President's Message
The State of the CSFA: On track, engaged, and ready for a new year
As CSFA President, I want to give you an update on the State of the Association, and to quell any misinformation that may be circulating about our association. This communiqué contains the facts: yes, we have laid off some staff, and yes we have postponed (but not cancelled) our annual conference. However please allow me to explain these actions and how they are both related to prudent financial management and administration of your annual dues.
Like many other businesses, we have experienced our share of financial turmoil the past three years. When I was elected in 2004, we had an operating budget that was $700,000 greater annually that it is today. We relied heavily on donations and fundraising from the general public to augment member dues. Realizing that increasing dues is not popular, and in an effort to not cut programs, we looked to these outside revenue streams.
However, in bad economic times, those streams dropped significantly. The Board, along with the budget and finance committee, worked very hard to balance financial frugality with the needs of the members. As a result, the Board decided to eliminate an administrative staff position in Sacramento, and with Board concurrence, John Dane, our Executive Director resigned. The elimination of personnel will significantly relieve our budget challenges and those positions will remain vacant. Three field staff members have agreed to temporarily reduce their hours and have graciously volunteered some of their time as well. The NTA cancer and shortterm disability insurance field reps are also augmenting our staff members and have already signed up over 150 new CSFA members. Way to go NTA!
To handle day-to-day management in Sacramento, we selected Gene Gantt, retired Fire Chief from the Benicia Fire Department and long-time CSFA PAC trustee, as our Interim Executive Director. Gene has agreed graciously to be compensated very modestly and share his workload with the existing staff, Board members and committee chairs. I, along with other Board members have taken on additional projects formerly handled by the Executive Director to keep CSFA moving in a positive direction at less cost to the membership. The CSFA office staff has stepped up to the challenge and is working diligently to keep all of our various moving parts moving in concert and continues to serve you in the manner to which you are accustomed. We have about 100 staff, directors, deputy directors, committee chairs and committee members to delegate a little more work to, and that we will.
How does all of this affect me?
Financial challenges have hit everyone, and we are no different, but how we are handling those challenges is different. Luckily, the CSFA Board, deputies, chairs and committee members are not compensated, so the financial adjustments by eliminating paid personnel will provide a significant savings to the association. We have asked all committee chairs to eliminate out-of-state travel, and limit in-state travel to essential meetings only and use our video conferencing service in place of travel.
The Board decided to move the CSFA annual Conference back to its traditional time slot of September instead of March to spread out the cost to the association. Participating at Firehouse World and having conference in the same quarter stressed cash flow. Moving conference to September helps eliminate that issue.
We will be using more digital communication and more frequent eNewsletters to give members more information without the added costs of printing and mailing.
The Board conducts weekly conference calls keeping all of us informed and up to speed to ensure financial issues are handled without travel to Sacramento. We have been able to defer some financial obligations, and as a result of the adjustments we have and are making we will have a balanced budget throughout the remainder of this year.
The CSFA Board is very engaged in the challenges of operating the association in tough economic times. We know raising dues is like raising taxes, so we are not going to ask for a dues increase at this time. We are very confident we will have excellent news by the 2012 Conference.
I would like to thank the Board members, and our spouses who allow us to put in countless hours into this historic association we all love. My personal goal and guarantee is that CSFA will be working as hard for its members at our centennial celebration in 2022 as it is now, and even better with the new plans and programs that will generate new revenue for CSFA.
On behalf of the CSFA Board and staff I wish each of you a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous new year.
As always, be safe.
Kevin R. Nida, President
California State Firefighters' Association