Board of Directors’ Meeting Recap. The quarterly CAPS Board of Directors’ Meeting was held Saturday, August 21, 2021, via Zoom. Actions by the Board of Directors included:
- Approved the minutes of the May 22, 2021 CAPS Board of Directors Meeting,
- Approved CAPS Member Jessy Fierro (DTSC – Chatsworth) as a CAPS Local Rep,
- Approved CAPS Treasurer Kelley Aubushon as a member of the CAPS Political Action Committee,
- Approved Stephanie Lewis as a member of the CAPS Elections Committee to replace the recently vacated seat of Vanessa Miguelino for the remainder of the 2019-2021 Board Term,
- Modified the CAPS Policy and Practice Manual, to update the CAPS Slogan and Tagline to “Choose Unity. Choose Strength. Choose CAPS!”
- Approved the renewal of the CAPS agreement with Blanning and Baker Associates for providing representation, legal services, membership support and related services for the contract term of 2021-2023, and
- Approved the renewal of the CAPS agreement with Aaron Read and Associates for legislative advocacy services with contract term of 2021-2023.
CAPS Recommends Miller and Pacheco in CalPERS Election. Ballot packages, including voting instructions and candidate statements, were mailed out last Friday to all CalPERS members who are eligible to vote in the election for the CalPERS Member-at-Large A and B positions on the CalPERS Board of Administration.
CAPS has endorsed, and urges members to vote for, CAPS Board Member David Miller for Position A and Jose Luis Pacheco, a California School Employees Association leader, for Position B. The Member-at-Large positions represent all CalPERS members on the 13-member CalPERS Board, which oversees nearly $500 billion in assets and serves nearly 2 million members.
Miller and Pacheco are the candidates CAPS members can trust to protect their CalPERS pension and health care benefits. You can learn more about the candidates and their campaigns on their websites here and here.
To be counted, members must vote by mail, telephone, or online by 11:59 p.m. PST on September 27. Detailed voting instructions are included in your ballot package. All three voting options are convenient, secure, and easy to use.
Don’t miss this opportunity to protect your CalPERS pension and health care – vote David Miller and Jose Luis Pacheco for the CalPERS Board when your ballot package arrives.
News Briefs.
Burned paws, hungry bears: the race to help animals injured in wildfires – The Guardian (UK). A group of volunteer disaster veterinarians treats animals injured in California’s devastating wildfire. The network, and other groups like it, are busier than ever this year as fires tear through the state at an astonishing pace. The network is a partnership between the UC Davis veterinary school and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
CDFW asks anglers to limit fishing hours due to drought conditions – Grass Valley Union. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is requesting that anglers voluntarily avoid fishing during certain hours of the day because of drought conditions.
In Review. Check out what you may have missed from past CAPS Updates here:
July 13, 2021. Summer Sun = Vacation Time. When the sun is shining and summer is in full swing, CAPS often gets questions about vacation, including whether a Department could deny an employee vacation time, while granting it to someone else; or how quickly vacation requests need to be approved. CAPS MOU, Section 3.1 defines how the situation should be resolved if this problem were to arise, namely, “if two or more employees on the same shift in a work unit request the same vacation time and approval cannot be given to all employees requesting it, employees shall be granted their preferred vacation in order of seniority.” It further states that, “each department head or designee will make every effort to act on vacation requests in a timely manner.”
When making vacation requests, a good rule to follow is to request the time as early as possible to avoid possible conflicts. For State Scientists reassigned to contact tracing, the same rules should apply. Vacation requests may be affected by the needs of the contact tracing program – it is still a good rule to make vacation requests of your supervisor early. Also, remember that PLP 2020 hours must be used before all types of paid leave except Professional Development Days (PDD) and sick leave.
While the State is opening back up, and many have been vaccinated, COVID-19 is not a thing of the past. If you vacation, please do so safely, following the guidance of your local health department or the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). If you encounter issues getting your vacation requests approved, contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org).
Read other past messages on the CAPS Website here: http://capsscientists.org/members/caps-member-updates/. The password is ChooseCAPS! – it IS case-sensitive.
Choose Unity. Choose Strength. Choose CAPS!