BENEFIT ACCOUNT SETUP FOR OFFICER VANN STREETY
Greetings and Welcome to our web page
I wish to encourage you to check here peridocially. I plan to use this site to help keep our membership informed on issues that are important to us. Please feel free to contact me with questions or if you have an issue that you feel needs to be brought to my attention.
I want to challenge each of you to personally reach out to your local legislators. Make an appointment and go meet with them. Some know or think they know what we do, you need to educate your legislator about what you really do for his or her other constituents. Explain your responsibilities. Tell them what church you attend, what civic groups you are involved with, this demonstrates that you are a “super-vote”. Explain to them the financial struggles that you bear while trying to support a family. If you have to work a second job, tell them! Ask them to support the PBA’s legislative efforts and to especially support any bills that improve your wages and benefits. Explain how the compression issue has negatively impacted your family and if it is not resolved how it is going to negatively impact your retirement!
We need to build personal relationships with our representatives. I feel that this is very important to our future. These are the people who make decisions every year that impact each of us in a very personal way. It is my hope that in the future when someone mentions the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, your representative sees your face in their mental image. I believe that it will be more difficult for your legislator to cast a vote that would negatively impact you when they can put a face to the agency they are impacting.
Many times I have been asked, “ Why should I have to contact my legislator? Why don’t you do it for me?” Well the reason is that they are YOUR representative, not mine. They know I don’t live in their district. They ask how many officers I represent and then often ask how many officers I have in their district. They are trying to figure out how many votes (for them) that I represent. That is why it is so important for you to take the time from your busy schedule and meet with your representative. No one but you can do a better job of explaining your personal situation, than you! Let me share something with you, I am much more warmly received by legislators who know their local FWC officers than by legislators who do not know them! The legislators who know their local officer or even one from their home districts are much more open and usually more eager to help us with our issues. The local officers laid the foundation that could be built upon when the time came.
Building that personal relationship is not a one time deal. It will require future communication and effort to maintain. But I believe that you will reap the benefit of your labor.
Thank you and I look forward to serving you,
Jeff Gier
woodswalker319@hotmail.com