Sons in Retirement
Branch 146 Walnut Creek Area
Devoted to the promotion of Independence and the Dignity of Retirement
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Sons in RetirementBranch 146 Walnut Creek AreaDevoted to the promotion of Independence and the Dignity of Retirement |
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Minutes of the Branch Executive Committee Meeting
March 11, 2010
CALL TO ORDER
Big Sir Dennis Hallett called the meeting to order promptly at 9:30 a.m. He welcomed the 16 visitors including Committee Chairmen (see Attendance Roster attached). There were no guests present from outside the Branch.
BEC ROLE CALL/QUORUM
Secretary Jim Burk announced that a quorum was achieved with 10 members of the BEC present. Assistant Secretary Jim Meehan and Director Bob Lyman were excused.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Secretary Burk indicated that the minutes from the February 11, 2010 meeting as recorded by Assistant Secretary Jim Meehan had been distributed electronically to all members of the 2010 BEC. He asked if there were any corrections or additions to the minutes. Being none the minutes were approved as written.
BIG SIR’S REPORT
Website and Public Relations Presentations – Big Sir Hallett called on Jeff Baily for his report on the “Website History and Status Report” (see attached copy of his report).
The purpose of Jeff’s briefing on our website is twofold:
As the BEC discusses the alternatives going forward, some of the options considered by the committee are as follows:
Retaining the pages that members find more useful such as the Tuesday Golf schedule, the SIR Call archive page and maybe a few others and adding other pages that the BEC deems useful, such as member directory pages.
Jeff and his committee are recommending that before any action is taken the BEC should develop a guidance policy for website management and updating on a going forward basis. The BEC should consider questions such as:
What do we want the website to accomplish?
What resources can we allocate to the task of re-doing and maintaining the site?
What risks and liabilities are we willing to assume in publishing members’ personal information such as names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers and what measures should be taken to minimize those risks?
Once the BEC has finalized policy matters, the website committee’s job will be to work with the BEC and implement those policies.
BEC members expressed the importance of the website and it is often referred to prospective new members as a way of them learning more about our Branch. Therefore, it needs to represent us well. Hallett also expressed that he has been concerned that we do not currently have a “deputy” webmaster to take over in the event that the webmaster either is going to be away, is experiencing an illness, or no longer wishes to serve. In other words, a succession plan is critically important for this area of service as well as other Branch functions. Hallett went on to hold up the Sir Call as another publication that could be on the website and thereby save considerable expense of both producing the publication as well as distributing it to our members. Printing and mailing costs of the Sir Call are a significant expense annually for our Branch.
As a part of wrapping up this discussion on the website, Hallett expressed to Jeff on behalf of the Branch our sincere appreciation for the outstanding work and contributions that he has made to the Branch in this most important area of website communications. Further discussion regarding the future of the website will occur at the BEC meeting to be held on April 8.
Next Hallett asked Baily to present his initial thoughts on the Public Relations function as it relates to Branch 146 (see attached report “Proposed Public Relations function”).
Jeff stated that we now have a recruiting and retention committee that is working on its own to do the job of recruiting. The Public Relation function would be to create more interest in the branch and thus hopefully bring prospects to the recruiting and retention committee. Jeff gave some examples of what a Public Relations group might do. He indicated that next month he would present a suggested way to start such an endeavor. No “vote” is requested by the BEC at this time but rather to keep an open mind on the subject.
Dennis commented that Area 2 has an Area Publicity & Recruitment person assigned to this function in the form of Walt Schick and he may be an important resource.
Audit Report Response – Dennis reported that the Audit Report Response (see attached Audit Report Response dated 3/2/2010 signed by Big Sir, Dennis Hallett) has been issued and is now filed in the Audit Report Manual along with all previous reports and responses from years past.
Branch Self Assessment Report – Dennis reported that the Branch 2010 Self Assessment Report with accompanying comments where applicable has been submitted to Area 2 Governor, Dean Steichen. In turn, we have received Dean’s response to our report (see attached report, and e-mail response). He affirmed the importance of our continuing to emphasize recruitment and retention as we progress through the year. He also noted the drop of 7% in average attendance of members [77.7% to 70.7%] at our luncheons from 2008 to 2009. We continue to monitor attendance and thus far in 2010 we have seen an increase in the percentage of attendance. Dennis mentioned that we have a number of our members on the cruise this month which overlaps date wise with today’s luncheon. [Note: Branch Regulation 26 provides that “SIR members who participate in . . . Branch 146 activities that occur on a regular luncheon date will be given will be given credit for luncheon attendance.” Thus, we should ensure that our Luncheon Attendance report takes this into consideration when constructing the report. Secretary Burk will discuss this with Chair Bob Lyman.]
Branch Regulations Review and Revisions – Dennis had asked the BEC to review the Branch Regulations which is generally done a couple of times each year and in doing so to make recommendations as to those which might be in need of revision. This was partly stimulated by our work on the Branch Self Assessment Report in that we found ourselves initially unclear as to what the actual reporting period was for the report. In discussing this with the parties who are responsible for providing the data for the Form 28 report we were able to reaffirm a calendar year reporting period
In addition, Dennis asked Secretary Burk to coordinate the review of regulations and report out as to what recommendations he would suggest regarding changes. Jim presented a report at the meeting which summarized the Branch Regulations for which BEC members had identified a possible need for modification (see attached report for the specific regulations and the changes recommended).
Treasurer de Golia asked if we needed to document that the current year’s Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer should not be appointed to the Audit Committee for the audit of the previous year. State Standing Rule - Branch 255 is clear that the Audit Committee should not contain any members who have served as officers during the current (audit) year, but is silent on whether the incoming Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer should or should not be included. The general feeling seemed to be that since they are new and are heavily occupied with the need to learn what is going on in their area of responsibility, and in light of their inexperience they should not be included as a member of the Audit Committee. After a reasonable amount of discussion, it was decided that we would not undertake to write a Branch Regulation covering this issue at this time. More research will be undertaken to determine if a regulation is needed and should be recommended in the future.
All recommendations presented by Secretary Burk were approved by the BEC. These changes will be incorporated into a complete and updated printing of all Branch Regulations by Jim for inclusion in the Branch Manual.
Members Ignoring Rules (emphasis on Luncheon meeting RSVP and attendance)
Dennis indicated that in recent discussions with members resigning from the Branch, one of the areas mentioned by members was that they were disappointed that we took so long in deliberating what to do with members who had been identified as “ignoring rules.” In response to this critique, Dennis indicated that we are watching carefully the issue of (1) members not providing an indication to the Attendance/Luncheon Chair in advance that they will not be attending the luncheon; and (2) when not attending, the member does not then reimburse the Branch for the liability they have caused us to incur with The Clubhouse at Boundary Oak. He went on to add that we have recently had a successful discussion with one of our members who has missed several meetings and have received a commitment from that member for more faithful attendance.
Dennis made a proposal that we establish a committee to review the kinds of “rules violations” referenced above and to take proper action in each case to correct this apparent disregard for the normal courtesies of properly communicating with the Attendance/Luncheon Chair when a member is not going to be present at the upcoming luncheon; and when a member receives a “Dun” notice that they have caused the Branch to incur financial penalties for their lack of communication they take immediate steps to reimburse the Branch. The proposed committee would be comprised of the Secretary, Treasurer, Attendance/Luncheon Chair, and the Membership Chair. They would be responsible for evaluating each individual case and make appropriate recommendations as to the action to be taken, which could include moving members from active to inactive status or termination of membership, if necessary. A review of other Branches would indicate that we tend to be the most liberal in our approach to this subject while others tend to be very strict. While we are all conscious of membership levels, we nevertheless need to adhere to our rules and regulations and owe it to our other members who do abide by the rules to show them we are serious. It was suggested that we add the Assistant Secretary to the committee so as to provide background for that person when his eventual transition to Secretary takes place. It was duly noted that there may be extraordinary circumstances surrounding the cases and that we must be sensitive to situations such as poor health. In addition, it is vitally important that we do a good job of communicating what the rules are in these areas and that members are spoken with and given appropriate warnings of possible impending actions. In response to a question regarding the actual wording of the regulation applicable to what happens when a member misses an unexcused luncheon, the Secretary indicated that payment is considered “voluntary.” [Reference: B.R. 29: “Members who miss a luncheon without notifying the attendance chairman will be sent a letter asking for a voluntary (emphasis added) contribution equal to the amount paid by those attending the luncheon.] A question was asked about the process that would pertain to this committee (e.g., frequency of meeting, etc.). Dennis responded that the Attendance/Luncheon Chair and the Membership Chair would be responsible for bringing specific cases to the attention of the group for their review.
Sir Call Printing Size/Cost – Dennis asked Bob Darius, on behalf of Rich Ahlf, to speak to issues surrounding the Sir Call. Bob indicated that the last issue contained no pictures as the space allowed was taken up with other many articles regarding activities and other information. It has caused the issue of an increase in pages to surface and consideration has been given to the possibility of increasing the maximum pages to 16. This would obviously help with capacity, but it has been estimated that it would increase our costs by 32%. Other considerations have been looked at such as reducing the size of the font and limiting articles to ¼ of a page. Dick Richmond voiced that while he was not recommending eliminating the mailing of the Sir Call, utilizing the website as our “publication” medium does hold many advantages (i.e., capacity is unlimited, members can increase font size and print out a hard copy at home as necessary [it was noted that at last count approximately only 22 members do not have access to a computer], size of articles do not need to be reduced arbitrarily, and perhaps most important, cost can be reduced significantly. In the essence of time, Dennis suggested that he would have “off-line” discussion with Rich and Bob and report back to the BEC any recommendations or guidelines forthcoming.
Jim Stedman Nomination for State Vice President – Dennis recommended that we defer this discussion to the Closed Session, when Jim Stedman is not present.
[Note: After the Nominating Committee Report referenced below, Dennis noted that Jim Stedman had stepped out of the meeting and at that time he brought up the fact that Jim Stedman has asked the BEC to consider adopting a statement of support for his candidacy.] Dennis stated that we are always proud to have one of our members compete for a State officer position, and particularly one who has distinguished himself by exceptional service to our Branch. The BEC unanimously approved the endorsement of Jim Stedman for the office of State Vice President. Accordingly, an e-mail will be sent to the members of the State Nominating Committee by our Secretary so indicating this endorsement.
LITTLE SIR’S REPORT
Little Sir Pete Gates reported that our speaker for today’s luncheon will be John Fitzpatrick, Licensed Battlefield Guide-Gettysburg, PA. His topic will be “’There is No Fail Here’ Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, November 18 and 19, 1863.” John is a Chevron Retiree, having served 32 years as a Corporate Attorney. He also holds the rank of Colonel in the US Air Force Reserve and served as a Tank Commander and Pilot in the Marines.
Our speaker for April will be Kit Ohlman, Public Information & Production assistant with the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District. Her topic is “Following the Flow - - - What Happens After You Hit the Silver Handle.” [Note: Kit Ohlman is the daughter of Sir Larry Sheerin].
Speaker for May is Dan Ashley, News Anchor for KGO television, Channel 7. He will be bringing his wife to the Ladies Day luncheon and it was agreed that the Branch would pick up her luncheon expense as well.
SECRETARY’S REPORT
Directors and Officers Liability Coverage – Secretary Burk reported there has been much discussion regarding “Directors and Officers Liability Coverage.” Thanks to research by both Area Governor Jim Steadman and Treasurer Ron de Golia we know that no SIR Branch has a General receipts annual number in excess of $50,000 thus there is no requirement to take out additional coverage. The background is as follows and is spelled out in the SIR 2010 Branch Leaders Guide.
Directors and Officers of the SIRinc Board of Directors are covered for up to $2,000,000 for unintentional negligent act errors or omission in the performance of their duties.
Branch Officers are not covered by this policy, however, Branch Officers are protected by California Corporations Code Section 5239 entitled “personal liability of volunteer director or officer for negligence” if the following conditions for each individual branch are net: The documented cost for obtaining Directors and Officers Liability insurance exceeds 5% of the Branch’s prior year budget. The amount of the Branch’s prior year budget is the General Account total on the Form 28 dated December 31st. (The Custodial account is not considered to be a part of the Branch budget.) It is the responsibility of the SIRinc Insurance Committee to obtain a price quote for a typical branch prior to February 28th and disseminate it through the SIRinc Board to each Branch BEC. If the price quote is greater than 5% of the General Account total shown on the Form 28 dated December 31st then the Branch BEC should pass a resolution similar to the following:
Pursuant to the provisions of California Corporations Code 52339, effective January 1, 2002, Branch 146 has attached a determination made by the SIR State Insurance Committee which reveals that the cost of obtaining Officer and Directors Liability Insurance exceeds 5% of the prior year budget. This constitutes a good faith effort to obtain such insurance and we therefore defer to the Section 5239 which states “there shall be no personal liability to a third party for monetary damages on the part of a volunteer director or volunteer executive office of a nonprofit corporation subject to this part, caused by the director’s or officer’s negligent act or omission in the performance of that person’s duties as a director or officer.” Therefore it is moved, seconded and passed that Branch 146 cannot afford to purchase this type of liability insurance and the Branch elects to be covered by the provision of Section 5239.
Treasurer de Golia reports that Branch 146’s 2009 receipts were $9,437 as reported on the December 2009 Form 28. The $2,500 insurance quote would be 26% of the $9,437. Thus, there is no need to purchase additional insurance.
The above resolution was, in fact, moved, seconded, and passed at Branch 146’s BEC Meeting on March 11, 2010.
“Information Pieces Going to Members via e-mail “blast” – Jim informed the BEC that he had been given feedback that he was acting improperly by asking Webmaster Jeff Baily to send an e-mail “blast” to our members regarding the theme dinner (“Fiesta Night”) being held at Boundary Oak on Friday, February 26. Jim had thought this would both be informational for our members who might be looking for an opportunity to take their wife or significant other out to dinner at a very reasonable price, as well as help to support The Clubhouse in their attempt to attract business from the so called “Home Clubs” (i.e., Walnut Creek Men’s Golf Club; Women’s 9-hole and 18-hole golf groups; and the three SIR branches that play golf at Boundary Oak on a regular basis). A couple of our members raised the issue that since this was not a Branch approved event, it was potentially violating Standing Rules, Division – General, Article 2 – General Provisions, Rule 13. The sense of the BEC and visitors in the meeting room was that it was in violation of the rule referenced.
Jim expressed appreciation for being so informed and indicated he will “cease and desist” from asking that e-mail messages be sent to our members on this subject in the future. However, he does hope that our members will consider attending these theme dinners that will take place on the fourth Friday of each month. Flyers will be posted in the golf carts and Jim will ensure that a flyer is placed on the golf group sign-in table each Tuesday as a helpful reminder.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Treasurer Ron de Golia had previously distributed both the “Treasurer’s Report – February 2010” and the “Branch 146 Form 28 “Monthly Cash Report” to the BEC via e-mail (see attached reports). His report shows that the Branch started the month of February with a cash balance of $5,392.76 and ended the month with a balance of $5,443.25 or a Net Gain of $50.49. This was in large part to the successful management of the February luncheon which had a Net Gain of $201.
de Golia indicated that he has not yet finalized his recommendation regarding the Branch voluntary contribution concept for 2010 which is designed to cover the administrative costs of the Branch. The contribution would cover the period from June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2011.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Nominating Committee Progress Report – Chair Garth Cummings reported that the committee has met three times and work is progressing. Two notices have been placed in the Sir Call asking members for any recommendations they might have. Likewise, he would appreciate any suggestions of names coming from members of the BEC. He indicated that consistent with Standing Rule 131, the committee will inform the Big Sir by May 31 of the proposed slate of Branch Officers for 2011. The names of all nominees shall be published in the July Sir Call.
Membership – Chair Steve Sprague had previously distributed electronically a “draft” Membership Report for the Branch to the members of the BEC. He indicated that the “final” report was the same as his draft report which showed no changes for March. He did indicate there was an error in his report for February 11, 2010 in that Joe Deas was shown to have resigned when in fact he had requested to go onto inactive status. All Branch records have been changed to reflect this correction. The membership count remains at 251.
Recruitment and Retention – Chair Jack Calloway indicated that Steve’s report has given us the “good news, bad news” for the moment. That is, no losses but neither were there any gains. In addition he reported that we will have our targeted number of guests at today’s luncheon and that trend needs to continue.
Attendance/Luncheon – Chair Bob Lyman is excused today and his report was given by Big Sir Dennis. In his report dated 03/08/2010 Bob indicated that the estimated count for luncheon would be198. He had reported that out of 251 members, 61 were excused; and there would be seven (7) guests; and one (1) speaker (see attached report). He had guaranteed 178 to Boundary Oak.
Activities Coordinator – Chair Terry Marchione reported that Steve Dawkins has agreed to become the Activities Coordinator and will start his responsibilities upon his return from the current cruise trip to the Caribbean. This will allow Terry the opportunity to assist with the website modification plans.
Travel – Chair Bob Spellman is on the Silverseas Caribbean Cruise and had submitted a form 51 dated March 2, 2010 (see attached Form 51).
- “Silverseas Caribbean Cruise” (retroactive approval now sought) March 9 to March 17, 2010 MSP
Bob Burley requested approval of a trip to
- “Filoli Gardens and Mansion Tour” at Filoli Gardens April 22, 2010 MSP
Ken Richter requested approval for a golf event to Boulder Creek
- “Boulder Creek Golf and Fun Outing,” Boulder Creek June 23 to June 25, 2010 MSP
(see attached Form 53s for each of the above two events)
OLD BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Big Sir Hallett referenced Dwight Sale’s memo regarding the development of a Branch Data Base.
Treasurer de Golia indicated that he would present his recommendations for our Branch “Voluntary Contribution” Plan for 2010/11 at our meeting in April.
Director Rettew reported that there are currently 37 couples signed up for the Spring Dance next month and a few spots are still available.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned by Big Sir Hallett at 11:03 a.m. The next meeting of the BEC is scheduled for April 8, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. in the Lakeview Room at the Clubhouse at Boundary Oak.
Jim Burk, Secretary
Attachments:
(10) Travel Chair’s Form 51 (1 in number) and Form 53’s (2 in number)
Silverseas Caribbean Cruise (Bob Spellman)
Filoli Garden & Mansion Tour (Bob Burley)
Boulder Creek Golf and Fun Outing (Ken Richter)
Minutes of Closed Session
Sir Branch 146 Honoree Committee 2010 Recommendations
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Big Sir Hallett called the Closed Session to order at 11:05 a.m. for the purpose of hearing the Honoree Committee’s 2010 recommendations.
Honoree Committee 2010 Recommendations – Chair Bob Yolland presented his committee’s report and recommendations for 2010 awards (see report attached).
The BEC approved the following:
Chair Yolland reminded the members of the BEC that these recommendations are to be kept secret until presented.
Joe Fuchs asked if we had a posthumous award. Bob indicated that we do not. Joe asked that the committee consider the possibility of such an award for Stu Somerville and that it be presented to Margot Somerville.
The Closed Session was adjourned at 11:17 a.m.
Jim Burk
Branch Secretary
Attachments: