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CAA Weinstock Award first: Winner is a woman

CAA Weinstock Award first: Winner is a woman Patty Hartman, former group president, is recognized for her distinguished service

MARINA DEL REY, Calif.—For more than a decade, the California Alarm Association each year has honored a member of the security industry with the George A. Weinstock Award for lifetime achievement and service. But this year particularly stands out because—for the first time—the prestigious honor is going to a woman.

Patty Hartman, formerly president of the CAA and also a past president of the Sacramento Alarm Association, is the winner of the Weinstock Award this year. She'll be honored at a tribute dinner Dec. 7 at the CAA's annual Winter Convention in San Francisco.

Hartman told Security Systems News she is “ecstatic” to be chosen for the award and hopes the recognition helps draw more women to the industry.

“It's a great industry, it's a healthy industry, it's a nurturing industry and if I didn't have some of the men I had behind me, I would never have gotten this award,” Hartman said.

Jerry Lenander, executive director of the CAA, which is based here, cited Hartman's history of service to the industry as a key factor in her selection for the Weinstock Award, named for a security industry veteran and founded in 1999.

“It's her 30 years of involvement in the associations,” Lenander said. “She was up in Sacramento [at the Sacramento Alarm Association] and is sort of beloved up there still t this day because of the work she did in revitalizing that association and making them an active and functioning association. … She was really diligent in getting that going.”

Hartman said she was president of the Sacramento Alarm Association twice, from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2000 to 2001.

In 2001, she became CAA president. “She was the second woman to be elected [as president], and she was the first person to serve two terms. It's a two-year term and historically no one had ever held that position for a second term,” Lenander said.

Pam Alva, the CAA's first female president, held the post in 1992, Lenander said.

Hartman was president of the CAA from 2001 to 2004, and in 2004 won “Best President of the Year” recognition from the Electronic Security Association for her work for the state association.

The CAA currently has 11 local chapters. Lenander said that as president, one of the things Hartman focused on was working with local chapters “to make sure they were organized and had everything in place and a lot of support for volunteer leadership.” He said some chapters had become inactive, “so she worked a lot to bring them back to an active status where they were holding meetings and participating in all the programs.” Also, he said, the CAA was grappling with some legislative and legal issues during Hartman's tenure, “and she was always there to provide that support.”

Hartman was working for Pacheco, Calif.-based Bay Alarm when she became CAA president. She said she stood out in the position because she was an employee of a security company, not an owner of one.

It's somewhat easier for owners, who can set their own schedules, to meet the demands of the volunteer position of president, she said. But Hartman praised Bay Alarm for helping her fulfill her presidential duties.

“I worked for a great company and the owners allowed me to spend 50 percent of my time [on association work] and paid for all my traveling,” she said. “The support issue is big.”

Lenander said the CAA relies on people like Hartman who volunteer their time and effort, “and we never take it for granted.”

“We're pretty fortunate to have individuals who do that and I think part of this award is to recognize their contribution,” he said.

After leaving Bay Alarm, Hartman worked in Springfield, Mo., for DMP as a customer relations manager from 2006 to 2012. She said she's planning on relocating back to the West Coast and is looking for another job in the industry.

 

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