Members of the Illinois Electronic Security Association on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of ending their chartered chapter relationship with the Electronic Security Association.
According to Kevin Lehan, executive director of the IESA, the decision is part of an effort by the association to devote more of its resources to battling municipal monitoring initiatives that have been undertaken by a number of cities across the state in recent years.
“This decision was made after a tremendous amount of thought and consideration as to what our options were so that we could protect our members in Illinois,” Lehan says.
While the decision to become an independent association was a difficult one, Lehan and other IESA members believe it is necessary to protect their livelihoods.
“We are one of the oldest chapters, having incorporated as a state trade association in 1965, so yes, this is bittersweet,” he adds. “Yet, the members voted overwhelmingly to become an independent organization.”
When reached for comment on Wednesday, ESA President Angela White said they would be working with the IESA on ending their chapter affiliation.
“We’re aware of the vote that was taken by IESA and will be working with IESA as to how best to terminate our Chapter Affiliation Agreement,” White says.
IESA will now use previously paid ESA dues to help persuade state lawmakers to initiate legislation putting an end to municipal monitoring monopolies. IESA hopes it can eliminate individual companies having to litigate issues on a case-to-case basis. In addition, Lehan says the new dues structure may even help give their membership numbers a boost.
“With our new dues structure, we anticipate membership growth because licensed alarm contractors throughout Illinois know that their dues will be applied toward in-state (efforts) to address issues we face in terms of municipal monopolies,” he says. “We also seek to work more closely with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the state entity that regulates licensed alarm contractors, regarding CCTV and video camera jobs, which we believe to be the sole domain of alarm contractors, as our act states that an alarm system includes, ‘a surveillance video system and a security video system.’”
For those IESA members who purchase insurance through the Security America Risk Retention Group (SARRG) - an insurance company developed by the ESA and operated in partnership with Marsh Insurance - Lehan recommends they join the ESA as an individual company so that they can continue to be eligible for policies through the carrier.
“We’ve suggested to members who procure their insurance from SARRG that they should join ESA as an individual company to maintain the ability to use that carrier,” he says. “We also encourage them to remain active with the ESA if they chose to do that. The last thing we want to do is hinder the business of any Illinois licensed alarm contractor.”
