The York County / City of Williamsburg / City of Poquoson / James City County Professional Fire Fighters, Paramedics and 911 Dispatchers IAFF Local 2498 .....
Summary of Qualifications
6 years of honorable and highly recognized military service,
More than 25 years of professional/career and 7 years volunteer experience in firefighting and emergency medical services, coaching and instructing. In excess of 30 years of Union membership and service. IAFF Local Union Officer for more than 22 years. Appointed to the position of International Association of Fire Fighters Service Representative by our General President Harold Schaitberger. Develop, introduced and maintained the VPFF Communications Network. Appointed Chairman to our local’s first known Membership Committee. Well-developed interpersonal skills. Proven communications abilities both written and oral. Extensive computer experience, social media, budget analysis, budget planning, financial auditing, record keeping and spreadsheets. Strong, proven ability to successfully achieve immediate and long term goals, objectives and consistently meets operational deadlines. Aggressively seeks out sources of additional responsibility. (Detailed summery below)
Professional Experience
1989 – 2015 York County Fire & Life safety, York County Virginia. Senior Fire Fighter/EMT (EMT-C, ACLS for many years), Acting Station Officer, vast experience with operations, logistics and station duties.
2011 – Present International Association of Fire Fighters Service Representative.
1998 – Present President York County, City of Poquoson, City of Williamsburg Professional Fire Fighters & Paramedics IAFF Local 2498. AFL/CIO/CLC, VPFF, VPCC, VPAP, NFPA, YCCC, WCC, NCPERS.
1994- 1998 Secretary/Treasurer IAFF Local 2498.
1997- 2000 Fox Ridge Home Owners Association President.
1990-1994 Vice President IAFF Local 2498.
1983-1989 United States Navy, enlisted as E-1, September 1983 in Brick town, New Jersey, Honorably discharged at the York Town Navel Weapon Station earning the rank of E-5(Petty Officer 2nd Class).
1979-1983 Open Ocean Head Life Guard at Bradshaw’s Beach and Pavilion located in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.
1978-1983 Union Grocery Clerk for Pathmark Supermarkets, Retail Clerks Association Local 1262 AFL/CIO.
1982- Graduated Brick Memorial High School. (Detailed summery below)
DETAILED SUMMERY
Summary of Qualifications (detailed)
25 years of professional/career service with the York County Fire & Life Safety.
3 years of volunteer service with the York County Fire & Life Safety.
4 years of service with Herbertsville Volunteer Fire Company (Station 24). Certification and Qualification: Driver Operator-Pump, Driver Aerial Operator, Emergency Vehicle Operator, Radiological Monitoring, Instructor II, Open Water Diver, Hazardous Materials Operations, Hazardous Materials Level I, Fire Fighter III, Tidewater Regional Fire Academy, Fire Arson Detection, E.V.O.C., Vehicle Extrication, Emergency Chlorine Handling, Emergency Medical Technician/Cardiac Technician, Advanced Cardiac Life Support. Virginia Professional Fire Fighter Colonial District Coordinator (Before Vice President Title). Virginia Professional Fire Fighters Communications Chairman. Virginia Professional Fire Fighters Director. Virginia Professional Fire Fighters Legislative Committee member. Virginia Professional Fire Fighters Retirement Committee member. International Association of Fire Fighters Service Representative. While serving as Vice President of IAFF Local 2498, I was appointed by our local President to the position of Membership Committee Chairman. While Chairman of this committee, I brought our membership up from 18 members to 93 members. We now enjoy a membership of 125 and we continue to grow our membership monthly. While serving as the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters Communications Committee Chairman. I was responsible for all facets of communication to include our state computer network which was state of the art for its time. I developed and maintained the first such system within the IAFF. Duties included dissemination of all Fax, Alpha-Numeric pages, E-Mails state wide as well as nationally. As President of the Fox Ridge Home Owners Association I was responsible for presiding over all meetings of the Board of Directors that all orders and resolutions were carried out in a professional and timely manner, signed all leases, mortgages, deeds and other instruments and co-sign all checks and promissory notes. I also formed the associations first Legislative Committee which is now active at all levels of government. Military Service – Enlisted as E-1 in September 1983 in Brick Township, New Jersey. Attended boot camp in Great Lakes Illinois. Graduated in the Top 10% of my class which resulted in a recommendation from my commander to attend a high tech communications “A” School requiring one of this nation’s highest security clearance. I attended “A” School in San Diego, California. Graduated with a 3.8 grade point average and was assigned to the U.S.S. Enterprise CVN-65 located in Alameda, California. While aboard, I was promoted to Petty Officer 3rd Class (E-4) within the first increment and placed in charge of 15 men on my watch due to my constant 3.8 and 4.0 evaluations. I received many awards and citations while serving aboard the U.S.S. Received orders to the U.S.S. Eisenhower CVN-69 located in Norfolk, Virginia. While aboard I was promoted to Petty Officer 2nd Class (E-5) within the first increment. I was placed in charge of 30 men. The responsibility included supervision for the communications center, quarterly evaluations of all my subordinates. While aboard I received many awards and citations which resulted in a high recommendation from the ship’s captain to attend the Naval Officer Academy and further retention in the United States Navy. I asked and received orders to the Naval Weapon Station Yorktown, Virginia. Served 2 years there and received my Honorable Discharge after 6 years of dedicated and decorated service. I was given choose of duty station and a $20,000.00 reenlistment bonus to stay in the U.S. Navy by the Admiral of the Weapon Station, but refused the offer so that I could peruse my lifelong dream of being a third generation fire fighter. Union Officer – As a union officer working hand in hand with fellow officer and members I accomplished the following:
Worked to increase our Executive Board from 3 Officers, President, Sec/Tres and Vice President to the current 12 Officer Executive Board. President, Secretary, Treasurer, 5 Vice President and 4 Trustees. Lobbied to provide our members unlimited Shift Trades which was limited to 3 per year. Worked with our local President to lobby our locality to adopt the VRS 25/50 Retirement. Worked with our local President to end the restricting of Departmental Officers from membership in our local union. Worked to provide our members retirement health care premium relief which resulted in York County paying 50% of our retirees health care cost saving our members hundreds of dollars per month. Lobbied side by side with Brothers and Sisters from all over Virginia for our Heart and Lung, Cancer and Disease Presumption protection. Worked to provide our members Over Time Pay Protection. Worked on dozens of political campaigns on both sides of the isle for the last 22 years. Worked to secure a permanent office for our local with our Union Brothers and Sisters with Teamsters Local 95. Engaged in and organized many Union Rallies in support of Labor Unions and the Working Middle Class. Worked to ensure our locality adopted NFPA 1710. (Minimum Staffing Requirements). Worked to ensure our locality adopted NFPA 1582 (Health & Wellness). Created our local’s Benevolent Fund which allows our local to donate no less than $5,000.00 to the next of Kin within 24 hours to any local member killed in the line of duty. Organized our local auxiliary. Created of local’s Registered PAC Fund and fund it with a $4.00 per member per month member contribution. Worked to create our local’s first short and long term budgets. Our dues are currently at $45.00 per month and goes up $10.00 every ten years as to make our Treasurer’s job a little easier. All members of IAFF Local 2498 also must be on Direct Deposit. Upon their requests, Worked with our Brothers and Sisters of both the City of Williamsburg and the City of Poquoson to join forced to strengthen our ability to protect our members. Work with other area locals, organized labor groups and social group to promote workers’ rights, safer working environments, better pay and better benefits. Over the last two decades I have worked hundreds of injured fire fighter workers compensation cases winning all but one (member refused to sign proper paperwork). Over the last two decades I assisted or worked dozens of grievances with a 95% win rate. With assistance from Pat Morrison from the IAFF and Local 2068’s Physician Dr. Stewart. I have been able to save several members jobs from the misinterpretation of NFPA 1582 by our localities doctors. Searched out and succeeded in developing a professional relationship with an investor and Mass Mailer company to produce a very long term successful fund raiser for our local. This twice a year mailer allows us the ability to fund raise but to share our issues with every citizen and business owner in our area. Worked with our Brothers & Sisters from Hampton and now they to share our Union Hall. We now have Teamsters Local 95 (represent-Anhouser Busch brewery workers), Hampton IAFF Local 2450 and IAFF Local 2498 York/Poquoson/Williamsburg sharing resources to better represent and protect our members. Created our local’s very successful Public Relations Program which includes the following:
Huge email group access, Local Web Site, Face Book, Linkup, Skype, My Space, Twitter, Virginia Department of Transportation Adopt-A-Highway Program – we have adopted 36 signs bearing our unions name and IAFF decal on each of them. They are located at every entrance and exit to our locality and in front of every fire station and fire administration building, Our Bi-Annual Mass mailer with yearly support decal just to name a few. We will also be utilizing You Tube in the very near future. Created a Service to Our Members Initiative that helps foster long term union membership and enhances morale. It includes working a member’s workers compensation claim for them from start to finish and picking up all costs associated with the claim. It includes working their grievance for them at no expense to the member. I also developed a program only available to our local members in which they receive union cards produced by a union brother. They include Thank You, Sympathy, Get Well and Congratulation Cards. I worked with our moral committee members to develop and institute a Stork Program, we place a fire fighter stork with an IAFF helmet in a member’s yard that has just been blessed with a child and they get to keep the Bundle of Joy. I have developed and organize our local’s Bi-Annual Camping Trips and Annual Professional Fire Fighter & Paramedic Appreciation Weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge at huge discounted rates and free dinner. We have opened these events to ALL IAFF members who wish to attend in hopes of improving moral. I developed an awards program that award our member’s year of service to IAFF Local 2498. Every 5 years our members receive an awards package titrated to the years of service. From Free IAFF decals, IAFF Dress Shirts, Local T-Shirts, IAFF Cuff Links, IAFF Coffee Mugs to IAFF Gold Watches are members appreciate this program. I enhance our Political Action activities to what I believe are second to none. I believe that for our local’s size we accomplish the impossible. Local, State and Federal Legislators have come to notice and respect our local’s Political Action and our mission statement to ‘Never Back Down”. I have been married to my loving and supportive wife Teresa Lee Dinse 53 years old and is from Lynchburg, Virginia for more than 20 years. She is the sales manager to for a local family that owns several hotels in the Williamsburg area. She is my biggest supporter and is always there for me when I need advice or just a hug. I would not be where I am without her. We have two children a son and a daughter from my first marriage Anthony Michael Dinse, 27 years old and works for the Pepsi Corporation has an associate’s degree and his working towards his bachelors in business administration. He just purchased his first home on his own and doing very well for himself. Our daughter Nicole Ann Dinse, 25 years old just graduated from ODU with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a minor in business administration. She currently is working for the college in administration and is looking for something in her field. She is very aggressive and well-rounded and will have a very success future. We are extremely proud of both our children and we are looking forward to grandchildren. A subject that always inspires great debate at our dinner table.
I was raised in a family that enjoyed RVing across the country. The whole family traveled together, grandparents, parents, children, aunts, uncles and close family friends. Teresa and I still continue that tradition and when time and money allows we travel all over this great country in our RV. I enjoy taking care of our home in Williamsburg, Virginia. I am a fanatic with appearance. I love keeping my yard well-manicured and enjoy working in the garden and our flower beds. I find piece in sitting by our pool and watching the birds and squirrels that we feed in our back yard while spending time with my family. Brothers & Sisters this is a short list of what I have done with my life up to now. Everything I have ever done while serving my members has been for one purpose and one purpose only. To enhance their and their families lives. I was blessed with growing up in an area of this country that treated their workers much better than the commonwealth of Virginia. Not only with much higher salaries and benefits but with workers’ rights we can only dream of. I believe it is my purpose to FIGHT to not only limit and or stop the attacks on us, but to fight to enhance our safety, pay, benefits and workers’ rights here in Virginia. I believe my best years are ahead of me and with our continued support, I am confident we will accomplish these goals together. If any of the programs, policies or initiatives I discussed above can be useful to you and/or your members don’t hesitate to ask and I will send the information to you.
Union Leader, Past IAFF Service Rep. President York County / City of Williamsburg / City of Poquoson / James City County Professional Fire Fighters, Paramedics and 911 Dispatchers IAFF Local 2498. Registered Lobbyist,
