Howard Davenport – NEW District 7 APA Director

My name is Howard Davenport, and I am writing to you to ask for your support and vote in the 2024 APA election as I am seeking the position of Director of District 7. I am an ETL Life Member, member of the APA Membership Committee, Past State Representative of Texas, recipient of the Honorary FFA Lone Star Degree, recipient of the Cecil Moore Memorial Award, inductee into the MEGASHOW Hall of Fame, and Past YEPA Youth Leader for Texas. At last count, I have personally recruited 276 new members into the Association.

Ronald Reagan was quoted as saying, “The status quo, you know, is Latin for ‘The mess we’re in’.. This has never been more evident in the recent history of the APA than the release of the 150th Anniversary Edition of our Standard of Perfection which is riddled with inaccurate, missing and misleading information. This embarrassment to the dues-paying membership is not the fault of a single individual or group of individuals; it is the result of a complete systems failure that resulted from the lack of safeguards and a  check and balance system not being in place, oversight from our elected officials, and the inability of our Board of Directors to work together for the overall good of the Association due to egos and the “look at me” attitude getting in the way of progress.

In my time with the APA, I have noticed when it comes to important and uncomfortable issues facing the Association, the “kick the can down the road” philosophy comes into play instead of facing the problem head-on and addressing it. What our elected officials fail to realize, is they’re going to eventually  “reach the can again.” Too many issues facing this Association are put aside with the hopes they’ll just go away, or the average member will just forget about it…but the “can” is still there. This type of thinking cannot continue.

One of the most critical issues that needs to be addressed is the profound lack of communication and transparency with the membership. It saddens me that information is posted by individuals on social media days and even weeks before we hear it from our elected officials. The recent removal of the Standards Committee is a prime example. Within just a few hours of this decision, it was being broadcast on social media by individuals that were not even in the decision making process. It took the APA officials a week before officially releasing the information. Why did this happen? What was so secret about this? Why wait until you HAVE to respond due to the hate and venom being spewed on social media? This can’t continue. We must ensure our members are kept informed.

As for my Texas members and exhibitors, there has been far to much procrastination over the years on “What we need to do is this,” and “we need to organize a committee and do this,” to resolve our TAHC issues, and nothing gets done. Why do we need to form a local committee when we have the full weight of the APA at our disposal to help resolve this issue? These issues cannot be resolved with threats. They must be resolved through educating the powers-at-be as to what we’re about by inviting them to our shows and having non-threatening dialogue. I truly believe we can accomplish this with “baby steps” to open our State back up to outside exhibitors without increasing our financial burden. If elected, it is my intention to immediately begin working with the APA Legislative Committee and setting up meetings, some in person and some via Zoom, with the Poultry Commissioner, State Veterinarian, and other TAHC Officials to plead our case.

There is so much left to do, including more incentives for our Juniors, more visibility opportunities for our State Representatives, more focus on education for the Backyard flock owner to bring them into the heart of the APA mission, and the list goes on. What we can conceive, we can achieve.

I would be thrilled to talk with you to give you my thoughts on items I haven’t discussed, but more importantly, I would like to hear YOUR thoughts. You, the member, are the heartbeat and life’s blood of this Association. Know that I will work for you and not the “status quo.”

You may reach out to me by email at hwdavenport1956@gmail.com, or by phone at 832-585-4744.

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Endorsement By Texas Resident and APA and ABA Judge Bill Hopkins

“Greetings to all my fellow APA District 7 members. My name is Bill Hopkins. I am a life member of the APA, an APA grandmaster exhibitor, an APA licensed judge, and proud resident of District 7 in the APA. I am excited to encourage each and everyone of you to vote for Howard Davenport for the directorship of District 7. I have a history with the APA that reaches back to the early 1970’s. I have seen quite a few people, some of whom were my friends, attempt to be true member oriented district directors. Most missed the mark. They become organization focused rather than member focused. I have known Howard and observed him long enough to know for a fact that Howard will hit the ground running with the goal of making District 7 the most member focused district in the APA. We deserve to have someone like him as our director.

As I’ve said, I’ve known Howard for quite a while. Long before he ever considered seeking elected office in the APA, he was working behind the scenes supporting poultry shows and exhibitors in the state of Texas. As an example of his support, for the last 4 years Howard has provided airline tickets for judges hired to judge the Klein poultry show. He didn’t do this to get attention. I’m sure very few folks know he was doing this. He did it because he wanted the exhibitors to have access to excellent judging and new points of view. He has also raised a great deal of money for cash awards and donated pallets of wood shavings shows. Again, this was done to benefit exhibitors. I also know that he has been an amazing mentor to youth poultry, 4-H, and FFA poultry exhibitors. He has donated birds to junior exhibitors and shared his knowledge of breeding and management. Howard has also worked tirelessly to try and get the state of Texas open once again to out of state poultry exhibitors. He has called, corresponded, and met personally with Texas politicians and bureaucrats in hopes of finding a solution that will benefit all Texas poultry breeders and exhibitors. He will be able to use these networking skills he has honed in Texas to help exhibitors in other states within District 7 when they need someone to go to bat for them when their state and local governments try seek to limit their right to own, breed, and exhibit poultry in their states or communities.

We need a man like Howard Davenport serving as our District 7 director. Voting and supporting Howard Davenport isn’t just about rewarding him for his selfless service to the fancy. It’s also a reward for each and everyone of us. The APA should be a member driven organization. We pay our dues and we deserve to have our needs and concerns given serious attention. Howard will do that.”

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