United States Ombudsman Association

Business Office 200 W. 2nd Ave. Indianola, Iowa 50125 Phone 515-442-2451 Fax 866-442-6751 E-mail usoa@assocserv.com

CONTACT:

Robin Matsunaga, USOA President, at (808)587-0770 Kristie Hirschman, Committee Chair, at (515)281-3592 Ombudsman National Conference Coming to Spokane

Ombudsman representatives from across the globe will gather in Spokane October 8 12, 2012 for the 33th annual conference of the United States Ombudsman Association (USOA). The USOA is the oldest and largest organization in the United States of ombudsmen working in government to address citizen complaints. The USOAs membership includes practicing ombudsmen at all levels of government, some of whom have general jurisdiction, and others who have jurisdiction over a specified subject matter or agency. We encourage and welcome the participation of ombudsmen from other countries as members of USOA and as attendees of our conferences. For more information on the USOA, please visit our web page at http://www.usombudsman.org. City of Spokanes Office of Police Ombudsman is hosting the conference. In addition to the Spokane office, representatives from other ombudsman offices in state and local governments across the United States, as well as some federal agencies, will be in attendance. The conference has also attracted international participants. The theme of this years conference is Ombudsmen: The Nature of Our Profession. National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina E. Olson, will deliver the keynote address. Program information is available on USOAs webpage or you can access it using this link: http://usoa.nonprofitsites.biz/files/documents/2012_USOA_Registration_Packet.pdf In addition to the conference program, there will be two pre-conference workshops on Monday, October 8 and Tuesday, October 9. One workshop is training for new ombudsman investigators. The other workshop focuses on conflict resolution skills and is put on by the Fulcrum Institute Dispute Resolution Clinic. This workshop has been approved for 11.5 hours of CLE credit by the Washington State Bar Association. The public is encouraged to register for any conference or preconference program. Questions can be directed to Robin Matsunaga, USOA President, at (808)587-0770 or Kristie Hirschman, Committee Chair, at (515)281-3592.