The bulk of this series consists of executive board meeting kits, which contain all material furnished to board members in advance of a scheduled meeting. This material usually includes a proposed agenda and minutes from the previous meeting for approval. Also included are correspondence and memos related to the meeting and to issues on the proposed agenda, as well as committee reports addressed to the president and executive board. Materials that were sometimes included are policy documents, financial documents and drafts of proposed annual budgets, and ethics grievance petitions. The Executive Board could choose to hear appeals of cases that had been previously decided by the Ethics Committee. A few folders contain handwritten notes taken at the meetings.
Although the executive board meeting kits cover the period from 1979 through mid-2000, there are some gaps in coverage. Most significantly, there are no executive board kits for the period from July 1988 through July 1991. There is also no kit from the first quarter of 1997, and no kits for the period from June 1997 through November 1998.
Also included in this series are executive board materials not associated with a particular meeting. Particularly notable are correspondence and news clippings detailing the founding of PEF, its struggle for legal recognition, and the formation of the original interim executive board during the period 1978-1979.
Records in this collection were kept by Stanley Byer, who was involved in PEF at the state and division level since its inception. From 1978 through 2001, Byer served in a variety of roles in the union, including executive board member, trustee, shop steward, and division secretary. Byer also participated in numerous PEF committees and events, including statewide election campaigns and annual conventions.
All items in this manuscript group were donated to the University Libraries, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, by Stanley Byer of New York State Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO, Environmental Conservation Division 169 in April 2001 and April 2003. Additional material was transferred by Susan J. DuBois in October 2006.