Annual Meeting
January 13 2006
The annual meeting was called to order by Cdr Katharine at 1918 at
Southwestern Yacht Club. There were 37 members present,
constituting a quorum, and 6 guests.
INVOCATION: P/C Jerry W. Donovan
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Lt/C Tom Fota
MINUTES: The minutes of the November 2005 meeting had been published on the website and were available for review at the meeting. They were approved as published.
RECOGNITION:
Commander Law announced that, due to the volume of business to be
conducted, she would not recognize individuals as was her practice
because, at the annual meeting, every member was important to the
squadron as every other member.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Commander Law noted that the Change of Watch would be held on
Saturday, 21 January, at the Southwestern Yacht Club. The Change of
Watch dates for the other D/28 squadrons were as follows: Balboa
(also Saturday, 21 January), Phoenix (Saturday, 4 February), and San
Luis Rey (Saturday, 28 January). The first CNC event would be
conducted on Saturday, 15 January, and the first Sail Fleet race
would occur on Saturday, February 11th. The District 28 Spring
Conference will be held on 3-4 March at the Embassy Suites Hotel in
Santa Ana, CA, hosted by the Balboa squadron.
OFFICERS' REPORTS:
Commander Law reviewed some of the squadron activities since
the last meeting, including the December 11th "Parade of Lights"
gathering on Shelter Island and thanked P/C Dave Baer, who made the
delicious chili, P/C Marie Baer, who contributed delicious hot
chocolate, and AO Nancy Renzi, who helped organize the event and
brought fantastic desserts. The more than 20 members who attended
this event agreed that it was a very pleasant way to kick off the
Holiday Season.
She reported on the 3 Dec 2005 District 28 Winter Council meeting,
held at SWYC, which was attended by many SDSPS members. Commander
Law also gave a brief synopsis of her attendance at the USPS Annual
Meeting in Orlando, FL, and encouraged members to consider attending
the next USPS Governing Board meeting, to be held in New York City
in mid-August.
With regard to the state of the squadron, she reported that
membership has dropped slightly over the year (due in part to
non-renewals and several deaths), but the Commander hoped enrollment
in the January Boating Class would augment the current status.
Since her watch year was coming to a close, Katie stated that she
wanted to thank her Bridge Officers for all their hard work as well
as the instructors who had taught the classes. She noted her
gratitude to her Aides, Bill Bridge and Jerry Donovan, for their
assistance during the year, as well as P/D/C Tom Swift for his
counsel on several matters. The commander reminded everyone that,
without the assistance of the many people who volunteered their time
and efforts to conduct squadron business, she would not have been
able to carry out her duties, and noted that 47 people received USPS
Merit Marks over the year, ably submitted by Stf/C Chet White.
Finally, she thanked P/C Mel Mones, Chairman of the Nominating
Committee, and the rest of the NomCom members for their efforts in
nominating a full slate of officers and committee members for the
2006-07 year and expressed her appreciation to those nominated for
their willingness to volunteer to continue the squadron's work.
Executive Officer Tom Fota expressed his thanks to
all the people under his command for their efforts in 2005, noting that
the
department had been quite busy. He called on D/Lt/C Ron Weiner,
chairman of the Vessel Safety Check program, who reported that our 5
Vessel Examiners [Dick Barck, Bob Hubbard, Katie Law, Gordo Parham
and Elaine Townsend] outdid themselves with 83 VSCs, being near the
top performers in the District. An especially successful event in
July at the Sun Road Marina on Harbor Island gave us an opportunity
to reach many more boat owners, and we celebrated National Safe
Boating Week in May by offering VSCs and passing out literature in
Mission Bay Park. Ron called on the VEs who were present to stand
up and be recognized for their services. Finally, Ron noted that
the 2006 decals had been received and encouraged all boat owners to
sign up for a VSC immediately.
Next, Lt/C Fota called upon P/C Shaun McArdle, Boat Show chairman,
who thanked all who participated in the January 2006 San Diego Boat
Show. P/C McArdle reported that all watches were covered, with
special thanks to those who stood multiple watches. Tom then
acknowledged the work done by P/C J. Brockway Clark, SN, chairman of
Coop Charting, who planned and led two coop charting events before
District meetings during the year, and Dick Gaffney, our Safety
Officer, who wrote several good articles for The Ship's Mail. Lt/C
Fota concluded by noting the need for a Public Relations Officer to
facilitate communication with the public about our activities; he
asked anyone interested to volunteer for this position. Commander
Law commented that Shaun McArdle was also to be thanked for
organizing our outing at "Day at the Docks" last April and the
National Safe Boating Week event.
Education Officer Mike Fontaine reported that we had
offered a full schedule of classes, except for Navigation. We need a teacher
for
JN and N this year, as Steven Bakalis will be too busy with other
duties to teach these courses. We also need a teacher for Marine
Electronics. Thanks to Dan and Trish Carlin, we offered three
Boating Classes Ted and Claudia Bowler will be teaching Cruise
Planning again. Mike encouraged anyone interested in predicted log
contests to volunteer for the San Diego Observer training, as
observers are needed on every boat participating in the 12 San Diego
Cruiser Association contests, beginning on January 28th. Commander
Law thanked Mike Fontaine for teaching Engine Maintenance last fall,
Karen Glaze for teaching Instructor Development, and Bill Bridge for
teaching Weather, all of which she had retaken. She encouraged all
members to take courses, even if they had taken and passed them
before, noting that many of the courses have been revised, updated
and greatly improved.
Administrative Officer Nancy Renzi thanked all members who had come to meetings and events this past year, noting that 37 people had already signed up for the Change of Watch dinner later in the month. She called on Ken Glaze who gave a short Membership Committee report, and Chester White, who reported having given an Operations Training seminar last spring. Nancy thanked Steven Bakalis for having edited the Ship's Mail and Ted Umland for chairing the Sail Fleet. Ted encouraged members who had sail boats to join in Sail Fleet activities.
Secretary Barbara Goddard reported having carried out all
the duties of her office, including producing minutes for all ExCom and
General Members' Meetings, and attending District meetings. She gave special
thanks to Bill Bridge, with whom she had partnered in
chairing the Raffle for the District Conference in October 2005. She
also thanked Tom Fota for maintaining our award-winning website.
She called on Tom, as IT chair, who summarized his work in solving
several problems over the year and reported that the squadron has
two new projectors, which are being used in courses.
Finally, she thanked Stf/C White for having submitted the
historian's report.
The commander next called for the report of the Audit Committee;
P/D/C Bill Bridge reported that the Audit Committee (himself, Ted
Bowler and John Isaksen) had met with Treasurer, Trish Carlin, and
conducted a review of the 2005 books in December and, after
examining the Treasurer's check register, bank statements, invoices
and other records, concluded the records were accurate and in
good order and represent the true financial position of the
squadron. He noted that the committee commended Trish Carlin for
her institution of Quick Books and other procedures in recording the
squadron's finances, which will assist future treasurers to maintain
the records and benefit the squadron in general. Commander Law
thanked the Audit Committee for its efforts.
Preliminary to the Treasurer's report, Cdr Katie Law mentioned the
death of Lt John Bertran, our long-time Advertising Officer, who
served the squadron for over 10 years by soliciting ads for the
Ship's Mail. Treasurer Trish Carlin reported that our Supply
Officer, Kathy Romero, had sold about $300 worth of Ship's Store
goods over the year. She then reported on the squadron's finances,
noting that cash on hand was up substantially from the end of 2004,
giving details about the various accounts and offering to answer
specific questions (if any) after the meeting. She will transfer
the books to the new Treasurer following the Change of Watch.
Katie Law acknowledged all the hard work done by the Treasurer over
the year, including the re-establishment of our non-profit corporate
status with the California state government. Thus, individual
donations to the squadron and money spent on squadron business may
be deducted as a charitable contribution on personal income tax
forms.
The commander then reported that it was voted at the January ExCom meeting (held immediately prior to the annual meeting) to recommend to squadron members the acceptance of the proposed balanced 2006-07 Budget, prepared by the Budget committee consisting of Trish, Tom Fota, Ted Bowler, Mike Fontaine. John Isaksen, and Claudia Bowler. She noted that there were copies of the proposed budget available for inspection on each table.
Trish Carlin then moved the approval the 2006 Budget, which was seconded and, there being no discussion, was unanimously approved.
Nominating Committee: The report was received by the Secretary and mailed to the members in early December and copies were available on the tables. The commander asked if all had had an opportunity to review the report, which presented the following slate:
| Commander: | Thomas E. Fota | |
| Executive Officer: | Edward C. Bowler | |
| Education Officer: | Michael W. Fontaine | |
| Asst. Education Officer: | Dan A. Carlin | |
| Administrative Officer: | Barbara A. Goddard | |
| Asst Administrative Officer: | Kent W. Hildreth | |
| Secretary: | Donald B. Litzenberg | |
| Asst. Secretary: | Katharine S. Law | |
| Treasurer: | Claudia J. Bowler | |
| Asst. Treasurer: | Trish A. Carlin | |
| Member at Large (3-year term): | E. Ronald Weiner | |
| Nominating Committee (3-Year terms): |
Katharine S. Law, Edwin E.J. Mraz |
|
| Rules Committee (3-Year term): | Jerry W. Donovan | |
| Audit Committee (3-Year term): | William D. Bridge |
Nominations by Petition: The Secretary stated that no Nominations by Petition had been received.
Nominations from the
Floor: There were no floor nominations.
P/C Donovan moved that the vote be taken with respect to the whole
slate, rather than individual positions, which was seconded and
approved. Commander Law then called for a Motion to approve the
slate proposed by the Nominating Committee by consent. The motion
was made, seconded and unanimously approved. Katie thanked the
Nominating Committee for a hard job well done.
There was no report from the Rules Committee. The commander
expressed her appreciation for the help of Law Officer, Tom
Stanford, whose late mother, P/C Lois Stanford, was the first female
commander of the SDPS. She then paid tribute to two other special
ladies who had passed over the last horizon during the last months
of 2005 and whose many years of work on behalf of the squadron
insured that they would be greatly missed: Marian Bridge [wife of
P/D/C Bill Bridge] and Elizabeth Hubbard [wife of P/C Bob Hubbard].
OLD BUSINESS: None.
NEW BUSINESS: None.
The meeting was adjourned at 2042. The next meeting will be the
Change of Watch on Saturday, 21 January at the Southwestern Yacht
Club, San Diego.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara A. Goddard
Secretary
Members present:
P/D/C Tom Swift, AP
Randy Smith
Lt Edward Bowler, AP
Lt Claudia Bowler, AP
Lt/C Michael Fontaine, AP
Lt Richard Barck
P/D/C William Bridge, SN
D/Lt/C E. Ron Weiner, P
Allan Bombard, S
1st/Lt Dan Carlin, AP
Lt/C Trish Carlin, S
Catherine Isaksen, S
Lt John Isaksen, P
P/C David Baer, SN
P/C Marie Baer, P
Lt/C Tom Fota, P
Rosemary Hutzly
Stf/C Chester White, Jr., JN
Kent Hildreth, AP
Lt Michael Sampsel, SN
Lt Ted Umland, P
Lt Kenneth Glaze, AP
Lt Karen Glaze, P
P/C Nadine Christensen
P/C Steven Bakalis, SN
P/C Shaun McArdle, AP
Ed Brunjes
P/D/C Irwin Pascoe, AP
Cdr Katharine S. Law, SN
Lt/C Barbara A Goddard, P
P/C Bob Hubbard, AP
P/Lt/C Gordon Parham, P
Lt/C Nancy Renzi, P
P/Lt/C Virginia Prutow, AP
Richard Prutow, SN
P/C Jerry W. Donovan, SN
Don Litzenberg, AP
Guests:
Suzanne Weiner
Paula Vance
Linda Hildreth
Julia Umland
Diann Christensen
Dan Nephew