JP's Version 1.0 Notes from the Winter 2003 SSA Board of Directors Meeting
A split Board meeting was held in Dayton, OH on January 25 from 8 AM to 1:15 PM and on January 26 from 7 AM to 11:30 AM which was a total of 2.8 hours more than planned. All Directors except Eric Mozer were present.
The Board approved the minutes of the Boston Board meeting and the minutes of a Dec 26, 2002 Excom teleconference. The minutes of the November EXCOM meeting have not yet been drafted.
The Board approved Ed Byars as a SSA Foundation Trustee for the term March 2003 through 2005.
The Board adopted a policy that requires draft minutes of all Board and Excom meetings to be published within two weeks and posted at ssa.org within 4 weeks.
The Board approved a Bylaws change that specifically prohibits proxy voting by the Board or any Committee thereof.
The Board approved a Bylaws change that adds provisions for electing replacements for Directors who do not complete their term. (The Board can still appoint a replacement.)
The Board defeated a proposed Bylaws change that would have eliminated balloting in a Region when only one person was running for Regional Director.
The Board appointed John Volkeboer to fill the vacant seat in Region 11.
The treasurers report describes the SSA as "approximates a family living from paycheck to paycheck." Action was taken to attempt to improve this including "zero based budgeting" which would require annual rejustification of each expense each year.
The Board approved changing the end of the SSA fiscal year from Oct 31 to Dec 31 subject to IRS approval. This aligns it with the Foundations year and makes accounting easier. As I recall the SSA adopted the Oct 31 year so as to not have so much work over the Christmas holidays. With the computer system working Dec 31 is preferred.
Financial data "should be in place [at ssa.org] by the end of March."
Johnson, Miller & Co gave an audit report. They had some minor finding such as some computer coding errors, general ledger reconciliations that were not timely, accounts payable aging, and inventory reports.
The report of the Team Task Force was adopted. The SSA will soon be requesting nominations for the 3 elective seats on the Team Committee.
The rules changes recommended by the Rule Committee were approved.
Because the Lubbock government leased Reese Center to a company that does not want soaring activity at the former air base the Board approved changing the 2003 15-Meter and 2004 Standard Class Nationals to Hobbs. The Board also approved substituting Ephrata for Reese in the US 2006 World Championships bid. The bid will be formally presented to the IGC at its next meeting.
The Board approved a motion to put an electronic version of this meeting's Board "Blue Book" at ssa.org as soon as possible. Starting with the Fall meeting the Blue Books will be posted at ssa.org before the meeting so the membership can see them and provide input to their Directors. To save staff time and SSA money the office will only prepare Blue Books for Directors who specifically ask. (The Blue Book is normally over one inch thick and contains reports and inputs from the Directors. I think it is great that the members will get to see and comment on the hard work by the Directors. In the past a lot of great work has been lost.)
Split between the two days the Board spent a total of about 4 hours in closed session discussing personnel matters. The Board ran out of time and adjourned without completing its work. The Excom was tasked to complete the work and present it to the Board by February 1st. [I will update these notes when this happens.]
At the last minute the Board tabled a proposed Bylaws change that would have changed the wording of the purpose of the SSA back to "foster and promote..." (I sense this has lots of support but given the situation we can wait until the next meeting to act.)
The next Board meeting will be in Dallas, TX on September 13, 2003 in conjunction with the Barnaby Lecture which Bernald Smith will deliver.
Other convention notes:
Linda Murray and Caesar's Creek Soaring Club did a great job with the convention. Her efforts got the media's attention which resulted in some excellent TV coverage.
The FAI had a meeting in Dayton during the convention.
We had the usual crowd of great speakers and a busy exhibit hall. The party at the Air Force Museum was outstanding.
On Thursday night, Bruce Carmichael and Lyle Maxey were inducted into the US Soaring Hall of Fame. Edward S. Evans was inducted as a historical candidate.
See you next year in Atlanta,
Jim Payne, 28 January, 2003