November, 2013
Greetings fellow firefighters. I hope this message will find you all well as we go into another holiday season. As usual I will share with you a few of my random thoughts and highlight some recent activities. Your Executive Board is busy as usual conducting regional fire schools, planning for the upcoming legislative session and always looking for ways serve our firefighters and improve the KSFFA. As we try to attend every possible fire service function, sometimes it is just impossible to do. Please understand if one of our board members can’t attend your function and do know we will support you in every way possible.
Attendance at recent fire schools has shown an increase and I can’t thank you enough for your support. I make it no secret one of my highest priorities is to increase attendance at all of our regional schools. The October regional fire school hosted by the Kansas City Kansas Fire Department had great attendance and judging from the evaluation sheets, everyone who attended came away with a great experience. I congratulate the KCK Fire Department on hosting this successful school and personally thank Chief John Paul Jones for making training a priority. The team that put together this school also deserves our applause. The registration process was easy and accurate, the venues were very conducive to a quality training experience and the instructors were top notch. If you missed this school, you missed an opportunity to learn from some of the best instructors in the fire service today. As those who have been selected to host regional schools for 2014 begin to plan for their school, I ask that you really take a long hard look at what you want your school to deliver to our firefighters. Ask area departments what they need as well. We find that a mix of classroom instruction coupled with hands-on training brings firefighters to the training. We have a delicate balancing act trying to bring sometimes initial basic firefighting instruction along with advanced levels of training for our more seasoned firefighters. I ask those of you with some years in the service, PLEASE bring that experience to the schools. That can only enhance the total learning experience for everyone.
At the direction of our last conference, the KSFFA Executive Board has contacted organizations and associations to meet and share their legislative priorities for the upcoming legislative session. The response has been very good and I will report back to you as the process continues. Communication is the key to avoiding misunderstanding. We all know when the Kansas Fire Service speaks with a unified voice, our elected officials do listen. Invitations to elected officials to attend and address our regional fire schools will continue. We are forging very strong friendships with Senators and Representatives across the state. These meetings help us to put a face to the Fire Service with the Legislators and I am highly confident somewhere down the road it will pay huge benefits for us. Initial planning is beginning for our Legislative Reception next February where I will once again ask for as many firefighters as possible to contact your legislator, invite them to attend and then come meet them in Topeka. The time, date and location will be sent out in a future FireWire and also on our webpage.
Members of the Executive Board travelled to Des Moines, Iowa to participate in the MidWest States Networking Meeting. This meeting occurs every year with representatives from our neighboring Firefighter Associations. The purpose is to come together and brainstorm ideas to enhance our associations for our members. Topics of discussion this year included management of membership rosters and information, building memberships, firefighter training, benefits, insurance coverage and SAFER grants. I am always struck by the fact that as much as we are very different in make-up, our problems and challenges are eerily similar. We hope to borrow some of the success stories from our neighbors and apply them to our association for your benefit. We are always interested in anything that can enhance membership in the KSFFA. I also always ask for your input. What can we do to provide better service to you as an individual member and also for your department?
Coming to the end of another year, dues statements will be mailed to every department. The option of being NVFC members will again be offered this year and I must remind you that for every member of your department to receive their very own copy of the FireWire, a small charge of four dollars per member is all it takes. I encourage you to ask your Chief to please help us get more information in your hands and include that fee. Also we must have a current roster so that we can know who our members are.
As always, I close with the message of service to our firefighters. Your executive board serves at your pleasure and we do want to be of the very best service to you. I ask you to please contact any of our officers if you have any question, suggestion or complaint. We are and will remain “Dedicated to the Safety and Education of the Kansas firefighter”
I wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas.
JL Ellis, President KSFFA
jlellis@st-tel.net
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