Candidate Resumes
Treasurer
Sean O' Kane
I am currently a Career Union Firefighter and Arson Investigator with the Danville Fire Department in Danville, Illinois. (IAFF Local 429) I have been a firefighter there since 1999. Within the City of Danville I sat on a Revenue Subcommittee that dealt with a fire department budget of over 5 million dollars a year. I am the President of my union where I negotiate contracts and handle the day to day union operations for us. I created our unions first ever cash flow budget to deal with our $150,000.00 a year income / expenses. I computerized the AWDF’s budget process to allow easier access to income vs. expenses among our executive board. While our budget in the AWDF is much smaller we have to make every dollar count. This also applies to USA. Every dollar we spend is accounted for and justified for the betterment of the breed.
In 2000 I also became a police officer working in Oakwood and Westville, Illinois. I have always been interested in being a K-9 handler for a police department so I purchased my first German Shepherd, Apollo, from a police friend of mine. There I got my start. Along with police dog training with their training group, he put me in touch with Illinois Schutzhund and Police Club. I was hooked!!!
Some of our club members took me in (Cele Danner / Jim Sears) and taught me what they knew about the sport and training dogs. They also trained with Gene England in Kentucky once a month so I started going with them to training. My interest in the German Shepherd Dog continued to grow.
From there I could not continue the expense of traveling so far to train in Kentucky. I found a police officer in Indianapolis, Indiana named Mike Diehl. I began training with him and got a new dog named Bautz v.d. Brocherhohe. He was a SchH 3 dog that I certified in patrol / narcotics with NAPWDA. (North American Police Work Dog Assn.) Mike Diehl was the perfect fit for me with his police K-9 and Schutzhund experience. I have since been able to call him a good friend and traveled over the past few years to see him become a force to be reckoned with in Schutzhund. With what I have learned from my mentors I have been lucky enough to have certified 5 police service dogs and 1 arson detector dog through NAPWDA.
My very good friend Cele Danner was the Treasurer for the AWDF and from there I met Al Govednik, President of the AWDF. I wanted to get more involved and asked him what I could do to help. In 2007 I was asked to step in as Secretary for AWDF. I accepted this position, later deciding to run for AWDF Treasurer after Cele Danner stepped down. I was elected in 2008 to the Treasurer’s spot with the AWDF. From there I got more involved with the political side of our dog sport we all so love. I want to make a difference and be able to help preserve the German Shepherd Dog for generations to come. I have no hidden agendas. I just want to make a difference. I am excited to have been elected as USA Treasurer and appreciate all the support I have been shown since being elected. I ask for your vote in November. If you have any questions please feel free to call or email me anytime.
