I bring you greetings from Dan Ariaz, AMCA President. Dan is unable to be with us today. If he were here we would have debated some of the issues facing our organization as we approach the 21st century. I anxiously look forward to the annual meeting in February when Bill Zawicki will become the first industry representative to be sworn in as President of AMCA. I believe that Bill and I have a better ability to communicate with each other and we fully agree that an office manager is not an Executive Director of our organization.
My first two years as the North Atlantic Director of AMCA have been extremely frustrating. I now know the feelings that Ken Ludlam had during the tumultuous years of the Robert Graham administration as Executive Director.
As President Elect, Bill has called upon the Past Presidents Committee to review whether the need exists for an Executive Director, and if so what would be his responsibilities. I am supportive of the need for AMCA to hire an Executive Director. Unlike previous choices that have backfired on us, this individual must be someone with a background in mosquito control.
In 1997 I was asked by then President Gary Clark to prepare a questionnaire addressing a number of important issues facing our organization. I did a somewhat comprehensive job and came up with a nine-page survey. That survey was never distributed because it was too long. I have brought copies of that document with me so that I can, with your cooperation, compare the results of your answers to the questions with those of the watered down survey that was sent to the membership.
If you could take ten or fifteen minutes during the course of this meeting to complete the questionnaire and return it to me, I will be able to compare the results of the two surveys. With these in hand I should be able to show the other members of the BOD at the annual meeting in St. Louis, that the results of a survey are based upon the questions that are asked and how they are phrased.
The Association has made a major commitment to gathering information on pesticide usage by mosquito control agencies in the U.S. Based upon information returned to the central office business manager only 14% of the agencies responded. The regional directors have been asked by the central office to make contact with the state and regional associations to determine the existence of agencies that were included in the AMCA database. I have distributed a sheet that indicates those agencies that are listed which have not responded to the request. At the last meeting I attended with the Pennsylvania Vector Control Association, many of their agencies that were shown as non-responders had actually never received the survey, and most of the others were no longer in existence. I would ask that after reviewing the list, a representative of each state advise me of the status of these non-responding agencies.
Our representatives in Washington, Dr. Warren Stickle and George Wichterman, to show officials at USEPA and other regulators of mosquito programs that our programs are conducted using the principles of IPM, will use the results of this voluntary survey. If we cannot raise the response level to over 20% the EPA will "defer to default assumptions." By doing so they will use a very conservative model to establish benefit/risk assessments. If that scenario occurs we will undoubtedly lose some of the insecticides that mosquito control professionals currently rely upon.
The third issue I would like to bring to your attention is a proposal to build or buy a facility in Lake Charles, LA. This building would serve as the headquarters of AMCA. President Ariaz has appointed a committee to review all options concerning the feasibility of purchasing or constructing a new facility, as opposed to negotiating a new lease for what the central office staff considers to be an undersized office area. It should be pointed out that the size of the current office is approximately 1,000 square feet and the staff consists of two people. Either of the first two options would require using $50,000.00 in cash, and obtaining a mortgage on the balance of about $85,000.00 to $100,000.00. The principal and interest charges on the loan plus utility costs would be lower than the current lease payment of $1,100/month inclusive. The current lessor has indicated a willingness to extend our lease, but at a "reasonable" increase in rent.
To date I have not found any support for buying or building. In fact a number of people have questioned why the AMCA is committed to staying in Lake Charles. This has led to some interesting information regarding the transition from California to Louisiana. This took place when Harold Chapman succeeded Thomas Mulhern as Executive Director of AMCA. Mr. Chapman lived in the Lake Charles area and the local mosquito control program made free space available for use as a headquarters for AMCA. After a few years the local health department, whose property it was originally, reclaimed the space and it became necessary to find a leased location. When Mr. Chapman retired no effort was made to relocate the office I would appreciate your input toward helping me make a decision in this matter. The Board of Directors will take formal action at the annual meeting.
Perhaps one of the most important events that AMCA has ever been involved with is our first Washington Day Event. Under the aegis of our consultant, Warren Stickle, we will conduct a two-day program at a Washington, D.C. location to accomplish a number of goals. First we will hold educational meetings for AMCA members on the importance of legislative and regulatory issues. Secondly, we will broaden our political base by meeting with key Capitol Hill staffers and regulatory decision-makers. The third positive outcome will be our enhanced visibility to our respective congressional delegations and USEPA, National Marine Fisheries, USDA, CDC, NIH, US Fish & Wildlife Service and others. This event will be held during the month of May. The exact time and location have yet to be determined. Everyone should be notified long before the meeting so that you can make provisions to attend.
There are currently nine regional directors of AMCA. Under a recently adopted Bylaw change, only two of those directors are members of the newly formed Executive Committee. The role of the Executive Committee is to conduct the business of the Association between meetings of the Board of Directors. I didn't support the bylaws change . My reason was that in today's business world with so many communication capabilities, it is so easy to get feedback in a timely manner from all board members. I saw no reason to exclude nine elected members of the BOD from participation in fulfilling their responsibilities.
Because of my intervention during last year's election the central office has finally begun to send ballots out using the proper format. All candidates for office are required to sign a form indicating that they are desirous of seeking office and will serve if elected. Provisions have also been made to follow the Bylaw recommendation that all ballots be placed in an unmarked envelope, inside an envelope bearing the signature of the paid up member. This has resulted in only members in good standing being eligible to cast a ballot.
As all AMCA members should know, a vote was recently held on changing the name of the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association. The BOD unanimously supported the name change based upon recommendations made by the editorial board and the publications committee. The majority of those voting, once again defeated this proposal. Of those voting for the name change a small majority preferred Mosquito and Vector Research to International Journal of Vector Control. It is highly unlikely that there will be another attempt to change the name in the near future. We all remain hopeful that we will continue to attract sufficient participation by researchers.
Bob Kent and I are members of the Finance Committee. No new activities or contractual obligations are supposed to be undertaken prior to review and approval of the Finance Committee. Within the last month, President Ariaz, without Finance Committee review, obligated the Association to a two-year contract with Mr. Don Menard of Louisiana to serve as Webmaster of the AMCA website http://www.mosquito.org. Over the years Mr. Menard has contributed significantly to the development of the website. However, within the past year he had indicated to the chair of the Cyberspace Committee that he couldn't continue to serve on the Cyberspace Committee, and that he had no interest in the management of the website.
The BOD had established the Cyberspace Committee as a standing committee at the interim BOD meeting in St. Louis. They further stipulated that the Cyberspace Committee would be responsible for preparing the criteria for a Webmaster and also conduct the selection process. Neither stipulation was followed in this unilateral action by the President. I shall vote to rescind the action taken by Mr. Ariaz.
During the 1997 Association year I was not a BOD liaison to any of the standing committees. President Gary Clark asked me to serve as liaison to an ad hoc Futures Committee. The role of that committee was to come up with a long-range plan for the Association. At the interim BOD meeting in Sparks, I asked Dr. Clark to reinstate the Membership Committee. I did so because I didn't feel that the appropriate way to generate revenue should rely on raising dues and registration fees for those people who were already funding and supporting AMCA. Dr. Clark saw some merit in my proposal and the BOD approved the establishment of the committee. We were supposed to nominate members to the committee and select a chair at the 1998 annual meeting. However it was not on the agenda. Mr. Ariaz had reviewed my proposal and deemed it to be too conscientious. Instead he proposed an effort to establish a European Region and an Australian Region for AMCA. My proposal was based on asking our existing members to recruit one new member and put together a network of academicians, operational people and industry reps to develop incentives for members. Dan assures us that the two new regions will be in place by 2000. I question that premise.
I touched on the finances of the organization very briefly. My concept of financial accountability is based upon parameters established by the State regulatory agencies that review the operations and expenditures of mosquito control agencies. In New Jersey all mosquito extermination commissions are required to have their books audited by a "registered municipal accountant". These professionals are CPA's with additional training and certification in the operation of government agencies. Their audit is based upon a system of bookkeeping that provides for an audit trail. A CPA reviews the books of AMCA. They are kept on an Excel®â spreadsheet, I have never seen an AMCA "General Ledger", "General Journal" or "Check Register" since I've been on the BOD. In no way am I saying or insinuating that everything is not strictly honest and above board. I believe that every person having something to do with the finances of AMCA is above reproach. But unless changes are made that build safeguards into the accounting system, a time could come when things could go awry.
It's not my intention to paint a negative picture of the Association. We are moving forward. I expect that Bill Zawicki and David Dame concur that an Executive Director will give AMCA the momentum to move into the millennium knowing where we are and where we expect to go
If you haven't figured it out, I try to tell it like it is. That is why I'm asking you to support Dr. Sammie Lee Dickson for Vice President of AMCA. He is a bright, energetic professional who is endowed with excellent organizational skills. Those of you who attended the AMCA meeting in Salt Lake City should remember the fine job that Sammie did coordinating the program and the entire meeting.
In conclusion I want you to know that I represent you. I may not
always vote the way you want me to, but I assure you that I will
listen to your point of view on any issue. Thank you for hearing
me out and I'd be happy to answer any questions, time permitting.