I am so honored to be President of FMCBA this year. Last year turned out to be such a successful term thanks to the great leadership of Sandra Powery. Your new Executive Board plans to follow this path in 2009-2010. 
 
This year's theme is "Reclamation, Relevance and Responsibility". It is actually less of a "theme" than it is three goals that I am certain we can achieve this year. The first goal is to reclaim members. Although the number of FMCBA members continues to grow, we have seen some decline in the number of "dues paying" members. Even more disheartening is the decline of "active" members. I urge you to remember that dues paid by members help our organization to function and I encourage each member to timely renew his or her membership this year and each year thereafter. Also, I hope every member will become more involved in our Association in any way your schedule will permit.
 
The second goal is to increase the relevance of our organization. Every attorney in Palm Beach County should be familiar with FMCBA and our mission. We need to make sure that attorneys throughout the state know what FMCBA is and view our association as an important, effective and influential force in the legal community. Not only that, we need to make sure that non-attorneys in our neighborhoods are aware of our organization, its programs and initiatives.
 
Lastly, the third goal this year (and I hope every year) is for each member to realize her or his responsibility to our organization, our practice and our community. To whom much is given, much is required. It is our responsibility to use our knowledge and training to grow our organization and make it stronger, to become leaders and innovators in the legal world and to educate and assist individuals in our community.
 
I hope you will all work this year to help attain these goals. As always, please continue to let us know how to make FMCBA the best it can be. With your assistance, we are confident that we will have another successful year. 
Sincerely,
 
Tracy A. Mitchell
2009-2010 President