TO: All Colorado FOP Members

FROM: Stephen Schulz, Colorado FOP President

DATE: 6 April, 2020

RE: Virtual Biennial State Conference via Webinar Linking

Brothers & Sisters

On May 2^nd we will be conducting our state conference via a webinar. These are unprecedented times we face with the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our members are warriors who continue to proudly serve their communities in the face of invisible killer which has unfortunately taken the life of one of our deputies in El Paso County. And it has infected countless others in our state in addition to having taken the lives of many first responders across our great nation.

From both the Executive Board and myself we wish to express our deepest gratitude to all of our members for the job they continue to do every day. And I want to assure you that the work of the FOP has not stopped during these difficult times, and in addition to all the great work we do daily for our members and our profession we have been especially busy at the legislature working on several high priority issues including getting PPE for our members and working with our cities and counties to ensure our members are properly taken care of based on COVID-19 issues. This will be covered in detail during the State meeting.

I am sure you will all agree that it is extremely unfortunate that we had to cancel our conference in Vail this year. After lengthy discussions with the Executive Board and the National FOP we decided to move forward with our meeting and conduct the business of the State Conference via webinar. Per the Constitution and By-laws we are required to have Executive Board elections in the month of May, and additionally there are two resolutions to be presented to the delegates for vote to amend our By-laws.

In April of 2020 the National Board conducted a meeting using “Go-To Webinar”. The Trustees Meeting was conducted in a normal meeting order, and motions were made and voted on by the trustees in a secure manner. It was a team effort on the back end by the Executive Board, and this is the same manner we will conduct our State Conference meeting.

There will be instructions included in an attachment with this letter, which will also be read aloud at the start of the meeting on May 2^nd. These instructions will guide the delegates on how to vote, how to raise a hand for a question or comment, and how to make a motion. The meeting will have a PowerPoint provided in the webinar to guide the delegates through the day. It is the Executive Board’s goal to get through this vital meeting in one day. And we are confident we will accomplish this. Secretary Acunto will be sending out the registration link for the “Go-To Webinar” on or before April 7^th, 2020. Please register your allotted number of delegates no later than 04/17/2020.

There are a few things I want to address in this letter regarding the agenda for the day. The Executive Board officers will be physically present at the State Lodge to conduct and coordinate the meeting. In speaking with the National Board after their meeting, it was very important to have a team effort to conduct the meeting. We will not be appointing a credentials committee, a grievance committee or election committee. The delegates will all be registered electronically, and we will be able to see who is on the meeting via the “Webcast” software.

The voting for the Executive Board positions, if there is a position contested, and all resolutions will be conducted through “Balloteer” and will be secure based on E-mail and password. No grievances have been filed with the State Lodge at the writing of this letter, and per the constitution and by-laws timelines, any grievance filed now would be deemed untimely and would have to be heard at the next regular business meeting. A Resolution Committee will be appointed for the meeting after the delegates are registered. The committee members will not be required to be at the State Lodge, but will be asked to be available for any calls from the other committee members and the Executive Board if any resolutions are filed. All resolutions will be sent to Brother Steve Deal at [email protected] and have to be received on May 2^nd by no later than noon.

The State Conference meeting will start promptly at 0900 hrs. so please join the meeting prior to this time so you do not miss anything. Instructions will be read at the beginning of the meeting and the conference will be opened by Vice President Tommy McLallen. We will go through the agenda, which will be attached to this letter. Nominations for State Executive Board positions will be at 11:30 AM time certain. If there is a contested Executive Board position, those running for the position will be given five minutes to address the delegates.

A 20-minute lunch break will be taken immediately following that order of business. At the start of business after lunch Secretary Acunto will begin the electronic voting process via “Ballloteer” out for the election if there is one needed. If no need for an election, then we will continue on with the agenda from where we left off. Under the general session the two resolutions to amend the by-laws will be sent out electronically by Secretary Acunto via Balloteer. If you do not receive the E-mail with voting instruction on the resolutions in your inbox once the vote notification is sent out, then please check your spam folder. The Executive Board will confirm all have received the voting notification E-mail and had the opportunity to vote on both resolutions to amend the By-Laws.

In regards to Executive Board elections, those who have announced they are running for an Executive Board position are as follows:

• President-Stephen Schulz
• Vice President-Michael Deedon
• Secretary-David Acunto
• Treasurer-Steven Deal
• 2^nd Vice President-Michael Kim
• Sgt at Arms-Jason Gallegos
• Chaplain-Ralph Gallegos

You will need to register for this conference online. The registration invitation will be sent in a separate e-mail to all local Lodge Trustees/Presidents. Additionally, there are several attached documents to this article that are important to read.

Documents Linked Below (click to read or download):

• Letter from President Schulz
• State By-Law Amendment
• Conference Resolution
• 19th Biennial Conference Minutes
• 20th Biennial Conference Agenda
• Delegate Count by lodge

Please only register for the allotted delegates specified, all registrations will be verified prior to being approved.