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Executive Council Report – Arizona APCO March 2006
The Mid-year Executive Council meeting was held in a two-day format. Tom Hanson of the Virginia Chapter was asked to moderate the first day, Saturday. This day was used to discuss key issues that would need action during the official Council meeting that was held on Sunday and to receive a variety of reports from committees and staff. Some of the topics that were presented included APCO Policy Manual revisions; PSFA Bylaws revisions; Annual Conference Manual revisions; Dues increase; financial reports; FY 2006-2007 Budget; Long Range Strategic Plan updates and reports by the Group Leaders, staff, the IDC and the Regulatory Affairs.
APCO Policy Manual Resolutions: Four (4) Policy Manual Sections were offered for consideration by the Council.
Policy 4.1 – Membership Application Procedures – amendment limits the scope to APCO-International members only (this cleaned up the language in the Policy Manual pertaining to applications, rewrote the membership renewal process – members given three notices prior to terminating membership and establishing 2/1 as the end of the renewal period – if a membership is not renewed by that date, the person will be dropped from active membership). Motion offered by Gregg Riddle, Illinois, second by Past President Vinnie Stile; motion carried.
Policy 4.10 – Membership Application Procedure for Members At-Large – this new section addresses the Members At-Large and Affiliate’s members that make application to APCO-International. Motion offered by Gregg Riddle, Illinois, second by Past President Vinnie Stile; motion carried.
Policy 8.3 – Executive Director – addition of the Heritage Foundation as the fourth subsidiary. Motion offered by Gregg Riddle, Illinois, second by Pat Hall, Alabama; motion carried.
Policy 8.2 – APCO Headquarters Staff – addresses the movement of existing staff within APCO divisions and its subsidiaries by the Executive Director. Motion offered by Gregg Riddle, Illinois, second by Past President Vinnie Stile. Amendment offered by Past President Glen Nash to remove paragraph 3.1 and renumber 3.2 through 3.4, second by Past President Vinnie Stile, motion carried. Original motion was approved as amended.
APCO Walk of Heroes
Financial Report Gregg Riddle, Illinois, motioned to accept the financial report as presented; Larry Sheridan, Wyoming, seconded the motion; motion was approved.
FY 2006 – 2007 Budget Gregg Riddle, Illinois, motioned to accept the budget as presented; Freddie Thompson, South Carolina, seconded the motion; motion was approved with three nay votes being cast.
Standards and Human Capital
The month of January saw a lot of activity in the effort to find a new Executive Director. About 250 resumes were received and reviewed. Conference calls between the Executive Director Search Committee and APCO Staff were held weekly reviewing and discussing resumes, processes, and candidates From the 250 resumes, staff forwarded more than 40 for the Committee to evaluate and select the list of possible candidates, additional screening cut the list to 18 candidates for telephone screening. The Committee conducted the screens in conjunction with the Mid-year Executive Council meeting. This resulted in developing a “short list.” Those candidates were invited to an in-person interview session being conducted during the weekend of February 25. March 3, President McCarley announced the candidate list had been narrowed to two.
Additional issues discussed at the EC meeting:
· Where will the new Executive Director be located, as the DC office is enlarging. o Initially be housed in Daytona Beach, FL., and then will work with the Board of Officers about possibly re-locating to Washington, DC. · The Board of Officers intends to work with the new Executive Director to bring those recommendations as to how the ED will work with DC and Daytona staff forward to the Executive Council.
Washington, D.C. Office Expansion/Executive Director location issues
Tim Ryan, Acting Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, and President Elect Wanda McCarley reviewed the current status of the DC Office expansion (documentation provided).
Discussion:
· Clarification on current rent and proposed rent: current - $41, 434. @ $32.78 per square foot; proposed - $117,000 @ $39.00 square foot. · Four issues: 1) will the Executive Director go there one day, 2) a lease is expiring, 3) staff needs and wants more space, and 4) does the Executive Council allow for the Executive Director to be in that space if they do it. Does the lease expiring need to be addressed in a manner that could also be handled in the place that staff needs more room right now, and why is the Executive Council trying to tie all of it together – compounding all four with yet a fifth item that there is nothing in the budget, nor is there any way to incorporate it in the budget. · Is it possible to expand in the current facility. o Acting Executive Director Tim Ryan replied at this time the answer was “no”. · Current space utilization and what the concept for space utilization would be in the new office. o Communications Affairs Manager Courtney McCarron stated that the DC Office had an outside company review and evaluate their space. What are needed now are a larger conference room, more storage space, a kitchen, workspace, and additional offices. A five to ten year lease would be signed. · Clarification that this is for the current staff in DC and not for the Executive Director being in Washington DC. o President Elect Wanda McCarley clarified that the DC Office staff had proposed to the Board of Officers and the Finance and Budget Committee an expansion of the DC Office as a needed item for this budget year.. · Tom Sorley of the Florida Chapter and Finance and Budget Committee wanted the Executive Council to know that the financial numbers presented were a minimum, and not necessarily what would be needed in the event an Executive Director would be housed in the office; admin staff, etc. would be needed. · If additional space is needed now for the DC Office it should be part of the budget. If the decision is made to put the Executive Director there then an amendment can be made for additional space. o Acting Executive Director Tim Ryan stated that it would be close to $100K to accomplish this. APCO can do restructuring, but if the objective were to have a balanced budget right now, APCO would be going into a budget that is in a deficit situation. Prioritization needs to be addressed. · Are any of the properties looked at capable of expansion in the near future. o Communications Affairs Manager Courtney McCarron stated that the properties being looked at are probably no longer available. As to contiguous space, that would be a difficult question to answer depending on the buildings dynamics. · Does it make sense to shop for office space that won’t be needed for at lease another nine months to one year. o Acting Executive Director Tim Ryan concurred, further stating that the purpose was not to change the budget, but to let the Executive Council know that these were the costs involved, and that there was a contingency plan in place. · Gregg Riddle of the Illinois Chapter stated that he thought the space was needed now; a five to ten year lease would put APCO in jeopardy not knowing current plans. · Acting Executive Director Tim Ryan stated that until there is an answer to the question of where the Executive Director will be it would be foolish to expand at this time. There would need to be serious consideration on where the funding and budgeting for the office space will come from. · Acting Executive Director Tim Ryan and President Elect Wanda McCarley stated that there is great potential for APCO with its presence in Washington.
Revised Strategic Plan Gregg Riddle, Illinois, motioned to accept the revised Strategic Plan as presented; Mary Messamore, Kansas, seconded the motion. The Council had additional discussion that focused on the desire to have a more formalized process developed for an annual review of the plan. No formal amendments to the motion were offered and the motion was approved.
Dues Increase RoxAnn Brown, Tennessee, motioned to approve the recommended increase based on the CPI of 3.4%, which will take effect on January 1, 2007. Tom Hanson, Virginia, seconded the motion. Motion was approved with one nay vote being cast. This will raise Active Member dues to $83 annually.
Mid-Year Council Meetings
Mid-Year Council Meeting 2007 – Jacksonville, FL Mid-Year council Meeting 2008 – Orlando
Selection of 2013 Annual Conference Site
2013 Annual Conference – Reno
Larry Sheridan of the Wyoming Chapter inquired if the Denver Conference was the first one million dollar Conference profit in APCO’s history, to which the answer was affirmative.
Chapter Meeting Minutes
The Mid-Year Executive Council Meeting involved discussion on what Chapter meeting minutes should contain when sent to headquarters. The Constitution, Article V, Section 1, paragraph 1.5 states: “The minutes of Chapter meetings shall include all actions of significance…” Some examples include: Officer changes, quorum votes, etc. The membership department will continue to research best practices and will pass any additional information to you. Other documents that headquarters should have include: a copy of your Chapter Charter and Constitution and Bylaws
Discussion regarding filing Chapter meeting minutes with National….the restrictions currently in By-laws that don’t address that some chapters don’t meet frequently enough to send chapter approved minutes in the time required.
Gregg Riddle of the Illinois Chapter reviewed the proposed resolution of issues concerning the C&B and Chapter responsibilities pertaining to Chapter minutes and retention at APCO Headquarters (documentation provided).
Discussion:
· Does Headquarters currently do anything with submitted Chapter minutes. · AMS & Membership Services Director Susan Stowell stated that the best purpose for the documents to be stored at Headquarters would be for research or background; for example, Chapter Officer Office dates; Charter dates, honorary member dates, etc. · Does APCO had the necessary Headquarters staff to perform this task if implemented. o Gregg Riddle of the Illinois Chapter and AMS and Member Services Director Susan Stowell Corder replied that Customer Service Barbara Lawrence works closely with all Committees and Chapters; staff would be available for this function. A concern would be how long staff would have to request Chapters to send the needed information. · The real value of the Chapter minutes are historical value, and because it is not time sensitive, the C&B Committee should consider an amendment to have Chapters submit approved minutes. · Can the C&B be changed to make this a voluntary issue, detailing the advantages if the Chapter decides to comply. If it is decided to make this mandatory, then how would it be enforced, what penalties would be given for not doing it; is the Executive Council ready to go that far. · Language could be rewritten to state “should” instead of “shall”; the “30 days” can be changed to “approved copies”. Gregg Riddle would like to hear discussions on the underlying issue of the responsibility of the Chapters to hold a minimum of two meetings. There are sanctions available including removals of the Charter for a Chapter that is not in compliance with the meeting component. · The Executive Council to be careful about making rules that would make the Chapter meetings more stringent; in a rural state it is often difficult to get a group together for a meeting. · Art Rios of the New Mexico Chapter asked for information and directions from the Chapters that currently submit minutes to Headquarters. o AMS and Member Services Director Susan Stowell Corder stated that she would provide that information upon review of Headquarters files. o Information should be in the fashion of the minutes of the Executive Council meeting and should include the following information: § When the meeting was held, § The time that the meeting started, § The number of people that attended, § Identify the people in attendance, § Old business, § New business
Robert’s Rules of Order identifies various components of meeting minutes for associations if a Chapter needs formal structure, or the standard format that APCO uses can be used.
· Submission of Chapter meeting minutes is a process and procedure that may not belong in the C&B and may belong in the policy manual for the Chapters to follow, so it does not become a “constitutional crisis’ because it is not being followed. · There are many examples of other Chapters that have not been in compliance; that have extremely difficult times getting their members together for the required meetings. The Executive Council does not want to see them lose their Charters. Should meeting requirements be changed in the APCO C&B, or should the Executive Council speak to the respective Chapters about setting up their Constitution and Bylaws to include teleconferencing now constitutes a meeting/ · The Executive Council is going to take this issue up at the meeting in August 2006 with some discussion of measures to begin censoring processes and also to help the Chapters with some creative ways to maybe change the Chapters Constitution and Bylaws and uses other methods to qualify as meetings. · The Executive Council must help those Chapters that need assistance with compliance; the C&B Committee has asked for support from the Executive Council with this issue. · Is this an educational issue? · Council members can go online to APCO’s website for the Chapter Officer Training and Mentoring program. http://apcointl.org/membership/chapters/index.html (Chapter Officer Training & Mentoring Manual (COTM)). The Program has all of the above-discussed requirements, and should be taken back to their Chapter Officers.
ANSI
Staff will revisit the required ANSI process with the new Board of Officers in March. APCO ANSI membership has been renewed. Staff is moving forward with the steps to have APCO become an ASD. · Status of the ANSI Standards; the Staff report states it was given to the Board of Officers May 5, 2005. Acting Executive Director E. Tim Ryan stated Staff has an initiative with the Board of Officers to identify standards. There was some question as to what standards would be developed, what costs would be, what was the correct way. APCO had started to become an ANSI Standards setting body over a year ago; in the interim with the departure of the previous Executive Director there was some question if that was the right path to take. At one point in time, there were questions raised to the Board of Officers about what standards would APCO set if APCO were an ANSI Standards Setting Body; there have been other initiatives with regard to Standards through APCO’s 9-1-1 Office. Staff has halted this issue for review. · President Elect Wanda McCarley stated that there is currently an action item on the Board’s list to help Staff determine what types of standards that APCO would deal with that would be applicable. It would be her thought that the best way to accomplish that would be to put together a task force of subject matter experts through out the industry to accomplish that task. · The Board of Officers needs to approve the policy and procedures so APCO is moving forward for the Public Safety industry. · The reason it was suggested that APCO look into ANSI so APCO could validate itself, and what product APCO is putting out. · Additional work that must be done by the Committees. It will be a while before the Executive Council will see ANSI approved standards come out of the Committee work. The fee will be $2,500.
Installation of Officers
President Gregg Ballentine swore in President Wanda McCarley, Acting President-Elect Willis Carter, Acting First Vice President Chris Fischer and International Vice President Manfred Blaha. President McCarley presented Past President Ballentine with his Seal of Office and Past President pin at this time. President McCarley then announced that based on the requirements of the APCO Bylaws Article V; Section 6.3. Richard Mirgon was being recommended for appointment as Acting Second Vice President. The Council voted to affirm this appointment. Richard Mirgon was then sworn into office.
Plain Speech in Public Safety Communications
APCO International supports plain speech in PS Communications in an Issue Paper published December 12, 2005. The issue paper fully explains the APCO position, but it comes down to incident command concepts (NIMS), interoperable radio systems and communications failures in disaster situations.
Chapter Officer Training and Mentoring On-Line Training
The Winter Session of the Chapter Officer Training and Mentoring course ended last week. There were almost 20 active participants with lots of good ideas exchanged. The next course begins May 5. Several chapters have made this course mandatory for anyone wishing to run for chapter officer. The course is a very good introduction to the Constitution, Bylaws and Policy Manual and how they work together. The COTM Manual has an outline for a suggested meeting agenda that can be used for an outline. Contact Ann Russo at russoa@apco911.org for further information or to sign up.
9-1-1 Services and Communications Center Operations
This week, APCO International is hosting a meeting of public safety practitioners, computer aided dispatch providers, as well as representatives of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and their Law Enforcement Information Technology Standards Committee (LEITSC) as well as the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA) at a three day meeting with consultants to develop the actual XML schema for data exchanges under the category of ALERT – CALLS for SERVICE. This meeting is a follow-up to other such efforts that APCO has participated in to bring to the ready the “standardized” message sets between public safety CAD systems and external systems seeking to obtain a public safety response.
Institute
The APCO International scholarship period begins March 1 and applications will be accepted through May 1. Two scholarships are available to current APCO International members - the Silent Key Scholarship and the Corporate Advisory Committee Scholarship - with only one application needed to qualify for either scholarship. These scholarships can be used toward attending APCO Institute classes, the APCO Virtual College and the APCO International Conference. For more information or to download the application form visit the APCO Institute website at www.apcoinstitute.org.
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