Minutes of the Branch Executive Committee Meeting

March 10, 2011

CALL TO ORDER

Big Sir Pete Gates called the meeting to order at 9:35 am. There were 15 Branch 146 members present as guests. (See attached attendance roster)

BEC ROLL CALL
Assistant Secretary Terry Marchione announced that a quorum of the 2011 BEC members was present with Assistant Secretary Jim Meehan, and Director Chuck Eichten absent.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes of the January meeting were accepted and approved.

BIG SIR REPORT

Pete Gates announced two changes to the BEC. Assistant Secretary Terry Marchione will take over the Secretary position with Jim Meehan becoming the Assistant Secretary. This change was necessitated by Jim’s recent change of residence. Also, due to illness, Chuck Clark will become the Assistant Treasurer, replacing Ron Pascoe. Big Sir Pete then presented his response to the Branch audit report which was delivered at the February meeting. Pete concurred with each of the recommendations made by the audit committee. Details are contained in the attachment (which was received electronically by all BEC members). Sir Pete provided an update on the sound system at Boundary Oak. CourseCo has purchased a new portable system which should eliminate the problems that have been encountered.

LITTLE SIR REPORT (See Attached Report)

Jim Burk reviewed today’s speaker—Dick Callahan, the public address announcer for both the Oakland A’s and the Cal Bears. Jim thanked Ray Kan for his help in getting Dick as a speaker. Jim also announced the speaker for March will be Jeffrey Weiss, the Public Information Officer with Caltrans. Mr. Weiss will update us on the progress of the Caldecott Tunnel’s fourth bore.

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Newly appointed Secretary Terry Marchione reported that he will meet with Jim Burk to facilitate the transition of the files maintained by the Branch secretary.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Treasurer Dick Woodman reported the Branch had receipts of $6,415 during the month of January and expenses of $6,477 thus ending the month with a balance of $11,968. (The monthly treasurer’s report and Form 28 are available on the Branch website).

The Treasurer introduced a motion as follows: Branch 146 cannot afford to purchase the Officer and Directors liability insurance and the Branch elects to be covered by the provision of Section 5239. This motion was seconded and passed by unanimous consent. As background, the quote obtained by the Insurance Committee for BEC liability coverage for 2011 is $2500. According to Form 28, December 31, 2010 Branch 146’s General Account balance was $5799. The $2500 expense would represent approx. 43% of that balance, which is in excess of the 5% rule, allowing the Branch to defer to Section 5239. (Document attached)

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Membership—Steve Sprague reported that we have 1 new member in February. The Branch ended February with a membership of 260 members.

Steve proposed that Roger Thornton be accepted as a member of Branch 146. This motion was adopted unanimously. Further, Steve announced one change to the roster: Bill Comley has been placed on the inactive roster. (See attached membership and Form 27 reports).

Recruitment and Retention—John Harrington presented the findings from the annual survey of Branch members. John and the committee analyzed the survey results and presented the following recommendations (The full report is attached):

1- The survey indicated interest in a variety of new activities and the activities coordinator is addressing this

2- The luncheon will continue to be streamlined so as to conduct as little business as possible.

3- Guests will be introduced only briefly at their first lunch. When they are inducted as members, their bios will be given in more detail.

4- There was a desire to de-emphsize the head table.

5- Continue to pursue high quality speakers.

6- Continue random seating occasionally during the year.

7- Members should be reminded and encouraged to bring a guest to the luncheons.

8- Have special tables for guests/new members.

9- Establish the position of publicity chair.

10- Coordinate efforts to track new members particularly in regard to their participation in activities.

11- Hold semi-annual reviews of new members

Attendance/Luncheon—Bob Mehus reported a lunch count of 210 for today’s lunch with a guarantee of 187. There were 61 excused absences. (Report attached)

Website—Webmaster Terry Marchione presented a brief status report on the website:

1- The committee has purchased 4 copies of the Coffee Cup software (an .html editor). Two copies were given to Joe Fuchs for use by the golf committee.

2-Dan Schlatter has joined the committee.

3-The new member page has been removed from the site due to lack of current info.

Activities Coordinator—Steve Dawkins announced that he has resolved a timing conflict between the garden club and the away golf events. During golf season the garden club will meet on Mondays. Steve, a master gardener, has assumed the position of chair of the garden club. He also announced that the area activities coordinators will meet periodically to compare notes.

Travel—Terry Marchione, on behalf of Gary Schaub requested approval for a theater event, “Blues in the Night”, to be held on June 15 at the Lesher Center for the Arts. (See attached Form 53’s) This event was approved.

Publicity—Bill Hoban reported that we have a publicity committee consisting of Jack Calloway, John Harrington and myself. We are publicizing our meetings in the Walnut Creek Journal, Datebook and in the Clayton Pioneer. There was no response to the notice in the March Sir Call for volunteers to support our publicity efforts.

Old Business—Action was taken on an open motion which was made at the February meeting. The BEC passed the motion making the positions of Assistant Treasurer and Director a two year term. The background for this was included in the February minutes. A second copy is attached to the minutes. All BEC members have received this document previously.