Al Saastamoinenen

Warrant Unit

Alan.Saastamoinen@hcsda.com

Previous Message: January 1, 2010

Thank you for visiting the Hennepin County Sheriff's’ Deputies Association (HCSDA) website.  As I begin my next term as President of the HCSDA, I reflect on the many challenges we have faced over the first two years of my term.  While the country struggles with a weakened economy, many state, county and cities are also facing challenges to put together their budgets for the next year.  We have seen and felt the results of the budget cuts made by Hennepin County, which resulted in wage freezes for 2010 and 2011.  Although we may not agree with some of the decisions made by the Hennepin County Board regarding cuts and expenditures, we will continue to try to communicate and work with them to improve our situation as well as that of the County.

There were a few changes to the Association Board after this election and several members were re-elected to serve another term.  If you have the opportunity, please read their profiles.  I believe we accomplished our goal of opening better lines of communication with the creation of the “Yahoo Talk Group” and the “Forum” that is posted on the greatly improved website.  It has given our membership the opportunity to reach out to the Board when they have questions or concerns as well as giving the Board the opportunity to communicate quickly with the membership. Our website designer, Ryan Damm, has also set up a secure system of voting online which makes it more accessible and cost effective for the Association to hold votes on issues that are presented to the membership.

Over the past two years the Board has worked very hard to continue to work with the Sheriff and the Sheriff’s Administration.  We have had success on some issues and continue to work with the Sheriff’s Administration to address any problems that arise within the Sheriff’s Office.

Our Political Action Committee (PAC) Fund is now up and running with special thanks to Sheri Bukkila and Perry King.  We believe this will help our Association by making strong political contacts over the next few years.

Our primary mission as a labor organization is to make our member’s interests a priority.  Wages, benefits, working conditions and legal defense continue to be our main focus.  Several of our Board members continue to be involved in other organizations (MPPOA, POAM and FOP), which helps strengthen our position as Law Enforcement Officers in the community.  Working within these organizations has given us a voice on Legislative issues, PERA issues and has strengthened our bond with other officers and their agencies.

I am proud of the work our membership performs on a daily basis serving the community of Hennepin County and I look forward to serving our membership throughout the coming year.

Sincerely,

Al Saastamoinen

HCSDA President