Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
December 5 2005
The meeting was called to order by Commander Law at her home at 1758. A quorum was present.
Present
Cdr Katie Law
Lt/C Tom Fota, ExO
Lt/C Mike Fontaine, SEO
Lt/C Trish Carlin, Treasurer
Lt/C Barbara Goddard, Secretary
Richard Barck, Member at Large
John Isaksen, Member at Large
Absent
Lt/C Mary Ann Renzi, AO
Lt Karen Glaze, Member at Large
P/C Robert Hubbard, Member at Large
Minutes: The minutes of the 7 November 2005 meeting were approved as published.
Announcements:
The commander reminded people that the Parade of Lights gathering would
occur the following Sunday evening, and reservations should be made to
allow Chef Dave Baer to know what quantities to prepare and Nancy to arrange
for the drinks.
The San Diego Boat Show is forthcoming and watch standers
are still needed. There is a signup sheet on the website.
The Annual Meeting
will be held on Friday, 13 January 2006, and the Change of Watch will be
on Saturday, 21 January, with details to be made available on the website
and in The Ship’s Mail.
Articles for The Ship’s Mail are due
on December 15th and should be sent to Steven Bakalis. The commander suggested
that retiring officers submit articles. A discussion ensued about communication
with the members in the event of reducing the number of issues, especially
since Steven is retiring as editor.
Tom Fota has prepared a proposed calendar
for 2006-07.
The D28 Spring Conference is 3-5 March 2006 in Newport Beach,
hosted by the Balboa Power Squadron. The Fall Conference will be a tri-district
meeting in Phoenix, from 28 September through 1 October, with Districts
13, 25 and 28 participating. It is expected that the USPS National Operating
Committee will attend this meeting and people should plan to attend. There
will only be two National Governing Board meetings in 2006: the Annual
Meeting in Orlando in January and a mid-August meeting in New York City.
There is no December Sail Fleet event and the San Diego Cruiser Association
event is a training session.
OFFICER'S REPORTS
Cdr Katie Law reported that several San Diego members attended the D28
Winter Council meeting at Southwestern Yacht Club the preceding Saturday.
The room was full and the setup was unfortunate since there was inadequate
seating, but a lot of business was accomplished anyway.
She will be attending the USPS Annual Meeting from 5-8 January in Orlando.
Tom Fota asked if the squadron would pay airfare for the ExO to attend,
indicating that Ed Mraz had suggested it had been done in the past but had
been taken out of the budget. John Isaksen noted that this discussion had
been covered in prior years and the decision had been made that the San
Diego squadron could not afford to send its officers without raising our
dues. Thus, squadron officers are expected to pay their own attendance expenses.
Katie mentioned that she had not attended last year since the National meeting
conflicted with the San Diego Boat Show which was the ExO’s responsibility.
She paid her own expenses to attend the two prior meetings, since USPS only
reimburses District Commanders and GB delegates to attend National meetings.
Tom will try to plan to attend the August GB meeting in NYC.
Commander Law
reported that all 47 merit mark submissions had been approved. She asked
for and received suggestions for the Member of the Year, noting that it
cannot be a Bridge member. Tom Fota remarked that he had really appreciated
receiving the award, which is special recognition for an outstanding year’s
contribution to the squadron, Katie noted that, since we are all volunteers,
recognition is important and that she was grateful we had recognized John
Bertran when she attended his funeral. His family mentioned his membership
in the squadron in the Union-Tribune obituary. One SDSPS member in particular
was mentioned, and the commander expressed her appreciation for the suggestions.
ExO Tom Fota presented the VSC results, indicating that
we are now only behind Balboa in exams, at 83 having been performed. The
commander noted the need for more examiners, and Dick Barck pointed out
that the test is “open
book” on the website.
The S.D. Boat Show is coming up, and we are
having a problem with watch-stander communication since the chair, P/C
Shaun McArdle, has an AOL e-address, which blocks responses forwarded from
our website. Tom has suggested that he get an auxiliary e-address. (Several
people commented that they are getting spam through the “ExCom” website
affiliation, and Tom will investigate the host’s spam program. He
is leery about prescreening because one doesn’t know what’s
not getting through.)
Tom reported 14,507 hits on our website in November.
We get an average of 20 hits per hour, and people are clearly using it.
Tom was complimented on his efforts.
SEO Mike Fontaine reported that there are 4 students in AP.
The Piloting
results have not yet been received.
Two students passed Engine Maintenance.
Cruise Planning and Boating will start in January.
We hope to get students
through the S.D. Boat Show. Trish Carlin had Boating class fliers for people
to distribute. Tom asked why the website was not mentioned on the flier,
and Trish said Dan wants people to call him directly for information. Mike
brought up the topic of whether to have a minimum number of students as
a prerequisite for giving a class. Katie remarked that there need not be
an ExCom decision on that since he, as SEO, could conclude that, below a
certain number of students, a class would not be given.
Mike reported discussions
which occurred at District Council about the courses. He also mentioned
the need to promote the advanced grades. Trish noted that promoting these
classes during the Boating course might be advantageous, and Mike agreed
that it would be a good idea.
Steven Bakalis will be unable to give JN and
N because of his new responsibilities as Race Committee Chairman at the
yacht club for the next two years so alternative arrangements will be explored.
In the absence of AO Nancy Renzi, Katie reported that quite a few people
attended the November members’ meeting at Fiddler’s Green, even
though it conflicted with the annual meeting of SWYC.
She noted that Nancy is negotiating with Roberta at SWYC regarding the
menu choices for our annual meeting and the Change of Watch dinner.
Secretary Barbara Goddard indicated she has received the report of the Nominating Committee, which will be mailed shortly.
Treasurer Trish Carlin presented a written summary of the squadron finances
as of 30 November and reported that we have one new member, an experienced
boater who paid his dues and will be an asset to the squadron. John Barandiaran
was voted into membership.
Tom reported that he has not been receiving information
on new members to include in our on-line roster.
The commander reported
having been asked about the use of the Education Fund. She wanted to make
sure these moneys were kept separate, to be used only for capital improvements
and major purchases for the Ed Department. Trish assured her that this is
the case, and that—although held in two accounts (a CD and
an interest-bearing money market fund)--these funds are never intermingled
with our general accounts.
Katie then asked if anyone knew the whereabouts
of the original deed of gift for the Ed Fund, since Trish did not have
it. John Isaksen believed he had seen it and would find it if possible.
Trish expects to meet with the Audit Committee on 14 December at SWYC, for
a review of the books. She will also meet with Claudia Bowler, the nominee
for Treasurer, and will be available to help plan the proposed 2006 Budget,
which must be voted on at the Annual Meeting. A time for this meeting was
arranged.
OLD BUSINESS
The commander reported that she has not
been able to show the new Sail Fleet participation form to Ted Umland and
Dave Baer. She deferred consideration of the D/28 Star Award to the January
meeting because of time constraints.
NEW BUSINESS
1) On invitation by the commander, it was moved, seconded
and decided to send contributions to the USPS Education Fund in memory
of deceased members John Bertran, Marian Bridge and Lois Stanford.
2) Tom
Fota indicated that, at the behest of National, we need to seek permission
of members to place their names on our e-lists and website. When this was
accomplished at the district level, the process was an “opt out” rather than
an “opt in” one, which resulted in a much higher participation.
But Bob Schloeman, D/28 webmaster and Phoenix SPS member, believes this
would be illegal in California. Katie indicated that a form could be generated
at the squadron level to meet this requirement, and a periodic (perhaps
monthly) reminder could be e-mailed to people on the existing lists. Dick
Barck noted that we need a restricted list, for which the USPS member number
is required, to access this information.
For the good of the order: Katie reminded people to bring their officer flags to the Annual Meeting so they would be available for the Change of Watch.
The meeting was adjourned at 2047. The next ExCom meeting will be held at Southwestern Yacht Club at 1730, prior to the Annual Meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara A. Goddard
Secretary