May 13th 2026
Monthly Meeting Report
The 309th AFDRA meeting was called to order at 1900. Attendance was very good with some old friends showing up, and after Louis Trujillo led us in an opening prayer, we had a Moment of Silence for all those that have passed before us.
Roll call of Officers and Advisory Board members and all Executive Board members were present.
IAFF Local 244 President Miguel Tittmann was our guest speaker. Local 244 and the NM State Firefighters Association are hosting the IAFF District 10 conference at the Tamaya Resort from June 10 through the 26th. Local 244 has invited retirees to attend some of the informal gatherings and possibly help with registration tables, driving vans etc. These details will be worked out, and I will pass on the information.
Miguel also talked about the possible opportunity for retirees to become IAFF Retiree members with voting rights and the opportunity to participate in conferences and seminars. This program would require that retirees pay IAFF dues, but this is a new program, and the details will be forthcoming. If you are interested in this program, please give me a shout via email or text so that we can get an idea if this program even interests our retiree members. This would be strictly a volunteer program.
President’s Report;
By Kerry Horton
The annual picnic date has been set for August 22 so mark your calendars. The picnic opens at 10 am, our festivities start at 11 with opening remarks and food serving starts around 11:30. We will have door prizes and a silent auction supporting our Retiree Assistance Program, and the IAFF New Mexico Motorcycle Group will have a raffle to support this year’s ride to the IAFF Motorcycle Rally in Pennsylvania. The location is Rotary Park in Bernalillo.
Our May 28th Kitchen Table meeting will take place at AFR Station 19. This is the first time we are holding our meeting at a firehouse, and we hope to have one of the stations with a conference room host a Kitchen Table meeting once a month. We hope to see you there.
If you are interested in a new retiree ID card, please text me a shoulder up selfie at 505-934-2969. I’m trusting that you all will behave.
Vice President’s Report;
By Donny Sanchez
VP Donny Sanchez has a friend that is a Denver FD retiree that has the IAFF Retiree program and will reach out to him to see how their program works.
Secretary’s Report;
By Eddie Abeita
Eddie gave an entertaining and accurate reading of the April meeting minutes. A motion was made and passed to accept the minutes as read.
Treasurer’s Report;
By Mike Fox
Mike read the April financial report along with the 2025 annual treasurer’s report that is required every May. According to the report, AFDRA finances are healthy and stable, and you can request a copy of the report through our treasurer Mike Fox. A motion was made and passed to accept the April financial report. As always, the financial books are open for everybody to review.
Historian’s Report;
Herman gave a brief history of how he became our historian and Greg Aragon shared a PowerPoint presentation of the earliest days of firefighting, and fist fighting, in Albuquerque, brought on by the expansion of the city when the Railroad came to town.
Committee Reports;
Funeral Committee, Sam and Eddie reminded everyone of the importance of preplanning your funeral, letting your family know what type of services you want and whether you want a Firefighter service. These things do not happen without planning, and we have provided all the information you need to do the planning with your family on our website-afdretirees.com under Fire Box in the menu.
Picnic Committee, as stated, the date of the picnic is set for August 22nd, so make your plans to attend. The location is at Rotary Park in Bernalillo.
Election Committee, Louis Trujillo reported that this year’s nominations for the positions of President and Secretary are closed, and that with no additional nominations for each office, by acclamation, Louis made a motion that Kerry Horton and Eddie Abeita be sworn in to their elected office. The motion was passed and we will be sworn in in July as per our by-laws.
Matters Good for the Association.
With the help of an organization called the New Mexico COLA Coalition, I have met with the Deb Haaland and Sam Bregman election camps to discuss the importance of getting our colas back. After an in-person meeting and a ZOOM meeting with the Haaland camp, we never saw Deb and they so far have been unable to give us their support in this issue. When we met with Sam Bregman, he met us personally and has issued a news release that he will seek to get PERA retirees their colas back and that he will look to eliminate State income tax on PERA pensions. There has been no contact with the Republican candidates as of this writing and this should in no way be interpreted as a political endorsement.
Kevin and Tim O’Brien’s father, who was a volunteer FF for BCFD for years, has passed away and his services will be May 15th, at the Lutheran Church at 10000 Spain Rd. NE at 10:30.
Keep up with events and dates by checking out our website or Facebook page.
Visit our website at afdretirees.com
The meeting was adjourned at 2040.