to lack of attendance.

Recently we have been involved with other firefighters at the state level and have been successful in helping work to slow down the politions desire to rob us of our retirement benefits.

On a local level, there are a couple of ways we will be involved. There are two commission seats, a local judgeship and a House of Representatives seat (Dist 21) that we should be aware of.

Let’s start with the BOCC Seats. District 4, which is presently held by Ed Taylor, is being challenged by Ben Good (D) and Amber Vance (R). I have spoke with Ed and Ben and both are presently working on obtaining enough signatures to be qualified for the election. I have not been able to locate Ms. Vance thus far. If Mr. Taylor and Mr. Good

can raise enough signatures by mid June to qualify, I envision our Union sponsoring a debate or Q and A session with the candidates prior to the primary elections. I have spoken with both and they are looking forward to the event. As for as District 2, Chip Liabl is presently unopposed. Stay tuned more to follow in mid June.

Next, Bryan and I have met with Charles Van Zant (Dist 21 incumbent) and Linda Meyers a local business owner (Dunkin Donuts) both are running for District 21 Seat.

Both candidates were very forthcoming with answers to our questions. At present the FPF has officially endorsed Charles Van Zant with a letter and a $500 donation. This position in my opinion is a political payment for helping us with voting against the various retirement bills that surfaced this session in Tallahassee. Whatever the reason, this endorsement puts our Local in a precarious spot. We have always held a good relationship with Linda Meyers and have supported her on many occasions, as she has also done for us when she served on the BOCC.

What we are up against is a double edge sword. If we support Mr. Van Zant we alienate Linda. If we support Linda Meyers, we potentially send a message that we do not respect what Mr. Van Zant did for firefighters this past session. Tough call.

Finally, Don Holmes a local attorney contacted our Local to ask for an endorsement. I met with him and spent approximately an hour finding out about him. Soon after I contacted several community leaders and researched Mr. Holmes. He is very well connected and respected within our community, which could come back to us many times over.

On a regional level, our Brothers in Daytona Beach contacted me to ask for our help with a judge that they were endorsing; his name is Joe Horrox. Mr. Horrox comes well respected in their area and is a good fit for their political needs. I spent approximately 30 minutes on the phone with him asking him how he could be affective for the Daytona Beach Local. I was satisfied with his answers.

In summary, our political agenda this year will be as follows.

One final political note I wanted everyone to be aware of, the PCSO is in the process of forming a union. I have been in touch with a few of the rising principals and we are keeping an eye on what they are doing. This may be of benefit to our Local in the future.

Web Site. I will be meeting with a professional web master and network specialist on June 9^th to set up a password protected area on our site. This area will only be accessible to members with the proper credentials. We will place sensitive information such as contract items within theses pages. Remember this is a Union site, please keep it confidential.

To close, I wanted everyone to know what is happening with your union and I appreciate you taking time to read this and visiting the web site. I have visions of what our Union can accomplish, and they are great. If we pull together we can accomplish anything.

Be Safe,
Dwight

Back to Presidents Message Page