Region VIII Director’s Report

Ron Calkins

August, 2015

Our “spring” Regional Delegate’s meeting was held this year in Kansas City in late February in conjunction with the full Council of Chapters and Chapter Leadership Training. This transition to the new format still needs a bit of attention. There has been discussion to provide more time next year for both the business of the Council committees as well as the Regional breakout sessions.

I was fortunate to be able to visit a couple of Chapters since our meeting in Kansas City:

  • Monterey Bay, March 18: I was very pleased to join the Monterey Bay chapter for their bi-monthly meeting. There was very good attendance and great energy. Their internship, YP, scholarship and outreach programs illustrate chapter strength. I especially liked hearing the presentation of Cabrillo College students who had returned from Guatemala after working on a water project.
  • Nevada, April 29-30: Janis and I were pleased to join the Nevada Chapter for their spring conference to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Past President Ed and Jean Gottko were also there to join the activities. The most valuable part of the visit was the opportunity to meet with the Executive Committee for 3 hours before the Conference started. Branch officers and committee chairs joined the group for a total of 16 members. I was also pleased to address the general membership during the lunch program on Thursday.

APWA Board Actions

Summer Board Meeting (June, 2015)

The Board dealt with a number of key items:

  • Resignation of Peter King – Peter turned in his resignation in mid-May. It became effective mid-July per his employment agreement. A significant amount of attention was focused on selecting and hiring an interim Executive Director (Past-president Larry Frevert), creating a search committee and launching the process to hire a search firm and ultimately a new Executive Director.
  • FY16 Budget - The Board adopted the budget for the coming year. We are strong financially having weathered the great recession. Membership remains strong and we had a bit of extra capacity to focus on critical programs. The budget allows for an extra position to support Chapters from the financial reporting perspective and a second position to support the staff that arranges conferences and meetings.
  • The Toronto Congress turned out to be more successful than anticipated. A cushion of $300,000 had been carried over from the previous year in anticipation of smaller attendance north of the border. As it turned out this was not needed. The Phoenix Congress is tracking very well in terms of registrations and exhibit space.
  • Task Forces are being appointed to focus on Asset Management and a National Roadeo.