Mr. Chairman

It has been difficult to speak with John Filice these days. John is showing great strength together with his staff at U.S. Surety in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. That’s right, it’s January 30th and he is still climbing the stairs, struggling with electronics and having each day be that much more of a challenge, downtown where the flood waters crashed through everything and ruined so many lives and so much property. We salute John and his team for keeping his business going with only the few interruptions he’s let it have, despite continued adversity. No one north of New York’s 14th Street or outside Long Island and Staten Island and most of the coast of New Jersey can really understand the ongoing effects of the super storm. John’s company, located on Greenwich Street just south of the World Trade Center site is housed in one of the many buildings still experiencing connectivity problems, despite many man hours of work and despite the incredible rents in the district. It all boils down to courage and determination, which John and his staff seem to have. We wish them the very best of luck together with many other insurance professionals who are still in the same position after the storm. Incredible that in this day and age our infrastructure is both so complex and yet so poorly assembled and architected that getting it back together again this long after the devastation is this difficult. Cannot understand it. Keep punching, John… Kevin Cahill has become Chairman of the New York Assembly Insurance Committee, replacing Assemblyman Morelle in that role. Just about everyone in the business issued press releases immediately stating how optimistic they are to work with Cahill. The assemblyman represents the 103rd District, near Kingston. His insurance record was handsomely outlined by PIANY whose communication was the first to reach this screen. Here is what they wrote: “Cahill is supportive of professional agents and their employees. He has long maintained relationships with local PIA agents in the Kingston area, meeting regularly to discuss insurance-related issues; and he has voted consistently in favor of PIANY priority legislation to help promote better understanding of the applicability and amount of hurricane windstorm deductibles in homeowners and dwelling fire policies and to establish reasonable standards for the operation of hurricane windstorm deductible triggers; to restrict direct-writer commercial advertisements in official state mailings to avoid misleading the public; and to help contain automobile insurance premium costs by preventing the imposition of surcharges for minor accidents. He also was sponsor of legislation introduced last year in response to PIANY’s request to require insurers of property to eliminate from the claims record of an insured, any claim of loss made and paid in good faith, which is discovered to be false and the proceeds of such claim are repaid to the insurer.” The other associations’ missives followed in a similar vein, all expressing a desire to work with him for the shared goals legislators, insurance professionals and consumers have or some words to that effect – as well they must. A little about Cahill: he is a lifelong resident of Kingston and has had experience in the Ulster County Legislature as minority leader. He joined the State Assembly in 1992, where he has been a force for civil rights, labor and women’s issues and healthcare. In recognition of his environmental efforts, he was named Legislator of the Year by the Environmental Planning Lobby in 2008. Appointed to the position of Chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Energy in February of 2008, Cahill has made energy efficiency and independence a top priority and led the way on initiatives promoting renewable power generation, sustainable building practices and the development of a green workforce.

Now he graduates to the insurance world and its opinion leaders. It’s a nice appointment.