July 1, 2011
To All Members:
First of all, thank you for electing me as your President for the 2011-2012 term, and also for the confidence and support you give all of your officers year in and year out. In my time on this board, I have seen the tireless work put in by the members of the board and its associated committees. These men and women truly do the heavy lifting behind the scenes which keeps our organization at the forefront of public safety issues in the Commonwealth and have established the Virginia Fire Prevention Association as a recognized leader in fire code training.
Over the past few years, we have had challenges with the faltering economy, and our leadership took decisive actions with our membership dues, conference planning and organizational management that has positioned us very well for the coming years. I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to thank our past presidents and other officers, most recently Frank Teevan and Phil Paquette, for leading us through these difficult times.
Now looking forward, I hope to continue the progress of the past and make our organization more effective and more recognized across the Commonwealth as a leader in not only code enforcement, but fire prevention leadership as well.
The first step in this process took place at the Annual Meeting in May. Our By-Laws were amended to split the Secretary/Treasurer’s office into two separate offices. J.D. Mitchell will carry on as Treasurer and Wally Rinaldi will establish the new position of Secretary. Their close working relationship will allow them to define more clearly and coordinate the business and work practices of these two important offices in the upcoming year and continue to the improvements in membership records J.D. started this past year.
Our Training Committee has done incredible work over the years to provide us with some of the most valuable training anyone could ask for, but I believe our audience has outgrown our past practices. We will be working to re-define the fall and spring conferences to include leadership and management topics as well as the customary technical aspects of code enforcement. It is my hope that fire marshals and other chief officers in your department will take advantage of these break out sessions to continue to enhance fire prevention efforts beyond the traditional code enforcement arena.
In closing, the next year will continue to pose challenges to local code enforcement offices and this organization alike. It will be up to us as officers and you as members of this great organization to meet and rise above those challenges. With the talent and skills of all our members, I am confident we will be successful in overcoming these challenges and make all of Virginia a more fire safe Commonwealth.
I hope to see you all in Roanoke at the Fall Conference.
Robby Dawson
