Looking Toward the Future of the LVPPA
As we look toward celebrating our nation's 250th anniversary, I also wanted to look ahead to the future of the LVPPA.
First, as many of you are reading this issue for the first time, we need to pay tribute to our longest-tenured Executive Board member, Scott Nicholas. Scott is set to retire on July 10 after more than 25 years with the LVMPD and over 15 years serving on the LVPPA Executive Board.
When I arrived at the PPA in 2014, Scott had a huge influence on me. I learned how to properly represent our membership from him. He was smart, savvy in his arguments, well prepared, and a wiz with numbers when it came to both our contracts and PERS. In fact, I almost made a huge financial mistake about four years ago that Scott thankfully caught.
Scott has always been a man of the people, willing to do whatever it took to help our members. We have truly lost an asset that may never be duplicated here at the PPA. Saying thank you to Scott isn't enough, but I know he has left a mark on our Union and its members that will be remembered for years to come.
Thank you for everything, brother. You guided me during our journey here at the PPA, and I will forever be grateful for your guidance and friendship. Love ya, pal.
As Scott retires and enjoys life outside the LVMPD and LVPPA, three more of us are preparing to do the same. Myron, Greg, and I will be calling it a career on October 23. That means that in 2026, including Bryan Yant, we will have turned over five tenured Executive Board members.
What does that mean for the membership? I believe that, with all the time we have spent mentoring the remaining Executive Board members, as well as the upcoming board members, our association is only going to become stronger! I do not say that lightly.
One thing I have always prided myself on is having an eye for talent. The men that I have brought onto the Executive Board are light-years better than I ever was. The way they fight, negotiate, prepare, and represent our members is second to none. I couldn't be happier about the future of the LVPPA.
All organizations usually begin with an amazing leader, and I have given my full support, as I hope all our members will, to Dan Coyne. Dan will address the membership about what he has accomplished during his tenure here, but I truly cannot say enough about him as a man, a worker, a fighter for the membership, and a leader.
I do not give my support lightly. But I believe Dan is going to do amazing things for our association, and I genuinely can't wait to see where the LVPPA goes in the future.
We all have heard the saying, "Leave it better than you found it." Without a shadow of a doubt, I know I will be leaving the LVPPA far better than when I started here, and under our new leadership, it will become even better in the years ahead.
This is one of my last few articles. I want to thank everyone for reading my work over the past 12 years. Writing for our membership has not always been easy, but I always tried to be authentic and genuine for our folks.
Only two more articles from old Steve. Those final two will be about gratitude and appreciation for this association, this department, and all the amazing men and women I have worked alongside at the LVMPD and LVPPA, as well as my family.
Love you all. Stay safe out there.