Elevator Industry Group Of Southern California

In the absence of our new president, who is travelling , new  Vice President Mary Thomsic called the first meeting of 2009 to order with twenty nine members and guests attending. Mary solicited suggestions from everyone as to what they would like to see at future meetings and any thoughts as to how membership and attendance might be increased.

Acting in her role as interim Treasurer, Mary gave us a brief financial summary and indicated that the Group’s finances are on solid footing at this time. The contribution to the Elevator and Escalator safety Foundation related to last June’s golf tournament has been sent to EESF. The transfer of the necessary documents, etc. to our new treasurer was accomplished and Leslie will be reporting henceforth.

We had a brief but spirited discussion related to provision of annunciator panels for initiating devices for Fire emergency service now being required as part of the “new” code.  Carolyn Chavez indicated that some of their customers in Northern California reported that another provision of the “new” code has apparently caused some problems:

ASME A17.1-2004, 3.19.4.5, Pressure Gauge Fittings.
A pressure gauge fitting with shutoff valve shall be provided on jack side of the check valve or immediately adjacent to the hydraulic control valve.

I assume the problem relates to the shut off valve, since as far as I know, all control valves have a gauge connection.

Our scheduled presenter was a no show, so we proceeded to our raffle.

A nice group of prizes was provided by John and Doris Brannon, Steve Grainer of MITSUBISHI, Jack Lawson, Stan Schultz, Larry Jones and Scott Dutton of CED, Mary Thomsic of ALPS WIRE ROPE, Jo Wheeler of WEST COAST INDUSTRIES, Patricia Howard of JANUS ELEVATOR PRODUCTS, Carolyn Chavez of EECO and Alex Cargill.

The lucky winners (most of whom seemed to be sitting at the same table) included:

Gerry MCKinnon, Jack Lawson, Barry Friesen, Leonard Patito, Alex Cargill, John Reynolds, Sam Farooqi, Dave Altman, Steve Grainer, Andy Duzich, Leslie Malloy and Tim Hawkins.

After some appropriate celebratory libations, the meeting was called to order by President Mike Shaw with seventy members and guests attending.

After a round of self introductions, Mary Thomsic, our interim treasurer, gave us a quick report which indicated that the group is ending the year on solid financial footing.

This being the annual Christmas Party meeting, we dispensed with any further business and proceeded with a terrific lunch of Steak or Salmon, according to choice, accompanied by further libations of choice.

At conclusion of lunch we launched into our raffle, for an impressive group of sixty two prizes, provided by the group and John and Doris Brannon, Jack and June Lawson, Scott Southard of Scott Elevator Consultants, Jack and Pat Parker, Bernie and Pearl Tillipman, John Boots and Chuck Morphew of Amtech, Ann, Tim and Bill Adrian of Republic Elevator, Shirley and Harvey Ledesma, Stan Schultz, Marilyn and Launis Look of Look Stairchairs, Joe Orrico of HKA, Allan Lloyd of Draka, Steve Grainer and John Faure of Mitsubishi, Larry Jones, Brian Gaa and Scott Dutton of CED, Mark Keelan of Schunk Graphite, Mary Thomsic and Sharon McKellips of Alps Wire Rope, Patricia Howard of Janus, Leslie Malloy of Westcoast Pads, Mike Farris of Lerch Bates Assoc., Steve Rosnack of Canton Elevator, Michael Shaw of Superior Elevator, Sam and Lilly Farooqi of Par Paint, Abe Salephour, Jessica O’Neal, Peter Aguirre and Carolyn Chavez of EECO and Nancy and Woody Wright.

The prizes varied from nice to magnificent and were distributed at random by first selecting a prize and then drawing the number.

The list of winners follows – it is a long list, but since there were many multiple winners, at least it is less than the total number of prizes:

Bill Adrian, Betty Wilson, Sharon McKellips, Scott Dutton, Mark Keelan, Bernie Tillipman, Gerry McKinnon, Patty Howard, Alex Cargill, Steve Rosnack, Brent Russon, Sam Farooqi, Joe Orrico, Kathy Dozani, Mike Farris, Harvey Ledesma, Jessica O’Neal, Allan Lloyd, Mike Shaw, Lupe Castrejon, Nick Escamilla, Peter Aguirre, Carolyn Chavez, Jack Lawson, Jack Parker, Woody Wright.

If we missed anyone on either list (likely with such a large group), apologies.

In conclusion – Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

See you next year.

The meeting was called to order by President Mike Shaw with twenty nine attending.

Pete Callas, Chief Inspector of the City of Los Angeles, announced that the City is currently conducting a “campaign” to have permits properly posted in elevator cars, as required by the Los Angeles Municipal Code. He provided samples of a flyer currently being circulated to building owners and managers and elevator companies. Pete said there are 20133 active elevators in the City at this time. A survey is in process to determine the percentage in which permits are posted as required.

Scott Dutton indicated that we have reached a settlement with California Country Club as to the amount to be paid them for our June Golf Tournament. Basically, we got about a 10% discount from the usual fees, due to their scheduling error, which caused our tournament to be about two hours late in completing. Next year’s tournament will again be at California Country Club. The date is Friday, June 19, 2009, with a 1:00 p.m. starting time.

Mary Thomsic, our interim treasurer, presented a financial statement, which reflected the payment to California Country Club, and reimbursement to Mary, who picked up the tab for our October luncheon. The balance appeared to be sufficient to settle our remaining obligations, including our contribution to the Elevator and Escalator Safety Foundation, and the November and December luncheons, with a bit left over.

We proceeded to the matter of election of officers for 2009. Mike announced that Tim Hawkins had asked that his name be withdrawn as a candidate for Vice President for health reasons. Mary Thomsic again stepped into the breach and agreed to accept this post if the membership so desired.

In the end the following were elected “viva voce” :

Vice President – Mary Thomsic; President – Allan Lloyd; Treasurer – Leslie Malloy; Secretary – John Brannon

Next, we had a presentation from Richard Lindemeyer, North American General Manager of GUSTAV WOLF.

Based in Germany, Gustav Wolf is a leading supplier of specialized wire products, not the least of which is the wire rope used for suspension, governor and compensating on elevators. Another familiar product is the reinforcing wire used in the “beads” of automobile tires, high pressure hoses, etc. Founded in 1887, Wolf has six factories and about 700 employees worldwide.

Richard gave us a quick overview of pending ASME standard A17.6, which will cover the wire ropes (and synthetic ropes) used on elevators and including much reduced sizes, down to 4 mm (about 5/32”). Approval of this standard by ASME is anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2009. Approval by local “AHJ’s” is expected to follow in the third quarter of 2010. Thanks for an informative program, Richard!

We concluded with our regular raffle. Prizes were provided by John and Doris Brannon, Allan Lloyd of DRAKA, Jack Lawson. Mary Thomsic of ALPS, Tim Hawkins, Bernie Tillipman, Bo Kerner of CABLECO, Leslie Malloy  of WESTCOAST and Harvey Ledesma.

Winners included:

Rick Perry, Alex Cargill, Bernie Tillipman, Mike Barnham, Dave Altman, Andy Duzich, Leslie Malloy, Harvey Ledesma and Sharon McKellips.

Next month will be our fabulous Christmas party meeting. As always, corporate members are entitled to two additional guests (four total) and individual members to one guest (two total) at no additional charge. Additional guests are also welcome for the extremely nominal charge of twenty dollars each. Further details to follow.

The meeting was called to order by President Mike Shaw with a paltry twenty four members attending.

Mike briefly reviewed the Group’s finances, indicating that the funds on hand and now under the care of our interim Treasurer, Mary Thomsic, should be sufficient to cover our outstanding obligations, which include:

Payment to California Country Club for last June’s Golf Tournament. A settlement in the negotiations over the final amount should be reached this week.

Donation to the Elevator and Escalator Safety Foundation from the proceeds of the Golf Tournament ($3000).

Also, the balance appears adequate to cover the costs of our final three meetings, including the Christmas party.

Next, the matter of nominations for officers for 2009 was addressed. The following candidates received nominations and seconds:

President:  Allan Lloyd

Vice President: Tim Hawkins

Secretary: John Brannon

Treasurer: Leslie Malloy

Thus far, we have only one nominee for each office. Additional candidates may be proposed at the November meeting before the actual election.

Following lunch, there was a lively discussion as to how the “economic crisis” is affecting our industry. Barry Friesen indicated that the City of Los Angeles has about 100 high rise projects in Plan Check at this time. He anticipates that some of these may be delayed or cancelled, but still, there is a pretty healthy backlog.

Bill Adrian, newly confirmed as General Manager of Republic Elevator (congratulations, Bill!), stated that they have a very healthy backlog at this time, which should keep them going for a couple of years.

This confirms the concept that our industry is one of the last to feel the effects of an economic downturn. The obverse of that coin is that it is also one of the last to fully recover.

The reason, of course, is that there is a significant time lag between “booking” an order and experiencing any revenue from it, ranging generally from 6 to 24 months.

We were delighted to see some new faces:

Alan Taylor – back in Southern California once again and now working with HKA.

Brian Gaa – Working in sales for CED.

Also attending and in line for congratulations, Peter Callas.

Here’s the press release about Pete:

For Immediate Release

The City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, has announced that Peter Callas has been promoted to the position of Chief Inspector Elevators and Pressure Vessels, effective October 9, 2008. He previously served as the Acting Chief since July of 2006.

Peter Callas has been with the City in the Department of Building and Safety Elevator Division for 23 years. His previously positions with the Department were Safety Engineer Elevators, Senior Safety Engineer Elevators, and Principal Inspector. In his current position he will be reporting to the Assistant Deputy Superintendent of Building, Commercial Inspection Bureau, and will be responsible for the code enforcement and inspection of over 25,000 conveyances in the jurisdiction of the City of Los Angeles.

Peter Callas succeeds Lance Wong and Harvey Ledesma who held the position of Chief Inspector for the previous two decades.

October 15, 2008

Last but not least was our raffle, for prizes provided by the Group, John and Doris Brannon, Mary Thomsic of Alps Wire Rope, Stan Schultz, Marilyn Look of Look Stairchairs, Bill Adrian of Repubic  Elevator, Allan Lloyd of Draka, Lupe Castrejon, Leslie Malloy of West Coast Pads, Tim Hawkins, and Scott Dutton of CED.

And the winners were:

Marilyn Look, Alan Taylor, Dave Altman, Allan Lloyd, Doris Brannon, Bill Adrian, Stan Schultz and Barry Friesen