Holiday Message
-- From ACE President Bill Martinez

Date: 12/16/2007

During the holiday season many people take time to reflect upon what has transpired during the course of the past year. There have been many changes for me personally, such as my son graduating from college, my daughter graduating from High School, and now her leaving home and attending college on the East Coast. My wife and I are transitioning into the “empty nest” syndrome and trying to figure out what is next for us.

ACE and the CCC are also in transition. There have been retirements of long time C-1’s David Ruiz from the Greenwood Center, Mike Wall from Camarillo, and C-11 Jim Roberts from Pomona Center. Also C-1 Dave Dickey from the Tahoe Center accepted a medical retirement due to injuries he sustained on the job. I spoke with him recently and he wanted me to express his thanks to CSLEA for being there for him and fighting for him and his family.

We had the unfortunate and too early passing of two very dedicated Conservationists. I attended the funerals of both Kurt Delfino and Derek Watkins. Both of these fine men truly embodied what a Conservationist is and the dedication they had to serve others. They positively touched the lives of hundreds of corps members that were fortunate enough to be mentored by them. Their spirit will continue in our thoughts and prayers.

I want to thank all of the ACE members that submitted their ballots to elect the current ACE board of directors. Our former vice president, Nate Ortiz, was promoted to Conservationist Supervisor classification, and I am sure will continue to do a great job in supervising Conservationists’ at the Napa Center. As your ACE VP, Nate did an outstanding job in representing your interests by meeting with the CCC’s executive team, legislative representatives at the Capitol, as well as traveling to numerous CCC centers to meet with Conservationists. Nate was always the person I could rely upon to provide feedback and perspective on issues. His enthusiasm and follow-through will be missed. If you happen to cross paths with Nate, please take a moment and thank him for all of his work on all of our members’ behalf.

The CCC obviously is in transition with the appointment of former Conservationist David Muraki accepting the position as CCC Director. The ACE Board of Directors has met with Mr. Muraki and we are hopeful that under his leadership the CCC can survive the next round of mandated budget cuts. During our meeting with Mr. Muraki, we discussed the opportunity to utilize the lobbying resources of CSLEA to meet with legislators to promote the CCC’s mission. He is interested in this concept, and I will meet with him after the holidays to discuss the opportunities further.

The New Year also brings us into a new round of contract negotiations with the state. Please submit your negotiations proposals to any ACE Board member ASAP. If there are any items in the contract that you feel we need to adjust and clean up or change language to benefit all members, such as spikes and emergency language, please let us know.

I attended a couple of days of the C-1 Summit in Sacramento and met with many C-1’s. We held a general, membership meeting that was well attended by Conservationists as well as CSLEA staff. Our Unit 7 President Alan Barcelona addressed the crowd and was effusive in his praise of all Conservationists and the difficult and demanding jobs we do. He stated that in the upcoming contract negotiations that CSLEA will fight hard for pay increases to benefit all safety employees. CSLEA Chief Counsel and General Manager Kasey Clark was also in attendance and answered questions regarding the upcoming arbitration for our safety-retirement formula to be put in place for all prior service in Unit 7 classifications before July 2004. This is a huge arbitration for us, and we are confident in a positive outcome for Unit 7 members.

In closing I want to wish each and every one of you a happy and joyous holiday season.