A Focus on Membership and Partnerships with Other Organizations
Although we are already halfway through the first quarter of 2007, I’d like to wish you a happy, healthy and productive New Year. Hopefully, all of us will be able to stick to those New Year’s resolutions that tend to fall by the wayside come February. I have made resolutions for NDAA this year, and I am confident that our organization will make great strides in accomplishing our goals in the coming months. There are several initiatives in the planning stages with which we hope to partner with other organizations. Due to the political change and shift in Congress, NDAA has additional challenges and opportunities to further establish itself in Washington, D.C.
With a change in the majority, it is important to contact our congressmen, especially the committee chairs, about issues that affect NDAA. It is an opportunity for NDAA to promote those issues that have an impact not only on our association but the nation as a whole. The nation’s prosecutors must establish relationships with our representatives, new and old, and with the staff that supports their work, to create a stronger voice for America’s prosecutors. We should see this as an opportunity to increase our already prominent influence in Congress.
Our NDAA Fall Board Meeting held in Scottsdale, Arizona, was most efficient and constructive. I want to again thank all board members, especially the committee chairs, and all members of the two special working groups (DNA and reentry), as well as our dedicated NDAA staff, for all your preparation, hard work and commitment to NDAA and the issues affecting prosecutors throughout the country.
Membership, as always, is a focus for discussion. We have many new plans to expand our association in the year ahead. Membership is the life blood of NDAA, so it is vital for our organization to recruit and maintain members. In addition, it is essential for NDAA to create partnerships with organizations whose missions are similar to our own. In this vein, representatives from the American Bar Association were in attendance at the fall board meeting and met with the working group on reentry, resulting in what some have described as a historic event. Time will tell how historic, but it did provide an opportunity for NDAA and representatives from the ABA to engage in a meaningful and beneficial working relationship. Specifically, the board discussed reentry and DNA issues—projects on which NDAA is having dialog with the ABA. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of more timely, open and clear discussions of issues important to both associations.
The Executive Working Group (EWG) met in Washington, D.C. on December 13, 2006. Reentry was also a main point of discussion at the EWG meeting. In addition to presentations by Mike Thomas, prosecuting attorney of Saginaw County, Michigan, and Joe Hynes, district attorney of Kings County, New York, we heard the perspective of state attorneys general and the Department of Justice/U.S. Bureau of Prisons. There was also discussion and presentations concerning gangs and violent crime, fraud and Project Safe Childhood. Attorney General Gonzales reiterated how important cooperation is between local, state and federal agencies in the fight against crime, and pledged his support in this regard. For more information about the Executive Working Group meeting, please see “Capital Perspective” on page 43.
By the time you receive this publication, our Capital Conference will have taken place in Washington, D.C., a full update of the conference will be relayed in the next issue of The Prosecutor.
NDAA has an exciting year ahead with many challenging projects in the forecast. I’ll look forward to working with you to assist our nation’s prosecutors and improve the quality of the criminal justice system in America. Again, thank you for the privilege of being your president.
