Iowa APCO Executive Committee Meeting

Monday April 10th, 2006 10:00 A.M.

Fort Dodge, Iowa Bonanza Restaurant

 

Present: Judy Flores, Wendi Hess, Cara Sorrells, Eric Nevins, Michelle Spear, Bob Seivert, and Cindy Forgy.

 

10:15 A.M. Meeting was called to order by Judy Flores.

 

It was encouraged that Wendi resign as Secretary and be appointed Vice-President. Wendi resigned with no opposition and Judy made an appointment of Wendi to Vice-President. Judy made an appointment of Cara Sorrells to Secretary with no opposition.

 

Recap of the Spring Conference. Wendi reported that there were 120 attendees from 65 different agencies. Dedicated vendor time was discussed. During the last chocolate break, which was held in the vendor room, most of the vendors had already left. The vendors deserve dedicated time for the support they give to the conferences. Having the awards ceremony during the main conference was also discussed. Many dispatchers come only to APCO and not to NENA.. Kirk had reported that the vendors appreciated the introductions and many had people at their booth afterwards. It was helpful to learn who they were and what they had to offer.

 

The minutes of the business meeting included a list of members who were there. There were 62 members there and 59 cast votes. The colored papers were to ensure only members voted. Judy, Wendi, and Eric received letters about the business meeting. The following are some of the concerns:

  • A point of contention was that there were no official ballots. In the past IA-APCO has not used official ballots but it is a good idea for the future. It was decided to consider the use of official ballots  in October. It was also noted that most votes are voice votes. There was a suggestion to have official ballots with the membership numbers on them. The consensus was that generic would be better. The colors of the ballots could change with different years.
  • Another question was why couldn’t everyone there vote? The by-laws allow for only members to vote.
  • Absentee ballots were discussed. We would need to change the IA-APCO by-laws to allow absentee ballots. APCO International has only started offering absentee ballots for officer elections in the last three years. With absentee ballots voters wouldn’t be privy to motions on the floor or amendments during the meeting.
  •  Another question in the letters was why did we destroy the ballots? They were destroyed because there was a motion from the floor. It is a common practice to protect the integrity of the secret ballot by destroying the ballots.

 

 

 

In reference to the past president position, the Iowa by-laws are silent. Judy spoke with International and suggests we follow their precedent. When Thera Bradshaw resigned from the presidency she did not move on to the past president position. The current past president remained. If followed Bob Seivert stays in the position. Michelle Spear also spoke with International and they indicated that the IA-Chapter needs to set the practice, that International can not dictate it. Article 1 Section 3 of the Constitution describes the purpose of Iowa APCO and several items pertain to mirroring International at the Iowa level. The policy should

be clearly defined and the by-laws amended. There is also no description of the chain of events to become past president or a definition of the past president. This language should also be spelled out like the other officials. The timeline for a change in the by-laws would be Spring of next year. Wendi Hess made a motion to follow the precedent set by APCO international that the president does not fill the immediate past president position unless they fulfill their term. The motion was seconded by Eric Nevins. After further discussion Wendi amended her motion. Her motion was that we accept the resignation of presidency as a resignation for the executive council as well if they did not fulfill their term of office. The motion was seconded by Eric Nevins. Motion carried, no opposition.

 

Wendi made another motion to direct the Constitution & By-laws committee to draft an addition to the by-laws that defines the past presidency. Bob Seivert added that they should be directed to address the resignation of officers. Motion was seconded by Cara Sorrells. Motion carried, no opposition.

 

It was discussed if Judy would fill the past president position in the Fall. The consensus was that she will as she did fulfill her time as officer, she just had a title change while in office.

 

Michelle Spear said she would like to see the new amendment from the conference go to committee for examination.

 

The voting process was discussed. It is defined in the by-laws as a simple majority. E-mail can also be a way for the executive council to conduct business.

 

Michelle Spear asked if we could get agendas out earlier. Wendi explained that they were mailed out with the conference registration information.

 

Fall Conference planning. We received dates from the Holiday Inn including the Merle Hay Rd and Army Post Rd locations. There were concerns about the room at the Army Post Rd location and persons in the back being unable to see the front.

Tuesday October 3rd is the proposed date. The format and speaker was discussed. Eric was asked if LEATAC would want to do a presentation. A motivational speaker was also mentioned. Tentatively the agenda would be 8-9 AM business meeting, 9-10 AM LEATAC ½ hr for a presentation and ½ hr for Q&A, 10-12 speaker, lunch, then a motivational speaker in the afternoon. A cold lunch would be provided by APCO.

Jan Visser has been contacted about an All Participants Conference in conjunction with APCO. It was suggested that vendors could be there specific to the IOWA system. LEATAC could talk about statewide interoperability. Agenda and format will be discussed further after checking with Field Services.

 

Next item on the agenda was the Joanne Perkins Scholarship. Jeanie Carroll was appointed to head this committee but was given no direction. For the Iowa conference the committee can choose the winners or by random drawing. Recipients have to be an APCO member. There was discussion on if this committee was a special committee or a standing committee. Wendi advised there was a resolution to C&B to address this but it was tabled. The recommendation was to send Resolution #8 that created the fund committee back to C&B.

 

The Joanne Perkins Scholarship fund balance was discussed next. There needs to be a change as the fees we are being charged currently are depleting the fund balance.

If the fund balance is over $10,000 there are no fees. When asked if we could transfer funds to get the balance up it was advised that we could do that. Cara made a motion to empower Eric to increase the fund to $10,000 and maintain the balance to avoid the fees.

Bob Seivert seconded the motion. Motion carried, no opposition.

 

 

Bob Seivert made a motion to designate the Joanne Perkins Committee as a special committee with Jeanie Carroll being the chairperson. The goal would be to select 3 Joanne Perkins award recipients in the Spring and the Fall, and also to submit the names and applications for the Regional scholarship to the executive committee. The motion was seconded by Judy Flores. Motion carried, no opposition.

 

Suggestions are welcome on how to promote the scholarships. The funds for three Iowa conference winners come from International and the funds for one Regional Conference winner comes from the Iowa fund.

 

The nominees for the Regional conference in Minnesota had been received from Jeanne and were discussed. It was noted that APCO members get preferential consideration. Motion was made by Wendi to award Teresa Todd the scholarship, with a second by Bob Seivert. The executive committee voted to award the Regional Scholarship to Teresa Todd of Washington County. Cara Sorrells abstained from the vote.

 

The last item on the agenda was discussion about committees. Letters are needed from the administrations for the officers and standing committees. Judy advised that as president she would like to have Michelle and Cindy remain as At-Large personnel. She would like to have executive board input and discuss appointments.

 

The following committees were discussed and appointments made by the new president:

 

a)      National Executive – Eric Nevins

b)      Activities & Membership – VP Wendi Hess ***suggestions were made about

making contact w/new members. A welcome letter might be a way to touch base, however the memberships lag sometimes after sign up. Recognizing new members at the conferences is another good idea to meet new personnel.

c)      Historical – Julie Twedt, Hardin County

d)     Training – Lisa Lawton, Boone County

e)      Telecommunicator of the Year – Teresa Todd, Washington County

f)       Frequency Advisory – Rich Hester, IDPS (Int’l appointment)

g)      Iowa Telecommunicator Training Board – Michele Bott, Clinton County w/Dave Murray, Keokuk PD alternate

h)      Iowa E911 Council – Doug Slagle, Marion PD w/Sally Hall, Iowa County alt.

i)        Presidential Advisory – non-functional & dissolved

j)        Promotions – was ad hoc for the logo, dissolved

k)      Legislative – Gloria Isham, Scott County

l)        Strategic Planning – Joe McCarville, Muscatine County

m)    Corporate Advisor – Kirk Litynski, Motorola

n)      First Responder Advisory- Randy Thompson, Mills County w/Diana Borash, Westcom alternate

o)      LEATAC – Terry Nixon, Davenport PD & Eric Nevins

p)      Webmaster - Mark Van Hooser, Buena Vista County***Website is the tool for better communication. The scholarships need updated, the message board was discussed. E-mail lists were discussed, as was a button or link to contact the executive board. Also having more Iowa news items vs. International.

q)      Newsletter – Julie Feisel, Lucas County ***format & distribution was discussed. It was suggested that it could be placed on the website.

r)       Public Education – Shannon Hrubetz, Adair County

s)       C & B – Sandy Hoyt, Buena Vista County

 

 

Judy would like to have an executive council meeting in May with the committee chairs. She would like to see them bring a list of the committee members, their goals, and a report of their activities. Joe McCarville will be contacted for a copy of the Strategic Plan. Judy will send out some potential dates and try to get a date set.

 

Eric had some bills for approval including The Public Safety Group ($2200), stamps ($15.60), Julie Twedt ($36.53), engraving ($114.00) and a genesis conference call ($61.88). Michelle Spear made a motion to pay, with a second by Cindy Forgy. All in favor, no opposition. Bob Seivert mentioned that if Eric gets a bill he can also send an email and it can be approved that way.

 

Motion to adjourn at 12:40 P.M. by Cindy Forgy with a second by Wendi Hess. Meeting adjourned.

Cara L. Sorrells, Secretary