1. finance
2. personal finance
3. insurance

The
Authority
In This Issue:
Our Staff
2
The Chill is On!
2
London Calling - Reinsurers
Visit WCIA
3 -4
Get Your Piece of the Pie!
5
Travel Reimbursements
Available for Board Meeting 5
Calendar of Events
6
Membership News In Brief 6
Third Quarter 2013
Executive Committee evaluates
how to maintain pool stability
By Ann Bennett & Tina Smith
The Executive Committee’s September 2013 retreat
was an opportunity for the Committee to evaluate
the overall life cycle of the pool. WCIA can either
sustain its current position, lead by example into
the future or risk a potential drop as the leading risk
pool among its constituents.
The committee and management staff reviewed
the pool’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats (S.W.O.T) to begin the process of goal
setting. The Committee identified as clear strengths
the COMPACT, Pre-defense review, extensive
training programs, sponsorship of member staff
for professional development and the pool’s
ability to provide insurance while understanding
governmental entities. The analysis also included a
discussion of the changing diversity of membership
through the creation of new interlocal entities,
litigation exposures, the continuing fiscal austerity
for members and the changing political environment
overall as challenges.
From this discussion, goals were drafted and will
be presented to the Full Board at the November
meeting. Among the goals was a commitment
to maintain the recommended actuarial target
fund balance to ensure appropriate funding, and
communicating to the membership about the need
for WCIA’s undesignated reserve balance. The
goals also include conveying to the membership
the value of WCIA risk management services,
developing a risk reduction grant program and
acknowledging members who successfully control
their losses and utilize innovative risk management
strategies.
The Executive Committee also included a goal
tasking staff to develop a Membership Improvement
Plan (MIP) to assist members in improving their loss
Executive Committee members and staff contemplate
the goals during the 2013 retreat. (L-R) David Timmons,
Port Townsend; Allen Johnson, Arlington; Jared
Burbidge, TRPC and Jill Marcell, WCIA.
profile. This plan would provide targeted solutions
to minimize members’ losses by identifying causes
of loss with recommended solutions, trainings,
policies and procedures.
The 2014 goals ensure that WCIA will continue in
its mission to provide professional risk management
and stable risk financing that is responsive to the
members’ needs.
WCIA P.O. Box 88030, Tukwila, WA 98138 206-575-6046 www.wciapool.org
Our Staff
Interim Executive Director
The chill is on!
By Lisa Knapton
Ann Bennett
jason barney
Senior Adjuster
Patti Crane
Member Services Manager
Tanya Crites
Senior Risk Management Rep
reed hardesty
Senior Adjuster
Lisa Knapton
Senior Risk Management Rep
Eric B. Larson
Deputy Director, Insurance Programs
Our beautiful summer has officially come to an end
and with winter quickly approaching, members should
not wait until it hits to begin taking risk management
steps to prevent premise liability commonly occurring
during inclement weather.
Many members have significant numbers of visitors
to their premises and have employees who enter and
exit their buildings. The risk of slip and fall injuries
increase during wintertime due to an accumulation
of water, especially in building entry ways. Regular
inspection and maintenance of walkways, steps,
ramps, parking garages and exterior parking lots
becomes more critical during bad weather conditions.
for signs of wear and tear. Caution or wet floor signs
should be placed warning visitors that the floor is
slippery when wet. Pooling water should be removed
as soon as possible.
Snow, ice and rain can add tremendous weight to
roofs putting them at risk for collapse. Roofs should
be inspected for significant accumulation of water, ice
or snow. Drains, gutters and downspouts should be
cleaned at least quarterly.
Outdoor lighting should be regularly inspected and
any outages remediated as soon as possible.
The above operations should be documented and
Jennifer Lawson
Office Assistant/Receptionist
Katie Madsen
Member Services Assistant
Jill Marcell
Deputy Director, Admin Services
Doug Martin
Claims Representative
CHip McKenna
Senior Risk Management Rep
Shelley o’keefe
Claims Assistant
maria orozco
Member Services Coordinator
lisa roberts
Risk Services Manager
Debbi Sellers
Senior Risk Management Rep
Tina Smith
Administrative Services Assistant
danielle stephens
Claims Office Assistant
gordy van
Senior Adjuster
Tiffany Woods
Programs Assistant
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Monitoring weather forecasts can assist members
with implementing anti-icing or de-icing operations,
making snow and ice removal easier. Members
should create a list of priority areas for snow and ice
removal and review it annually to ensure priorities
have not changed. Members should arrange to have
snow and ice removed from walkways surrounding
their facilities as soon as it is safe to do so.
Where feasible, parking lots should be plowed and
de-icing material applied prior to allowing vehicles
to park, preventing ice patches from accumulating
between vehicles. Main entrances should have
materials that are slip resistant such as quality
matting, inlaid carpet tiles or permanent carpet tiles
with beveled edges provided that extend 15 to 20
feet giving visitors enough room to wipe their shoes.
Mats and carpet tiles should be regularly inspected
The Authority Newsletter – Third Quarter 2013
the records retained in accordance with the Local
Government Common Records Retention Schedule
(CORE).
Some members may choose to hire independent
contractors to remove snow and ice from the
walkways and parking lots surrounding their
premises. The contractor should sign a contract
containing proper indemnification language and
adequate insurance requirements and should provide
a Certificate of Insurance evidencing that coverage.
Your WCIA Risk Management Representative would
be happy to assist you with reviewing the contract’s
insurance requirements and indemnification
language.
London Calling - Reinsurers pay a visit to WCIA
by Eric Larson
Mark Khan, Senior Vice President, Bowering Marsh and Neil Chapman, Active Underwriter-Property of Argo International met with WCIA staff
in September. Chapman is the underwriter for the lead syndicate that provides insurance for WCIA at Lloyd’s of London. Lloyd’s of London
provides 40 percent of the coverage for the WCIA property program. The property program covers $5.6 billion in values of members’ property.
Khan is with the London insurance brokerage used by WCIA to access insurance from Lloyd’s of London.
Lloyd’s is home to 87 syndicates and is the world’s leading
specialist insurance market. Twelve syndicates are involved
in placing property coverage to WCIA. Due to our member’s
exposures to natural disasters such as flood and earthquake, only
a handful of insurance carriers worldwide are willing to underwrite
our property risks. The Lloyd’s syndicates involved with WCIA each
underwrite small portions of the program to minimize their overall
risks of loss.
For the visit, WCIA asked if the City of Tukwila Police Department
could make available the Valley SWAT BearCat armored car and
Mobile Command Unit as examples of what we insure for the
membership. The Lloyd’s underwriter was very impressed with the
demonstration and tour of the police vehicles that was organized
on his behalf. It may not lower our property program premiums
from Lloyd’s, but it did help us build on our good relationship and
make a memorable experience with these key players who insure
our property program.
A great deal of thanks goes the City of Tukwila and their Police
Department for making the Londoners’ visit one they will always
remember.
Above: The BearCat, SWAT vehicle.
Left: Posing in front of the BearCat,
Eric Larson, WCIA Deputy Director,
Neil Chapman of Argo International,
Tukwila Officer Chris Daugherty,
Mark Khan of Bowering Marsh and
Tiffany Woods, WCIA Programs
Assistant.
3
The Mobile Command Unit It is part of the Valley SWAT Team, which
is comprised of Kent Valley city entities. Approximately six officers
from each jurisdiction comprise the entire SWAT team. The team
was recently involved in a raid on several hotels in conjunction with
Federal law enforcement agencies and the IRS.
The Command Unit is worth $600,000. The unit was built from
the ground up and contains two generators, links to satellite,
internet and cell service. In the event everything “electronic”
goes down, the team is able to pull up to a Century Link tower
and hard plug into the telephone lines. The unit has enough
stations to hold 14 people working on laptop computers.
WCIA P.O. Box 88030, Tukwila, WA 98138 206-575-6046 www.wciapool.org
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Get your piece of the pie!
By Patti Crane
In an effort to assist with continued
training and staff development among
the membership, WCIA expanded the
member reimbursement program to include
scholarships for professional development.
Currently WCIA members qualify to be
reimbursed for their employees’ individual
certifications and accreditations in over 21
municipal organizations.
In a tough economy, training budgets are
often the first thing members must reduce
or even eliminate and we are pleased
that WCIA is a resource toward providing
continuing education and certification. We
believe a well trained and educated work
force assists members in ultimately reducing
their loss exposures.
Currently, WCIA has 38 scholarship/
reimbursement opportunities that members
can utilize. Though the budget for this
program was increased for 2013, only 51
percent of the earmarked reimbursement
funds have been utilized through the end of
August.
We conducted a study to determine which
members, by actuarial group, are utilizing the
services. WCIA’s actuarial grouping for cities
is based on the total number of worker hoursGroup 4 is the largest, Group 1 the smallest
and actuarial Group 5 contains all interlocal
entities. On average, Group 4 members have
the highest utilization of these scholarship/
reimbursement dollars with Group 5 and
Group 2 members taking the least advantage
of this program. The good news is…it’s not
too late and there is still time and monies
available.
[email protected] if you have
any questions or for further information about
the program.
A full list of eligible programs for
reimbursement is posted on our website
and will continue to be provided via email to
all delegates and alternates. The deadline
for submitting reimbursement requests
is Monday, December 2, 2013. Contact
the Member Services Department at
Travel reimbursements available for November meeting
by Tina Smith
The Executive Committee has authorized
travel reimbursements to assist members in
attending the November Full Board meeting.
Members are encouraged to attend the
November meeting, even if they have
already met their COMPACT attendance
requirement. The board will discuss and
vote on the 2014 goals, selection of a new
Executive Director and will hear details about
the recent Target Fund Balance study of
WCIA’s reserves.
The reimbursement application will be
distributed next month via email to all
delegates and alternates, as well as posted
on the WCIA website. To be considered for a
travel reimbursement, applications must be
received by Oct. 28, 2013.
Members may request reimbursement for
mileage and/or hotel costs. WCIA has rooms
reserved at the Courtyard Marriott in Tukwila,
just next door to the meeting location at
Embassy Suites.
approved. Applicants qualifying for travel
reimbursement will be notified a week before
the board meeting.
For more information regarding board
meeting travel reimbursements, contact
Board Secretary Tina Smith at
[email protected].
All applications will be considered, but
due to limited funding not all may be
WCIA P.O. Box 88030, Tukwila, WA 98138 206-575-6046 www.wciapool.org
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Membership
Calendar
News In Brief
of Events
Submit your nominations for WCIA officers and Executive
Committee members
Members of WCIA are tasked with electing new officers and at least two new members of the
Executive Committee for 2014.
An initial call for nominations was issued in September, but additional nominations can be
given from the floor of the Full Board meeting on November 8. In accordance with the Bylaws,
nominations for President and Vice President will be closed at the November meeting, but will
remain open for the Executive Committee positions until the annual meeting in January.
Only delegates and alternates to the WCIA Board can serve on a committee. Members interested
in serving on the Executive Committee are encouraged to begin by serving on one of the WCIA
sub-committees. The nomination form can also be used to indicate an interest to serve on a
sub-committee. It is available on our website at http://www.wciapool.org/communications/newsarticle/105 (please note you must be logged in to view the form). WCIA delegates or alternates
who express interest in serving on these committees will be reviewed and appointed by the
President.
Having trouble accessing the WCIA website?
As more members utilize the new WCIA website to register for training or access their training
transcripts, many are finding they may need to create or reset their password to complete their
personal profile. The link on the home page will generate an email with a link to reset your
password. However, if members find they are not receiving this email through their security filters,
they can contact Member Services Assistant Katie Madsen for help. You can reach Katie at 206687-7897 or at [email protected].
Congratulations Maria!
Member Services Coordinator Maria Orozco was recently awarded Planner of the Year by the
Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals in recognition
of her hard work and dedication to fostering growth and education in the chapter. Her voluntary
coordination of the 2013 silent auction, which raises scholarship funds for the National Education
Conference, was invaluable to the overall continuing success of the chapter.
Has your email address changed?
October 11, 2013
Executive Committee Meeting
WCIA Offices, Tukwila
November 8, 2013
Training Session - 9:00 AM;
Full Board Meeting - 10:15 AM
Executive Committee Meeting - following the board meeting
Embassy Suites, Tukwila
December 5, 2013
Loss Control Committee Meeting
WCIA Offices, Tukwila
December 13, 2013
Executive Committee Meeting
WCIA Offices, Tukwila
January 17, 2014
Training Session - 9:00 AM;
Full Board Meeting - 10:15 AM
Museum of Flight, Seattle
If your entity has changed their email address, be sure to update your profile on the WCIA website
rather than create a new user login. You can log into the website with your previous email address
and under the welcome greeting you will find the “Update My Profile” link. This will allow you
make changes to your email, job title, department or preferred name without losing your training
transcript history.
WCIA staff is available to assist with any of your website questions or concerns. Don’t hesitate to
call!
Visit our website at
www.wciapool.org for
training schedules and
online registration.
WCIA P.O. Box 88030, Tukwila, WA 98138 206-575-6046 www.wciapool.org
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