It is with great humility and honor that I accept the responsibility of guiding NJEHA through the next two years as President of this association. I begin this journey standing on the shoulders of those past Presidents and Executive Council members who have worked so hard and given so much of themselves while having the vision to make NJEHA the strong successful organization it has become.

I extend a special personal thanks to both past President Cindy Weaver and President Elect Aimee Delotto for their dedicated, exemplary service, as well as for their personal support and encouragement during this past year, a very difficult one, health-wise, for me.

I stand confidant and ready to assume this role because of the continued support of those other talented and caring members of the current Executive Council. All of our members continue to selflessly give of their time to contribute to and enhance our successes. We are excited to welcome our three newest members; Paschal Nwako, Deena Holland, and Mark Petrillo. I look forward to working with each of them and the other council members as we continue to accomplish our goals and further enhance the mission of NJEHA: the promotion and visibility of public health professionals both here and abroad.

To be sure, there are many challenges and changes this association and our profession faces. National and international public health threats including pandemic and avian flu, West Nile virus, E. coli and Salmonella in our food supply, biological agents, WMD and a host of other threats are only a plane, ship or truck ride away from any municipality in the nation. And we, as public health professionals, stand on the forefront of this battle ground.  We are often understaffed and underpaid, but none-the-less dedicated to our mission of protecting the public from illness, injury or death resulting from these threats.

Locally, we continue to embrace and adjust to the new Retail Food Establishment Code, Chapter 24, and this association continues to work in conjunction with the NJ Department of Health towards standardization activities and bringing local Boards of Health up to speed with the changes. As you know, Chapter 24 is based on the FDA Food Code, which is federal regulatory guidance for retail food establishments. I whole heartedly support this change in the NJ Food Code, as it brings consistency to food safety inspections whether they are federal, state, county or local level.

One of my goals as president is to help build better communications and collaboration between federal, state and local public health agencies.  I also pledge the associations continued support of the various state public health and environmental health advisory boards and committees, most notably the Public Health Association Collaborative Effort (PHACE).  PHACE is a joint effort of seven different public health organizations in NJ (NJEHA is a founding member) and it’s purpose is to provide a singular, cohesive voice in advocating public health concerns in New Jersey.  And of course, this association will continue its tradition of providing scholarship money and service awards to deserving recipients.

Additionally, this year I will endeavor to increase association membership and hope to engage the talents and experiences of our members.  I encourage our membership to submit articles for this newsletter or volunteer for other association activities, such as at our annual conference. We are currently in desperate need of someone with Microsoft Publisher experience to help set up our newsletter. If you can help, please contact me or one of our council members. 

Further, our annual conference in Atlantic City remains at the heart of our organizations continuing education efforts. Planning is well underway to ensure a great educational and networking experience at the Tropicana Resort and Casino in March 2009. I encourage all members to reach out to your co-workers and others to attend. I believe the networking aspect alone to be an invaluable tool in the enhancement of our knowledge through shared experiences. You may even find a solution to an on-going problem already addressed by another. I will continue in my efforts to solicit participation in our conference by those health departments in the southern part of the state.

I leave you with this quote from JFK: “Change is the law of life, those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”. Please join us as we embark on our journey into the future.

I wish you all a safe, happy, healthy holiday season and new year!

William W. Dotts
President, NJEHA