Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
March 7 2005
The meeting was called to order by Commander Katharine Law at her home at 1906. A quorum was present.
Present:
Commander Katharine Law
Lt/C Tom Fota, ExO
Lt/C Nancy Renzi, AO
Lt/C Barbara A. Goddard, Secretary
Lt/C Trish A Carlin, Treasurer
Lt Richard Barck, Member at Large
P/C Bob Hubbard, Member at Large
P/Lt/C John Isaksen, Member at Large
1st/Lt Dan Carlin, Asst/SEO
P/C Ron Weiner, Ch/VSC
Absent:
Lt/C Michael Fontaine, SEO
Lt Karen Glaze, Member at Large
Minutes: The minutes of the 14 January 2005 meeting were approved. The minutes of the 7 February meeting were reviewed:
- It was believed that the membership benefit of being able to obtain software was not made fully understandable, and should be clarified. Being able to get discounted software through USPS is listed as a members' benefit on the National website and, although all orders for software products must be placed through one local squadron source, they are available to all when ordered through this process and need not be used solely for squadron business. Bob Hubbard felt we have not emphasized this benefit to the members, but John Isaksen noted that we have announced in general members' meetings that the squadron order was being placed and members were asked if anyone wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. While we have not hidden the ability to purchase software, we have not advertised it.
- In regard to the wording of the ExO's report, Tom Fota amended his remarks to indicate that, although the price of the projector we purchased last year had dropped below the $1616 we paid, he was able to obtain a newer model that is smaller, lighter, brighter, and with a new feature that will eliminate the need for a laptop, for $1650. With these two amendments, the February minutes were approved.
Announcements:
Commander Law reminded people that the General Members' Meeting would
be held on Friday night, at Southwestern Yacht Club. P/D/C Chet White will
present the Operations Training course on Saturday beginning at 0900, and all
officers who have not previously attended should make an effort to go. Dick
Barck, Bob Hubbard and John Isaksen all commented that Chet really
knows the material and presents it in an interesting and logical manner. The
squadron gets "STAR Points" for having all bridge members attend.
Tom Fota announced that our Web hosting account was suspended by our domain host on March 7th because some people with AOL accounts had apparently repeatedly marked "sdsps.org" mailings as spam. He received a complaint last September that this was happening and had sent an e-mail to squadron members with AOL accounts, explaining the situation and asking that they be careful in their treatment of mail from us. While he was on vacation the last week of February, the host again sent a warning, and by the time he could attempt to correct the situation, our account was suspended, and the hosting company now refuses to host our site, give us back our data or our money. Using his own backups, he recreated the website on a new host and we are now back on line. All of the forms he had created will have to be re-configured, but they will not be available for the upcoming GMM and the Fred Hall Boat Show. There was a discussion about the possibility of legal action, and Katie will investigate our options.
OFFICERS’ REPORTS:
Commander Katie Law reported on the D/28 Spring
Conference in Carlsbad. Our squadron had a number of attendees, including
Bob Hubbard who serves on the Planning Committee. The new District Bridge
includes Adriaan Veldhuisen of San Luis Rey squadron as District Commander,
Bill Johnson (Phoenix) as D/ExO, Chuck Peterson (Phoenix) as D/AO,
and Ron Weiner and herself continuing as D/Treasurer and D/Secretary
respectively. The San Diego squadron will be hosting the
Fall Conference this year on October 8th. Bill Bridge, Bob Hubbard
and Ron Weiner, serving as the conference committee, have
engaged the Holiday Inn on Sports Arena Blvd., and are doing a great
job with arrangements. Katie also noted that she will be
expecting each of the Bridge Officers to write at least one article
for the Ship's Mail in coming issues.
ExO Tom Fota stated that he has had trouble communicating with Tony Best, the point person for San Luis Rey's booth at the Fred Hall Boat Show. Tom's sign-up chart on the website is no longer available, but those people who had signed up before the website went down had also received a thank-you and their names had gone to Tony. Bob Hubbard noted that, although the Fred Hall show is primarily a fishing event, we try to help San Luis Rey, which is responsible for the USPS booth, since SLR squadron members help us with the San Diego Boat Show in January. We occasionally get students for our Boating courses from the show, and Katie will take the squadron tri fold flyer and some announcements for the June Boating course to be passed out. Tom is pleased that Ron and Dick Barck are seamlessly effecting the switch of VSC supplies, and Tom has some additional supplies which have been ordered.
Asst/SEO Dan Carlin delivered Mike Fontaine's education department report. Ken Glaze is using one of the new projectors in his Seamanship course. Ed Mraz will be teaching the BoatSmart class beginning next Wednesday night, March 9th. Dan and Trish's Boating course has just been completed with 21 graduates and we got five new members from that group, with a possibility of more to sign up later. The AP class is starting, with some from Dave's Piloting class (seven student graduates) expected to continue. Cruise Planning is about to be completed.
AO Nancy Renzi moved the acceptance of five new members, which was seconded and passed by acclamation . She reported that the GMM will take place on Friday evening, March 11th at SWYC in the Staff Commodore’s room. Ray Ashley, director of the San Diego Maritime Museum, will be our guest speaker. Nancy discussed with Roberta at SWYC the prospects for holding the GMM on May 6th and the Club cannot accommodate us on that night. The club is likewise unavailable for September 16th, so alternative sites will have to be found for those meetings.
Secretary Barbara Goddard reported that Frank Muraglia has transferred his membership from SDSPS to a squadron in Texas, his new home.
Treasurer Trish Carlin and John Isaksen reported that Headquarters will handle the renewal of memberships for all District 28 squadrons, including us. Now, instead of dues being sent to the local treasurer, headquarters will receive the dues (also payable by credit card on line) and send out the membership cards, remitting the appropriate money to the local squadrons and districts. We will then receive an e-mail with the names of delinquent members, so that we can make follow-up calls to non-renewing members. As the program becomes operational, new members will receive a dues notice on the anniversary of their joining date, rather than our having to prorate dues as of May 31st. This process should make the Treasurer's job much easier. Trish had received thank-you notes from the widows of James Taggart and Alan Hanshaw, in response to our having sent contributions in their memory to the national Education Fund.
Trish had available reports of the squadron's financial status, which she has set up on QuickBooks, showing asset and liability balances. She will be paying dues to Headquarters and paying the bill from Tom for the projector purchases. She has also received money from John Bertran for The Ship's Mail ads. The Education Fund is currently in a savings account, earning interest at 0.25 percent. She moved to be granted authority to transfer this money into a certificate of deposit (for a period not to exceed three years). Since we cannot spend the principal, she felt it would be more appropriate to move the fund into a higher interest-bearing account. The motion was seconded and approved. She also prepared a report comparing expenditures for January and February against the 2005 budget, netting out the national and district dues. If we come in under $25,000 in gross receipts, we will not have to file a federal tax return, which will be advantageous. The advertising receipts (projected in the budget at $1,800) have actually fallen far short of that figure.
Finally, Trish noted that John Bertran, who has been our advertising officer for the past 10 years, has resigned and his service should be recognized. ExCom members felt he should receive a certificate at the Friday GMM. Tom Fota remarked that, although the Ship's Mail can sell advertising, National website policy prohibits putting advertising on the squadron site. It is possible, however, to have on the website one or more embedded links to local supporters and marine businesses. The new ad salesman (for next year) could use this as a selling point to promote ads in our publication next year.
Trish mentioned that, since we received over $1,000 in ad revenue, she will have to file a Form 990T. To be recognized as a California non-profit, we must also file a CA 3500 form. We have incurred a $1,400 penalty and back interest, which can be waived if we file the proper form which she is attempting to do. The signature transfers at the bank have been made except for Tom Fota, who still needs to sign. Trish noted that all our corporate documents are not available but that Katie is working to assemble them. She also sees the need for an Assistant Treasurer, who could help with her duties.
OLD BUSINESS:
Commander Katie Law reported that we now have an official SDSPS mailbox: P.O.
Box 4423, San Diego, CA 92164-4423. The rental cost for six months was
$24, and receiving mail there will eliminate the need to change addresses
on an annual basis. She is still negotiating for a telephone message
box.
NEW BUSINESS: None.
The meeting was adjourned at 2048. The next meeting will be held at the commander’s home at 1900 on Monday, 4 April 2005.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara A. Goddard
Secretary