Dear Members,

Nominations for our General Election officially closed on November 10, 2011 and letters of acceptance for nominations were accepted through November 17, 2011. Every open position has just one member who was nominated and/or accepted therefore all positions are unopposed and DECLARED ELECTED. Subsequently, no vote will be held for this year’s Unopposed General Election. As the IAFF Local 244 Sergeant at Arms and Election Committee Chair I would like to thank each and every member for their participation in the election/nomination process. I would also like to offer my personal congratulations to our new Executive Board Officers.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 505-288-2311.

Respectfully,

Richard Sanchez, Sergeant at Arms

IAFF Local 244

      2011 General Election Results:

• General President - Diego Arencón
• General Secretary - Brian Kadle

• Sergeant at Arms - Richard Sanchez
• City Chief Steward - Bob Lujan
• County Chief Steward - George Asi
• City 1^st  Steward - Bernie Martinez
• City 3^rd  Steward - Stephen Montoya
• City 5th Steward  - Kerry Horton
• County 1st  Steward - Tony Pittarelli
• County 3^rd   Steward - Marty Giron
• County 4th   Steward - Michael A. Garcia

The Albuquerque Area Fire Fighters Christmas Party will be held on December 17, 2011 at Hotel Albuquerque. Tickets are $20.00 and can be purchased at the union hall Monday through Thursday from 10am to 4pm. For more information call Kelly @ 505-288-2313.

Please submit nominations for Fire Fighter of the Year to iafflocal244@hotmail.com or in person at the General Meeting on November 10, 2011 for the Executive Board to consider. We will honor one member from each chapter with the Fire Fighter/Paramedic of the year and one general member for outstanding leadership.

The Children's Christmas Party will be held on December 11, 2011 at ITZ starting at 11am please call Kelly for your family's reservation.

The IAFF Local 244 is proud to be an annual sponsor for the New Mexico’s Bravest Football Game. There were over 3,000 people in attendance this year to watch the Fire Fighters vs. Cops charity football game. The Fire Fighters team won again for the third consecutive year in a row. We would like to acknowledge Brothers Sef Vigil and Chester Fuller for organizing this event. We were honored to be invited for the check presentation to Boys & Girls Clubs of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.

The IAFF Local 244 Executive Board has called for a Special Meeting to ratify the Holiday Sellback Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).  The meeting is scheduled for October 27, 2011 in accordance with the Article I, Section 3 and Article V, Section 6 of the IAFF Local 244 Constitution & Bylaws. The meeting will begin promptly at 10:00am at the Union Hall.

We are proud to present the 2^nd ‘That’s My Job’ Public Service Announcement produced by IAFF Local 244 focusing on Fire Fighter Paramedics. A special thanks to Kerry Murphy, Jeff Bussey, Emily Jaramillo and David Lujan. We would also like to recognize Lora Cunningham the Producer/Director of our PSAs for her professionalism. Please click links below to view the PSAs.

Paramedic Awareness PSA:

http://www.youtube.com/user/IAFFLocal244TV#p/u/5/zDlUWZpZI4U  

Fire & Rescue PSA:

http://www.youtube.com/user/IAFFLocal244TV#p/u/17/W505llMGgoY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am8UJ6bo52I

We have done our job:

      ·         The Albuquerque Area Firefighters advocated for citizen and firefighter safety.

·         Chief Breen identified public safety risks that demonstrated the need for a Westside Ladder Truck.

·         The City Council also recognized the significance of this priority and appropriated the funding.

·         The City Council Enacted the Resolution (R-11-236, No. R.2011.065) passing on an 8-1 vote with Councilor Brad Winter voting against.

·         We have justified the need to preserve the 15 Firefighter positions that were removed from the budget as a result of the agreement to return the operation of BCFD Station 29 to the County and re-deploy the AFD personnel to establish a much needed Ladder Truck on the Westside of Albuquerque. Ladder Trucks provide specialized functions in fire suppression and emergency rescues. The closest Ladder Trucks currently respond from downtown causing a domino effect of service gaps throughout the city.

Now, the Mayor must do his job and implement the Westside Ladder in November 2011:

·         The Mayor has yet to order the Fire Chief to implement the plan for the Westside Ladder.

·         Call or write Mayor Berry now and tell him to keep his word and fund public safety first!

·         Email: mayorberry@cabq.gov  Phone: (505) 768-3000

 Click link below to review the Council Resolution:

“This was a team effort,” said Lt. Michael Detten when describing the rescue on August 29, 2011. BCFD firefighters and paramedics successfully rescued a man that fell far down the side of the Sandia Mountain. The crew had to hike approximately 1 mile in to stabilize his dislocated shoulder and other injuries and then performed high angle rope rescue skills to haul him to safety. This marks the IAFF Local 244’s third ‘Honoring Our Own’ ceremony. We acknowledge BCFD Station 46, B for outstanding service with special recognition to Commander John Nash, Lt. Michael Detten, Engineer Brian Del Curto, Paramedic Shawn Benally, FF Kimberly Paiz and FF Joshua Casias among all the other personnel that made this rescue possible. Representatives from BCFD Training Division joined IAFF Local 244 President, Vice-President and Chief Steward in honoring their heroism.

On September 17, 2011 we honored 32 AFD Firefighters who retired in 2010 with engraved chromed axes at the annual AFD Retiree's Picnic. This marks the fourth year of the tradition of IAFF Local 244 and AFD Retiree Association presenting the union's gift  at the annual picnic in appreciation for their years of service. Special thanks to our brothers at Station 21 for assembling the axes before the ceremony. It was truly inspiring to see many generations of Firefighters, families and survivors celebrating together and sharing stories. IAFF Local 244 also presented a chromed axe to Sam Trujillo, President of the Retiree's Association for his leadership.

We honored our 2010 BCFD Retirees at last year and presented their retirement axes to them at the Christmas Party.

http://www.iaff.org/11News/091111.htm