Executive Board Meeting – San Diego Wanderers  May 9, 2007

 

Present: Russ Greene, President; Melinda Mitchell, Vice-President; Carole Helstrom, Secretary; Dana Miller, Treasurer; Katie Sullivan-Member Representative

 

Russ called the meeting to order at 7:00PM.

 

Topics of focus:

 

1.  This was a closed meeting, as Russ stated after he took office at the club meeting on April 28,2007 . This was unanimously agreed upon by all that only the elected board be present.

                                                                                                                                               

2.  Greg Huber’s desire for Board Members to be required to lead two club rides per year was unanimously defeated. There is no such requirement in the by-laws of members or elected members and the Board has voted against considering the addition of such a requirement. As one member put it in an email to Russ “The idea for each Officer to have to plan two rides is a bit much. They are already putting in time for the club as Officers and planning rides should be at their own accord and not mandated by the club.”

 

3.  John Del Santo’s question regarding the “Open Letter to the Wanderers Membership from the Executive Board” was discussed.  All agreed on the need to clear up some negative messages received, and Russ will do this at the May meeting with his “Message from the President.”  The board unanimously voted on the changes to be made.

 

4.  The “Message from the President” was reviewed, minor changes were made, and unanimous acceptance and support was voted for its approval.  All Board members felt it expressed the board’s desire for future direction.

 

5.  Voting was discussed. Unanimously passed was the elimination of the possibility of email voting. It was agreed that the integrity of the voting process used worked perfectly, and should be continued in future elections.  Should a current board member be opposed in an election, that member will not be involved in the counting process.  These two represent an Executive Board decision, and become in effect immediately. The issue of campaigning will be looked into at another meeting of the board.

 

6.  Dues will remain the same. Membership renewal will start on February 1st of each year, and run through January 31 of the following year.  This was unanimously approved by the Executive Board and takes effect immediately.

 

7.  Monies discussion ensued. We have “leftover” monies each year. The idea of giving a $5 gas card to the leader and sweep of each club-posted ride is being explored.  Club paying for big functions, versus individual payment was talked about. It was decided to include thisconcept on the survey which club members will participate in.

 

8.  The spring campsite has been canceled.  Dana suggested a club picnic for this spring . The club hasn’t had one in three years. There was unanimous enthusiasm for this idea.  Dana, Carole, and Melinda offered to organize it.  We will focus on securing a site for the fall campout, and include inquiry about what the club wants to do for future campouts. Time is needed to discover who amongst the club members has equipment, since most of pop-ups, and cooking equipment were supplied by members who have left the club, or can’t commit to this year’s campout. There are many campers in our club, and we feel confident that those needed supplies can be organized from within the current group.  Carole has offered to chair the food aspect of it. 

 

9.  New email list is testimony to Katie’s commitment, talent, and quick learning!  THANK YOU KATIE!  Board voted to pay for lunch after thesession Katie had with John Q.  The cost of that lunch was $32.  Katie has established, and is firming up our new email list on Google Groups. She was voted the new Webmaster for the club, and will have control over who posts and receives messages to the list. It is a members only list.  Katie will make a “packet” of email protocol, and instructions for using the list to distribute to all members so they can have it in hand.  Members will be instructed and CAUTIONED TO REMEMBER to hit REPLY if they want their post to go to ALL members and to hit FORWARD and then type in the name of the INDIVIDUAL they want to respond to.  FLAMING will not be tolerated, and can result in being removed from list privileges. (This is in our by-laws) The list is owned by the club, not by an individual. Katie will explore setting up an announcement list, and posting pictures etc.

 

10.  Russ has been exploring the by-laws, and the history of the “RIDE CAPTAIN” mandate for leading club rides. It began during Greg’s presidency in 2005. The group creating the criteria, practice course, and class involved Doc , Kent , Greg, and perhaps Rod and others.  We are not totally sure because there is no record of motion, vote, acceptance or rejection of this mandate anywhere.  It seems the focus on safety just had this come into being during that time.  So, any member who desires can lead a ride, and any member can choose to ride any ride they wish to go on. The Executive Board voted to continue the Ride Captain certification for those who want to continue with the program and become certified.  The club will not substitute any other ride certification program for club Ride Captain certification. Gold wings can only be earned by completing the requirements set by that program (safety course skills test, course, plan and lead a ride and be "passed” by Ride Coordinator. When club rides are posted, notation of Ride Captain will follow the name of the certified ride leader in the posted information about the ride. Unanimously approved this goes into effect immediately.  All members are encouraged to take the skills course and earn their Silver wings.

 

11.  Appointed positions. Russ has received confirmation that the following people in current board appointed positions want to remain in their positions….Paula, Doc, and John. Unanimous approval was given for:  Paula Williamson – Safety Officer, Doc Cassidy – Ride Coordinator, John Del Santo – Newsletter and Librarian.  Katie was asked to be Webmaster, she accepted and was also unanimously voted in.  These positions will be announced at the May Meeting.

 

12.  The Executive Board will post a meeting agenda each month. It will be posted prior to the meeting with enough lead time to invite members to add something to the agenda. If something comes up that is not on the agenda it will posted for the agenda of the next meeting.

 

13.  A survey will go out to the club. It was decided that it has many areas to explore and that Katie will post one aspect of it before the May meeting (Ride Preferences) so that can be a topic of discussion. Areas on survey two (or more if needed) are, so far, Safety, Club Activities, and Charity Rides and Sponsorships.  Carole and Katie will work on the survey.

 

15. Russ read emails from Rob Poindexter, David Peterson,  Karl Shaw, and Ken Storm.  Their input went into discussions at this meeting, as well as surveys being developed. The Board is hoping for more of such input.

 

16. The club paid $45 for the dinner for tonight’s board meeting.

 

 The meeting was adjourned at 9:00PM

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Carole Helstrom

Secretary