Notes from Executive Council Meeting in Orlando, August 4^th and 5^th.

New Executive Director George Rice was presented to the EC, he presented a plan for reorganizing APCO headquarters staff, and spoke about his vision for the future of APCO International.  Mr. Rice recommended that the position of Deputy Executive Director be reinstated.  The initial recommendation was that CFO Tim Ryan take on this added responsibility.  EC discussions were not in favor of that, so the position will be filled by a new hire at headquarters.  There was money in the budget for this position.

CFO Tim Ryan presented the budget for the coming year.  Budget was approved.  One budgetary issue of note:  The outsourcing of The Bulletin was approved by the EC by e-mail vote in July.  It was discovered that the contract that existed with Democrat Printing (the printer of the magazine) did not have an out clause.  That contract had been extended to 2010.  Research revealed that though the original contract was approved by the Executive Director at the time, the extension was not.  APCO Legal Counsel researched the contract and stood before the EC to recommend a buyout of the contract.  It was Legal Counsel’s belief that the buyout would be much less expense than would be incurred if the issue went to trial.  Legal Counsel had a proffer to settle the contract for $100,000.  EC approved the buyout.

One question put before the Quorum caused quite a bit of discussion in the EC.  The question involved the publication of the vote for International Officers.  The discussion was brought on by the recommendation from the C&B Committee that the question receive a negative recommendation from the EC.  I voiced the opinion that the vote tally should be public.  The result of the EC discussion was that the question went to the Quorum with a recommendation of APPROVAL from the EC.  The Quorum passed the question.

The First-Line Supervisors Training Standard was approved by the EC.   The focus of the Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Communications First-Level Supervisor, a follow up to the Project 33 Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Communications Telecommunicator (APCO 2005), is to provide training necessary to foster levels of consistency for supervisory staff, as well as to promote the leadership role of the supervisor in a public safety communications center.

The Democrat Printing issue also created a discussion regarding CFO Tim Ryan.  Kansas EC representative, Mary Messamore, voiced her opinion in the form of a motion to cast a vote of No Confidence in CFO Ryan.  The motion died for lack of a second.

Canadian EC representative, Ted Harris, announced that Canada was withdrawing from the EC, as Canada would henceforth not be a Chapter of the International association.  Canada APCO will be a free standing association.  They will maintain an affiliation with APCO International.

APCO Institute News

APCO Institute announced the release of its new Leadership Certificate Program at Conference in Orlando, Fl.  The APCO Institute Leadership Certificate Program is a comprehensive 12 month online program leading to the professional designation of Registered Public-Safety Leader (RPL).  RPL recipients receive a certificate of acceptance into the APCO Institute Registry of Public-Safety Leaders, a formal and prestigious acknowledgment of excellence within our industry.

Applications are being accepted through October 1 to participate in a Beta of the APCO Institute Leadership Certificate Program.  Beta Program participation is limited to 40 APCO International members in good standing from the four APCO International regions and tuition is free to selected participants.  Based on the interest generated and the number of applications received to date, we anticipate that there will be hundreds of applications for these 40 positions, so great care is being taken by the Leadership Certificate Program workgroup to set up selection parameters that will ensure an equal representation from each region and adequate representation from each APCO membership category.  Also, to ensure impartiality and to avoid any question of favoritism, etc., all personal identifying information is being redacted from the applications prior to the selection process. 

The accelerated Beta Program will run November 15, 2006 through July 18, 2007.  Successful Beta Program participants will be the first in the world to achieve acceptance into the APCO Institute Registry of Public-Safety Leaders and be granted the professional designation of Registered Public-Safety Leader (RPL). 

If you know of any individuals who would like to apply to participate in the Beta Program, please ask them to email their name and mailing address to Candice Solie, APCO Institute Director, at soliec@apcoinstitute.org.

ANSI

August 31, 2006, Washington, DC - The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International announced today its approval as an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited standard setting body.

"The accreditation of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International under its own operating procedures for documenting consensus on proposed American National Standards has been approved, effective August 29, 2006," the letter from ANSI said.

Founded in 1918, ANSI is a private, non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system.  Its mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity.

The APCO International standards process will develop consensus-based standards through an open and fair process that serves to address problems, products, processes, procedures, policies, systems, personnel and/or needs within the public safety communications industry.

Mid-Year EC Meeting

The following is the information on the 2007 Executive Council Mid-Year Meeting.

Hyatt Regency Jacksonville

225 Coast Line Drive East

Jacksonville, FL 32202

phone 904.633.1234

fax 904.633.9988

Saturday, February 10 and Sunday, February 11, 2007

My reservations for the hotel are made.  Here are projected costs:

            Airfare              $400

            Hotel                $480

            Shuttle             $  40

            Meals               $100

The sooner I make air reservations, the better.

EC Email Actions

8/30 – Arizona votes AYE on Australasia Affiliation Agreement (attached)

9/6 – Arizona votes AYE  on APCO Alliance for Global Cooperation and Development (attached)