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Message from
MSVFA Chair:
Message from MSVFA Chair
The NVFC meeting is behind us and the MSFDA & MSFCA have emerged as the
association that will
represent the fire service in Minnesota for the next three years, as
the next challenge by NVFC
rules cannot be before this time period. Congratulations!
A new organization in Idaho with 125 members challenged and was successful three years ago and the new organization has not been at the NVFC meetings since. This caused the board to make a policy change that altered the way they choose members to the NVFC. This is a major reason that the MSFDA & MSFCA were successful at this conference.
Now the real work must start, to hold this group to a higher standard than there has been in the past. We will need to hear and be apprised of all the national business as a individual firefighter, not as an after thought.
President Winkel admitted to the NVFC during his presentation that he and the MSFDA has "dropped the ball" when it comes to supporting the volunteers at the NVFC.
The presidents of MSFDA & MSFCA are threatening a lifelong advocate of the fire service with censure at the very least and seem to be letting their minds wander to the extent of pettiness they will inflict. This advocate has done nothing less than advance the fire service for all firefighters in Minnesota, and for this to be questioned is tantamount to slander and harassment. At the NVFC conference the two hatter issue was discussed and what one does on one’s own time is exactly that, their business and the NVFC will be pursuing this to it’s logical conclusion, that you cannot penalize a person for belonging to and volunteering for more than one entity, on one’s own time, yet this appears to be precisely what the MSFDA & the MSFCA presidents are threatening to do.
These Presidents have made the statement that there were half truths in the presentation at the NVFC conference, yet again make no distinct reference to what that or they might have been, just innuendo. This advocate took time off of work to be at the NVFC conference so there would be no confusion as to the capacity he was there in.
A statement that is in the NVFC wrap-up (click here for report) made from the MSFDA presenter was made like this: (MSFDA) we explained that that unlike the other organization, we could wrap our hands around 15,000+ dues paying firefighters today. And they are stating that half truths were made by the MSVFA? The MSFDA has roughly 590 +/- dues paying members and the MSFCA has 2000+/- dues paying members. Last time I used math correctly that is 2590 in total, slightly 12,410 short of the 15,000 they offered to the NVFC in their presentation.
The director of Minnesota to the NVFC was appointed by the joint decision of the Presidents of the MSFDA & MSFCA and was reported to the Directors of the MSFDA as fact even though it has been past practice to elect a director at a MSFDA board meeting.
The Executive board changed this policy without the MSFDA board of Directors approving this, and lest they try to cover this up there is no written policy that exists, nor could it without director signatures attesting to this policy change.
Point of interest is that neither the appointed rep. or the alternate presented for the MSFDA & the MSFCA, the President of the MSFDA was the presenter, and when he found out that the MSFDA & MSFCA were successful by default the first call he made was to the MSFCA President, not even to his “own” board.
The association of the
MSFDA & MSFCA is complete with most members of both boards being
chiefs and by their actions have been reinforcing this by eliminating
any threat or perceived threat to absolute control within the fire
service.
The MSVFA believes that you are the most important part of this, the individual firefighter, politics and false accusations should be in our past, not rearing its ugly head again and again.
Cal Larson
Chair
MSVFA
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