PEAF Board Meeting

Wyndham Orlando Resort

1000 Saturday, October 21, 2017

  • Called to Order at 1000.
  • Welcome all members – Introduction of board members
  • Sheila asked for each of us to introduce ourselves, state where we work and how long we have been in law enforcement:
  • President Sheila Lustigman Coral Springs PD 22 yrs , Vice President John Briney Port St. Lucie PD36yrs, Treasurer Lori AcromoneOviedo PD 22 yrs, Secretary Lisa Spencer Jacksonville SO 20 yrs, Communications Coordinator Kay Bradshaw Collier County SO 22 yrs, Historian Scott Feldman Broward County SO 10 yrs, Conference Planner Deborah Lanni Port Orange PD 11 yrs, Chapter 3 President Chandra Gaines Largo PD 28 yrs, Chapter 4 President Elizabeth Kamerick Hollywood PD 16 yrs, Former President Ken Lininger recently retired from Winter Garden PD 16 yrs and is now a teacher, Former Vice President Yoli Brennan 37 yrs, now retired.
  • Minutes of the August 29, 2017 meeting
  • Old Business
  • The last meeting was focused on the conference. No one had anything to address concerning old business.

New Business

  • Reports from Board Members
  • President-Sheila Lustigman

Preferred email addresses

  • If anyone has a different email address that they would like for us to use, please bring it to Sheila’s attention. No response from the room.

Expectations of communication (respond and include Chapter Presidents unless specified)

  • Responses to emails are mandatory. Do not ignore emails. Feedback and answers to questions should be sent within a few days.
  • Board related questions will also be sent to Chapter Presidents to keep them informed.

Board Meeting locations and hotel stays

  • Board meetings may be moved a little further south, Sheila will be discussing locations with John. The next meeting location to be announced.
  • Clarification on hotel stays, this is only for the Executive Board Meetings, not for committee meetings. We do not need to share a room.

2017 Conference Review and Thank you to Deborah and Board Members-Sheila Lustigman

  • Sheila thanked everyone for their hard work, especially Deborah who did a wonderful job at her first conference as the new Conference Planner.
  • Chapter Presidents need to give feedback from the conference.
  • There is room for improvement and this needs to be acknowledged in front of all the members.

2018 Conference Planning-Sheila Lustigman

  • Deborah’s role as Conference Coordinator needs a committee to assist her with her tasks.
  • Deborah stated that a letter can be composed of who the Board Members are, their expectations, and expectations of the members.
  • Vendors need a chance to speak at the conference to introduce themselves and state what their companies do.
  • Let’s look at making the conference 3 full days, and 2 full days for the Certification. This would allow more time for housekeeping and allow time for a more relaxed business meeting.
  • Lack of attendance should be addressed by Scott. Agencies will be notified for lack of attendance and members can be stripped of their certification.
  • Deborah would like to change the banquet dinner to a cocktail party, something more up to date so that the members may take a more active role and participate.
  • Change the tote bags, don’t overbuy certain items, we need to use up the items in storage.
  • Correspondence prior to conference-
  • Chiefs and Sheriffs Evidence Specialist of the year email by June 1.
  • Chapter Presidents-Chapter Member of the Year, email by June 1 with a letter explaining why you picked them.
  • Do we still want to do pens or something else along with a certificate for Chapter Member of the year?
  • Slogan of the year by May 1 to have time to vote and print out items with the slogan.
  • Send out follow up information and the agenda to attendees of the conference by May 1.
  • Make an agenda for the CES class.
  • Request a room for registration
  • Each member will register with their Chapter President
  • Registration will be cut down to 1 hour the night before and 1 hour the morning of the conference.
  • We will no longer have Chapter meetings at the conference.
  • The Board will make a collective decision on who the guest speakers will be.
  • Lori-What will be offered to the guest speakers?
  • Sheila-Speaker Benefit Guidelines needs to be created.

Committees- Education, Conference (new), Ethics- still exist?

  • The Certification Committee is the only official committee that still exists.
  • Yoli gave the following information about this committee: the members are Theresa Adams, Pam Schmidt, Kay Bradshaw, Linda Hypes and Frances Gallagher. This committee has an odd number of members with a max of 7. There are currently 2 vacant positions on this committee. These meetings are with UCF to go over questions that are on the test.
  • Kay stated that the last committee meeting was in February.
  • Everyone agreed that communication with the Board is imperative and that guidelines, lists and minutes from this committee would help greatly with the certification process.
  • Sheila addressed starting a Conference Committee, there is a lot of work that is put into planning a conference and it would be beneficial to Deborah to have extra help. Everyone in the room agreed.
  • All committees, present and future need to have designated written guidelines, such as who is eligible to be a member of the committee, how many positions the committee will hold, and the importance of taking minutes at each of these meetings.
  • Yoli stated that we no longer have an Ethics Committee.
  • Ken stated that committees are formed at the will of the President and everything involving the meetings should go through the President. Ken has asked for guidelines and a step by step process in the past and received limited information on the Certification Committee. The fact that it is 2 members short is in question. Each committee should have designated positions for accountability purposes.
  • Sheila stated that when we fill positions we have to fulfill obligations or be dealt with accordingly. People need to be held accountable.
  • Ken stated that he resigned due to not being able to fulfill the obligation since he chose to become a teacher.
  • Kay stated more members need to be involved and fill the committee positions.
  • John stated that the committees need to be directed to give guidelines and be given a deadline of when this will be provided.
  • Deborah asked, what is the criteria if you leave an agency? Can you still be a member of PEAF? What is the criteria to be on the committee? Guidelines need to be put in place after further discussion.
  • Sheila asked the question: should board members and committee members berequired to be employed at their agency or can they be retired or resign?
  • Guidelines need to be put in place after further discussion.
  • Vice President-information provided by John Briney
  • Total Members-355 total paying members

Status of Chapter Presidents

  • All Chapter Presidents positions have been filled. The new Chapter Presidents are Chapter 1-Colleen Coppola from Sebastian PD , Chapter 4-Elizabeth Kamerick from Hollywood PD, and Chapter 7-Diane Foreman from St. Augustine PD.
  • John has contacted all the Chapter Presidents and advised them to keep him informed with any problems that they may have and to let him know of any upcoming meetings. John may be attending some of these meetings.
  • Treasurer-information provided by Lori Acromone

Account Balance

  • Checking $21,881.84
  • Savings $14,025.23

Expenditures-no changes at this time.

Accounting Forms

  • There were 2 forms that Lori found that she would like to start using. They are the Reimbursement Request and the Credit Card Usage Sheet.
  • Lori is having a hard time getting people to give her receipts for things that they purchase. Receipts are needed for auditing purposes.

Anything that needs to be purchased, shall be requested on a requisition form, just like purchase orders. The forms will be approved by the President. Once it is approved, Lori will purchase the item. This will alleviate the need for additional board members to be issued credit cards.

Board Member Contracts

  • Anything received by PEAF should come back to PEAF, it cannot be personally used.
  • Any problems will be addressed by Sheila. The bylaws state that if you do not live up to your commitments you can be removed from your position, this should be made clear.
  • Ken motioned to utilize contracts, Lori seconded the motion, everyone agreed, no one opposed.
  • All board members need to sign new contracts once they are approved.
  • Secretary-information provided by Lisa Spencer
  • Laptop was received from Former Secretary Frances Gallagher on Thursday, 10/19/2017.
  • What are the timelines for emailing the minutes?
  • Minutes need to be sent out for approval to the Executive Board and the Chapter Presidents within 5 business days of the meeting,thengive 5 days to respond for approval. The final approved minutes will be sent to the entire Board.
  • Who should emails go to?
  • Upcoming Meeting Noticesto the Historian, Communications Coordinator and the Webmaster
  • Chapter Presidents should have a minimum of 2 meetings per year per the bylaws.
  • Meeting attendance to the Historian, Education Coordinator and Vice President.
  • Meeting Minutesto the Historian and the Webmaster
  • Also to the Communications Coordinator while she is filling in for the Webmaster.
  • Newsletter-to Chapter Presidents, Member Planet and on site.
  • Communications Coordinator-Kay Bradshaw

Newsletter Update

When email questions need to be sent out, cc Kay.

  • Education Coordinator –Theresa was unable to attend, Sheila read questions emailed from Theresa
  • IOG UCF is in the process of wrapping up their end of the documentation for the 2017 CES exam.
  • Sheila would like to consider an Electronic Signature on the CES Certificates to speed up the process, timing is important.
  • Sheila stated that we need to have consistency in the training for the CES class. Some classes have had PowerPoint training; other classes have had training from the manual. Ken had not been briefed on training formats that would be used, but was only told that it was discussed in a meeting.
  • Chapter Presidents please ensure the attendance sheets for the Chapter meetings are legible. Please print the information. If you have more than 1 sheet, make sure you are utilizing the page 1 of 2, 2 of 2 etc. Also, please email Theresa if you need blank sign in roster forms so that everyone is using the same form.
  • Concern mentioned-Due to members attending chapter meetings other than their own, Chapter Presidents don’t always know when their members have attended a meeting. Theresa is the only one that could verify this due to receiving the rosters. Ken suggested that the attendance be sent to John as well, this will also help to solicit new members.
  • IOG UCF is working on the recertification letters for the 2014 CES. If not out by October, we will be adjusting the due dates to give members sufficient time. Due dates for the recertification fee is Nov. 30, the fee is $50. If the payment is received after Nov. 30, there is a $25 late fee.
  • Kay stated there are no recertification certificates. This was addressed in the Certification Committee minutes, but no one can find it.
  • Lori motioned that we get recertification certificates and Scott seconded it. Everyone agreed, no one opposed.
  • Lori had previously requested a list of who was certified and for what year, so she would know who to get payments from and for what year. The lists that Lori has received are not correct. Due to an error that Theresa acknowledged, Theresa advised Lori that fees should be taken after the deadline for the 2013 recertification.
  • Sheila stated that guidelines need to be put in place for CES and recertification. Lists need to be obtained for each of who has been certified, what year and a list for recertification.
  • There are still CES statewide from different years that need to attend a meeting in 2017 per the requirements to keep up certification, Theresa will be verifying this information with the Chapter Presidents.
  • Sgt. At Arms/Historian-information provided by Scott Feldman
  • The Nikon Camera and the laptop have not been turned over from the former Historian Linda Hypes.
  • Lori suggested that a list of PEAF Property be created along with which board member it is assigned to.
  • What needs to be done with documents? Shelia advised scanning them, then shredding the document.
  • What needs to be done with former photos? They should go on a flip drive then uploaded to the website.
  • Within 14 days of the Conference, photos should be uploaded. This information needs to be added to the guidelines.
  • Conference Planner-information provided by Deborah Lanni
  • Members attended-150 members attended the conference and 1 attended just the Certification Class and test without going to the conference.

Issues or concerns about hotel

  • All of the hotel issues have been covered and addressed withthe Wyndham liaison, Larissa. We do have a contract with this hotel for the next 2 years.
  • Ken stated the contract has a 30 day period written into it that the contract can be cancelled, just submit a letter stating the problems.

Evidence Technology Magazine

  • This magazine would like us to start advertisingfor free. Deborah will send information to Kay, thenKay will help provide information to the magazine.

Webmaster-Ed Bigley was unable to attend. This section was addressed by Sheila.

 Facebook Hits Update

Member Planet

  • Member planet needs to be utilized more for questions from the members, this will cut down on our work emails.
  • Elizabeth suggested that Chapter Presidents put the questions into Member Planet
  • Chapter Presidents
  • Chapter 2 -information provided by Deborah Lanni
  • Dec 5 1100-1300 Chapter 2 will have a meeting at Patterson Pope, it is the last meeting of the year.
  • Chapter 3 President Chandra Gaines
  • Asked if there is anything that we do for retiring members? We have not done anything in the past, but discussed making them an honorary member. Guidelines will need to be created which will include how long you’ve been a member of PEAF. John will create an Honorary Member Certificate and they can be given a PEAF Coin.
  • Chapter 4 President Elizabeth Kamerick
  • Nov 17th is the Chapter 4 Holiday Meeting
  • Jan 25th is the Vendor Meeting
  • Next PEAF Board Meeting is January 27,2018, location to be announced
  • Motion to Adjourn by Yoli, seconded by Ken at 1417.