FRATERNAL
ORDER OF POLICE
LODGE 123
OKLAHOMA
CITY
The
DECEMBER 2009 Meeting was held on the 10th
The JANUARY 2010
Meeting will be held on 14th
Drawing will be
$300.00
108 Members signed in for the December meeting. Please be
sure and sign in each meeting you attend.
Drawings: $50.00 Alan Davison, winner.
$250.00 Christopher Swanson & Dale
Sneed, neither were present.
Rock
River Rifle Randy
Chapa
Oklahoma
City Police Officers
Killed
in the Performance of Duty
During
the Month of December
Officer
Jesse H. Sosbee 1922
Officer
Douglas W. Gates 1933
Officer
Reese F. Galyon Jr. 1951
Officer
Eugene H. Mills 1954
BE
CAREFUL OUT THERE !
Call to Order.
The minutes from the November meeting were accepted as
mailed without objection.
Motion made by Jim Gibbons and seconded by the Executive
Board to accept the recommendations of the Board of Directors on the following
items;
- Donate
$2000.00 to member Danny Fitzwilliams, requested by member Tamara Smithee. - Authorize
the expenditure of up to $500.00 for the OK State FOP winter board meetings. - Authorize
the expenditure of $105.00 for website training for members updating lodge
webpage.
Motion passed.
Motion made by Jim Gibbons, seconded by Randy Kirby to
accept 30 officers from recruit class 127 as members of Lodge 123.
Motion passed.
Motion made by Jim Gibbons, seconded by Craig McBride to
accept Councilman J. Brian Walters as an Honorary Member of Lodge 123.
Motion passed unanimously.
Motion made by Alan Davison, seconded by Jesse Gutierres to
thank Mr. Russ Hanson at (405) 314-7877 for his donation of four ricks of firewood
to member Keith Simonds.
Motion passed.
Motion made by Jesse Gutierres, seconded by Mark Nelson to
send a letter of condolence to the Lakewood Washington Police Department in
reference to the loss of four Officers.
Motion passed.
Motion made by Mark Nelson, seconded by Richard Boyd to
repay member Corey Nooner $300.00 for his out of pocket expenses related to the
“Not This Maps” campaign website
Motion passed.
Motion made by Mark Nelson, seconded by Ron Keef to destroy
the ballots from the November elections.
Motion passed.
****CORRECTION****
The November newsletter failed to report that Parliamentarian Mark Nelson was
re-elected to his position for the 2010 Executive Board. ****CORRECTION****
Brothers and Sisters,
On December 8, the voters of Oklahoma City approved the MAPS 3 tax
proposal which we opposed. Some may see
this as a defeat for your lodge. I
strongly disagree. While we obviously
would have preferred those tax dollars to have gone to public safety, we were
able to get our message about the manpower shortage before the people. Even though we were outspent approximately
forty to one and most of the media refused to fairly cover the story, over
thirty four thousand voters indicated they agreed with us.
Some lessons were learned by both sides in this
campaign. Sadly for us one of the
lessons was that if you have enough money you can buy anything except Oklahoma
City Police Officers. But one of the
things that the other side learned was that it is very expensive to oppose us
both in money and concessions. Because
of public statements the Mayor and others made to pass their package you will
not see any personnel reductions this fiscal year. Despite what anyone tells you I have personally
confirmed this with the City Manager.
Mr. Couch told me, while the City will obviously have to find a way to
cut their budget, he will not recommend personnel cuts in police and fire and
does not believe the City Council will make any. This would not have been the case had you not
made the public stand you did. Your
lodge leadership is continuing to explore other avenues of increasing manpower.
I am very proud of those of you who gave your time and
energy to this effort. It’s amazing what
we can do when we are unified. While I
appreciate everyone’s dedication, I would like to individually cite Richard
Boyd for the long days and nights he put in coordinating our ground effort.
We should know the results of our contract arbitration by
late this week. Other than that I am
happy to say that for the first time in recent memory we have no grievances or
arbitrations pending.
Over the next month the Vice-Presidents and I will be making
committee appointments for the coming year.
If you would like to be more involved and contribute to the success of
your lodge by serving on a committee please let us know before the first of the
year.
.
In closing, let me wish each and everyone of you and your
families a very happy and joyful holiday season and remind you that this is your FOP. It will be what you make it. Please
get involved.
Fraternally,
Gil Hensley, President
Lodge 123 Fraternal Order of Police