Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
June 6 2005
The meeting was called to order by Commander Katharine Law at her home at 1908. A quorum was present.
Present:
Commander Katharine Law
Lt/C Tom Fota, ExO
Lt/C Nancy Renzi, AO
Lt /C Michael Fontaine, SEO
Lt/C Barbara A. Goddard, Secretary
Lt/C Trish A Carlin, Treasurer
Lt John Isaksen, Member at Large
P/C Bob Hubbard, Member at Large
Dave P/C Dave Baer, guest
Absent:
Lt Dick Barck, Member at Large
Lt Karen Glaze, Member at Large
Minutes: The minutes of the 2 May 2005 meeting were accepted as published.
Announcements:
Commander Katie Law announced that there would again be a conflict with
the Sail Fleet and Cruiser Navigation races, as both would take place the
following Saturday. Several people commented that it was too bad about
the conflict since some of our members liked to participate in both events.
Sail Fleet races have traditionally been held on the second Saturday of
the month, with the CNC scheduled for the third Saturday. But this year
some of the CNC's have been changed. The following year's races are planned
in October, and P/C Baer noted that he will contact the parties in the
fall and try to avoid conflicts for next year.
The District 28 Summer Council meeting will occur on Saturday, 18 June
at Southwestern Yacht Club, beginning at 0900. There will be no coop charting
event before the meeting, D/Lt/C's Bill Johnson (DXO) and Chuck Peterson
(DAO) will give a presentation on coop charting on Saturday morning, with
the search to take place following the business meeting in the afternoon.
Some members of the District squadrons will gather at Fiddler's Green around
1730, for drinks and the "early bird" roast beef dinner, and
SDSPS members are invited to socialize with the other District members.
Commander Law reminded people that copy for the July/August edition of
the Ship's Mail is due by Wednesday, 15 June, and should be forwarded to
Steven Bakalis. P/C Baer will contribute an article on the "Beer Can" races.
The deadline for the next edition of the paper is 15 August. The District
28 Coastal Rendezvous will take place at Glorietta Bay on the weekend of
July 15th-17th, and people should come for the raft-up on Saturday night.
Anyone staying overnight needs to notify the Harbor Police. Finally, the
next Boating course will begin on Wednesday evening, 8 June, at the SWYC.
OFFICERS' REPORTS
Commander Katie Law reported that she had gone to the
USPS Spring Governing Board meeting in Charlotte, NC, where she represented
SDSPS and attended the National Historian's Committee meeting. A copy of
the new MapTech catalogue which she obtained at the GB meeting was passed
around. Several other squadron members were there, including P/R/C Ed and
Pauline Mraz, and P/D/C Chet White. The next GB meeting will occur in Portland,
OR, during the first week of September, and Katie encouraged anyone interested
in being active on the National level to attend this meeting. (Sign-up
forms are included in the June copy of The Ensign.) She indicated that
there is a prospect that two new squadrons may be joining the district,
both sponsored by the Phoenix [AZ] squadron. To start a provisional squadron,
only six individual USPS members are required, and she wondered if there
were opportunities in the San Diego area for encouraging a new squadron.
ExO Tom Fota reported that the Mission Bay Beach and Boating Fair was not well publicized and he understood that the attendance this year was even lower than last year. This event, sponsored by the San Diego Life Guards and held the last Sunday of National Safe Boating Week, was in a prime location (at the Ski Beach boat ramp), but the ramp was closed for the day and there was very little foot traffic. P/C Shaun McArdle organized our booth, which was staffed by Bob Hubbard (who did two vessel safety checks), Ron Weiner, Katie Law and Gordo Parham. Tom reported that we are lagging a bit on VSC's but Ron Weiner has an outing planned for 9 July at the Sun Road Marina. Katie remarked that she had received two requests for VSC's through the Coast Guard's website. She encouraged people to consider studying for and taking the on-line vessel examiner's test. Reports must now be mailed (rather than faxed) to Headquarters, since they were receiving incomplete and illegible forms. Tom noted that there are forms available for the SD Maritime Museum's Festival of Sail, to be held in August. An orientation for volunteers will be held about 10 days before the event.
SEO Mike Fontaine reported that, apart from the Boating course to begin on 8 June, there have been some changes in the educational department schedule. Weather will begin on Monday, 13 June and the JN class will begin on Tuesday, 14 June, both at SWYC. Instructor Development has been changed to July 19th through August 23rd (all Tuesdays). (This course has not been taught in three years, and is a prerequisite for receiving the Senior Navigator award.) Only one person took the test for Marine Electronics (results pending) and two people took the Seamanship exam. Five students took and passed Tom Stanford's Sail 101 and are taking Sail 102. The fall Boating course is scheduled for Mondays in October, and Ed Mraz will be teaching Boat Smart again at the end of July. There followed a discussion about non-members who want to take our classes, just for the information. The commander noted that this had been discussed at the GB meeting in Charlotte, but had not been formally considered. Dave Baer commented that some of our study guides had been offered for sale, but not the whole course. Mike Fontaine remarked that small classes are not stimulating to the instructors, who feel less than fully repaid for teaching a class to only one or two people. If this subject is raised at the Portland GB meeting, Katie Law will relay the substance of the information provided. In the meantime, if Tom Fota (through the website) or anyone else receives inquiries, all should be referred to Mike Fontaine.
AO Nancy Renzi announced that, through the auspices of Bill Bridge, the summer barbecue/picnic and general members' meeting will again be held at the US Coast Guard station, on Sunday, 10 July, from 1300 to 1700. An informal survey revealed that most members prefer to pay a small fee rather than bring "pot luck" dishes, which are hard to coordinate. The squadron will provide hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, and soft drinks, and anyone wanting some other beverage or a dish (perhaps dessert) to share should plan to do so. It was the sense of the meeting that the fee to be charged was $5 per adult, with children under 12 free. The attendance list will have to be turned in to the Coast Guard in order for members and their guests to gain access to the facility, so reservations are a necessity. Since the squadron gets points toward the D/28 Star Award if all the bridge officers have taken the course, Trish will try to pick it up later in the year. Nancy then brought up the topic of plans for the District 28 Fall Conference, to be hosted by SDSPS the weekend of October 7th-9th. The Friday evening hospitality room will be coordinated by Nancy and P/C Marie Baer, with members being asked to contribute food for our out-of-town guests. Finally, Nancy noted that the new Boating course will be completed on Wednesday, 20 July, and members will be needed to meet with the students and encourage them to join the squadron.
Secretary Barbara Goddard had nothing to report. She called on IT Chairman, Tom Fota, who indicated that he had received directions from the National IT Committee that privacy waivers must be obtained from anyone whose photograph will be posted on our website. A discussion ensued regarding the use of active versus passive waivers, whereby members would be asked either to "opt out" or "opt in" on privacy matters. More study of this matter is required, and the subject will be explored and considered at a future ExCom meeting. Tom explained the use of "DB2000," the data base maintained by Headquarters. The commander and one other squadron member (traditionally the webmaster) have the password to upload certain changes reported by squadron members such as address and phone number changes, but only Headquarters can alter certain other types of information, such as the ranks and educational grades of members.
Treasurer Trish Carlin related the squadron's financial status, as of 31 May 2005. Effective with the new dues renewal collections, Headquarters has begun depositing money electronically into our account. Headquarters will send renewal notices to members, based on their date of joining USPS rather than annually for the end of May. Heretofore, the District has billed the squadrons for membership fees, according to membership numbers as of 31 May, but under the new system, the district will "lose" a year's dues, even though the cash flow will remain the same. SDSPS will receive a bill for squadron members not encompassed under the new system. Life Members continue to receive "renewal" bills even though no dues are owed, because Headquarters is unable to separate out Life Members from the rest of the mailing list. Trish had received a nice note from Mike Grinnell, a recent Life Member, containing a check for the squadron, as a token of his good will. On another topic, Trish has been responding to a request from the IRS to file a 990T, with a synopsis of the last four years of our income (required to continue our status as a 501(c)(3) corporation). Because we received advertising income in excess of $1,000, we also need to file Schedule A. She has filed for an extension and will create the appropriate documents to get the abatement letters.
OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business.
NEW BUSINESS:
Commander Law distributed a form she had obtained at the National Spring
GB meeting, related to the "health of the squadron," by which
the ExCom could judge areas of strength and weakness during the current
squadron year. This, together with the Star Award criteria, was judged
helpful in planning for the rest of the bridge watch. Several areas of
concern were identified, including the need to retain and recruit members
and to increase our activities in vessel safety checks and cooperative
charting. Dick Barck, who is assisting P/C J. Brockway Clark with coop
charting, noted that doing the on-line reports was perhaps more difficult
than going out and identifying marks.
Katie Law next remarked that she had invited Dave Baer to the meeting because
she felt the need for "institutional memory" in conducting squadron
affairs. There is no provision in our bylaws for utilizing the talents
of the immediate past commander at executive committee meetings, and a
discussion of the past history of squadron management followed. It was
suggested that having the Junior P/C at ExCom meetings (possibly as a
non-voting member) might provide historical perspective and continuity
to the organization. The matter was referred to the Planning Committee,
of which P/C Baer is the chairman, to study and report.
The meeting was adjourned at 2111. There will be no Executive Committee
meeting in July. The next meeting will be held at the commander's home
at 1900 on Monday, 1 August 2005.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara A. Goddard
Secretary