The monthly meeting of the Widows and Orphans Aid Association of the San Francisco Police Department, was called to order on Tuesday September 9, 2014. The meeting was held at 850 Bryant St, room #150, at 1:44pm.
Our usual order of business was pre-empted for a report from our investment team from Wells Fargo Bank. Ashley Daggs and Janet Walker presented a positive report of earnings from dues and interest. Our investments have been on an upswing, and we were pleased to hear the report. Our diversified portfolio is working in our favor.
Roll Call of Officers: President Al Luenow, Vice President John Keane, Secretary Mark McDonough, Treasurer Dean Taylor, and Trustees Sally Foster, Leroy Lindo, and Ray Kane were present. Trustee John Centurioni was excused due to illness. SFPD Officer James O’Meara was also present, and would be voted-in as our newest Trustee (see Good of the Association section below).
Approval of the Minutes: Trustee Sally Foster made a motion to accept the minutes from last month’s meeting (August 12, 2014). Trustee Leroy Lindo seconded the motion which passed without objection.
Receiving Applications for New Members; Suspensions and Reinstatements: Nineteen letters of suspension were mailed out by certified postage. Pete Ionin has been located and contacted, and he has assured us that his dues payment has been sent. I have received a positive response from almost one- third of the members who are suspended. We are working together to avoid this process in the future. Direct Deposit through a financial institution is the recommended method of resolution for future dues payment. Treasurer Dean Taylor, Bookkeeper Julie Centurioni, and I are now directing our efforts toward 2014 retirees who have not paid their remainder of dues for 2014. When a member retires, their city payroll deduction for the WOAA stops. A member must then create a new Direct Deposit payment through their financial institution, or pay by mail every January. During the “year of retirement”, our members will owe $6.00 per month for remainder of the calendar year, after their retirement date. We now have a long list of members to contact regarding this issue. We are making efforts to avoid this situation. We are attending the SFPD retirement seminars to explain the process in hope that we can resolve this issue. I, or a WOAA board member(s), will be attending the next retirement seminar at Sigmund Stern Grove on September 25, 2014. It was discovered at our meeting that two members, Dennis Cravalho, and Anton Collins, who retired late in 2013 have not paid for the remainder of 2013, or for 2014. Their names did not appear on my “unpaid list” in July. President Luenow moved to suspend these members. Their suspension was approved by the present board members. If there is anyone who has contact with these members, please have them contact me at the below telephone number and/or email address. We want all our members to remain with the WOAA.
Our next scheduled presentation for recruits will be on October 1, 2014 at the San Francisco Regional Academy. Trustee Sally Foster and I will make our WOAA presentation at approximately 1100 hours to the 243rd Academy Class.
Communications and Bills: Treasurer Dean Taylor presented his report of beneficiary payments for fallen members Frank Syme and Frank Morino, regular monthly bills, a $500 bill for legal counsel on a beneficiary issue, and $105 for a floral arrangement sent by Trustee Sally Foster to Veronica Morino, the spouse of Frank Morino. Trustee Leroy Lindo made a motion to pay the bills. Trustee Foster seconded the motion which passed without objection.
Report of Visiting Committee: No report this month.
Report of Trustees: Trustee Sally Foster reported in an inaccuracy regarding our website. The inaccuracy was in regard to our listed Trustees. I sent a communication immediately to our website manager Erika Jones-Clary to effect the correction. We received a report of death for one member of the WOAA:
Henry Zuniga, age 85: Henry was born on November 17, 1928 in San Francisco, California. Henry attended Drew School, and later graduated from historic Mission High School in San Francisco. I was able to gain information from Henry’s daughter Cynthia, retired SFPD Captain Vincent Senatore, and from the Personnel Office of the San Francisco Police Department. Henry, prior to being a San Francisco Police Officer, was, and always remained, a Marine. Henry was a member of the first Marine Division and was a member of the Joe Rosenthal USMC Combat – Correspondent Chapter, the Golden Gate Marine Chapter, and the American Legion Post 456. Henry entered the Marine Corp as an enlisted man (L/Cpl), and fought north of Yalu, and finally the epic Chosin Reservoir Battle to the Sea during the Korean War. Henry rarely if ever spoke of the Corp unless at Marine Corp gatherings, believed to be held in Santa Rosa, Ca. Henry was proud to have met Henry Rosenthal (of the SF Chronicle) who was the photographer who took the photograph of the raising of our flag on Iwo Jima. After his discharge from the Marine Corp, Henry entered the SFPD on 9-16-53. Henry was assigned to star #544 and was sent from the Academy to Taraval Police Station on 10-26-53. Taraval was under the command of Captain Thomas Flanagan. Henry lived at 48th Avenue and Rivera Street while working at Taraval Station and formed friendships with many officers including but not limited to Joe Meehan, Joe Mangan, and Morey Rothman. Henry walked the West Portal Beat while assigned to Taraval Police Station. On 06-20-60, Henry was transferred to Richmond Police Station where he remained until leaving the S.F.P.D. on 09-12-60. According to Vince Senatore, Henry who was known as “Hank”, was a private man, and a humorous man who loved his family and children. Vince also stated that Henry watched over his family when Vince was away. Vince also wrote that Henry preferred “Mexican-American” and not Hispanic. Henry’s daughter Cynthia provided more information of Henry’s later life. Henry loved musicals, listening to “cowboy music”, and old standards. Cynthia stated that during Henry’s life he worked for a Musical Instrument Company, and was also a warehouseman. Henry also enjoyed fishing and camping. Unfortunately, Henry had a brain aneurysm approximately four years ago. Cynthia took over Henry’s care and gave him a good quality of life. Cynthia was instrumental in Henry’s attendance at Marine Corp, S.F. Fire Department, and San Francisco Police Department gatherings. Cynthia stated that during this period, Henry bonded with a service dog to assist him and keep him company. Cynthia stated that it was a German- Shepherd that was very small in weight and stature by the name of Kelsey. Cynthia stated that Henry absolutely loved Kelsey who added to Henry’s quality of life as his constant loyal companion. Cynthia told me that Henry was a great and loving father, who raised her, and her brothers Elliot and Henry Jr. Henry “Hank” Zuniga passed away on September 5, 2014 while under the care of the Nuns of Mother Theresa. I would like to mention the following people who contributed to Henry’s obituary: Cynthia Zuniga, Retired San Francisco Police Captain Vincent Senatore, San Francisco Police Lieutenant Troy Dangerfield and Jon Voong of Personnel, Retired San Francisco Police Captain Greg Corrales, and Retired San Francisco Police Lieutenant Rene LaPrevotte of the San Francisco Police Department.
Report of Special Committee: Our one Special Committee is an ongoing effort that is our WOAA Floral Fund Committee. Trustee Sally Foster is in charge of sending floral arrangements to the families of our fallen members. The results have been overwhelmingly positive. I have received calls, letters, and cards of gratitude from the families. I recently received a call and a card from Veronica Morino who was very grateful for the floral arrangement, and the expedient process of the beneficiary payment.
Unfinished Business: No report this month. Trustee John Centurioni will report next month on our pursuit of an attorney to read our Constitution and By-Laws re-write. Trustee Centurioni stated he will research one of the POA attorneys who specializes in this area.
New Business: SFPD Officer James O’Meara was nominated by Trustee Leroy Lindo to fill our vacant Trustee seat. Trustee Ray Kane seconded the motion. Our board voted unanimously in favor of James O’Meara to fill the vacancy. James O’Meara is our newest WOAA board member, serving as a Trustee.
Good of the Association: For the good of the association, we have adopted an Investment Objective Confirmation. This authorizes an increase to our reallocation of equities for flexible market changes to our benefit.
Adjournment: Our meeting was adjourned at 2:45 pm after a “moment of silence” for our fallen members. President Luenow set our next meeting for Tuesday October 14, 2014 at 1”45pm. The meeting will be held at 850 Bryant St, Hall of Justice, room #S150 in San Francisco, Ca.
To All Members: Please visit our website “sfwidowsandorphans.org”. Members can access beneficiary forms when clicking on the “resources” box on the upper right portion of the tool bar. Use the form for any beneficiary changes. Beneficiary changes need a signature of a Notary, or a WOAA Board member. Please use the beneficiary form to make any address or contact number updates that you need to forward to us. Please mail your forms, changes, or any inquiries to WOAA, P.O. Box 880034, S.F., Ca. 94188. I can be contacted by telephone at 415 681-3660. Missed calls without a voicemail message will NOT be returned. I can also be contacted by email at markmac825@comcast.net. I promised last month to make a written apology if we incorrectly suspend or drop any member. I apologize for the suspension of Michael Androvich due to the fact that he paid his dues prior to June 30, 2014. Unfortunately, his situation exposed a flaw in the process when having a single payment forwarded to us by SFPCU. SFPCU sent us $72.00 from Mike’s account, however, they did not put his name on the check. We did not know who sent us the dues payment. Mike investigated the error and discovered the mistake. We are sorry that the mistake occurred. Anyone who contacts their financial institution for a payment to be made should verify that the bank places their name on the check. We continue to gives thanks to retired Captain Paul Chignell of the POA, Lt. Troy Dangerfield and Jon Voong of Personnel, and Inspector John Monroe of the Police Commission for their continued assistance and support regarding contacting members, and department career information, and awards of our fallen members.
To All Recent Retirees: Please understand that your direct deposit dues payments end upon retirement. Please forward remaining dues for 2014. After your final paycheck as an active police officer, you will owe 6.00 per month. If you forget to pay your dues for a period of six months, you will be suspended. You will owe your dues plus $5 per month for a late charge. Non- payment for 12 months will result in being dropped from the membership. We want our members to remain with the WOAA. Direct deposit is the most accurate method of payment.
To Active Members: All active members in the SFPD, who pay their dues by city payroll check (direct deposit) will be transitioned to a “once a year payment”. Seventy-two dollars will be subtracted from your paycheck every January. You will no longer have 26 small payments per year. This transition will assist our efforts in requiring ALL MEMBERS to make their dues – payment every January. This transition will begin in January 2015.