SEANC Celebrates 75 Years at Convention
President Martha Fowler presided over the 38th Annual SEANC Convention on Sept. 7-10. Delegates from all 51 districts descended on Greensboro to conduct SEANC business and celebrate 75 years of the association. Among the highlights:
• Delegates heard from Gov. Roy Cooper by video as well as in-person speeches from State Auditor Beth Wood, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley, DPS Secretary Eddie Buffaloe, Jr., Department of Military and Veteran Affairs Secretary Lt. Gen.Walter Gaskin and Lockhart Taylor from the Office of State Human Resources.
• EMPAC-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley joined the convention via Zoom to thank SEANC for our support in the upcoming election.
• State Treasurer Dale Folwell updated delegates on the fight to bring transparency to the State Health Plan and retirement security.
• Districts and delegates raised more than $18,000 for the
BUILDING ONA
Statewide Officers
Begin Second Term
DIAMOND FOUNDATION
More inside
Inside this issue, check out President Martha Fowler’s address, as well as, the sights and scenes from the convention.
Leukemia and Lymphoma Association and the American Diabetes Association as part of our annual Community Service project.
• Delegates elected new representatives to the Scholarship Foundation Board, Insurance Board, Retiree Council, Audit Committee and EMPAC.
Go to https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA79fm to see if you can find yourself in more than 700 photos from the event. If you didn’t attend, make plans to come to Greensboro next year by getting active in your district! Members are elected as delegates at the district level, and district leaders are always looking for help.
EMPAC Legislators of the Year
SEANC’s statewide officers (from left to right) are President Martha Fowler, First Vice President Kirk Montgomery, Second Vice President Wendell Powell and General Treasurer Emily Jones. Statewide offices were not up for election this year at convention because they serve twoyear terms. The full Board of Governors can be found on pages 6-7 of this issue.
EMPAC awarded Rep. Terence Everitt (D-Wake), Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake) and Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Burke) with Lisa B. Mitchell Legislator of the Year awards on Sept. 10 at the convention for their efforts on state employee and retiree issues at the General Assembly.
Not only did DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley, DPS Secretary Eddie Buffaloe, Jr., and Lockhart Taylor from the Office of State Human Resources speak at our convention, but they also joined SEANC during their visit!
REPORTER
ADVERTISING POLICY
SEANC accepts advertising material from companies and persons seeking to communicate with SEANC members. Acceptance of this advertising does not indicate SEANC approval or endorsement of any representation that the message, product or service is as represented by the advertiser. SEANC accepts no responsibility and shall not be liable for any use of or reliance on any such information, product or service. SEANC is a private entity and is under no obligation to carry advertisements of any nature, political or otherwise, that may be viewed as contrary to the interests of the association and its membership.
Jonathan Owens, Editor-In-Chief • Beth Dew, Managing Editor
SEANC Districts 61 and 62 held a retiree forum Aug. 22 with a continental breakfast and giveaways!
SEANC Retiree Council Chairman Benny Brigman spoke on July 28 on the need for a true cost-of-living adjustment for retirees to the Retirement Systems Board of Trustees.
Districts 24 and 61 hosted a retiree forum Aug. 1 at the Brunswick County Cooperative Extension Office. (Photo at left) Former Executive Director and District 17 member Mitch Leonard speaks to the group. President Martha Fowler was also in attendance.
District 22 hosted a retiree forum on Aug. 15 at First Baptist Church in Fayetteville.
Commissioner of Labor Josh Dobson stopped by our office on July 12 to discuss ways SEANC can work with the NC Dept. of Labor in the future with Executive Director Ardis Watkins and President Martha Fowler.
Executive Director Ardis Watkins spoke at the Women Working In Criminal Justice Conference to more than 200 people at Wake Technical Community College in July.
District 57 sponsored an employee appreciation event for the Longleaf Neuro-Medical Center employees in Wilson on July 13. Pictured in the blue shirt is Member Representative Celia Wilson explaining the SEANC membership benefits.
SEANC staff and District 64 enjoyed appreciating Walter B. Jones employees and providing them with SEANC information on July 20. Thirteen new members joined that day!
SEANC sponsored membership events throughout Mecklenburg County with the help of District 12 members. SEANC
General Treasurer Emily Jones is pictured with a UNC-Charlotte employee.
Thanks to Pitt County Schools for inviting SEANC to the Aug. 10 bus driver meeting. SEANC Member Representative Celia Wilson explains SEANC membership benefits with employees.
District 64 and SEANC staff attended a Pitt County Bus Driver Meeting.
District 17 members and SEANC staff toured Guilford County during the summer months. Pictured is Member Relations Representative Gloria Evans sharing SEANC information with NC Works and Juvenile Justice employees.
In the photo above left are Winston-Salem University police officers, SEANC Treasurer Emily Jones and Lead Member Relations Specialist Felicia Powell. Congrats to Serica Dunlap (left inset photo) for winning the door prize on Aug. 9 during the event. Pictured at right, Executive Director Ardis Watkins and District 16 Chair Willie Bailey were on hand to meet employees and tell them about the benefits of SEANC membership.
SEANC and District 19 Chair Anthony Weaver attended the Orange County School Bus Transportation Training on Aug. 24.
District 38 sponsored an appreciation event at the Governor’s Crime Commission on Aug. 16. Pictured is Member Relations Specialist Carri Derrick explaining the benefits of SEANC membership.
District 45 hosted “Nacho Day” for Central Prison staff on Aug. 12. Pictured (L-R): Capt. Brenda Corbett-Moore, District 45 Chair John Williams, Lt. Joyce Yelverton, Officer Windley, Officer Alisha Dervins, Officer Mario Dervins and Sgt. Jeanne Carr. (All are District 45 members).
District 44 sponsored an appreciation event on July 27 for employees at State Surplus Property in Raleigh.
District 17 sponsored an appeciation event on Sept. 20 for Guilford County courthouses in Greensboro and High Point state employees as part of our weeklong Guilford County Blitz. Pictured above left are: District 17 member Temisha Anderson with Judge Larry L. Archie. Pictured at right from left to right are Piedmont Regional Representative and District 17 Chair Kemrey Lamarr and Michelle Thrower with Piedmont Farmers Market employees on Sept. 19.
SEANC was once again a proud sponsor of the UNC Staff Assembly Chancellors Cup golf tournament at the UNC Finley Golf Course on Sept. 28. This year’s tournament raised over $60,000 for the Janet B. Royster Scholarship Fund, which will allow for the UNC System Staff Assembly to continue to support the professional development goals of UNC system staff. Pictured are District 22 member Kathy Blackmon-King, President Martha Fowler, General Treasurer Emily Jones, Executive Director Ardis Watkins and Public Education Chair Mark Dearmon.
MEMBERS IN ACTION
District 21 sponsored an appreciation event at the
Center in Butner on Aug. 24, and on Sept. 13, provided treats for Franklin County Courthouse employees. Clerk of Court Shelly Dickerson also became a SEANC member (photo
SEANC team made its way to the Department of Agriculture’s Agronomics Building on Aug. 11.
Webb to represent SEANC in Leadership North Carolina
Tracy Webb has been awarded SEANC’s sponsorship to join the upcoming class of Leadership NC, a two-year program aimed at building the next generation of state leaders.
Webb, a District 42 member, has 20 years of state service and is an eight-year SEANC member. She works at the Department of Health and Human Services as a Regional Trainer/Content Developer. Webb serves both the district and state levels, including state Emerging Leaders Council, SEANC Insurance Board and SEANC state Membership Board Participation in LNC requires a two-year commitment.
The
Above left is District 38 Chair Margaret Reader and Board of Governors Secretary Betty Gautier.
Above right is Argonomics Division Director Colleen M. Hudak-Wise and Executive Director Ardis Watkins.
District 42 provided free lunches for Department of Labor employees on Aug. 18. Pictured above left is member Dennis Berwyn with Second Vice President Wendell Powell. At right are Michelle Thrower and District 42 member Shirley Bell.
SEANC staff and District 58 members were thrilled to join Nash County Schools for Bus Transportation Training on Aug. 18.
District 22 sponsored an appreciation day for Fayetteville Technical Community College employees on Aug. 17. Pictured above, employees pick up SEANC information packets and a complimentary Chick-fil-A lunch.
District 65 sponsored an appreciation event on Aug. 16 for the housekeeping staff at East Carolina University. Pictured center is District 65 Chair Kiana Price with members Debbie Austin (left) and Cynthia Brown (right).
District 1 held a Faculty & Staff Appreciation Event at Western Carolina University on Sept. 1. Pictured from left to right are Member Relations Representative Luke Turner, District 1 Chair Mark Haskett and SEANC Comunications Specialist Samantha Cline.
Murdoch
at right).
Tracy Webb
Western Regional Representative and District 2 Chair Cliff Johnson met with Juvenile Justice employees during the summer.
District 16 held an appreciation event on Sept. 22 for Forsyth Correctional Institution employees. Pictured at right, District 16 member Steve Lawson welcomes new members Marsheeka Steward and Tammie Lee, who joined during our Sept. 22 visit to the NCDOT 9th Division office in Winston-Salem.
2022-2023 SEANC BOARD
E x E cutiv E c ommitt EE
President
Martha Fowler
District 19
Mebane
UNC-Chapel Hill (retired)
First Vice
President
Kirk Montgomery
District 25
Burlington City of Mebane
Second Vice
President
Wendell Powell
District 41
Fayetteville Department of Public Safety
Treasurer
Emily Jones District 41
Clayton Department of Public Safety (retired)
Immediate
Past President
Jimmy Davis
District 4
Forest City
Department of Public Safety (retired)
Piedmont Region
Cliff Brown
District 20
Aberdeen Department of Public Safety (retired)
North Central Region
Janet Bunch
District 27
Durham
North Carolina Central University (retired)
South Central Region
Doranna Anderson
District 39
Raleigh Department of Health & Human Services (retired)
Eastern Region
Kathy Merritt
District 59
Goldsboro Department of Health & Human Services (retired)
Western Region
Cliff Johnson
District 2
Waynesville Department of Public Safety (retired)
Retiree Council
Chairman
Benny Brigman
District 58
Hookerton Department of Public Safety (retired)
Insurance Board
Chairwoman
Laura Overstreet
District 62
Wilmington Department of Public Safety (retired)
D
istrict c hairp E rsons
District 1
Mark Haskett Cullowhee Western Carolina University (retired)
District 3
Teresa Johnson Boone
Appalachian State University (retired)
District 4
Caroline Dedmon Lucretia Department of Transportation (retired)
District 5
Willard Jobe Burnsville Department of Public Safety (retired)
District 6
Sonya Akbar Morganton Department of Health & Human Services (retired)
District 10
District 11
Jamie Bennett Morven Department of Transportation
12
Williams Monroe
Department of Public Safety
District 13
Linda Colbert Charlotte Central Piedmont Community College (retired)
District 16
Willie Bailey Pfafftown Winston-Salem State University (retired)
President’s Assistants
Timothy Morgan Salisbury Department of Public Safety pr E si DEnt ’s a ssistants
Secretary
Betty Gautier District 38 Benson
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (retired)
Parliamentarian
Kim Martin
District 10
Concord Department of Public Safety
Parliamentarian
Joyce B. Shaw
District 69
Elizabeth City
Elizabeth City State University
District 7
Alisun Boldrini Boone Department of Health & Human Services
District 8
Michael Jenkins Hiddenite Department of Public Safety
District 9
Jamie Robinson Taylorsville Department of Transportation (retired)
District 17
Doris Daye Burlington Department of Public Safety
District 18 Dewey Brower Rockingham Department of Public Safety (retired)
District 19
Anthony Weaver Rougemont Department of Public Safety (retired)
District
Tamara
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
District
District
District
District
District
District
District
District
District
District
District
District
District
District
District
President’s 2023 vision is one of optimism
are excerpts from
Good evening and welcome to the Black and White Ball Awards Banquet, where we continue to celebrate 75 years of SEANC as an organization.
First of all, I want to thank God for his blessings upon my life. I want to issue a special word of thanks to my family and friends that have come to support me tonight. I come from a large family and all my brothers and sisters have decided to join me. Thank you. I would also like to thank members of District 19 for their continued support over the years as I’ve served this association. I could not have done it without you. This moment was a vision of mine more than 20 years ago. I am truly thankful for all that you have done and continue to do in order for me to pursue my dream of being President of the State Employees Association of North Carolina.
Thanks to the delegation for the confidence you have placed in me. Over the past year, I have strived to support SEANC to the best of my ability. My goal is to continue to support SEANC and its vision. We’ve endured the Covid-19 Pandemic, we’ve endured challenges, we’ve endured good times and we’ve endured some times that were not so good. However, I believe that the good outweighs the bad. My vision for 2023 is one of great optimism.
I will use Year Two of my presidency to continue the legacy and goals that I outlined last year.
Last year, my goal was to recruit new active members into the association. In addition to the State Membership Committee, I established the Growth and Expansion Committee
to assist in this effort. This committee has worked hard to bring forth new ways to recruit younger members and expand our outreach into new areas of state government. Currently, there is a very high vacancy rate for many DPS and DHHS state agencies. We are venturing into the public schools to recruit classified personnel. We are making ourselves known on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other forms of social media.
We continue our work with XYZ University and established core values of: Reliability, Empowerment, Making a Difference, Integrity, and Commitment.
We are continuing to celebrate 75 years of SEANC and its predecessor organizations. We honor those individuals before us and we are paving the way for those leaders that will be our future. Our Emerging Leaders Council has completed community service projects and recruited speakers that inspire and motivate our future leaders, as well as supported Leadership NC. You may not know it now but someone sitting in the audience today will perhaps be the next SEANC President 10, 15, or 20 years from now. We have a lot of potential right here in this room. We must continue to work toward a brighter future.
We’re Building on a Diamond Foundation.
My vision continues for fiscal year 2022-2023 and beyond. We are a large organization, and our infrastructure must adapt to all the growing pains that go along with growing this organization. We are continuing our work with SRS to review all our internal processes from the SEANC Central Office to each of our districts represented here. Thanks to all the districts for their
support in this effort.
We must continue to lobby the legislature for better pay and benefits for state employees and retirees. We continue to support EMPAC and work with a bipartisan legislature for getting things accomplished in our policy platform objectives of compensation, health care, job security, and retirement. We must request that the Retirement System Board of Trustees recommend a Cost-of-Living Adjustment for our retirees. We have waited far too long since retirees have received a true COLA. This must be the year that we obtain one. The cost of a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk and all our gas, and groceries continue to increase in cost; yet our pension has not kept up with inflation. We will seek to remedy this.
We will continue laying the groundwork for the future of SEANC. Just as we have done for over the past 75 years, we will continue to build this organization as the powerhouse we have become. When we are called on to write an amicus brief, to support like-minded associations, to work with the Service Employees International Union, we will do so.
We are the State Employees Association of North Carolina and we are Building on a Diamond Foundation.
The following
SEANC President Martha Fowler ’s address to the delegates at the 38th Annual SEANC Convention on Sept. 10.
President Martha Fowler
SEANC State Awards
The Member of the Year Award recognizes a SEANC member for his/her continued service and active support of SEANC both in words and actions for the current year.
The Member of the Year Award recognizes a SEANC district chair for his/her dedication and active support of SEANC both in words and actions for the current year. District chairs are typically the persons called upon the most to handle SEANC’s business and affairs and are frequently among the hardest workers in the association.
The Distinguished Service Award is presented to a SEANC member in recognition of cumulative service and active support to the association. Recipients are persons who year after year, work to promote SEANC’s goals and objectives, serving in whatever capacity asked of them. Nominees are anticipated to be persons whose involvement and prescence have left a lasting mark on the association.
The 2021-2022 Bob Hopper Award for Distinguished Service on retiree issues was awarded to Duane Smith (District 43), Chuck Stone (District 58), Laura Overstreet (District 62) and Barbara Pace (District 16), not pictured.
President Fowler presented Western Region Representative Cliff Johnson (District 2) with the 2021-2022 Presidential Honoree Award.
Gena Hamm
Specialist Randy Wall received Darrell Arnold Awards for excellence as SEANC staff members.
Member of the Year
Rashia Norman (District 22)
District Chair of the Year
Deborah Harney (District 22)
Marie Stone (District 58)
Joyce Shaw (District 69)
Awards Chair Janice Bass (District 21) presented the 2021-2022 State Awards to recipients from left to right.
2021-2022 Member Discount Awards (L-R)
The 2021-2022 Emerging Leaders Awards: Tracy Webb (District 42), Emerging Leaders Chair Carl Elliott (District 69), Lead Member Relations Representative Felicia Powell and Hameeda Jackson (District 10).
Guest speaker SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry speaks with President Martha Fowler.
Executive Director Ardis Watkins honored longtime member and Past President J.E. Skinner during her report. Skinner, 90, was attending his 71st convention!
District 41 member Ramona Williams attended the New Delegate Training.
District 60 member Debi Artis gave a moving invocation on opening day.
NC A&T State Fellowship Gospel Choir leads the delegation in singing our National Athem and “God Bless America” on opening day.
SEANC Past Presidents and spouses with current President Martha Fowler.
State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA gave the delegation an update on the State Health Plan and retirement system.
