|
A Note from Pat
Haggerty
TEXAS STATE REPRESENTATIVE, HONORARY ASSIST
MEMBER
Dave Scepanski has asked me to write about the ASSIST convention that was held in El Paso in 2007. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to do so. In the past five years, I�ve been fortunate to witness the growth of a few far flung companies into a profession. A profession with standards, ideals and a moral compass that should make everyone of it�s members so very proud.
When I was first approached to carry ASSIST�s legislation, I was naturally reticent. There were times in the mid nineties that the whole security business infrastructure was on the verge of collapse. The oversight of the industry was questionable at best and it had a very unsavory air about it.
Dave Scepanski and Keith Oakley, however, were very persuasive, and I agreed to carry one or two small bills. We�ve now been through three sessions together and the number of bills and improvements have grown exponentially. The oversight has moved to DPS and the change has been monumental. All of that has been brought about by ASSIST.
When business owners come together and put aside personal gain for the good of all, it is a marvelous thing to watch. By creating rules and regulations, with a lot of self policing, ASSIST has become a partner with DPS in making the security industry a model for other state licensed enterprises. It hasn�t always been easy.
But I digress. I�m supposed to be talking about the October convention. What a difference a couple of years make. My first experience with ASSIST was a convention in San Antonio with a luau at a meeting hall with no liquor license. I met most of the members in the parking lot gathered around the back of a pickup truck with a cooler of beer that someone had walked down the street to purchase.
I saw booth after booth of exhibitions brought by some of the biggest names in security supplies. There were meetings of ongoing education and training. And there was a gala dance and dinner that would rival any event at any Fortune 500 corporate display. What a pleasure to see some of the biggest names in Texas politics. And what a pleasure to see my very dear friends Senator Mike Jackson of Senate District 10 and Joe Driver of Garland who was honored as the latest honorary member of ASSIST. Mike and Joe have been so instrumental to a whole new generation of bills that will benefit the security industry. ASSIST should be very proud of their support.
There�s a saying that �these are going to be the good old days.� Time will pass and they will be. Let me say however, that I�m very proud of my association with ASSIST. When I�ve gone off to the old legislator�s home, I�ll take the memory of a lot of great people who joined together to create something bigger than themselves. Who saw a need for a true profession in Texas and by hard work and dedication brought it kicking and screaming into existence. Who found a way not to be the problem, but to be the solution to a problem.
I will remember all of you that I have met through ASSIST, and in that old legislation home, I�ll smile because I had the distinct honor and pleasure to meet and know some very wonderful people. I wish all of you only the best as you go forward in a truly professional profession.
Pat Haggerty
Texas State Representative
Honorary ASSIST member
|
