PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE  TO 
THE MEMBERSHIP
By Mack Smith
September 2003

This is the time of year that CLEAR’s president sums up the activities of the preceding months before turning over the helm to a new leader.  Perhaps most satisfying to me is that this has been a year of increased financial stability for CLEAR following a fairly difficult two years. Many of you are experiencing your own unprecedented budgetary woes, yet you continue to support our important organization and for that I thank you.

The theme for this year is Pushing the Boundaries of Regulation and I think that’s what we’ve accomplished on several fronts. Taking an annual conference to Toronto is an exciting moment and I’m especially proud of being able to preside over an affirmation that CLEAR is truly a North American organization.

Preceding the conference is the first offering of CLEAR’s new Regulatory Leadership Development Training Program. Several years in development, the program provides three days of instruction in three modules: Creating a Positive Public Relations Program, Creating an Appropriate Working Relationship with the Legislators, and Regulatory Leadership. There are 11 excellent faculty members providing the instruction. This program will be available, just as the investigator training programs are now, to bring to your state or province upon invitation.

During the fiscal year just ended, CLEAR held five National Certified Investigator/Inspector Training (NCIT) basic programs (in California, Nebraska, Nevada, Mississippi and Oklahoma) and three advanced (in California, Nevada and Utah). Of course, we’re doing both the basic and advanced programs in Toronto prior to the annual conference.

The Web site continues as one of CLEAR’s most popular products. We’ve added Chinese and French translations of key sections to the Japanese and Spanish translations already in place. Upon request, CLEAR re-established a members-only section and continues to add information, ensuring that http://www.clearhq.org is the primary place to look for information that cuts across all professions and occupations as well as all regulatory areas.

We will soon have new online publications that will be available through the members-only section. Three Resource Briefs are under review and two examination publications are being updated and placed on CLEAR’s Web site. The print journal CLEAR Exam Review continues to feature cutting-edge articles on examination issues authored by the foremost experts in the field.

In response to member request, CLEAR’s board is making a preliminary exploration of expanding CLEAR’s annual conference programming to include some sessions for facilities regulators. There are already many facilities investigators going through our training programs each year and several of our members administer programs for both personnel and facilities. If you have any comments on this proposed expansion, we’d like to hear from you.

This year, we say goodbye to board members Randy Lindner, Helen Meeks and Donna Mooney. Each of them has made a significant contribution during their terms, and I thank them for their commitment to furthering CLEAR’s mission. The good thing is that I know each of them will remain a friend to CLEAR and that we can continue to call on them in the future.

Looking to the future, I am pleased to welcome Deanna Williams as the next president and would encourage you to consider helping her out by signing up for committee service. As for me, I’ll still be around as well, lending a hand whenever asked. Thank you for the opportunity to represent you as CLEAR’s president.  It was an experience I’ll always remember with fondness.

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