March 12th 2025
Monthly Meeting Report
The 295th AFDRA meeting was called to order at 1900. After the Pledge of Allegiance, Morris Gutierrez gave the opening prayer. A moment of silence was held for Robert “Bob” Knevitt.
Roll call of Officers and Advisory Board members. Vice President Donny Sanchez was absent because he was at the PIT yelling at High Schoolers.
President’s Report;
By Kerry Horton
Tonight’s turnout was very good with two retirees attending that we have not seen in a while, so shout out to David Junick and Joseph “Pappy” Pavlakovich.
The sentencing hearing for the loser that killed Phil Garcia was held on March 11th, and things didn’t go the way we wanted. Sena received 18 months incarceration at MDC (6 months now since he has been at MDC for the past year), and 4 ½ years of probation. Let’s keep the Garcia family in our thoughts and prayers as they deal with the grief and the injustice of NM courts.
Senate Bill 30, the Bill that tried to get a 2% COLA back to retirees, has been in committee since 2-11-2025 and will probably die there.
Senate Joint Resolution 2 is asking for a change in the NM Constitution, adding language that protects NM Public Employees Retiree Health Care funding so that the state can not pull monies from that fund for other uses, has also been in committee since mid-February, but might move on since there is no cost associated. I’ll give a NM Legislative report next week when the session closes.
Vice President’s Report;
By Donny Sanchez
No report
Secretary’s Report;
By Eddie Abeita
Eddie gave a brief and humorous report on last month’s meeting and a motion to accept the minutes as said was passed.
Treasurer’s Report;
By Mike Fox
Mike gave the financial report for February and all funds are accounted for. As always, the financial books are open for everybody to review. A motion to accept the financial report passed. One advancement Mike made was to add the ability to use debit and credit cards for purchases like Christmas dinner tickets and in making donations and silent auction contributions. See our webpage for details.
Historian’s Report;
By Herman Bishop
Herman expressed his sorrow at losing his real good friend Joe Maldonado and shared some stories of their careers together.
Committee Reports;
Funeral Committee, Sam is in contact with Bob Knevitt’s daughter, and we will post any information on services as it becomes available.
Museum Committee,
Election Committee, Louis Trujillo was appointed Election Committee Chairman and the nomination period for Vice President, Treasurer, and Historian has opened, and will close at the May Meeting. Nominations for Donny Sanchez for Vice President, Mike Fox for Treasurer, and Herman Bishop for Historian were made at tonight’s meeting. You can make nominations anytime by calling Louis Trujillo at 505-604-7732.
Matters Good for the Association.
The Scuba Company, an Albuquerque business near Morris Gutierrez’s Cosmos business, has offered free scuba lessons in Florida for an AFD retiree who may be suffering from PTSD stemming from their years on the job. The program that they sponsor is called Dolphin Warriors and they offer these trips to active and retired military and public safety personnel. If you know of someone that could benefit from this program, please reach out to us and nominate them.
Remember to visit our website afdretirees.com
The meeting was adjourned at 2040.