The monthly meeting of the Widows and orphans Aid Association of the San Francisco Police Department, was called to order on Tuesday April 8, 2014. The meeting was held as scheduled at 850 Bryant St, room #150, at 1:45 PM.
Our regular order of business was pre-empted with a report by our financial representatives from Abbot Downing, which is a branch of Wells Fargo Bank. Janet Walker and Ash Daggs reported modest earnings in our portfolio for the first quarter, and discussed our diversified accounts and advised on our short-term, and long-term forecast.
Roll Call of Officers: President Al Luenow, Secretary Mark McDonough, Treasurer Dean Taylor, and Trustees Sally Foster, John Centurioni, Leroy Lindo, Joe Reilly, and Ray Kane were present. Vice President John Keane was excused.
Approval of the Minutes: Trustee Joe Reilly made a motion to approve the March 2014 Minutes. The motion was seconded by Trustee Leroy Lindo. The motion passed without objection.
Receiving Applications for New Members; Suspensions and Reinstatements: There were no suspensions or reinstatements. Academy Class #238 will be leaving the Academy for the FTO program in May. We are scheduled to make our WOAA Membership presentation to SFPD Academy Class #241 on May 29, 2014 at 11:30.
Communications and Bills: Trustee Sally Foster made a motion to pay our monthly bills and approve the payments of two death benefits for fallen members Abe Martinez and Bernard Shaw. The motion was seconded by Trustee Joe Reilly and passed without objection.
Report of Visiting Committee: Trustee Leroy Lindo attended the Funeral Service of fallen member, and active San Francisco Police Officer James Richards. The following words are a report from Trustee Lindo regarding the Service for Officer Richards:
“On April 3rd I attended the Funeral service for Officer James Richards who passed
away on March 17th. The service was well attended by his family, friends and co-
workers. During the service a beautiful version of “Amazing Grace” was sung by a
family friend named Tachina Danielle. Lieutenant Cornelius Johnson gave an eloquent
and passionate tribute to Officer Richards that received a well-deserved ovation.
Throughout the service all of the speakers spoke about how Officer Richards was a
“nice guy” who enjoyed his job and loved his wife, Mayra, who I spoke to and offered
condolences on behalf of the Widows and Orphans Association. At the repass after
the service those in attendance ate a well prepared meal and spoke about their
relationships with Officer Richards, a.k.a. “Dinky” “
Report of Trustees: Trustee Lindo, who attended last month’s Retirement Seminar at Sigmund Stern Grove, reported a positive response by members regarding our advice to schedule their WOAA payments with “direct deposit” after retiring from the SFPD. Trustee Lindo also requested that we provide members of the Seminar with their current Beneficiary Records for review and to keep in their records. The request was unanimously approved as a necessary step to further our attempts at serving our members to the best of our ability.
Report of Special Committee: Trustee Sally Foster reported her diligent and thorough search of a reasonably affordable Flower Shop to serve us for the families of our fallen members. Trustee Foster recommended “JustFlowers.com.” Trustee Joe Reilly made a motion to approve the recommendation. The motion was seconded by Trustee Lindo and passed without objection. We will use “JustFlowers.com” with an open mind to review any other recommendations in the future.
Unfinished Business: Our board, in response to the overwhelming SFPD retirements, billing issues, and payroll and direct deposit rosters, will conduct a “hand-check” audit of our physical files to ensure accuracy and efficiency. Our entire board expressed their approval and will meet next month to examine and account for our files and their contents.
New Business: No report this month.
Good of the Association: No report this month.
Adjournment: President Luenow moved for a moment of silence for our fallen members. President Luenow then set the next meeting for May 13, 2014. The meeting will be held at 850 Bryant St, room #150, at 1:45pm.
All Members: Please visit our website at “sfwidowsandorphans.org”. Our “resources” section on the top right side of the tool bar contains Beneficiary Forms. If you feel a need to make a change, please print out the form, complete it, and have a board member, or Notary sign it as a witness. Presently two board members, John Keane and Ray Kane work at 850 Bryant St. Otherwise check for a retired board member near you, or seek a Notary. If you seek to only submit an address change, use the Beneficiary Form. A witness signature will not be necessary for the address change. Any correspondence, or bill payment can be sent to: WOAA, P.O. Box 880034, San Francisco, Ca. 94188. We can be reached by telephone at 415 681-3660. Your messages will be returned. Our continued thanks and gratitude go out to Retired Captain Paul Chignell of the POA, Captain William Roualdes of Personnel, and Inspector John Monroe of the Police Commission for their continued assistance with contacting members, providing career information of fallen members for our obituary section, and for providing member information on medals of valor and department awards. I will graciously accept any information from family and friends of fallen members in regard to our obituaries prior to submitting this monthly article to the Journal. The 2013 Annual Summary Report will be available on the above mentioned new website.