Visit us at WWW.FFCA.ORG 5 A s we move out of this legislative session, I am happy to say we had a very successful year. While not without challenges, we were able to promulgate our own legislation and alter legislation that would have negatively impacted our members. We were very proactive in numerous arenas during this session and it seemed to pay off. We have signed a letter to the Governor requesting that he veto a bill that would further delay sprinkler retrofitting in some high-rise buildings, putting residents and firefighters at risk. Your Board of Directors has made some decisions that will give us an even stronger voice in Tallahassee. Next year, we will have members in Tallahassee for the entire session. If it is feasible to relocate our main office to Tallahassee, we will make it happen. That is an important change in philosophy from years past, and one that puts our association at the place where decisions are made. While change is not always easy, we feel that it important to do what is right for the members of this great association. We continue to improve our method of communication to our members via Voter Voice and Lobby Tools. Legislative communication should not be a one-way street. Our involvement is only as strong as our members, and we need everyone to get involved. Together, we are a strong force that can move mountains for the fire service. I would like to take a few moments to talk about our Lifetime Firefighter Certification. This was something that as President, I felt strongly about moving forward. We were fortunate to have Representative Jake Rayburn and Senator Kelli Stargel be our respective bill sponsors. Both worked hard to move our language through the various committees in Tallahassee. The bill was heard and unanimously passed on the floor. We are forever grateful to Representative Rayburn and Senator Stargel for their strong support of those who dedicated their lives to the fire service. We also had the support of CFO Jeff Atwater. Without CFO Atwater’s personal support, we could not have made this happen. CFO Atwater has been a true friend to the fire service and we will miss him as he moves forward from his current position. At the time of this writing, the bill is currently awaiting signing by the Governor. Well, what does lifetime certification do? The language allows that someone who has completed at least 20 years of service and was in good standing as a firefighter when he retired, may apply for the lifetime firefighter designation. For obvious safety reasons, the certification does not allow lifetime firefighters to actively participate in active firefighting after many years of separation without following some form of remediation and competency testing. The methodology is depicted in the new statutory language. The process gives someone a clear pathway to return to an active duty status, but for most, the designation is all we really wanted. As many of you know, our Firefighter Certifications are tied to our place of employment. While we can maintain the certification if one is a certified instructor that teaches a minimum of 40 hours or maintains full- time status as a fire inspector, this does little to help our retired members. Our certificate of compliance ends four years after we leave our place of employment. Like many of our members, I feel that I am a firefighter first and foremost. It is not what I do, it is who I am. I was not given that title or designation by my employer, it is something that I earned. I earned it over a lifetime. I personally dedicated well over 40 years of my life to this career, and do not want to lose that designation after I leave the employ of the city for which I currently work. I am passionate about the fact that after devoting our lives to this profession, we should be able to have the honor of being a firefighter until the day we die. When we finally are called to our last alarm, we should be able to be buried as a firefighter if we so desire. MESSAGE FROM THE FFCA PRESIDENT MESSAGE FROM THE FFCA PRESIDENT Daniel R. Azzariti https://www.facebook.com/FlFireChiefsAssociation/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/florida-fire-chiefs @FlFireChiefs Please check us out on social media