From the Chair
I wondered when I moved into the Chair's chair how much work there would be to do. Well, I find that because of the very intelligent, talented, and dedicated people chairing and working on the various committees, the Section Chair really doesn't have to do much, other than keeping abreast of what is happening and helping out when needed or requested. I forget who originally said it but, if you surround yourself with knowledgeable people, and use that knowledge, you don't have to know everything. That is really how the Chair's position, in my opinion, is run or handled. Giving people the latitude they need to run with any given program, encouraging and supporting them in their efforts, makes an organization run very smoothly.
Our upcoming meeting this Friday should be interesting. We'll be discussing what topics we would like the Environmental Finance Center from Wichita, Kansas to present at our Fall Conference. We have some revisions/clarifications to the Section By-laws to finalize for dissemination for general membership consideration. We also need to send these to National AWWA for their concurrence. I plan to have them ready to be voted on by the membership at the Fall Conference. There's really nothing earthshaking here. Just a few items that really needed to be clarified and fixed due to conflicts within the by-laws. These revisions have to do with elected positions on the board and who may hold them.
We have been discussing, on and off, what to do with archive material for some years now. What do we keep, how much of it do we keep, and mostly where do we keep it are all questions that really need to be answered so as to make the job of the Archive Committee much easier. Historically, we have received volumes of fliers, handouts, and other such materials from National. These materials never seem to be handed out or picked up by many people. When it's not picked up or passed out, it gets passed around from officer to officer, usually the chair, to do with what they will. It's like a game of who's got the button, but everyone knows who has it and they're glad they don't. Anyway, we need to decide once and for all what we will keep and how much of it to keep, as well as where it will be kept permanently, so we can, without guilt, get rid of the extra stuff that we really don't need.
Another item we'll be discussing is a donation to the Water Buffaloes. This group consists of several AWWA members who ride motorcycles to various events throughout the year with the aim of raising money for water charities to benefit people. I've read a little about this group and do think it is worthwhile, so we'll be talking about whether we will give them a donation for their cause.
In closing, I'd like you all to think about the upcoming Fall Conference. I know it seems a bit far off to be considering it now, but, if you can arrange to bring a friend to participate in the conference, you may be able to open someone's eyes to the realization that AWWA is for everyone in the water industry -- not just for big cities and consultants. AWWA benefits even the smallest water systems, if they avail themselves of the opportunity.
