The last few months have been very busy for me and they have included a lot of travel.  I have been to Nashville twice, one time for a meeting of the Future Planning Task Force, and once to attend and teach at the Leadership matters course.   I attended the Eastern States Coalition meeting in Fort Lauderdale as part of my duties on the future planning committee. I also accompanied our President to the state Presidents meeting in Little Rock Arkansas.  Just last week I was a panelist at a Will Aitchison seminar in Las Vegas where the topic was how to run a police or fire union.

With everything that has been going on, in my opinion the single most important thing is the work and the recommendations that have come from the future planning task force committee.  Last year the committee recommended that the FOP increase its commitment to labor.  It was that recommendation and subsequent vote by the National Board that has lead to the increased resources and abilities of our national labor services.  It was the opinion of the committee that in order to move the national FOP in the proper direction for continued growth and dominance, an increased presence in labor was essential.

After the success on the labor issue, the committee reconvened to see what other things would be critical to the National FOP’s continued success.  It didn’t take long for all of us on the committee to acknowledge that the national FOP is very weak in one area.  That is the area of per capita, or as we commonly call it, our dues.   In a nutshell, we pay $6.50 per member per year while the services that we receive cost well over $10.00 to deliver.  The only way that the national has been able to continue to provide the level of services that they do is that our national executive board, primarily our national president, have been spending an inordinate amount of time begging money from just about anyone who would listen.

There is a potential fatal flaw with relying on outside monies to provide essential services, and that flaw is that the money can go away.  We actually have seen a reduction in most of the programs that are providing those outside revenues, and without proper reaction we could end up in a deficit situation and ultimately an

organizational death spiral could occur.  For these reasons and many others, the task force for which I belong is recommending that the national per capita be raised from its current level of $6.50 to $8.00 in 2008 and then to $9.50 in 2009.  I truly hope that the members of my own state lodge will support this recommendation as I truly feel it is essential to our organizations well being.

I have continued my efforts to help the state lodge grow by continuing my contact with a couple of rather large groups who are considering membership with the FOP.  I have also had contact with numerous individuals who have contacted us about membership.  If you are aware of any groups or individuals who might be interested in membership, please let me know.

As always, I remain available for you or your lodge should you have any issue for which I can be of assistance.

Californians for Health Care & Retirement Security
The pension and GASB issues are distinct and separate issues.

Pension benefits are pre-funded using mostly income from investments with some payments by both the employer and the employee.Retiree health care has traditionally en funded on a pay-as-you-go basis.No one should confuse the implementation of new accounting rules

regarding long-term health care liabilities (GASB) with a current financial crisis. You don’t expect to pay your full 30-year mortgage in one month. We shouldn’t treat actuarial estimates of future retiree health care as a current expense either.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has already demonstrated a willingness to tackle the health care issue and by proposing universal coverage, the governor is addressing access to health care for all of us.

The problem is not retiree health care coverage; the problem is the overall cost of

the entire health care system. So while retirement health care costs are a piece of the larger discussion, health care coverage is absolutely crucial to retirees. It makes no sense to take health care away from retirees while we're working on health care for everyone. Pension plans are stable, solid and have performed well over the long term.

· As the Wall Street Journal pointed out this January, as the stock market has rebounded, so have most pension funds. In fact, the CalPERS and CalSTRS funds are strong.

· And the Commission may provide a way forward for all of us – both for retirement security and affordable health care. Working families deserve the pensions they have been promised and health care they can afford.

We believe it's time that we start to ensure that all of us have the chance of retirement security.

license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a photocopy of my passport when travel either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards.

1. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call.  Keep those where you can find them.

2. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

(But here's what is perhaps most important of all: (I would never even thought to do this.)

3. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert.  Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away. This weekend (someone turned it in).
It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.

Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, etc., has been stolen:
1.) Equifax:  1-800-525-6285
2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
3.) Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line):  1-800-269-0271

help a charitable cause, while the content may seem bona fide, the senders often are not.

7. Use the 'reply all' feature sparingly. You only meant to reply back to the sender with a smart aleck remark, but instead you hit 'reply all.' Now everyone knows what you think of the big boss ... including the big boss.

8. Don't paste massive lists into the 'to' section. Not everyone on your buddy list wants their e-mail address shared with everyone else. If you must e-mail to a diverse group outside your own company, consider entering your list in the BCC field and addressing the actual e-mail to yourself.

9. BCC isn't always blind. This combines the worst of the two previous warnings. When a recipient selects 'reply to everyone,' those listed in the BCC field will now show up in the new sender's 'to' field. If you don't want your BCC recipients revealed to others, send them a separate e-mail.

10. Read your company's e-mail policy. One-fourth of respondents to a survey of U.S. businesses reported firing employees for violating e-mail policies. Be warned: What you don't know could hurt you.