November 1999 Handshake

The I-dition (Internet Edition) of the Handshake does not always include all articles published in the printed edition

The first thing I wish to do is thank everyone that attended the annual convention and seminar under some of the worst conditions that we possibly could have had. Even though the storm hit right in the middle of the convention and crossed right through Florida, we had an average turnout for the General Assembly meeting. The vote approving my re-election was overwhelming and I thank each and every one of you for your vote of confidence and support, and for telling both myself and the rest of the Board that you are happy with the progress we have made this year.

The Executive Committee was reelected in its entirety for 2000. There are many new Board members serving in various regions throughout the state, and many veterans also return to the Board. To all, I say thank you, and look forward to an even better year next year than this one was.

In other voting, all of the amendments to the by-laws were approved including rejoining the NBFAA as a Chartered State Association. The Board of Directors is currently reviewing the contract and negotiating the terms.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors is December 4^th in Orlando. All of the incoming Directors as well as the outgoing Directors have been invited to attend. This will be a planning meeting for 2000 and I invite and encourage anyone that has the time to plan on being there. By hearing what our members say we can better meet the needs in the coming months and years.

If we don’t learn from our mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them. That is why I have asked all of the Past President’s (Steering Committee) to attend this meeting as well. By tapping into their insight and experience this Board will be able to make the right choices for our members in the future. Participation - that is what will make this association great.

Do you have email? If not, you are not receiving a lot of the timely information that the office sends out on a regular basis. Send me a note at royp@4guardian.com and I’ll add you to the list.

Wow!!! What a weekend! Yes, we did have Hurricane "Irene" to contend with and as I told you last month these storms scare me straight. I hope that all of you and all of your families are safe and well.

I know that my roof withstood only minimal winds and I still had three minor leaks. I cannot imagine anything stronger. The water came very near my front door but fortunately stopped. I understand that many of you were not so fortunate. Hopefully your insurance will carry the bad away and replace with the good.

In any event I was totally consumed during the storm with the activities of this year's convention. What a terrific crowd. Those who were able to be there had a great time and we enjoyed renewing old friendships and making several new ones.

I want to be the first to congratulate all those officers and directors re-elected and also congratulate those newly elected. I was especially pleased to see the high vote of confidence the members have shown in our re-elected State President, Mr. Roy Pollack.

Not only was he elected with an overwhelming mandate, he was voted by his peers as Most Valuable Person. There is no higher recognition from those who appreciate what you do. Roy, I salute you and all the very hard work that you have done and continue to do.

Above all to all of those who attended and participated my extreme thanks for your help, dedication and support. It was heart warming to have such a great group on both Friday and Saturday evening enjoying themselves and putting the business of this Association to rest until the coming year.

I also want to thank those who wanted to attend, but for family, home and business were unable to. You were missed but I know that we will see you there next year. Your priorities were indeed correct.

And last by not least I want to thank all those who handled those activities of the convention, from planning, to meals, to classes and most especially the auction. Our special thanks to A D I and ESL/Sentrol for their sponsorships and to A D I for the renewed sponsorship of the MVP award.

My congratulations and let's make our next 30th anniversary and opening of the millennium a special convention event. See you there!

Hurricane Irene may have blown into Orlando but the convention was not cancelled. We still had 60% of the people who registered participate. For the ones who could not participate, due to the storm, we more than understand their reason and hope to see them next year. Golf and the cruise luncheon may have been cancelled due to the rain and wind but our CE training classes and evening activities were well received. The Friday evening cocktail party, sponsored by ADI, and the buffet dinner enabled everyone to renew friendships and have discussions of the day in a pleasant atmosphere and setting. The calypso band provided background music that did not drown out the conversations. On Saturday, the Awards Dinner was an intimate setting. Awards were distributed by Chuck Bellissimo and Bob Neely. The presentation of the Most Valuable Person of the Year award was the highlight. Roy Pollack was the recipient this year.

AUCTION - Over 80 items were donated by Visonic, ATW Marine, Russound, OEM Systems, Napco, B&A Manufacturing Company, Mechanical Plastics Corporation, Elk Products, Detection Systems, ESL, Wheelock, Maximum Sales, GRI, Duracell, Welch-Allen, Linear, Edwards, Sentrol, Progressive Electronics, American Marketing, Firelite, Viking, Ideal, Ultrak, Labor Saving, Video Mount, Samsung, Revere and RBH Sound.

Kevin McCaffrey did a great job of contacting each of the suppliers and getting them to donate products for the auction this year. Mike Fletcher and Kevin kept the auction lively and hopping. The bidders all said they got great deals and nice products. A large amount was raised for the AIFF (Alarm Industry Foundation of Florida) for scholarships. A heartfelt thank you goes out to all that participated in this great cause.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY - (Overview not minutes) - The meeting was called to order by President Roy Pollack. It was verified that a quorum existed and introductions were made of all present. The Secretary's report was given by Bob Sammons. The minutes of the 1998 General Assembly were read, there was one correction. The Treasurer's report was then given by Clyde Thodey. Clyde made available to those present the audit report from the accounting firm of Purvis Gray and Company. The favorable report let the membership know that the AAF is in a sound state. The financial page was reviewed and discussed. Clyde noted that an escrow account had been established for the property taxes and the insurance on the building in Tallahassee. Membership annual dues will be mailed out December 15, 1999 and are payable by January 31, 2000.

1. Roy Pollack - Plan for 2000 - a rebuilding mission, bring on new members, have more training with schedules posted in advance and to work as a team. Discussion followed.

5. Ron Walters made a motion to help North Carolina alarm dealers that were hurt by hurricane "Floyd". It was suggested that companies wanting to make donations send checks to the AAF made out to NCNBFAA, and the AAF will forward them all at once.

6. A public service announcement was played, promoting the AAF. A lengthy discussion on the changes and content recommendations followed. Ron Toole and Norman Mugford will rework and present the new announcement at the next Board Meeting. Once approved, the membership can get a copy to give to their local radio stations.

7. Ron Walters made everyone aware that the False Alarm Reduction class will soon be a CE requirement.

ELECTIONS - secret ballots were submitted and were tabulated by Norman Mugford, Ron Toole and Marty Pomeranz. Roy Pollack - President; Bob Worthy - Vice President; Bob Sammons - Secretary; Clyde Thodey, Jr. - Treasurer; Directors- at-Large - Bill Pringle, Carl Davino and Bill Zeller.

Hurricane Irene made some changes to the scheduled Ladies Luncheon and cruise but the ladies didn't mind. The cruise was cancelled but the luncheon was held at the hotel. Everyone seemed to enjoy getting together and reminiscing over past conventions.

CE CLASSES - Elevator Recall, Employment Law, Fire Sprinkler Supervision and Construction Lien Law all seem to be very dry subjects. At the convention this year, over 20 people per class listened intently and had discussions on these topics. The presenters, Roy Pollack, Ralf Rodrigues and Jeff Goodz were able to inform the license holders on the current laws. After each class the "exit poll" was very favorable and people said they were very glad they were able to participate. The AAF is glad that training can be provided for the members and that there is such a positive response to the training. See you next year for more CE classes.

RAFFLE - during the convention 50/50 raffle tickets were sold for a drawing that was held at Saturday's Awards Dinner. You did not have to be present to win and as it turned out Judy and Clyde Thodey were the winners. The number was posted on the web page on Monday. They saw the number on the web page, called the office and after verification were announced as the winners of $135.00. Congratulations!

MOST VALUABLE PERSON AWARD - Each year the highlight of the convention is the presentation of the prestigious "Most Valuable Person" award during the Awards Dinner on Saturday night of the convention. For those of you that are not aware, the membership votes by secret nomination ballot for the person who has supported the programs and mission of the Alarm Association of Florida and the alarm industry in general without regard for personal or pecuniary gain. We are please to have ADI as the sponsor for this honor once again.

Steve Creasey from ADI presented the award this year. He stated that the person being honored had worked hard all year for the betterment of the Association and had taken on an enormous task and came to the table ready to work. Steve declared, "I'm pleased to announce this year's winner is …Mr. Roy Pollack!" Roy received a standing ovation as he accepted his award.

Miami – Dade Police have recently set up a task force to stop drivers of vans, and pickup trucks, and issue tickets for not having proper lettering on the vehicles identifying the company, address, phone number and applicable license numbers on them.

While the intention of this ordinance seems noble, the results of this rule, achieves a less desirable outcome.

If the intention of the 8A-276 Commercial Vehicle Identification Ordinance is to stop illegal contractor activity as we are all in agreement with, then that should be all it does.

The ordinance however only specifies that vehicles that are “designed” for commercial activity must have the lettering and does not specify how the police are to determine the difference between a privately owned pickup truck, and one owned and operated by a commercial enterprise.

Here lies the problem for residents of Dade County. If I am on my way to mow grandma’s lawn on Saturday, and have a mower in the back of my truck, I cam be stopped and cited, fined, even arrested for not properly operating my vehicle (lettering).

Several complications occur. First, private vehicle owners of vans and pickup trucks cannot technically carry any tools in their cars without appearing to be in violation and subject to fines, and arrest.

Second, company owned vehicles with lettering that comply with one ordinance within the county actually violate another, if the vehicle is driven home by an employee who lives in a community within the county that restricts the presence of commercial vehicles in the driveways of residents.

A major concern is the potential this provides for the potential “profiling” of vehicles which may appear to be illegal due to their age and condition. If you own an older truck, which appears to be used for work, you will be more likely stopped and cited for violation.

Back to the intention. If this ordinance causes more problems than good, which for many Dade County citizens seems to be the case, than it should be modified or eliminated.

Does it serve a purpose? Does required lettering truly reduce or eliminate fraudulent contractor activity?

After Hurricane Andrew, Dade County required all contractors to bear ID cards. We made them ourselves. Roadside stands were set up to photograph and create these cards. Did this rule have any affect on reducing fraudulent contractor activity? Not really!

If Dade County wants to make a real difference in reducing unlicensed contractor activity, they could return to recommendations made by the Alarm Association of Florida in 1993, which included stings, stakeouts, and restrictions of police response to alarm systems without a building permit included on the alarm registration.

Stopping every pickup truck on the street for suspicion of a crime doesn’t seem to be the answer.

How does the county know if the lettering that appears on a truck is even valid?

If a fraud will lie to a consumer, What will keep them from producing phony lettering on a truck?

How will police verify the contractors license number if a truck is stopped on a Saturday when the D.B.P.R. is closed?

We need some answers, for the benefit of Dade County residents being stopped in the name of fighting crime unnecessarily, for the benefit of Dade County citizens wanting better protection of unlicensed contractors, and for the relief of legal contractors who employ trucks that either cannot, or need not be lettered to prove the right to work.

Dade County has not yet responded except to explain the language of the ordinance as it was written several years ago when trucks were not as trendy a ride.

WELCOME NEW APPLICANTS

Alert 1 Security, Inc

E.A.S. Industries, Inc.

ProStar Security, Orlando & Miami

Sonitrol Management Corp.

Sonitrol of Tampa / St. Petersburg

Sonitrol of Jacksonville

Sonitrol of Lakeland

Sonitrol of Ft. Myers

Mike Fletcher - Life Member

President Roy Pollack has called for a full Board of Directors meeting on December 4, 1999. The meeting will start promptly at 8:30 a.m. All incoming and outgoing Board members are asked to attend this event. We need your help, expertise and planning abilities for this meeting. It will determine the outcome of many of the items on our agenda for this next year. Be prepared for a full day of strategy and planning for a lot of activities for the coming year. Bring your thinking caps for some new ideas and problem solving.

Renaissance Orlando Hotel - Airport
5445 Forbes Place
Orlando, Fl 32812
(407) 240-1000 or 1(800) hot-els1

Directions - take the BeeLine (Rt. 528) East past 2 toll booths (one is 50 cents and one is 75 cents). After the second toll both there will be an exit for Orlando International Airport/ Route 436 North. Once there, make a left at the first traffic light (9 story blue & white building), then the first right. If flying into Orlando there is a shuttle from the hotel. Just call on arrival at the courtesy desk ground floor.

November 1999 Handshake I-dition