Minutes of the
President Bolen called the
meeting to order at
Members present: Jack Bolen,
Luke Lloyd, John Skillman, Marty Miller, Ed Neugaard,
Alan Bell, Robert Yarnell, and
Welcome
guests: June Bolen, Jeanne Lloyd, Ellie
Skillman, Dick Hurley a prospective member, Chief Tony Velong
of the
The president introduced the
guests.
The minutes of the September
meeting were approved.
The secretary presented a
number of items to the members:
-
A newsletter of
the Florida Society Ladies Auxiliary had been sent to the secretary. He ran off
copies and passed them out to the ladies in attendance.
-
An explanation
of the FLSSAR survey that appeared in a previous edition of the Florida Patriot
had been sent to the secretary by the former FLSSAR president. Copies were
given to the membership and they were asked to mail in the survey.
-
As requested by
the chapter at the last meeting SAR lapel pins were purchased to be presented
to new members. The secretary ordered additional pins and is making them available
to the existing members. The cost is $4.00.
-
The National
Society, in their efforts to raise funds from corporate sponsors, needs to
demonstrate membership support for the Center for Advancing American Heritage.
To this end National sent postcards which allow a member to sign a statement of
support. The secretary passed these out and offered to mail them to National if
they were returned to him at the end of the meeting.
The Treasurer reported a
balance of $2,110.08.
The registrar, Luke Lloyd,
gave an update on the status of those applying for membership. He has 17
working applications. Luke recently sent letters to many of the others
reminding them of our group and encouraging them to continue their efforts to
join.
In the interest of our
guest, the remainder of the business meeting was postponed and the meeting recessed for lunch.
President
Bolen reconvened the meeting and introduced Ed Neugaard
who, in turn, introduced Chief Velong. The commander
told the membership of the work of Sgt. Robert Boss an 18 year veteran of the
Temple Terrace Police Department. The sergeant earned the officer of the year
award this past year an honor given based on the votes of fellow officers.
What follows is the citation
provided by Chief Velong:
Sgt Boss transferred to CID in
February of 2005. Since that time, he has supervised the unit during one
of the most challenging times in the history of the Department. Only two
weeks into his run as CID Sergeant, he had to supervise the police shooting investigation
of William Basham. This investigation employed both the CID and SEU
officers for approximately a week. In July of 2005, Sgt Boss was again
tested when one of our detectives was investigated by another agency which
resulted in his resignation. In October of 2005, Cpl Collins was promoted
to Sergeant and transferred back to the Patrol Division. Sgt Boss had to
expand his responsibilities to include the SEU officers. Also in October, Sgt
Boss and CID had to investigate the attempted murder of two of our police
officers. Once again, CID and SEU were employed together for two weeks
until the suspect was arrested. In December 2005, Sgt Boss exercised
excellent interpersonal communication skills when he was notified that one of
his detectives was suffering from a life-threatening illness. Throughout
the year, Sgt Boss has assigned himself cases on numerous occasions to assist
other detectives during peak workload periods.
During the 2005 year, seven
positions under his command have changed. Despite the turnover, he was able to
maintain and foster a high state of morale in the unit. The case clearance rate
remained virtually identical to past years. Sgt Boss is responsible for
handling forfeitures and there has been no decline over the past year.
Sgt Boss is actively involved in the
community. He attends the Domestic Violence Task Force meetings, is
active with Paint with Pride, sells T-shirts for the Special Olympics
Committee, serves as the President of the Fraternal Order of Police, serves as
a union representative for supervisors, and is very active with the planning of
the Top Cop Triathlon.
Following a brief question
period President Bolen presented Sgt. Boss with the SAR Law Enforcement Medal.
President Bolen then
continued with the business portion of the meeting.
Alan asked if a new
membership directory could be compiled. The newsletter editor had been trying
to get this done. The secretary offered to put together a directory with the
understanding that it would likely not look as nice as that which the editor
could produce.
The President asked that
those members interested in the color guard stay after the meeting for a short
additional meeting to make arrangements for starting the group.
Our speaker for next month
is unable to make the regular meeting date. After discussing several options,
including moving the date, the group opted to keep the save date and work out a
different program.
The president reported that
Ken Skillman, by virtue of this work, will be unable to continue to produce the
newsletter. Some options were discussed. The secretary admitted he had some
expertise in this area and agreed to take on the work until another qualified
member can be found. Luke suggested the chapter recognize Ken’s work with some
award. The president agreed to find something appropriate.
The president gave some
background on the supplies needed by the color guard that would be provided by
the chapter. No action was requested of the chapter. The issue was raised only
so the membership might give the matter some thought.
Tom Campbell Lloyd’s
application was approved and the certificate presented to Luke on his behalf.
Election of officers will be
held next month. A slate of officers will be presented at that time and
nominations will be taken from the floor as well.
The Skillmans
won the 50/50 drawing and donated their share to the chapter. The treasury was
thus enriched by $13.00.
President Bolen led the
recessional. Chaplain Hardesty gave the benediction. The meeting adjourned at 1:25
pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Yarnell
Chapter Secretary