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April 26, 2019 Page 2 <br />Over the past year, there have been several working groups that have been <br />focused on improving the Minnesota volunteer firefighter pension program. <br />These working groups brought together active fire service leaders, legislative <br />liaisons, state agencies, and other impacted parties to ensure a broad <br />representation of stakeholders. (Attended all of these. Recommendations from <br />2 of the 3 committees were not included in this year's omnibus pension bill. <br />Commission members had questions, no fire service organization (MnFAC) <br />representatives were present to address questions. Representative O'Driscoll <br />moved to lay working group recommendations over the interim until next year.) <br />With 751 volunteer firefighter relief associations across the state (175 of which <br />are now part of the PERA statewide plan), it is imperative that proposed <br />changes to state statutes be discussed, vetted, and presented in a <br />collaborative environment that represents the broad interests of the entire <br />Minnesota fire service and not just a single agency or jurisdiction. (Concur, but <br />equally important that recommendations achieved by working groups <br />consensus process become law.) <br />As I hope that Mr. Zikmund will attest to, the fire service is built on trust, <br />teamwork, and collaboration with the priority of providing our communities with <br />prompt, professional, effective, and efficient service. My overarching concern <br />over Mr. Zikmund's "white paper," is that it was created and distributed (White <br />Paper had draft watermark and was not widely distributed. It was distributed to <br />two Pension Commission Legislators who were being asked to consider <br />"leading/chairing", State Auditor Staff, and LCPR Staff. Absent willing legislators <br />and staff support, there would be no working group. Auditor/LCPR meeting <br />was to determine their participation interest.) and without the involvement of <br />active fire service stakeholders, specifically the many working groups that have <br />devoted countless hours to this topic. While Mr.Zikmund is certainly entitled to <br />speak on behalf of the City of Mounds View, its elected body, and as a citizen, <br />I hope future discussions concerning statewide fire service matters are shared <br />and discussed in a transparent and collaborative manner. (Minnesota Fire <br />Chiefs (and all MnFAC partners) are named as possible participants in the new <br />working group that would be legislatively led. Historically, working groups has <br />legislators as mechanism to assure authorship into pension bill.) <br />In response to the specific questions raised in your March 28, 2019, email to Chief <br />Scott, I welcome further dialog among active fire service leadership, local/state <br />officials, and key stakeholders involved in these efforts. To further clarify <br />statements and positions: (Given the importance of these issues to our joint fire <br />department Council may consider accepting President Cunningham's offer to <br />have further dialogue and invite him to one of our future workshops.) <br />1. Volunteer Recruitment and Retention <br />The MSFCA is committed to the long-term health and sustainability of the <br />Minnesota fire service. It is remarkable that the SBM Fire Department has <br />"exceeded all expectations in our ability to retain volunteers" as noted in your <br />