At the 75th Annual APCO Conference in Las Vegas, APCO President Richard Mirgon and APCO President Elect Bill Carrow were sworn into their current positions by outgoing President Chris Fischer. (Photo Courtney McCain)

For the past three years, Richard Mirgon and Bill Carrow have worked together closely on the APCO Executive Committee. They have witnessed the evolution of public safety communications technology and its effects on PSAPs, and worked to advance APCO International and its influence for the betterment of the industry and profession.

On Aug. 3, at the Blue & White Gala during the APCO conference in Houston, Mirgon’s term as APCO president will come to an end, and he will swear in Carrow as president. These two association leaders agreed to speak with Public Safety Communications about the future of the industry and APCO prior to the conference.

President Mirgon, what do you feel was your greatest accomplishment during your term as APCO president, and President Elect Carrow, what do look forward to in your term as president?
Mirgon: There are really two major items. The first is the partnerships and relationships we have built with the other public safety associations for the reallocation of the D Block. The second was the support work we did with the Department of Homeland Security National Coordinating Center on the restoration of the 9-1-1 system for Haiti after the January earthquake.

Carrow: I am excited to enter our second year under the association’s new governance structure. This past year was a learning experience for the Executive Committee, and the new Board of Directors. I look forward to increasing the opportunities to interact with our full Board.

I also look forward to the continued progress of stopping the D Block auction and having the spectrum allocated to public safety.

I look forward to watching the great work of our members unfold in our association’s various committees, task forces and projects. I am anticipating the passage of the group membership initiative. This was a recommendation from the Membership Taskforce that I participated in years ago. If approved, it is a way to not only grow our association, but to expose a whole new membership base to APCO’s benefits.

President Mirgon, as immediate past president, you’ll have a vote on the Executive Committee, so how do you envision your new role?
Mirgon: I believe the intent of SGI and this role is to be advisory to the Executive Committee and to help with continuity. My primary plan is to stay out of the way.

(from left) APCO Executive Committee members Richard Mirgon, Bill Carrow, Gregg Riddle and Terry Hall enjoy a laugh during the 2009 APCO Conference.

Is there an issue that you had hoped to tackle during your term but for some reason could not?
Mirgon: I would have liked to have seen more work with other federal agencies to broaden our outreach. So much of our resources have gone into the D Block in the past year, there wasn’t time. Once that issue has come to a conclusion, I would hope APCO staff and future boards see the value and continue the outreach.

I also hope to see the D Block reallocated to public safety.

President-Elect Carrow, in the past year, the lack of state training standards has made the news several times. What role, if any, should APCO take in promoting the adoption of state-level or national training standards?
Carrow: Training standards will continue to be a major issue. APCO’s PRO-CHRT taskforce has made great strides in researching various state training standards in an effort to prepare a toolkit to assist chapters and members as they forge ahead to have minimum training established in their areas. They have also created a manifesto that has as a top priority that all states should mandate or adopt training standards using APCO’s Minimum Training Standards for Public Safety Telecommunicators as a baseline.

Regarding the D Block, what progress do you hope for in the next few months?
Carrow: I think our continued partnership with the Public Safety Alliance, and HR 5081 (Broadband for First Responders Act) has made real headway as witnessed last week during the press conference on Capitol Hill. Hearings in the future should prove the need to reallocate the necessary spectrum to public safety.

What do you see as APCO’s greatest accomplishment under President Richard Mirgon?
Carrow: Two accomplishments actually come to mind as substantial. One is the completion of year one of our new governance structure. Dick made course-correction along the way in an effort to keep the new Board of Directors informed on issues at the leadership and decision-making levels so as not to get mired in the weeds. I feel that a solid ground floor is in place that will allow for even more progress in this area over the next year.

The second accomplishment is our partnership with the Public Safety Alliance. Dick said many times it wasn’t about APCO owning the [D Block] issue, it was about inclusiveness, and that has certainly played out positively over the past several months.