Skip to Content
By PORAC | July 1, 2015 | Posted in Chairman's Message

Chairman’s Message

FRED ROWBOTHAM Chairman

In the last issue of PORAC Law Enforcement News, I discussed several new policies that we are rolling out. If you didn’t catch that article, I invite you to look back to it at https://digital.911media.com/i/518967-2015-06-june-2015. As a follow-up to that article, I bring you this update.

I am proud to announce that the LDF trustees unanimously adopted my proposal for a Trustee Code of Conduct. This policy outlines what the members can now expect from each trustee of this Board.

You, as an individual participant, can expect confidentiality in your personal matters, and the members as a whole can expect continued transparency in how we do business. Each and every LDF meeting is, and always has been, open to members to attend. And everyone within the Legal Defense Fund family, from members to association leaders to service providers who work for us, can know that the decisions we make are being made for the right reasons, without favoritism or prejudice.

No trustee may receive a gift or gratuity, regardless of value, from any service provider, under any context, regardless of any previously existing relationship, business or otherwise. Again, everyone can be assured that decisions are being made on their merits alone, without undue outside influence.

The only exception provided for in this policy will be if the trustees, in an open meeting of the full Board of Trustees in front of any attending members, discuss and fully vet a particular event/gratuity, and the trustees make a finding of benefit to the members and the Fund by our participation in that event/gratuity.

An example of an acceptable event/gratuity may be the Annual Conference of Members, where some firms and vendors host a social hour or dinner event. I can imagine that the trustees may make a determination that our attendance at such an event benefits the Fund as a whole by providing an opportunity for us to directly interact with, and hear from, members and service providers.

The Board of Trustees is also in the process of adopting an Attorney Code of Conduct for LDF panel attorneys. As is seemingly the case with anything involving attorneys … the proposed Attorney Code of Conduct is taking a little longer to be finalized than is to my liking. Shockingly, this concept was not wholeheartedly embraced by all of our service providers. But rest assured, the details are being hammered out and this important policy will be implemented soon.

Many conversations in law enforcement circles center on taking care of one another, and rightfully so. This concept should be more than just the here and now. Taking care of each other in the law enforcement community means also taking care of our collective tomorrows. PORAC is taking care of both, on many fronts. Be it addressing local issues at a city council meeting, such as municipal bankruptcy or even the elimination of a police department, PORAC is there at the meeting and working behind the scenes. PORAC is taking care of our tomorrows by fending off attacks on our hard-earned pension benefits.

This week, I was approached by a good friend who works at another agency. He presented an interesting analogy to me, and it went something along these lines: Some local associations struggle with getting 100% membership because there always seems to be that one guy or gal who says, “Why become a member? They will lobby or bargain for my interests even if I don’t join and pay dues.” He went on, “Well, today, against my wishes, I became that to PORAC — hoping they keep up the fight on my behalf even though my association dropped out.” He explained that he felt like a fair-share employee, hoping PORAC continues bringing benefits to him by way of top-notch legislation but not contributing himself through PORAC membership. He was beside himself that his association leadership failed to see the irony in this as it fights for members within its own ranks!

How are these associations any different than your co-worker who refuses to become a member of your local association?

To be successful, we must continue to speak effectively with one strong voice. The only recognized voice for law enforcement labor in Sacramento is PORAC.