OSFA Executive Director’s Report

I’d like to start by thanking everyone who joined us at the 128th Annual OSFA Convention in Enid. If you weren’t able to make it, please make plans now to join us at the 129th next June in Tahlequah. Thanks to the amazing staff here at the OSFA,

Ret. OKC FD the Major County Fire Departments, Enid Fire Department, sponsors and the many volunteers who made for a successful and fun convention. For those who don’t know, convention contains our annual business meeting, which is held on the Saturday of convention. And that is where new officers are elected and the direction for the following year is set. This is a membership driven organization and you, the members, tell us what your priorities are for the OSFA. There are multiple ways that you can do that -- attend convention in June, attend the annual volunteer caucus in February, serve on or interact with a committee, speak with a board member or a member of staff and get involved. If you have an interest in a particular committee, notify the office and we will send you a link to the next meeting. This organization is dedicated to representing you, the member, in every way that we can. The primary mission is the protection and preservation of our Pension System. Did you know that the five OSFA board members that you elect are also on the 13-member state pension board? In fact, they serve as the chairmen of the board and its various committees. When asked why someone should belong to the OSFA, that fact alone should be enough. In addition to that strong presence on the board itself, we are continuously monitoring and proposing positive legislation, as well as defending against harmful legislation. Your pension is funded by city contributions, your contributions, insurance premium tax and investment returns. What does this mean to you the member? The contributions and the insurance premium tax level are established by state law and, as such, may be changed by state lawmakers. The percentage of the insurance premium tax that funds our system is often looked at by lawmakers as money they could spend other places which is why it is vital for us to monitor legislative activity. The OSFA and our lobbyists work closely with our Pension System and their staff in protecting your pensions. One of the other perks of membership is getting your name inscribed on the wall at the Living & Fallen Firefighters Memorial located here on the grounds of the OSFA. After 20 years as a member, you are eligible to have your name inscribed on this beautiful memorial. If you have never visited, make plans to come visit the memorial and your museum. Admission is free to OSFA members and their family. I have visited the National Fallen Firefighter memorials and I believe that ours is the nicest that I have seen. We showcase it every October when we hold the annual Memorial Service for our members who have passed away in the previous year. Make plans to attend this year in person or check it out streaming live on Facebook. Another way to support the Museum/ Memorial besides your dues is by getting a personalized firefighter tag for your car, truck or motorcycle. Your Museum/Memorial receives a check every month from the Oklahoma Tax Commission for the proceeds from those tags. In closing, we are in the process of evaluating everything that we do and how we do it. The reason is for you the member! You entrust us with your hard-earned dues money and we want to make sure that we are spending those dues as efficiently as possible. We have a dedicated team in place that is passionate about the service that we provide. I have challenged them to bring forward new ideas and methods to connect with you, our members, and provide the most value for your membership. It is an honor to serve the dedicated men and women of the Oklahoma Fire Service! Blessings to you and yours!

Q&A with Mike Kelley

In April, Mike Kelley was officially named the Executive Director of the OSFA. He is the 11th person -- and sixth OSFA Past President -- to hold this distinction. Kelley was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Bethany. He graduated from Putnam West HS and attended OSU/OKC, OCCC, OU and OSU. He served two months shy of 34 years with the Oklahoma City FD, joining in 1986 and spending the last half of his career as a Battalion Chief. He also spent 17 years as Secretary/Treasurer of the IAFF Local 157. In a recent question-and-answer session with Oklahoma Firefighter, Kelley, 60, shared the following:

How’d you go about getting into the fire service? My wife worked at a bank where all the security guards were retired firefighters. They would encourage spouses to apply. Probably the fifth time I was told about it I applied, and as I went through the process I started getting excited about the opportunity -- that was until I realized that I would have to take a 50% pay cut at a time my wife was eight months pregnant. After prayerful consideration and the acknowledgement that I couldn’t make the math work but I served a God that could, I accepted the job offer.

What do you like best about being a Firefight-

er? The fact that no two shifts were the same and the amazing people that I was blessed to work alongside.

What are your hopes for the future? For society as a whole but firefighters specifically to stop focusing on our differences and instead celebrate what we have in common and recognize that we can learn from each other only when we truly are willing to have an honest dialogue.

What did your time as Interim OSFA Execu-

tive Director teach you? Besides the fact that I didn’t want to do the job permanently? I realized how insulated the board truly was from the day to day operations and that’s not in itself good or bad, simply an observation from a different vantage point. It’s an enormous undertaking representing every firefighter in the State of Oklahoma regardless of rank or status. Intellectually you know that, however it isn’t until you’re faced with the challenge of false narratives and beliefs and the weight that it places on the organization that you fully appreciate the challenge.

Oklahoma firefighters posed for pictures in the creation of the centerpiece 9-foot bronze sculpture at the Oklahoma Fallen and Living Firefighters Memorial. Shahla Rahimi Reynolds’ “Just Another Day” design was selected in a blind vote from 15 artists who submitted plans. Her husband James Reynolds, by the way, was an Oklahoma City firefighter. Shahla watched the movie “Backdraft” 26 times and photographed Oklahoma firefighters on a house that was burnt somewhere on 12th Street. “I got up on a roof to do that, but I couldn’t get down,” she said. “I froze, and they had to bring me down.” Then Shahla put together a composite figure using the measurements of approximately 100 firefighters. “One of my models was Chief (Keith) Bryant,” she said. “That’s how we came up with the perfect size, but then we had to multiply that one-and-a-half times to get the 9-foot sculpture.” In July 1999, Shahla began working on the sculpture in the Oklahoma Firefighters Museum. More space was needed, so the project moved to a warehouse supplied by Flintco Construction Solutions. In all, Shahla submitted 23 drawings and three clay models of the Memorial. She then did a full-size sculpture out of styrofoam and clay, and that was used to make the rubber mold that a Colorado foundry used to cast the sculpture in bronze. The sculpture was finished a week before the dedication ceremony, which was held during the 106th OSFA Convention on June 8, 2000. On Oct. 8, 2000, the inaugural Oklahoma Fallen and Living Firefighters Memorial Service was held. More than 100 gathered, and 256 names were read.

FIREFIGHTERS!

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