There comes a time in every organization, especially volunteer organizations, when they need to be rejuvenated. For many years now a handful of dedicated volunteers have been doing an exemplary job of holding the Association of Fire Districts of the Capital District Area together. The time has come to ask for help.
Those of us who have held up the suspenders for years do not want to lose what has been built. We would like to take an organization that provides worth while services and kick it up a notch. We want to get back to basics.
I think that you will agree that being a fire district commissioner has taken on new meaning over the past few years and the challenges have gotten more complex. More than ever we need to help each other and find new ways of doing business, the right way.
Our mission statement gives us an idea of what we do; “An association of fire district commissioners and officers in the counties of the capital area of New York State, who share ideas, ideals and work for the benefit of their own fire districts through the sharing of knowledge, experience, and purchasing power.”
Now more than ever we need to band together as brothers and sisters to share the knowledge, experiences, pitfalls and best practices that we have endured doing what we like, being members of the fire service and serving our community. One way to further those honorable goals is to reinvigorate the organization that is the vessel of those ideals.
How can we get back to basics and rebuild the organization? One step at a time. We do not want to bite off too much, so we need to rebuild the foundation. The best way to make any organization work is communication with the members. The way to carry information up and down the organizational structure is to attempt to fill all of the director’s positions, in all eight of the counties we represent.
To that end we are calling for nominations of at least two Directors from each county. Those who already actively serve as Directors are encouraged to have their names placed in nomination. The questions will be, what do I have to do, and how much time will it take? The Directors meet regularly and represent the interests of the boards of fire commissioners in the counties they represent. Directors need to be in communication with all of the fire districts within their county on a regular basis and find out what district issues are in relation to the Capital Area and State Association. Directors then bring these issues to the Capital Area Officers and to the Delegates of the State Association who represent the Capital Area. The time requirement will be on the high side until you establish a regular communication link with the Boards within your county. But remember there are at least two or more of you to divide the work up.
Filling the Director’s seats and establishing a communication network will be the foundation for where we wish to go in the future. How we grow and what we do will be determined by the members and the represented fire districts. Our other goal is to obtain 100% participation by all the fire districts in all eight of the counties we represent. Let’s reexamine our mission statement, remain true to it and begin to communicate, the rest will come as we rebuild. Its sad to go to meetings which are attended by only a few people, the issues we discuss and the common problems we attempt to solve could benefit all of us, if we could just rebuild the foundation.
Please send or Email your nominations to
Fred Blase OR Tom Rinaldi
fblase@nycap.rr.com tom@rinaldi1.com
bravenet.com