The meeting was called to order by Commander Dave Baer at his home at 1902.  A quorum was present.
 
Present:                                                     

Commander David Baer    
Lt/C Katharine Law, ExO
Lt/C Thomas Griffin, AO
Lt/C Michael Fontaine, SEO
Lt/C John Isaksen, Treasurer
Lt/C Barbara Goddard, Secretary
Lt Richard Barck, Member at Large
P/Lt/C Sterling Campbell, Member at Large
Lt Karen Glaze, Member at Large
P/C Bob Hubbard, Member at Large                             
                        
Absent:
1st/Lt Catherine Isaksen, Asst Treasurer
1st/Lt Dan Carlin, Asst SEO
Lt Tom Fota, IT Chair

MINUTES:  The minutes of the 3 May 2004, as amended, were approved.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Commander Baer announced that the next General Members Meeting will be on Sunday, July 11th, at the Harbor Island Coast Guard Station.  Everyone coming needs to notify Tom Griffin by at least Wednesday, the 7th, in order to get on the security list; otherwise, they will be refused admittance to the station.  Bill Bridge will be turning in the list on Thursday morning.  The time will be 1430 or 1500, to be published in the Ship's Mail.  A flier needs to be issued.
 
Interested parties should note that the Sail Fleet Race is upcoming on Saturday, 12 June.  A new Boating class will be starting on Wednesday, 9th June.  Anyone who can assist Dan and Trish Carlin with registration or the class should try to show up at Southwestern Yacht Club. The San Luis Rey Power Squadron's barbecue, frequently attended by members of our squadron, is now scheduled for Saturday, 10th July (the day before our outing); this was rescheduled because of a conflict at Oceanside Harbor.  Dave encouraged anybody who would like to go to see him for information.
 
The deadline for the August/September issue of the Ship's Mail is the 15th of the month, and anyone wishing to contribute articles should get them to Steven Bakalis.  Dave asked for a volunteer to write a short history of USPS, to acquaint new members with some of the background of the organization.  Katie Law agreed to provide this.
 
Dave Baer noted that there will be a joint D13/D28 Fall Conference, for which the grand prize of the conference raffle will be a trip to Hawaii, with lodging and a rental car (but not airfare).  Chet White obtained raffle tickets, which Dave will distribute for those wanting to buy them (11 tickets for $7 if purchased by the end of July, $10 thereafter).  He will also bring them to the July GMM.  The Commander also remarked that attendance by bridge members at the conference is one area for points toward the Star Award, and commented that some members of the squadron will be attending. 
 
OFFICERS' REPORTS:
COMMANDER: Dave Baer reported that, at the Spring Governing Board meeting, the National Bylaws were changed to permit Family Members to serve on squadron committees, to be non-elective committee chairs  and to hold other appointed positions.  Another change involved raising the age of Apprentice Members to 23 years, from the previous limit of 18, to encourage younger members to stay active through their college years.  "Flags and Pennants" was moved from the Administrative Department to the Secretary's Department.  The Marine Safety Committee was renamed the Recreational Boating Safety Committee, which seems a more accurate description of its duties.  New charters were approved: the Monterey Bay [CA] Squadron, and the Northern Neck Squadron, which Dave thinks was in Michigan or Oregon. 
Dave noted that Headquarters is conducting a voluntary test of the new dues collection program, taking over the direct collection of dues and then remitting to the individual squadrons.  After testing in three squadrons, USPS is expanding it in 2005 to districts which volunteer to try it. D/C Chet White has volunteered District 28 and informed the squadrons that participation is not mandatory and any which don't wish should notify him.  National will bill all new members on the anniversary of their joining, and the squadron treasurer will no longer have the burden of renewing memberships bunched at the end of the year (May and June).  Credit cards will be accepted. John Isaksen commented that he was greatly in favor of it, having dealt with the dues issue for three years.  Dick Barck asked if National would hold the money, causing a cash flow problem, and Dave stated that National claims they will process the funds in 20 days or fewer. Cash flow should actually be improved since funds will be received over the course of the year.
The Commander noted that there was activity at the meeting on Cooperative Charting, and he brought back materials for J. Brockway Clark.  National has also now begun actively seeking external sources for grant moneys, including projects in harbor safety, cooperative charting and educational activities.
USPS is concerned that national membership is down about 2,000 members from last year, which impacts directly on their bottom-line budget.  He attended interesting programs on public relations, and membership retention topics, particularly the "Power of One" campaign, where everyone is encouraged to bring in at least one member.  Dave showed the new plastic sextant, received from the "N Club" which rewards the teaching of celestial navigation.
At the District 28 Summer Council, the theme was how the squadrons want district to serve their needs.  Are the district meetings just for bridge officers, and just what purpose should district serve?  Dave remarked that it is a conduit for communication from National, as well as being a networking meeting place where local squadrons can share ideas about what does and does not work.  He and the other squadron commanders are charged with coming up with thoughts for district guidance by the end of August.  Mike Fontaine, who had been at the meeting, noted that ideally the District meetings should be for bridge officers, but most were not in attendance and the majority of attendees were past district commanders.  Karen Glaze, who also attended the Council meeting, pointed out that--with the improvements in communications technology--there was less need for districts to serve their original purpose and change is needed to prevent their becoming obsolete.  Dave agreed, pointing out that such meetings have essentially two audiences: to educate bridge officers about operational matters and to provide programs of interest for squadron members who might attend, citing a program he had enjoyed on Great Circle Cruising on the East Coast.  Finally, the commander noted that D28 squadron reports included a most interesting one from the Phoenix squadron about their National Safe Boating Week activities, in which they gave seminars and performed 25 vessel safety checks.
 
EXO: Katie Law reported on the squadron's activities for National Safe Boating Week, including the SDSPS booth at the Mission Bay Beach and Boating Festival, which replaced the Coast Guard events from former years.  P/C Dick Gaffney spearheaded the effort, which was staffed by squadron members who passed out materials, did vessel safety checks and talked to the public about boating safety.  Although there was less traffic than at the Day at the Docks, there appeared to be a different crowd with teenagers and young people predominating.  The executive officer had attended the San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs meeting to represent the squadron in the place of Commander Baer.  On May 22nd, Katie had gone to Oceanside where she helped the San Luis Rey squadron perform vessel safety checks and supervised one of their members who had qualified as a vessel examiner.  Katie noted that there were five entries in the Poster Contest, all from Karen Glaze's class.  Each child who participated got a certificate of merit, and the posters were taken to the District Council meeting but did not achieve an award at that level.  Katie congratulated Karen, who mounted a major effort on short notice.  Next year's contest theme will be announced in October 2004 and an earlier start would be appropriate and should improve results. Bob Hubbard pointed out that the Phoenix squadron had received over a hundred entries, which was remarkable and commendable. Finally, the ExO reported having attended the SLRPS 5-hour course on operating a GPS receiver and indicated that such a program should find a good reception when our squadron gets one up and running.
 
SEO: Mike Fontaine noted that, at the District Council, the emphasis had been on the new materials in Piloting and Advanced Piloting, with new software, including Maptech charts more meaningful for today's boating student. Initially, the USPS Education Department took the 1210 chart to Maptech for an update, but Maptech suggested a whole new approach. The CDs will be included in each student's book. Piloting will be a 9-week course, leading to an open book exam on the new chart(s).  Dave Baer already has the new materials for the Piloting course, and the Boating students who take the October Mission Bay Yacht Club course will use the new Boating materials and progress into the revised advanced grades. 
Mike is still working to develop a GPS course.  Karen Glaze will be teaching the Instructor Development course, which will be required to certify all teachers working in the public boating classes after 2006.  The recent Seamanship class was distinguished by having received exam grades in the high 90s.  All three students in Marine Electronics passed the course, as did all the Sail 101 students.  The Sail 102 exam will be given on 15 June.  There are still 8 students in the JN course.  The Weather course begins on 7 June, and the new Boating Course begins on the 16th.  In closing, Mike reported that Ed Mraz is still willing to teach a BoatSmart class in August but only if enough students can be recruited.  There needs to be a concerted public relations effort to publicize such a course, and it was decided to invite Randy Smith, the newly appointed PR Officer, to the July ExCom meeting.
 
VESSEL SAFETY: Lt Dick Barck, Vessel Safety Chair, noted that San Diego has done more than half the VSCs in District 28, even though the latest exams had not been recorded.  The next big event will be the June 26th promotion at SunRoad Marina, which Bob Hubbard will accept responsibility for. The marina will provide a table, chairs and lunch for the vessel examiners, and Bob, Dick Gaffney, Gordo Parham, and Katie expect to be present.  P/C Ron Weiner has volunteered to attend also and will do the scheduling for the group.
 
COOPERATIVE CHARTING: Katie Law spoke to J. Brockway Clark regarding a date for Coop Charting, in order to enable bridge members who have not previously gone on an outing do so, to help the squadron qualify for the Star Award.  Dick Barck noted he had sent extensive documentation about change in a geodesic marker to Brockway, but there was no indication that National had received it.  Commander Baer stated that there have to be multiple reports of missing marks, over a period of months, before such marks are removed from the list.  A single report will not result in removal, no matter how complete.

AO: Tom Griffin asked for ideas of things to do at the July barbecue and for an estimate of the number of people who might attend. Dave remembered a demonstration of life preservers and stated that there had been between 30 and 40 people at last year's July meeting.  The event will be a "Bring your own meat, your own beverages and one dish to share."  Bob Hubbard commented that the meeting is usually "short on meeting" and more of a social occasion. Dave plans a very brief business meeting.  Karen Glaze liked the idea of at least some structured activity, and Dave noted that there were horseshoe pits and a volley ball area.  Plans will be published in the next Ship's Mail telling members to "bring your own ice chest, folding chairs, eating utensils."  Bob Hubbard suggested that Bill Bridge might be able to come up with some other activity.  By 1800, everybody will be gone.  

SECRETARY: Barbara Goddard indicated she had nothing to report.
 
TREASURER: John Isaksen reported that receipts and money on hand was slightly more than at the same time last year.  A list of individual funds was detailed.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:  In Tom Fota's absence, Commander Baer noted there has been some discussion among members about the privacy of members' data on the squadron website's roster.  John Isaksen related a conversation he had with Tom about the fact that this information is only available to members who have entered their USPS membership number.  Once the data base has been accessed from any individual's computer, the program puts a "cookie" in that computer which allows the member to enter the system the next time without having to enter the membership number.  There is no back-door way to enter the roster, and the system is otherwise secure.
John Isaksen brought up the issue of the squadron's power-point computers being used by multiple users, and the fact that Bill Bridge had trouble with one of the systems, finding unauthorized matter in the computer and not finding his own materials needed for classroom instruction.  John suggested that an orientation by either the SEO or the IT chair (or both) be given to those utilizing the systems and that all squadron users by cautioned nothing should be altered, added, changed or destroyed.  Mike Fontaine said each course should have its own little icon, which could be readily accessed by the instructor of that course.  Tom and Mike will work toward that end.
 
OLD BUSINESS:
Commander Baer reminded the group that Ed Mraz was anxious to present either a BoatSmart or an ABC course in August or September.  This will have to be cleared with Southwestern Yacht Club for dates and times, and the information publicized.

NEW BUSINESS:
John Isaksen explained the process of membership renewals and passed out a list of squadron members whose checks had not been received by May 31st.  Names of non-renewing members were divided among  ExCom members, and each was requested to call their people as soon as possible since members whose dues had not been received by the end of June would be subject to a reinstatement fee if renewing later.

The meeting was adjourned at 2117.  The next meeting will be held at the commander's house at 1900 on 6 July 2004.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Barbara A. Goddard
Secretary