Proposed Local 2068 Bylaw Change

Joel Kobersteen December 21 at 2:18pm Reply
Pursuant to Article 11, Section 1 of the Local 2068 Constitution and Bylaws, the membership is hereby notified of the following proposed Bylaw Change that will be voted on at the regular General Membership Meeting on January 6, 2009.

The following is submitted by the originator of the motion, 4th Battalion Representative, Colin Flanigan as passed by the Local 2068 Executive Board on December 18, 2009.

The following changes impact Article 5, Section 1 and Article 5, Section 5 of the Local 2068 Constitution and Bylaws.

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Constitution and Bylaws Change

Every November there are Board of Supervisor, State and National elections. This is the time when our union must present a united front to the politicians. To hold nominations for Union office the month before these elections weakens our bargaining power when we need it most.

We, the Local 2068 Executive Board, propose moving our nominations to May. This motion will not extend the present Directors (Battalion Representatives) term. It will, however, move their subsequent nominations till May of 2013.

This motion does extend the present terms of the President, Vice President and Secretary Treasurer by six months, postponing their nominations till May of 2012.

The month of May was chosen because it falls after the vote on the Fairfax County Budget and would not interfere with either the VPFF or IAFF Legislative Conferences.

We propose changing the present wording of our Constitution and Bylaws from…

“The President, Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer shall be considered the principal officers and they shall be elected in odd numbered years and serve for two (2) year terms. The seven (7) Executive Board members shall be elected in even numbered years and serve for two (2) year terms.”

to the following.

“The President, Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer shall be considered the principal officers and they shall be elected in even numbered years (starting in 2012) and serve for two (2) year terms. The seven (7) Executive Board members shall be elected in odd numbered years (starting in 2013) and serve for two (2) year terms.”

We also propose to change the present wording from

"Nominations for officers shall be held at the General Membership Meeting in September and elections shall be handled by the Elections Committee. "

to the following.

"Nomination for officers shall be held at the General Membership Meeting in May and elections shall be handled by the Elections Committee."


Representative Flanigan asked that I include the following information:

Why Local 2068 Should Change the Election Bylaws

The 2011 Board of Supervisor Race will coincide with our principal officer Elections. This is a problem because primarily because it is increasingly difficult for candidates and members to engage in all the expected political action at the local, state and national level in November while running their own union campaigns. This reduces our influence and hurts our membership.

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How Will this Change Affect the Union?

1. The present President, Vice President and Secretary will have their terms extended six months to May of 2012.

2. The rest of the Executive Board will have their nominations in November 2010. The Executive Board members elected in the 2010 race will have their terms extended until May of 2013.

Why May?

The month of May was chosen because it falls after the vote on the Fairfax County Budget and would not interfere with either the VPFF or IAFF Legislative Conferences. Just for example, next year, we will have the January VPFF Legislative Conference in Richmond, a February legislative NCPERS Conference, a March IAFF Legislative Conference in DC, followed by the Fairfax County Budget being voted on April 27.

November Worked Before, So Why Change It?

What worked 38 years ago for a small union with just a few fire stations, no longer works for the power house union that is now Local 2068. We want our representatives to work hard for us. We want them making sure the needs of our members are met, which in a Right-to-Work state, requires a lot of political action. We can no longer afford to have them distracted by their own elections during the critical November election cycle.

Union Hall Committee Meeting

Local 2068 Union Hall Committee Chair Bobby Wheeler is seeking members interested in serving on the Union Hall Committee. This committee is tasked with formulating business plans and ground work related to creating a Local 2068 Union Hall.

The next meeting is at 0800 on Jan 14, 2010 at the Union Office. Please contact Rep Wheeler at RWheeler@fairfaxfir efighters. org with questions.

Local 2068 Lines Of Business

Due to concerns expressed by Local 2068, the Local 2068 Lines of Business have been removed from The Big Eye. Local 2068 expressed concerns about the need to "show our cards (preliminary ‘cards’ at that) to the entire world about our process for the FY2011 Budget". After some debating among the admins at the Big Eye, we decided to remove the Local 2068 Lines of Business from our site.

Brother Big Eye

World Police and Fire Games 2015 Website developed by Craig Luecke

From: Ron Mastin
To: FIRE
Subject: World Police and Fire Games 2015 Website developed by Craig Luecke
Sent: Dec 8, 2009 20:52

2015 WORLD POLICE & FIRE GAMES WEBSITE LAUNCH Website: http://2015wpfg.com Fairfax 15 has unveiled its website for the upcoming 2015 World Police & Fire Games. The site contains thousands of photos, video highlights, and other features that make it a one-stop source for information on the World Games coming to Fairfax County. The site, http://2015wpfg.com, will provide users with up-to-date information on the 2015 Games as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation and planning of this massive event. In addition, the 2015 World Police & Fire Games can be found on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and over 40 other social networking sites across the web. We ask that you 'friend', 'follow', and 'subscribe' to these accounts. Large subscription numbers are crucial to the marketing of the Games as well as attracting major advertisers. Facebook: http://facebook.com/2015wpfg YouTube: http://youtube.com/2015wpfg Twitter: http://twitter.com/2015wpfg The 2015 World Police & Fire Games is the second largest international sporting event and 2015WPFG.com is the ultimate resource for the Games. We ask everyone to take some time and visit http://2015wpfg.com to learn more about the games coming to Fairfax and help spread the word to all of your family and friends. This is an important planning stage for the Games and your independent marketing of the online presence would be greatly appreciated. The 2015 World Police & Fire Games are tentatively scheduled for June 26 - July 5, 2015.

Special Election Results

LOCAL 2068

SPECIAL ELECTION FOR DIRECTOR

TO THE EXECUTIVE BOARD

DECEMBER 2 AND 3, 2009

FINAL TABULATION OF BALLOTS

(listed alphabetically by last name)

Rich Merrell

41

Kim Schoppa

42

Ballots Cast

83

Disqualified

0

Ballots Counted

83

December 2

Rich Merrell

24

Kim Schoppa

9

December 3

Rich Merrell

17

Kim Schoppa

33

Heated Argument Between DC Duke and BC Tolson

We received a tip that BC Jim Tolson got into a very heated argument with "Deputy Chief" Andy Duke, and one anonymous tipster has reported that BC Tolson walked out of the firehouse and went home. It is important to note that this has not been verified - please submit your tips to us via email: thebigeyeinfairfax@gmail.com