OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT 2009-10

Karen Johnson

E911 Wireless Coordinator/Communications Assistant

New Kent County Sheriff's Office

PO Box 186

New Kent, VA 23124

Office: (804) 966-9500
Fax: (804) 966-5050

E-Mail: kbjohnson@co.newkent.state.va.us

PRESIDENT-ELECT 2009-10

Steve Souder

Director

Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications

3911 Woodburn Road
Annandale, Virginia 22003

Office: (703) 280-0528
Fax: (703) 280-0670

E-Mail: steve.souder@fairfaxcounty.gov

VICE-PRESIDENT 2009-10

Julie McKercher

Director of Emergency Communications

James City County Emergency Communications Center

3131 Forge Road

Toano, VA 23168

Office: (757) 564-2144

E-Mail: jmckercher@james-city.va.us

SECRETARY 2009-11

Emily Totten

Training Coordinator/Accreditation Manager

Roanoke County Emergency Communications Center

5925 Cove Rd.
Roanoke. Va. 24019

Office:  540-777-8661
Fax: 540-777-9769
Dispatch:  540-562-3265

E-Mail: etotten@roanokecountyva.gov

TREASURER 2008-10

Melinda Bramley

Training & Retention Specialist

Virginia Beach 9-1-1 Emergency Communications

2508 Princess Anne Road, Bldg. 30

Virginia Beach, VA 23456-9064

Office: 757-385-4028

Fax: 757-385-1810

E-Mail: mbramley@vbgov.com

APCO INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL DELEGATE 2008-10

(Serving Last Year of Two-Year Term)

Bill Agee

E911 Coordinator & Communications Analyst

Franklin County Sheriff’s Office

County of Franklin

70 East Court St., E911

Rocky Mount, VA 24151

Office: (540) 483-3039

Fax: (540) 483-3023

E-mail: billagee@franklincountyva.org

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE 2009-11

Kathy Richardson

Operations Coordinator

Charlottesville/UVA/Albemarle County ECC

2306 Ivy Road

Charlottesville, VA 22903

Office: 434-971-1765

Fax: 434-971-1767

E-Mail: krichard@albemarle.org

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE 2009-11

Pat Shumate

Chief Communications Officer

Roanoke County Emergency Communications Center

3568 Peters Creek Rd

Roanoke, VA 24019-2808

Office: (540) 561-8035

Fax: (540) 561-8115

E-Mail: pshumate@co.roanoke.va.us

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE 2008-10

Phil Heins

Director of Communications

Hanover County

PO Box 470

Hanover, VA 23069

Office: (804) 365-6142

E-Mail: pheins@co.hanover.va.us

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE 2008-10

Steve Basnett

Director

Culpeper County E9-1-1 Center

15166 Richmond Road

Culpeper, VA 22701

Office: (540) 727-8800

E-Mail: sbasnett@culpepercounty.gov

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT 2009-10

Carol W. Adams

Communications Manager of Operations

Stafford County 9-1-1

PO Box 189

Stafford, Virginia 22555

Office: (540) 658-4712

Fax: (540) 658-4419

E-mail: cadams@co.stafford.va.us

APCO International Officers from the Virginia Chapter

APCO INTERNATIONAL SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT 2009-10

D. Terry Hall

Communications Manager

York County Emergency Communications

Post Office Box 532

Yorktown, VA 23690

Office: 757-890-3620

Fax: 757-890-3608

E-mail: hallt@yorkcounty.gov

Officer Biographies

These biographies will be updated as additional info is submitted by the officers.

Karen Johnson (President) is the E911 Wireless Coordinator/Communications Assistant for New Kent County.  She began her career in dispatching in 1987 with New Kent County Sheriff’s Office. She is a graduate of New Kent High School, and graduated from Rappahanock Community College with an associate degree in Practical Nursing.  She also has a certificate in CNA.  She served as the training dispatcher for 13 years, VCIN instructor, General Instructor for DCJS and has been an active member of APCO since 2003.  She has served for 2 years as the current church secretary and served as President and Secretary of a charitable organization called Shore to Shore LaSertoma.

Steve Souder (President-Elect), a life member of APCO International, is the Director of the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC).   Steve has over twenty years of experience in emergency communications and has represented the E-911 industry and public safety more broadly on countless professional committees, national task forces, congressional and FCC hearings. His commanding presence, passion for the job and eloquent style of speaking has inspired an entire generation of E9-1-1 professionals in Virginia and beyond. Steve chaired the APCO Project RETAINS, a project started in 2001. The results of the project were released in 2005 and include the most extensive in depth research ever conducted on the issues impacting the recruitment, hiring, processing, training and retention of personnel in 911 public safety communications centers.

Julie McKercher (Vice-President) was hired by James City County Fire Department on October 16, 2006, to fill the position of Deputy Director of the Emergency Communications Center.  On October 1, 2007, she was promoted to Director of Emergency Communications.  She brought with her 27 years of Public Safety experience from the City of Hampton.  During those years with the City of Hampton, she served as a Police Aide, Police Officer, Emergency Telecommunicator, and Communications Supervisor. She was assigned as the VCIN Coordinator for the Hampton Police Division acting as the agency contact for the Virginia State Police. 

Emily Totten (Secretary) is the Training Coordinator/Supervisor and Accreditation Manager for the Roanoke County Emergency Communications Center where she has been employed since May 1991. She received the Dispatcher of the Year award in 1993. She have been a member of APCO since 1999, and has served the chapter by serving as member and chair of the Training Committee and as a member of the Program Committee for last year’s fall conference. She is currently serving on the Training Committee, TERT Committee, and as Co-chair of the Registration Committee for this year’s fall conference. Emily is also a member of the Virginia TERT Team where she serves as a Regional Coordinator. She is a DCJS General Instructor, VCIN Instructor, APCO EMD Instructor, and an ASHI CPR Instructor. Additionally, she is on the Valley Telecommunicators CISM Committee (VATC CISM) as well as serving as a team member. She has served on the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board Communications Committee since 2004. A volunteer Firefighter/EMT for 21 years with Hollins Volunteer Fire and Rescue #5, she held the positions of First Lieutenant of Rescue, Rescue Chief, Fire Lieutenant, Fire Captain, Deputy Chief, Vice President and President. Emily received Rescue Member of the Year as well as Rescue Officer of the Year and Fire Officer of the Year (multiple times) and also served on the Membership Committee. She is a Life Member of the Hollins Volunteer Fire and Rescue #5.

Melinda Bramley (Treasurer) began her career with the Virginia Beach 911 Emergency Communications Division in 1969. She began her career as an offense clerk and has served as dispatcher, operations supervisor, administrative supervisor and communications specialist. Melinda is currently the Training and Retention Specialist for the division and is responsible for the planning, administration, and oversight of the Virginia Beach 911 Emergency Communications Division’s training function. Her responsibilities also include creating activities and programs to enhance the selection, hiring and retention of Emergency Communications Division Employees. Melinda possesses an extensive knowledge of the entire operation of the Virginia Beach Communications Division. Melinda holds an Associates Degree in Police Science and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Resource Administration. She is also an Emergency Medical Dispatch Instructor and a Department of Criminal Justices General Instructor. Melinda represents her department/division in a positive manner in both APCO and Region 42. Melinda has been a member of APCO (Association of Public Safety Communications Officials Inc.) since 1982, and has served on the Executive Board since 1984. Melinda has served as Virginia APCO President, Virginia APCO Secretary and is currently the Virginia APCO Treasurer. She has been awarded Life Membership in the Virginia Chapter of APCO. Melinda has been a member and served as Secretary of the Region 42 Committee since its creation in 1988. Melinda is also an active member of NENA.

Bill Agee (APCO International Executive Council Delegate) is the E911 Coordinator and Radio Communications Analyst for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Some of his projects have included the design and construction of a digital P25 VHF radio system for all public safety agencies within the County and the deployment of mobile data to field units. He is currently leading a project to fully upgrade all CAD/RMS functions and to implement a Citizens Alerting System. For the past 2 years he has been involved with one of the nation’s first pilot projects involving Franklin, Patrick and the Martinsville-Henry County E911 Centers to prove the concept of a NG9-1-1 system to bring E911 calls, call routing, and ALI database connectivity to the PSAP all via IP connectivity. Bill is retired as an E7 Master Sergeant from the United States Air Force having served most of those years in various electronic communications maintenance career fields. A member of Virginia NENA for the past 4 years and of the Virginia Chapter of APCO since 1997, Bill is a past President of Virginia APCO and has served on several chapter conference and other committees. He served for about 10 years on the Region 42 800 MHz committee, a Virginia Wireless E911 Services Board PSAP funding committee and on a committee to help draft the first statewide E911 Strategic Plan. He currently serves on the Virginia Wireless E911 Services Board’s PSAP Grant Committee representing Virginia APCO and served on the initial committee to establish the founding guidelines for this program. Bill holds an associate degree in Electronics Systems Technology, a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology and a Master of Arts degree in Management. He is married with three children and two grandchildren. He and his family live in the Martinsville area.

Phil Heins (Director-at-large) is the Director of the Hanover County Emergency Communications Department. A life-long resident of the County, he began his career is public safety in 1969 as a volunteer firefighter. He was hired by the Sheriff's Office in 1976 as a Communications Officer and was promoted to a Shift Supervisor in 1978. After serving in this capacity for several years, he was promoted to Director of Communications in 1983 and has served in that capacity ever since. Heins was the County's Project Manager for the purchase and installation of the Trunked Radio System and Enhanced 911 System. He also wrote the specifications for the CAD system that is currently in use, and has been very active in the purchase of other various radio and automation equipment. Heins served on the original committee that developed the Dispatcher Certification Program for the Commonwealth of Virginia and has been a Department of Criminal Services Instructor. He is a Past President of the Virginia Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and a Past President of Virginia APCO. He serves as an active member of both NENA and APCO. Heins is a lifetime member of the Hanover Courthouse Volunteer Fire Company where he served for 29 years. During his tenure with the fire company he served as Chief, Assistant Chief, Captain, and President. He was also very active in the Hanover County Association of Volunteer Fire Companies, where he held the position of Vice President for a number of years. Through his and his staff’s efforts, the Emergency Communications Department has grown into an efficient and professional organization that provides the citizens of the County as well as the various user agencies with a very high level of service. Heins is married to the former Rita Acors and they live in the Hanover Courthouse area with their two daughters, Kelley and Ashleigh.

Steve Basnett (Director-at-large) is the Director of the Culpeper County Public Safety Communications Center, having begun his duties there in September of 2000. Special duties include the project manager of the digital trunked radio system for Culpeper County and a team leader for the Tactical dispatchers in support of the County/Town combined SWAT team. He previously served with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department from 1974 until his retirement as a Lieutenant in 2000. He served in various divisions of the department during his career, mostly in Field Operations as a firefighter and as a member of the Technical Rescue Team. Steve’s last eight years were served in the Communications section with the Department. A graduate of West Fairmont High School, he served in and was honorably discharged from the West Virginia National Guard where he was deployed in the Communications field serving as a “Field Radio Mechanic”. He has been an APCO member since 1992.

Kathy Richardson (Director-at-large) is the Operations Coordinator for the Charlottesville-UVA-Albemarle County Emergency Communications Center. She graduated from George Mason University with a B.S. in Law Enforcement and has 25 years of experience in public safety communications. Kathy presently serves as the chairperson of the Virginia Chapter of APCO’s Awards Committee and is currently a member of the APCO International Awards Committee. In 2007, Kathy worked with House of Delegates representative Rob Bell to draft a bill that would provide dispatchers with better retirement benefits and spoke before the Virginia General Assembly in support of this bill. Kathy is also the chair of the Region 3 COMLINK committee working toward regional interoperability. Kathy has been an active member of APCO for the last 13 years.

Pat Shumate (Director-at-large) is the Chief Communications Officer for the Roanoke County Emergency Communications Center, and has been in that position the past 9 years. He started his career in communications in 1969 as a Radioman in the U.S. Navy, and was active in the Naval Reserves until 1991 when he transferred to the Fleet Reserve. He joined the Roanoke Police Department in 1976 and retired after 25 years of service. In addition to APCO and NENA membership, Pat serves as a member of the Virginia E-911 Wireless Services Board.

Carol Adams (Immediate Past-President) is Communications Manager of Operations for Stafford County 9-1-1. She previously served as a Supervisor for York County Emergency Communications from 1999 to 2006. Prior to her employment with York County, she served as a full-time dispatcher with Hanover County from 1980 to 1985, and as a part-time dispatcher for York County from 1987 to 1992 and for James City County from 1992 to 1999. She was honored as Dispatcher of the Year in 1998. While working part-time as a dispatcher, she also served as a paralegal. Prior to working as a dispatcher, Carol worked 11 years as a seasonal employee for Kings Dominion, including 3 years in loss prevention and communications. A member of APCO since 1999, she served as the Chapter’s Secretary from 2002 to 2006 when she was elected Vice President. Carol graduated from Lee Davis High School in Mechanicsville and from the Smithdeal Massey Business College in Richmond as a legal assistant.

Terry Hall (APCO International Second Vice-President) is Communications Manager for York County Emergency Communications. Terry has worked diligently with APCO for over twenty years, getting to know and working with many Chapter members, whether it was on a piece of legislation, serving on a committee, or as an Executive Council member.  Terry joined APCO as a commercial vendor for the first five years of his active twenty year membership.  For the past fifteen years, he has served in the membership as a public safety professional.  During this time, he has been honored to serve in the position of President of the Virginia Chapter twice, as Treasurer of the Virginia chapter, and as legislative chair for the past ten years. He served as the Chapter’s delegate to the International Executive Council (2008-2009). Highlighting some of the efforts he has been a part of are:

Ø APCO Project Locate for the Commonwealth of Virginia

Ø Served as co-chair for PBX MLTS for Virginia

Ø Served on APCO International Strategic Planning Committee

Ø Chaired the Eastern Virginia PSAP Managers

Ø Chaired the APCO International Homeland Security Committee

Ø Chaired APCO International’s MAPP Committee

Ø Chaired two successful East Coast conferences, and served on numerous committees for both APCO International and APCO Virginia

In addition, he has been honored by receiving numerous awards and commendations in recognition of the work that has helped to advance the goals and objectives of both APCO and Public Safety Telecommunications.  Among the awards were the Governors Award for Excellence 2006 and the APCO International Communications Director of the Year in 2006. He has also previously served in appointment capacity from the Governor of Virginia to the E-911 Wireless Services Board. 

Currently, he manages a consolidated communications Center in York County, and has done so for the past fifteen years.  He is a sworn deputy and a member of the Virginia 1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team. A past member of Virginia 2 Urban Search & Rescue, he has had the honor of numerous deployments to hurricanes, including Katrina, Rita, and Gustav.

Terry has made a conscious decision to commit to the mission and goals of APCO and has been active as well as proactive within the organization to be part of creating and applying solutions rather than settling for the status quo. In believing that we can always strive to do better and to be better, Terry has exemplified the public safety professional through the presentation and enacting of new ideas and innovations within our industry not only to the benefit of individual organizations, but public safety as a whole.