President’s Message (January 2020)


Happy New Year Northern California APCO!!

I want to start 2020 by saying THANK YOU! to all of you who have been so supportive and proactive in enhancing the Public Safety Community. Our Northern California APCO family of Emergency Communication Center Personnel, Radio Frequency Coordinators, IT Specialists and our invaluable Commercial Partners, who provide the mission critical equipment, have done a great job highlighting the vital roles we play in the emergency response chain.

I also want to thank Assemblymember Rudy Salas, Jr. (https://a32.asmdc.org/) and his team for introducing Assembly Bill 1945 (AB 1945 Salas – First Responders) to the California State Assembly. This no cost Bill, when passed, will correctly classify Dispatchers/Telecommunicators as First Responders. The success of AB 1945 depends on us. Go to https://www.assembly.ca.gov/ click on Find My Representative and send a message urging them to support AB 1945 or send a letter of support to Assemblymember Salas. Encourage your friends, family and any professional organization to which you belong to do the same.

As a reminder, we meet on the second Thursday of every month except in conference months (April and August). Our next meeting is February 13, 2020 in Davis at the Veterans Memorial Center with keynote Don Jones, ENP, Manager, Sonoma Co SO. He will be presenting on the Tubbs Fire.  The March meeting will be in Dublin at the Alameda County EOC with Keynote Michael Spath, ENP, Manager, Sunnyvale DPS. He will be presenting on the Suicide Crisis Text Line. I would love to see you there. Don’t forget to pre-register for the discounted rate. Can’t make February or March? Catch the meetings on Facebook Live and check the calendar for upcoming dates and locations.

Let’s make 2020 a great attendance year.

Lena Wiggins, ENP, RPL