Dear Tampa Police Officers and Fellow PBA Members:

Our transition has begun. We have met as a group almost daily since the election and are getting ready to put our plans in place. As of yesterday, Chip DeBlock started full time at the PBA. He is getting up to speed on pending I/A investigations and collecting financial and statistical data for our use when we take office January 1. He has been warmly received by both Mike Niemi and Kevin Durkin and I wish to personally thank them both for their assistance. Kevin has granted us every request and is extremely receptive in accommodating us to make this a seamless transition. I am sure that Kevin will continue working with us and offering us his years of experience as we move forward.
This evening the four of us were at the WCFPBA Charter meeting and got to see and meet our brother officers from HCSO and Lakeland PD. I also had the personal opportunity to see Rich O’Connor and invite him to chair our upcoming insurance committee. Rich had very good ideas throughout the campaign and certainly has a good grasp of insurance issues. He accepted the invitation and I look forward to working with him and any other Tampa Police Officer in the coming months who will give us their time and join our Steering Committee.
Since the week I announced my intention to run for this office I have been in contact with Mike Rouleau, the president of the HCSO Patrol Chapter. We are going to do our best to work well together and I thought it only right to invite him and his group to meet our entire group for lunch yesterday. One of the Lakeland PD rep’s was also invited and came to lunch with us. Some of us met for the first time. We freely exchanged some ideas about how the direction of our PBA should go. We should continue those meetings to find our differences and do our best to work them out. Communication is the key to good business relationships. Here is the best part; we each individually paid for our meals before going our separate ways. The lunch cost you nothing.
If you see any of us out I would enjoy meeting you personally. I’ve said before, we are here to meet you and help you if we can. That is what your union should be about.

Till next time,

Greg Stout