President Brian Marvel eagerly kicked off the 71st annual Conference of Members by welcoming everyone to the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. A total of 687 delegates representing 155 associations gathered from November 16–18 to vote on bylaws; receive organization, trust and benefit updates; network with fellow officers from across the state; meet with vendors and sponsors; and catch up with friends, old and new. This year, the Board of Directors chose to forego the installation luncheon to allow attendees and their families more time to enjoy food, fun and adventure at Disneyland and the Downtown Disney District.
The session began with the presentation of colors by the Anaheim Police Department Honor Guard and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Vice President Damon Kurtz. Director-at-Large Barry Donelan presented a solemn tribute to California’s fallen heroes from 2023, followed by a moment of silence and invocation by Rabbi David Kornberg, who serves as chaplain at the San Diego Police Department. Additionally, President Marvel thanked PORAC’s corporate sponsors and Conference sponsors and acknowledged the recipients of the Small Association Awards.
Friday, November 17, General Session
Keynote Speaker: Assemblymember Juan Alanis shared his inspirational journey from working as a sergeant at the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department to representing District 22 in the State Assembly. “We all got into law enforcement because we want to help people, but we take it a step further when we get involved with PORAC because now we’re helping those who help others,” said Alanis, who also serves as vice president of PORAC’s Valley Chapter. “Joining the Assembly allows me to expand my reach even more.” Since being sworn in, Alanis said he has fought hard to get five bills passed by Governor Newsom, including AB 255 (which allows first responders to have priority registration at any public college or University of California school) and AB 355 (which provides rifle training for cadets in the academy). Alanis concluded by encouraging members to support good candidates at the association level, call local legislators, send letters of support from their association, share bill ideas and testify on bills they support or oppose.
Election of President and Vice President: After the roll call by Secretary Randy Beintema and the vote to approve the minutes from the 2022 Conference of Members, Brian Marvel was elected by acclamation as president and Damon Kurtz was elected by acclamation as vice president.
President’s Report: President Marvel started by thanking members for electing him for another term as PORAC president. From calls to defund the police to recruitment concerns, Marvel said that the last few years have been a tumultuous time for law enforcement, but by maintaining a strong presence in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., and working closely with partners, he is extremely proud of the way PORAC has been able to build new coalitions and establish an active presence with policymakers and key stakeholders, which has helped advance the profession for the better.
Marvel shared a quote from former President Theodore Roosevelt: “Courage, hard work, self-mastery and intelligent effort are all essential to successful life.” As a leader, Marvel said he strives to hone those qualities daily and believes PORAC embodies those core tenets. “When I became president of PORAC, trust me when I say I could have taken the easier and simpler road by just keeping the organization afloat, attending some meetings and taking pictures,” he said. “The reality is, that would have been the status quo. I have chosen to dedicate my time to PORAC, elevating our profession and putting public safety first.” Marvel added that he has focused on building a network of allies and evoking real change at the state and national levels.
Reflecting on the progress made this year, Marvel said the one thing that has guided each decision has been the members, noting they can rest assured they come first. “Whether you work for a large agency or small, it’s the collective strength of the tens of thousands of members across the state that empower PORAC to make law enforcement’s voice heard,” he said. “We are the strength behind the badge.”
Vice President’s Report: Vice President Kurtz said advocacy is a big part of what PORAC does, and he encouraged members to keep reaching out to elected officials and maintaining those relationships, especially when times become hard. Kurtz shared that he attended over 70 individual or group meetings this year, as well as 24 chapter meetings. “Advocacy is what we do,” he said. “It’s not just about pounding the issues — it’s about forming relationships.” Kurtz stressed the importance of reaching out to elected officials so that these key relationships are made.
On the retention side, Kurtz reported that PORAC reached over 80,000 members earlier this year for the first time, and while that number has dipped to 79,704 after losing the general membership of the Border Patrol Supervisors, he expected to hit the 80,000-member milestone once again very soon.
Treasurer’s/Budget Report: Treasurer Nick Odenath introduced himself to members, noting he is finishing his first year as treasurer. He said the role has been an opportunity to look at the gaps and the policies that need to be fixed as PORAC evolves as an organization. On the numbers side, Odenath discussed the $7 million line of credit through UBS, which was created in June 2020. He said as of October, the remaining balance is $3.8 million. Additionally, Odenath said that he and Chief Operations Officer Kim Busman will devise a plan at the February Board meeting to either pay down part or all of the remaining line of credit balance. He shared that PORAC has just under $1.5 million cash on hand, with a total year-to-date revenue of a little more than $6 million, with total expenses being $3.7 million and net income being $2.3 million. Additionally, the sale of the old PORAC Headquarters resulted in a net gain of over $1.2 million and a savings of approximately $100,000 a year in maintenance costs.
UBS Senior Vice President–Wealth Management Mark Sikorski reported that the PORAC Pension Account is yielding 5.46%. Additionally, the other investments are up 8.49% year to date, which Sikorski said is fantastic considering “August, September and October were the worst three months since the first quarter of 2020 when COVID-19 hit.” In total, there is $19,339,576 invested in all the accounts.
Circling back to the line of credit that Odenath brought up earlier, Sikorski said it’s one of the best services UBS provides. He said that even at a 7% interest rate, the UBS credit line is worth keeping, especially when PORAC is up 8.4% on investments, and that he and his team expect interest rates to lower by next June.
Bylaws Presentation: Secretary Beintema provided an overview of the four proposed bylaw amendments. The first, proposed by Treasurer Odenath, adds a retired out-of-state membership for those who retired from an agency outside of California. The second, proposed by Vice President Kurtz, states that at-large associations with over 2,000 sworn members would be considered at-large-capped associations (ALCA). All ALCA members would be active members of PORAC; however, ALCAs would pay dues and vote based on a maximum of 2,000 members. The third, proposed by Director Jesus Montana, would make it so that all PORAC chapter bylaws would have to be in compliance. The fourth, proposed by Secretary Beintema, gives the Bylaws Committee more time to take a look at the bylaws that are presented before being presented to the Board of Directors.
State Legislative Report: Randy Perry of Aaron Read & Associates reported that PORAC’s team tracked a total of 251 bills this year and took an official position on 143. He said PORAC stopped a lot of “bad” bills, such as AB 93 and AB 742. However, he warned that this is the first year of a two-year session, so these bills aren’t necessarily dead yet — whatever bills don’t make it out of their house or to the governor simply start there in January and continue on. PORAC helped get 38 new bills signed into law (10 that were actively supported) and defeated 86% of opposed bills. In addition, of the 28 worst bills, 19 were stopped.
Perry said that every poll he has seen in the last year shows that crime is the number one or number two concern for California voters. “I believe it’s time for PORAC to come off the defensive and start going on the offensive,” he said. “The public wants something done about retail theft and the folks who can keep committing crime and getting out of jail constantly.”
LDF Report: Chairman Fred Rowbotham said that the number of associations joining the LDF continues to grow; however, the number of officers within each membership has leveled off, or they are having trouble hiring. Rowbotham said that two LDF trustees, David “DJ” Wozniak (Region I) and Todd Fraizer (Region II), will be retiring at the end of the year. On behalf of the remaining Board and LDF, Rowbotham wished them both well in their future endeavors and said he appreciates the contributions they made to PORAC LDF and its members over the years. Current PORAC-appointed LDF Trustee Barry Donelan was elected to fill Wozniak’s spot in Region I, while the Region II election is currently underway.
IBT Report: Chairman Richard Buss shared that IBT has been expanding in the last couple years, and they discovered that they could save a “significant amount of money by bringing a lot of the stuff in-house that we pay service fees for.” Buss believes the IBT is now fully staffed, with 21 in-house staff members — more than double what they had two years ago. Buss emphasized that IBT has a good health insurance plan through CalPERS, which is “affordable and one of the best plans for PORAC.” Buss closed by saying that the Trust has $102 million in reserves, which covers the health insurance plan and disability side.
RMT Report: Chairman Terry Moore said the RMT celebrated 15 years as a trust in September. Moore reported that while the RMT has more associations participating, the membership has shrunk a little bit. However, Moore said the RMT’s growth in recent years has still been very impressive, going from 3,512 members in 2020 to 5,908 in 2023. Noting just how volatile the stock market has been recently, Moore said the Trust gained $8 million from November 1 to November 17. Last year, Moore reported that the Trust paid off nearly $2.2 million in benefits to members.
Specialized Police Associations Coalition (SPAC) Report: Chairman Jim Bock thanked Randy Perry of Aaron Read & Associates for his nonstop efforts in helping SPAC gain equity among their more traditional law enforcement colleagues. Bock shared that he traveled to Washington, D.C., with the PORAC Executive Committee to share PORAC’s platform concerning social security, federal funding and various programs to assist law enforcement nationwide. Bock concluded by encouraging members to call their respective representatives and get to know them so law enforcement can have its interests heard.
Training Report: Training Coordinator Cathy Knape reported that PORAC Institute has held steady, with 11 courses being offered during the year. The Internal Affairs and Association Leadership courses continue to be well-attended. She also noted that the Basic Collective Bargaining and Advanced Collective Bargaining classes will be combined in 2024 and will be called Collective Bargaining. The first class will be held March 12–14 in Ontario. Another new course in 2024 will be a wellness workshop, which will combine the POWER, Line-of-Duty Death and Peer Support courses.
Knape reminded attendees that when they sign up for a class, the registration must be completed with payment. She said it’s been three years since the Institute changed the flat fee for courses and went to a tiered registration fee by course length. On January 1, the fees will be increasing by $50 per tier for members and non-members. She also reported that PORAC Institute now has a Training Committee, which consists of Mike Pruger (Region I), Vincente Medrano (Region II), Jazzmine DeForest (Region III), Brian Avera (Region IV) and Bill Maxson (Board appointee). In addition, a new PORAC Institute logo is being rolled out.
Knape also discussed PORAC’s 2024 Symposium, which will be June 5–6 in Las Vegas, noting that Santa Cruz County Deputies Emma Rampoini and Alex Spencer will be the keynote speakers. Knape closed by saying that she’s already in talks for the training session for next year’s Conference, which will be a debrief about the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Scholarship Report/POREF Report: Vice President Kurtz thanked the corporate sponsorship program, which has raised $135,000 for POREF. He noted that 129 applications have been received in 2023 for scholarship grants, with 30 scholarship grants being awarded. He noted that the 2024 applications will be available in December, and Secretary Beintema added that the process is now done online, which makes it a lot easier to apply.
Kurtz provided an update on the Fund a Hero program, reporting that over $4 million has been raised for members and their families. He noted that there have been 109 campaigns to date, not counting the ones that are active. The most successful campaigns take work. He said members at the local level need to push it out and share it with others. He closed by saying that the POREF Open Golf Tournament will be on June 7 at the Angel Park Golf Club in Las Vegas.
Saturday, November 18, General Session
Bylaws: Secretary Beintema presented the amendments from the previous day for a vote. The first proposal was approved. The second proposal was not approved. The third proposal was withdrawn. The fourth proposal was approved.
Federal Legislation Report: Darryl Nirenberg and Carisa McLaney of Steptoe & Johnson LLP discussed the important role PORAC plays in Washington, D.C. Nirenberg said the crime that’s happening nationwide has helped give PORAC a sizable voice in D.C. He discussed PORAC’s newly formed West Coast Coalition, which represents rank-and-file officers from Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Alaska and California. “National law enforcement tends to be focused on East Coast law enforcement, so we are seeking to fill a void to ensure the West Coast’s perspective is heard,” he said. Nirenberg added that the coalition’s first spring fly-in event in Washington, D.C., was a big success.
Additionally, Nirenberg discussed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently being ousted from his role. He said McCarthy would be missed but was optimistic that newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson would do well in the position. Nirenberg said that Johnson has a unique understanding of the challenges first responders face because his father was a firefighter, and, as a former lawyer on the Judiciary Committee, Johnson understands the importance of qualified immunity.
McLaney shared that Steptoe & Johnson has worked closely with President Marvel and Vice President Kurtz on crafting bills to address the growing crime rates, including the Supporting the Health and Safety of Law Enforcement Act, which would implement a new grant program to support coordination between community mental health centers and law enforcement officers on mental health issues.
Communications Report: Kendall Klinger of Fiona Hutton & Associates reported that policy advocacy, public reputation and member recruitment and retention are their three primary objectives. She noted that the Communications team routinely keeps its ear to the ground for any new and interesting opportunities to impact media coverage of public safety issues. In the case of SB 14, legislation that reclassifies human trafficking of a minor as a serious crime, she said the PORAC Communications team launched a digital advertising campaign targeting the legislators who abstained from voting in the second committing hearing on the bill — essentially the same thing as voting no.
Ian Anderson discussed SB 94, which would have enabled convicted murderers sentenced to life without parole to petition the court for resentencing. To help put a stop to this bill, Anderson highlighted a joint press conference that was held outside of the California State Capitol. The event was livestreamed on X (Twitter) and drew over 560 live viewers and over 9,500 total viewers.
Further, he discussed FHA’s increased efforts to push back against the California Racial & Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board’s false narrative on law enforcement, highlighting that PORAC released a critical analysis of the Board’s 2022 Annual Report earlier this year, which found their data analysis methodology was significantly flawed.
He reported that since the last Conference of Members, PORAC has reached a total potential audience of more than 820 million, with a total publicity value of $10.48 million.
Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) Report: National C.O.P.S. Executive Director Dianne Bernhard stated that the mission of C.O.P.S. is about supporting the survivors of those who passed away — of which there are about 75,000 across the country. She said they are now providing counseling for families who lost an officer to suicide. Bernhard shared that the organization helps families rebuild their lives through programs such as the Kids Camp, scholarships for spouses and children, benefits assistance, law enforcement wellness and trauma training. She said in California, there are almost 6,000 survivors who are members of C.O.P.S. “We are probably the only organization in the country that doesn’t want to grow,” she said. Bernhard also noted that 693 California survivors attended National Police Week this year and encouraged members to attend the event at least once in their careers to show support.
California Peace Officers’ Memorial Foundation (CPOMF) Report: Executive Director Mark Nichols opened by showing a touching video from the 2023 California Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony. Nichols said one of the goals of CPOMF is to improve the attendance at the ceremony, which would send a message to policymakers about the importance of supporting law enforcement at the state and national levels. In 2024, the 46th annual California Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony will be on May 6, with the candlelight vigil on May 5. He concluded by thanking President Marvel and PORAC for their longstanding support of CPOMF.
Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Report: Executive Director Manny Alvarez reported the governor approved a bill effective in January that will provide rifle training to those in the academy. He explained that it’s only for sponsored students, but at least it’s a positive step forward. Alvarez said that a couple of recently signed bills relating to marijuana use have caused some concern for POST. One of those is AB 2128, which says agencies can’t discriminate if someone uses marijuana off the job. The other is SB 700, which says agencies can no longer ask an employment candidate if they have used marijuana before.
With no further business, President Marvel concluded the session, completing another memorable Conference of Members and inviting everyone to attend the 2024 event at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Springs.
Training
On Friday, Michael Timms delivered “How Leaders Can Inspire Accountability,” which centered on helping members become better leaders by creating a culture of accountability. “We usually only hear the word ‘accountability’ when we do something wrong or when the department is not reaching its goals,” he said. “It’s important not to weaponize the word and to understand that responsibility and accountability, which are often grouped together, are very different. Responsibility is taking ownership of activities, while accountability is taking ownership of results and focusing on what you can do to improve future results.” Timms kept the audience engaged throughout by holding a live poll and asking members questions such as, “What percentage of your department consistently takes ownership of results and focuses on what they can do to improve results?”