KEEP MOVING FORWARD

I have had the privilege to serve as president of the San Bernardino County Public Attorneys Association since 2006, and I thank you for the opportunity. During that time, we have met challenges and confronted difficult issues.

Now, you must choose whether or not to continue the progress of the last two years, or “move in a new direction.” I ask you to keep to our proven path; I ask for your vote.

As you know, any re-election campaign is a referendum on the officeholder’s record. Here’s what we have done:

· I have recruited from all parts of this organization, considered all opinions, and strived to reach consensus on the Board of Directors, as with the recent contract.

· Your Board of Directors unanimously supported the recent contract after they were fully briefed by the Negotiating Committee and our professional negotiator of longstanding experience, labor attorney Marianne Reinhold.

· I selected (and the Board of Directors unanimously ratified in December 2007) a negotiating committee to solicit your views and act on your behalf. It consisted of 17 members from all three attorney groups.

· Your negotiating committee worked hard, every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon from December to July to get you the best possible contract under the circumstances before them. They met with the County and they looked it in the eye. They solicited input and participation from you and your Board.

· I attended most of the Negotiating Committee meetings; only one board member (my opponent) went to a meeting, and then only once, and then only to complain about a narrow money issue directly affecting him. I strove to have the committee do the greatest possible good for the largest number of members. (And yes, we also took care of my opponent’s solitary issue.)

· I have improved representation in employee-management cases. Management now respects us, if not fears us. Employee rights are no longer trampled. We have “gone to the mat” for affected employees and will continue to do so. I am sure that anyone who suffered through that process appreciates what we have done for them.

· I have improved communication with the Membership. While contract negotiations were going on, I established an e-mail network to enable concerned Members to get information quickly, rather than travelling to distant meetings or waiting on the vagaries of mail systems. I have repeatedly offered up my telephone numbers and home e-mail to any member who wished to express concerns.

· I have sponsored an adroit use of political action committee funding to enable us to reward those who would help us on the Board of Supervisors.

· We settled our contract with the County, on time and with a raise. There is no specter of a renewed contract with no raise or job actions or “evergreening,” as in the past. No one lost money while the County dithered and delayed, as in the past. Does anyone really wish to be negotiating a contract with Wall Street in turmoil and the virtual guarantee of a smaller County budget following hard upon a smaller State Budget? This contract is our safe harbor against those storms. This is a good contract for bad times.

· We have enhanced and professionalized the Association. We now have a Senior Authorized Labor representative to coordinate our response in discipline cases. We now have a CPA to watch over your union monies as Board Treasurer.


More must be done in the next two years. More will be done. The website overhaul must be finalized. Classes on public employee rights should be instituted. Working conditions must be analyzed and rectified.
With your help, these improvements can be done.

I ask for your vote in this election. We’ve done a lot. We’ll do more.