September 15, 2008

Dear Chaplain,

One of our great highlights of the year is meeting together for training, R & R, and the meeting of old friends.  At last year’s training, 125 chaplains met in Sutter Creek.  I will treasure many wonderful moments that I had with you for many years to come.  Who will ever forget the singing and dancing of our happy nun, Sister Nuala (now retired), or the send-off of a sweet song sung by Rabbi Moshe?  There were many wonderful moments to remember.

It is with great sadness and disappointment that I need to share with you that there will not be a 2008 ACCSS Chaplains’ Training.  The financial crisis in our state is taking its toll in many places.  We are only one casualty, and ours is not the worst.  We have met several times this year with many of our departmental personnel.  With all of our work and planning, I know of no one that did not want to see this training take place.  As recent as August 12, it was still the desire of CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate to see our training become a reality.  No one suspected that the budget crisis would last so long and be so severe.  Many state employees have lost their jobs, and our facilities are making many fiscal adjustments.  When the governor made his announcement in July, our departments had to suspend their curriculum development.  To date, they are still unable to resume this planning.  Time was running short to complete all of the necessary details and logistics.  The Secretary’s support for his chaplains did not waver; however, the time came when a hard decision had to be made to contact the Secretary to let him know that ACCSS recognized the severity of our crisis, and sought to be a part of the solution, and not add to the problem.  I felt that the severity of the present circumstances of our state left me with little option.   Enclosed is a copy of my letter to the Secretary.

Many of you have already made reservations at our hotels.  Please call your hotel to cancel your reservations:    Days Inn (209-267-9177) American Exchange Hotel (209-267-0242).  We are very sorry for the inconvenience that this decision has made.

Your Executive Board will be meeting on Wednesday, September 24, at the Sisters of St. Joseph’s in Orange, to discuss our plans for future training and opportunities to meet with you.  Other important issues will be discussed that will have significant impact on us all.  I will communicate with you again following our meeting.

This is a time to stay as close with each other as possible.  I will keep you informed of those things that will be affecting our work and ministry.  To help in that effort, you will want to visit our new website:  www.accss.org   Our homepage has been posted for you to see what to expect.  The site has been built, and is now ready for us to add our personal details.  We are still under construction, but you might want to take a peek.  This will be our primary tool for communication in the future. 

After many attempts we are now able to add new members to the ACCSS rolls.  It is a great joy to welcome our fifteen new members.  ACCSS desires to serve you the best we can.  Thank you for becoming a part of the family. 

Union negotiations will resume soon after the budget is signed.  Lon Moskowitz has done an outstanding job clarifying and presenting your issues to AFSCME and at our first round of negotiations.  He should be commended for his long and hard hours of work.  Thank you, Lon, from all of us.

The decision to cancel our October training has been very difficult.  Much planning and hard work have been done by several of our chaplains.  I appreciate all of the hours of work that they have contributed over this past year.  Many of the things that have been worked on will not be lost, but simply postponed.  I encourage all of us, in our prayers, to include our governor and state legislators as they look for solutions to our crisis.  Even after this budget is passed, we will be facing some severe cuts in our departmental budgets.  Our departmental personnel will be facing many difficult decisions in the weeks and months to come.  They, too, need to be in our prayers. 

May God continue to bless your life and ministry as you serve those who are in such great need.  May we do our best to fulfill our responsibilities and callings to those entrusted to our care.

Sincerely,

David Skaggs

President