Capping off a very successful year, the Oklahoma Public Employees Association closed out 2012 with its annual board planning and training meeting.
Held in Oklahoma City on Dec. 7-8, OPEA board members and staffers huddled for two days talking about the direction of the association. Training new board members and refreshing current board members was a major goal of the weekend.
Staff members gave presentations before the board in the Friday session. Topics were wide-ranging, and included info on: the grievance process; OPEA by laws, policies and procedures: board roles and responsibilities; membership services and recruitment, retention and chapter development; a communications update including the latest on social media strategies and a review of the latest issue of The Advocate.
On Saturday, the meeting focused on nuts and bolts issues of the association, from a review of the 2013 budget, OPEAPAC issues, a calendar of events for the upcoming year, and a discussion on what legislation OPEA will focus on in the upcoming legislative session.
The meeting was informative, but also sad, as outgoing president Connie Stockon received a “retirement rocking chair” to commemorate her years of service to OPEA. She presided over the weekend before turning over future responsibilities to the incoming OPEA board president, Jess Callahan, who was formerly the Region 11 Director for the association. Also, OPEA welcome new members to its board, listed below:
New OPEA Board Members
Region 2: Hank Swearingen
Region 4: Rena Scarbrough
Region 6: Mick Washmon and Cody Burns
Region 8: Tracey Ritz
Region 10: Jarrard Garrett
Region 11: Wayne Garner
Retiree East: Don Keenan
With the annual gathering behind us, OPEA heads into 2013 focused and ready to fight for hard-working state employees all across Oklahoma.
