Author Archives: Ray Strilec

“What began as volunteering with the Pennsauken First Aid Squad has turned into a fabulous career! Wouldn’t change a minute.” – Patti Walsh

Patricia “Patti” Walsh left us suddenly on June 24, 2014. She served as the Southern Region Vice-President for NJ-NENA over the past 3 years. Prior to that, beginning in 2009, Patti served as a conference committee volunteer.

Patti resided in Collingswood, NJ.  She is survived by her companion, William Tucker, Jr., her children, Lawrence (Colleen) Walsh, Jr. and Kaitlyn Tucker. She is also survived by two grandchildren, Kayla and Matthew.

Patti’s first job in public safety, was as a trainer for Multi-Media Standard First Aid in 1972. That led her into public safety communications as Dispatcher #9, at Camden County Police Communications, on December 28, 1973. She spent the last 23 years as a telecommunicator for the Cherry Hill Police Department.

Her impressive career spanned over forty years.  We are grateful for her devotion and years of service.  She will be dearly missed by all.

April 25, 2014 – The annual New Jersey NENA Conference was held April 23 – 24, at the Trump Taj Mahal, Hotel and Casino, in Atlantic City.

Pre-conference sessions: Quality Assurance – “Plan – Do – Check – Act!” by Al McNally of MICCOM and “Achieving Accreditation for the Communications Center” by the Rodgers Group had a record number of attendees.  These courses are held the day before the official start of the conference and are provided at no additional charge for full-conference participants.

Chapter elections were not held this year, as no nominations were submitted for any of the eligible executive board positions.  Ray Strilec, who served as chapter president (2011 – 2012), volunteered to serve as Second Vice-President a second time.  A practice, that unfortunately, is not uncommon in state chapters – commonly referred to as “retreading”. A reference to the remanufacturing and reuse of vehicle tires.

North Vice-President, Padre Fencik, Central VP, Dawn Sommeling, Southern VP, Patti Walsh and Private Sector VP, Daryl Doran will retain their positions on the executive board.

Representing National NENA at the conference,  were President Bernard “Buster” Brown and Northeast Regional Director Ed Marecki.  Both spoke at the NJ-NENA meeting, held Wednesday morning, urging members to get involved with the chapter.  Chapter President, Monica Gavio also spoke, echoing those sentiments, suggesting one avenue is becoming a conference volunteer.  Many executive board members began as volunteers for the organization. NJ-NENA members interested in becoming a volunteer, can get in contact with any of the executive board members.  President Brown swore in the new executive board at the conclusion of the meeting.

Chapter president, Jack Faenza, presented a plaque to outgoing president, Monica Gavio, in appreciation for her years of service, culminating as chapter president. President Faenza then appointed conference volunteer Jason Lezcano, from Morris County Communications, as the new chapter secretary. Jason is taking over the position from Ray Strilec.

This years conference attendance was over 215 participants and 23 combined sponsors and exhibitors.

The fall meeting was held on Friday, November 22, 2013 at the Burlington County Emergency Services Academy in Westampton. Introduced and voted on were changes to the chapter by-laws that will now permit online voting for chapter officers.

Informative presentations from Craig Reiner of NJ-OETS, Bob Gojanovich of TeleCommunications Systems (TCS) and Karen Mitchell of NJ-OGIS brought attendees up-to-date on very important issues concerning 9-1-1 and public safety communications

Bob Gojanovich’s presentation on SMS (text) to 9-1-1 described the technologies and the path forward on implementing this service in the near future. His presentation is available for download in Powerpoint PPTX or in PDF Version.

Karen Mitchell provided a presentation on Next Generation 9-1-1 applications for GIS. It is available download in Powerpoint PPTX or PDF Version.

The meeting minutes may be viewed or downloaded here: 2013 Fall Meeting Minutes.

November 11, 2013 – Changes in the chapter by-laws will be presented and voted on at the 2013 Fall Meeting. The changes are taken from NENA’s by-laws Nomination and Elections section with minor modifications for our chapter and the intent is to allow for online or electronic voting for officers.

National NENA has moved to an online voting system in recent years and local chapters are able to benefit by receiving a discount if they use the same provider. Online voting will save time and money. The cost for the online voting service is substantially less than what we have spent in past years on stationery, printing and postage.

The proposed language is as follows:

Article IV, Section 2. Nomination and election

1. A nominating committee shall be formed in accordance with Article VIII. The nominating committee shall propose one or more candidates for second vice president and regional vice-presidents as necessary, from among those who have been nominated in accordance with procedures established by the Executive Board.
2. The Executive Board shall establish voting procedures for the election of candidates, which shall include a procedure for electronic balloting or for balloting by mail. If electronic balloting is authorized, a procedure to cast a paper ballot by mail as a special accommodation shall also be provided.
3. The Executive Board shall establish a procedure for reporting the total number of votes cast for each candidate for office and determining the results of the election.

The changes will be presented and as required, will be put up for a vote at the 2013 Fall Meeting. The meeting will be held at the Burlington County Emergency Services Academy, Academy Dr., Westampton, NJ, on Friday, November 22, 2013, beginning at 9:00AM.

April 12, 2013 – President Monica Gavio appointed Judy Hawkins, Senior Dispatcher – River Vale Police Department, to the position of Chapter Treasurer. Judy has been a NENA member since 2006 and a member of the Conference Committee and a volunteer for the past four years.

The Treasurer position had been vacant for almost one year. Gareth Williams did double duty, acting as Treasurer while also serving as Chapter President.

April 4, 2013 – At the 2013 NJ-NENA Conference, in a very close election for Second Vice-President, Jim Hauck of Gloucester Communications won the election over Al McNally of MICCOM. With a total of 43 votes received by the voting deadline, the tally was Jim Hauck 22 to Al McNally’s 21 votes. At the conclusion of the conference, Jim Hauck declined the position for personal reasons. Al McNally has accepted the position. We hope Al will enjoy his time on executive board and we thank Jim for his service to the organization, and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

The vote tally for the uncontested offices, North Region VP, Central Region VP, South Region VP and Private Sector VP; each received 32 votes. These offices are held by John “Padre” Fencik, Dawn Sommeling, Patricia Walsh and Daryl Doran, respectively.

January 8, 2013 – Nominations are now open for New Jersey NENA Officer elections. Eligible officer positions are:

IMPORTANT:

You must be a NJ-NENA member in good standing to make a nomination. All nominees must also be NJ-NENA members in good standing. Only Public Sector and Emergency Dispatcher member categories are eligible for Regional and Second Vice-President positions. Associate members are NOT eligible to vote, nominate or hold executive board offices.

Nominations must be received by February 1, 2013. Nominations may be emailed to rstrilec@gmail.com. Please type “Nomination” in the Subject field. You may also mail your nomination to:

For your convenience, you may download a PDF Nomination form to mail your nominations. All nominations must include the nominating members name or it will be deemed ineligible. Any questions may be addressed to Past-President Ray Strilec at rstrilec@gmail.com or you may phone 973.214.2532.

Election ballots will be mailed on or before February 22, 2013. Incumbents do not need to be nominated and will be included on the election ballot unless they request otherwise.

October 27, 2011 – Due to a vacancy, chapter president Ray Strilec has appointed South Region Vice-President, Monica Gavio to the position of Second Vice-President.

Monica has worked for Burlington County Communications since 1978. She is currently their 9‑1‑1 Coordinator and Custodian of Records. She has been a NENA member since 2001, served as South Region VP from 2004 to 2011, and an Emergency Number Professional (ENP) since  2007.

Monica is a certified PST and State of New Jersey Police Training Instructor.

Joe Goralski found his schedule did not allow him to fulfill his duties and requested to step down from the second VP position. We certainly wish him well and thank him for his service.

October 19, 2011, Mountain Lakes, Morris County – Article and Audio of 9‑1‑1 call on NJ.com