In 2021, at the height of the Covid pandemic, then Chapter President Jed Douglas contacted me to see if I’d be interested in serving on the EC. “You’ve been nominated…,” he stated. Honored, I accepted a role on the Long Beach Chapter EC. It turns out that the only person who knew my name was Jed Douglas, but that’s another story!
The truth is, serving this Chapter on the EC, first as Program Chair and Member Chair in 2021, then as Vice-President in 2022, and now as your Chapter President has been an incredibly rewarding experience. In fact, I want to take a page from Jed’s playbook and tell you all what he told me—you’re nominated to serve!
In the coming months, and in accordance with the ASSP and Long Beach ASSP by-laws, we will begin the annual process of electing members to the Executive Committee. Only a few of the positions are elected (Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary), and the remaining positions are appointed. Because the Vice-President automatically becomes the President for the following term, members are electing their future President when they cast their votes for Vice-President.
As Past-President, Karen Townsend will serve as our Elections Chair for the 24-25 term elections. Under our by-laws, we must establish an Elections Nominating Committee by January and hold elections in April.
I want to strongly encourage all of you to consider standing for an elected position or volunteering to serve in one of the appointed positions for the 24-25 term. Service to the ASSP and the Chapter builds strong leadership skills and credentials, it allows you to give back to the safety community, and it is an amazing networking opportunity as you meet your fellow safety professionals from every walk of life, every career path, and across multiple industries.
I am extremely proud—exceedingly so, and profoundly grateful for the service of your current EC members, all of whom are shown on the previous page. These men and women all have fulltime jobs, and several of them have more than one! They are safety professionals across a wide spectrum of industries, and they are all at different points in their respective careers. They have different educational backgrounds and certification statuses. In short, they are a fantastic representation of our members!
None of us seems to have an extra moment to spare these days, and yet these volunteers put in several hours a month to ensure that our Chapter is doing all it can to provide each of you with great educational opportunities, networking opportunities, continuing education units to support your certifications, and so much more. They do it because they love the profession they serve, and I invite all of you to drop them a line sometime to let them know that you appreciate their efforts.
Registration at the Education and Networking sessions since July has been absolutely tremendous! Thank you for your support as we strive to come back even stronger post-pandemic. If you have suggestions for presentations, please let us know. If you’ve attended one of the recent events and have ideas for how to make them even better, we would love to hear from you.
October is a very busy month for us as we all gather to attend the Joint Technical Symposium in Carson on October 12th. On the 19th, we gather at CSUDH for our monthly Education and Networking Session. Then, on October 25-27, Luis Ortiz and I will attend the Fall Region 1 Operating Committee meeting.
The rest of the year will find our focus to be on family and friends as we all settle into the holiday season. Our Chapter is planning social events for both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and we hope to see you at those.
In the Spring, our Chapter, together with the Orange County Chapter, hopes to host the Spring Region 1 Operating Committee meeting. Our respective chapters are submitting a proposal to bring the bi-annual meeting to Long Beach, so stay tuned for more information about that exciting possibility!
Finally…just THANKS. For everything you do day in and day out for our profession, for ASSP, and for the workers you strive to protect, know that you are appreciated.
Chris Rainwater
President, ASSP Long Beach Chapter