October 2014 Newsletter

VMA Board Meets With Head of State Employees’ Association

At its quarterly board meeting, the VMA Executive Board met with Ron Jordan, the executive director of the Virginia State Employee’s Association (VGEA) for a briefing on the activities of his organization and how it can benefit Virginia’s magistrates in the future. 

The role of the VGEA is to represent the interests of Virginia’s state employees before the Virginia General Assembly, and to assist its members in resolving disputes between state employees and their managers.

Jordan said that over the past few years, the VGEA has become a powerful force in Virginia politics and has claimed credit for a number of legislative victories that have helped to preserve the state’s retirement system, and the health benefits of state employees. 

Unfortunately, the VGEA’s focus on protecting employee benefits has made it difficult to address the issue of stagnant employee salaries across the state, Jordan stated.   

That said, Jordan expressed his hope that the VGEA and its team of expert lobbyists will be in a good position to address this issue within the next two to three years. 

Joint Membership Agreement Contemplated: Jordan was also open to the possibility of a joint membership agreement between the VGEA and the VMA.  A joint membership agreement would allow magistrates to automatically enroll in the VGEA when they pay their dues to the VMA.  However Jordan cautioned that such an agreement would likely take some time to negotiate.  In the meantime, VMA members are free to enroll in the VGEA as individuals. 

VMA Opinion Poll Shows Majority Support For SB 680. 

An opinion poll of VMA members shows that a majority of the Association’s membership either supports or partially supports a proposal to strip OES of its managerial responsibilities over the Virginia Magistrate System.  SB 680, which is sponsored by Senator Bill Carrico would move managerial responsibility of Virginia’s Magistrates from OES back to the Chief Circuit Judges in each locality.   According to the polling data collected by the VMA, 54.76% of respondents indicated either support for or partial support for SB 680.  In contrast, 21.43% of respondents had no opinion and 23.81% did not support the bill.

Executive Board Debate Reflects Membership Opinion: In a rigorous debate concerning the merits of SB 680, a majority of the Executive Board agreed with the majority of VMA members that Chief Circuit Court Judges are better suited to appoint and manage magistrates than the regional supervisors appointed by OES.  There were however some rigorous dissenting voices on the board who raised concerns that the proposed changes could interfere with judicial decision making and open the door to widespread part time employment. 

The Executive Board did however agree that regardless of who manages the magistrate system, the VMA should encourage the adoption of pro-employee policies, most notably the removal of restrictions on localities supplementing the salaries of magistrates appointed after 2008.  

Talavera Authorized To Appoint Director of Legislative Affairs: The VMA Executive Board also passed a motion to authorize President Talavera to appoint a director of legislative affairs.  The board agreed that once appointed the director would advise outside entities of VMA policy opinions, and promote pro-employee policies.  The board also agreed that the director should not be a current judicial employee.

Election 2014: VMA Welcomes New Officers

A competitive election during the summer of 2014 led to the election of new officers to the VMA Executive Board as well as the ratification of two amendments to the bylaws of the association.  Iris Tucker was elected as representative of Region 1.   Kyle Schumacher was elected as representative of Region 5.     Tamyra Whitehead was elected as representative of Region 7, and Kara Akins was elected as representative of Region 8. In addition Paula Marquis and Louis Kroiz were appointed by President Talavera as  representative of Region 6 and representative of Region 2 respectively. 

Amendments To Bylaws Ratified: Two proposed bylaws to the Association were also ratified by the general membership of the association in the last election.   The first amendment changes the quorum requirement to a simple majority of all filled positions, instead of total positions.  The second amendment allows former but not yet retired magistrates to become members of the association.  

Website Service Restored. 

The VMA website is now up and running again thanks to the swift actions of President Talavera.  The association’s new website address is www.vmaja.org.  The VMA has also launched a linkedin profile which contains an additional link to the association’s blog.