The months leading up to this year's IAFC election have been very unusual. The result was a contested race for President and a historically large slate of excellent candidates for 2nd Vice President. In the coming weeks, you will hear in this space from those candidates the Western Division is backing. In the meantime, I want to take a moment to explain our endorsement policy.
A Western Division endorsement is highly sought after by candidates for IAFC office. Our practice is to invite written responses to questions, followed by a telephone interview with our board of directors. Our board would then vote on which candidate to endorse. In 2016, we adopted a new policy for candidate support and endorsement. Under this new policy, we could vote to endorse a single candidate, support one or more candidates, or support no candidate. A full endorsement now requires unanimity among the board, ensuring that any candidate earning our endorsement can count on the support of each state and territorial delegate in the Western Division. Absent a full endorsement, we also have the ability to offer our resources, tools, and backing to any number of candidates that we think share our vision and values, and will work to pursue our agenda.
As you know, we endorsed Chief Dan Eggleston as a candidate for 2nd Vice President, and we are again endorsing him as a candidate for President. We also endorsed Chief Gary Ludwig as a candidate for 2nd Vice President, and he is now running unopposed for 1st Vice President. This year, with so many excellent candidates for 2nd Vice President, our board was not able to narrow the field down to a single candidate. We did, however, after very careful consideration identify the two candidates that we think will represent our interests best - Chief Nathan Trauernicht and Chief Otto Drozd. Please watch here for their campaign messages, and I ask you to join us in supporting them as well. Most importantly, please be sure to vote.
Doug Schrage, President
Western Fire Chiefs Association
Board of Directors
www.wfca.com