Immediate Past President
CAFA Family,
Please accept this message as notification of my last Presidential correspondence to my brothers and sisters. It has been my pleasure for the past two terms to serve as your 7th President and spokesperson of this great Association of 45yrs and counting. I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the members that volunteered their time, helped with the building, held one of the many positions in CAFA or just attended a community event to represent this Association. Thanks to everyone that had faith in me and the great Executive Board members that I had the pleasure of serving alongside using our ONE VOICE. Hopefully we made you all proud by continuing to beat the drum of the trailblazers before us, ensuring CAFA be heard.
CAFA has overcome some major issues that we couldn’t imagine having to deal with over the last several years, for example the loss of a few of our members, thank God none were in the line of duty. A global pandemic which stalled the world, which we decided to focus on partnering with the Health Department and go into the communities we serve to get people vaccinated. A near second City of Cincinnati unrest after the murder of George Floyd but instead we had a peaceful march to remind our communities how to affect change is not with destruction but with the power of voting. Let’s not forget voicing our opinion after the first time ever experiencing the termination of a Cincinnati Fire Chief who was a long-time member of CAFA. During all those trying times and many more of which are too many to continue we stuck to our motto of “Being Involved Personally.”
As I pass the torch, I’m excited about the next chapter for myself and CAFA with our incoming President CJ Battle and his Executive Board but I will definitely cherish the memories and experiences I’ve had serving you. I wish them all the continued success, and I look forward to watching them keep the torch burning as we grow stronger by adding to the largest membership we’ve had as an Association in 45yrs. I still have the passion and love of being a firefighter and member of CAFA so I will ALWAYS show my support, and I ask that you do the same.
“All I Am, I Owe”
Past President
William West III
CAFA Family,
