In the December, 2014 issue of the APCO Magazine, I wrote an article entitled, "My APCO Wish List: Goals and Challenges this Holiday Season". As I look back over that wish list and this past year, some of the wishes have become reality; some are still wishes, but the accomplishments that were made are a result of us working together as your leadership team of APCO.

As your current 2nd Vice President of APCO, I have been honored to serve this Association and you, but now I am asking for your support and vote to continue my service as your 1st Vice President.

On that December 2014 wish list was:

"Development of new training curriculum along with the resources necessary to allow our public safety communications agencies to implement this training in an effort to prepare us to meet the challenges of emerging technology. For training with a focus on the impact of this new technology not only on operational issues, but of equal importance, on the impact to the human element in our communications centers, which will ensure that issues relating to the general health and welfare of our telecommunicators are addressed so that we can ensure a long and productive careers for our call center personnel".

While new curriculum has not been developed yet, in February 2016, APCO announced Project 43, which will explore the impact of the nationwide public safety broadband network on our 9-1-1 communications centers. Through creation of working groups, which include: governance, cybersecurity, operations, technology, staffing, and training, Project 43 will focus on all of the potential impacts of this new technology on our 9-1-1 operations. The working groups are on target, meeting their deliverables and the results will be presented to our members in August, 2017. If our 9-1-1 centers are going to be successful in addressing the impact of next generation 9-1-1 technologies on our personnel, new training will need to be developed, and we are confident that APCO Project 43 will help us identify and meet those needs.

"Success in obtaining recognition by our citizens and government at the local, state, and national level, of the invaluable service that our public safety telecommunicators provide to this country on a daily basis".

Over this past year, APCO's has spearheaded efforts to change the classification of "dispatchers" to a public safety, rather than a clerical, occupation. APCO submitted formal comments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and has suggested two changes to the federal government's statistical system for occupations or Standard Occupational Classification (SOC): use the title, "Public Safety Telecommunicators" (instead of "dispatchers"), and classify them as a "protective" occupation, in the same category as police officers and firefighters (instead of in the administrative/clerical category). Most recently, through APCO's leadership and advocacy, a bipartisan letter was sent by the Congressional Next Generation 9-1-1 Caucus Co-Chairs, to the OMB urging the revision of the Standard Occupational Classification by the summer of 2017. Hopefully, this classification will be changed this next year, which will give our public safety telecommunicators the professional recognition that they deserve.

"Emphasis on the fact that the future of APCO rests with our membership, and that each of our members serve with renewed enthusiasm for service". For APCO International to be recognized and acknowledged as the premier public safety communications association in the world".

APCO committees are an important and integral part of the Association and its work. Committees reflect the "volunteer" tradition of the Association and play significant roles in the enhancement of public safety communications. In 2015, the Board of Directors approved changes to the Association's committee structure, which we truly believe will lead to more opportunities for our membership to serve on committees that are meaningful and provide value not only to the association, but to the members themselves. Although the committee restructuring is continuing, we believe that the most recent realignment of our committees will strengthen our commitment to being the only public safety communications American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited association.

"Success in reaching a membership goal of 25,000 APCO members by the end of 2015".
That goal was achieved in August, 2015 at conference, and membership has remained steady.

"Success in generating $15,000,000 in revenue during the 2015 budget cycle".
While APCO did not quite make that $15 million goal in revenue, APCO has never been in a better financial position than it is today. Through the strong fiscal management and vision of APCO's Executive Director and the leadership of the Board of Directors, APCO has been able to develop a long-term investment strategy and invest idle funds to ensure a stable financial future for this association.

In my opinion, over the past few years, we have had a lot of positive changes and positive growth in our Association, and as a member of the Executive Committee, we are always looking for ways to make improvements.

We, as public safety communications professionals, work in an industry that is constantly changing. We never know what that next phone call may be from a citizen asking for help, or the next trouble report that we may receive from one of our radio users. We are constantly faced with the development of new technology and the realization that new technology will have an impact on our operations, from training, personnel resources, and governance. And maybe, because we are members of such a profession, when it comes to our public safety communications association, we want stability, because we don't have it in our real jobs, and as a result we may be hesitant when it comes to change in our Association.

But I do know this, as an industry if we don't bind together and be part of that change, we will be left behind. My commitment to you is that while we are always looking for ways to improve the association, I will always remember, that the reason for any change is because we want to improve our public safety communications association.

As I look back over this past year, I am extremely humble and proud to be part of your Association's leadership team and am asking for your support and your "Yes" vote. Thank you for your consideration.