PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

"It's Déjà vu all over again… DO MORE WITH LESS!"

First, I would like to thank Ambrose McCready and the rest of the officers and members of the 2009 Board of Directors. We had a most successful year: a number of great programs and tours, a fun and well attended Road-E-O, another well managed budget and chart of accounts headed by our capable Treasurer Jami Aggers, and as always, our delicious BBQ run by Kirk Mitchell and his crew in Watsonville!

2009 was also a tumultuous year. It was a tough year for the solid waste and recycling industry, for the public and private sector, and a tough year for the U.S. economy. For many, 2009 was a year of attempting to "stay the course" with reduced operating budgets due in large part to declining tonnages at our landfills and reduced revenues for recyclable materials. The good news is that for most of us the reduction in operating revenues has forced us to review our operating practices, tighten up our processes, and in general, to continue to do more with less. In a way, isn't that what we as professional solid waste and recycling managers are trying to do anyway… "do more with less"? I'll get back to that at the end of this message.

Here are a few goals and objectives I would like us to tackle as a Chapter and as part of SWANA in the upcoming year:

1. Begin the dialogue as to how our organization can change, move and adapt with an ever increasing demand for diversion and the "zero waste" concept.
2. Increase our relevance and benefit to our supporting member jurisdictions, private sector companies and individual members.
3. Enhance outreach, solicit input and develop regular pathways for communication between non-traditional SWANA sources such as CRRA, CAW, and Sierra Club etc. in order to bring the benefits of other viewpoints and provide some of our practical knowledge and experience to foster better public policy on issues that affect us.
4. Remember our history and capture our past from our retired and existing members and preserve a historical archive in tribute to the founding members who raised the level of solid waste and recycling practices that many of us follow to this day.
5. Expand and diversify the membership of the organization and the Board to help reflect the changing nature of our work in this field and the people who now manage our programs.

What I hope the Gold Rush Chapter can achieve this year is to build on the past excellence of our members. Think about it, as we move to a "Zero Waste" philosophy and to higher diversion practices and policies, who is best positioned to help achieve these goals? We are! One of the whole notions of sustainability is to be better managers of our finite resources. Whether we are talking about our budgets or packaging, "doing more with less" has the potential to become our buzzword for 2010. As your President, I'm eager to get to work with you and our great organization.

Yours in Recycling,

 

Tim Flanagan