Association Manager Report – July

Welcome to the July issue of the CALSAGA eNewsletter!  In thinking about putting together the newsletter this month, I found myself reflecting back on the fact that we launched this newsletter a little more than a year ago.  Certainly nothing earth-shattering – but I hope that in the past year, you have enjoyed the stories and the new format CALSAGA has delivered them.

On Thursday, July 16 in Oakland and Friday, July 17 in Los Angeles, CALSAGA was a featured presenter at the International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety Symposium.  CALSAGA Northern California Vice President David Travers and Deputy Association Manager William Hodges spoke at the Northern California event, while CALSAGA President Roy Rahn and CALSAGA Legal Advisor Barry Bradley participated in the Southern California event.   

Both events were an opportunity to introduce hospital security executives to CALSAGA, as well as give attendees an update on legislative and regulatory changes impacting proprietary security in California.  CALSAGA was well represented and we developed some good new contacts, as well as potential new leads for future speaking engagements.  One of our goals this year was to create more speaking opportunities for our association leadership and to date, we’ve done a fairly solid job.  If you have a potential speaking engagement you think would be good fit for CALSAGA, please be sure to let our staff know and we’ll look into it. 

On the legislative front, meal period reform still remains our top priority, despite the slow-going of late.  Without question, the State’s budget impasse slowed progress and now that California has a budget in place, we are hopeful that discussions will resume in the coming weeks once legislators are back from summer recess. 

As you know, SB 741 made it out of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations on July 15 and is now headed to the Assembly Floor for a vote we anticipate will happen in mid-August.  We will continue to keep you updated on progress with either issue. 

On July 9, the CALSAGA Board of Directors met in Orange and discussed the priorities for the remainder of 2009, the possibility of new changes to the by-laws making service on the Board a two-year commitment and reviewed the overall financial health of CALSAGA.  Despite tough economic times, the organization is in sound financial shape and our membership level has held steady.

We appreciate the continued support!

Regards,

Jeff Flint, Association Manager