BOARD OF DIRECTORS
American Contract Bridge League
Of Santa Cruz Unit 550, Inc.
December
12, 2007
Call
to Order: The meeting was
called to order December 12, 2007 by President Mary Peterson at 3:33 pm at the
Santa Cruz Bridge Center.
Present: Jeanne Boss, Nancy
Driscoll, Mary Peterson, Harold Rogers, Bonnie Simon
Also attending: Ken Llacera, Susan Slinger, Jack Simon, Mark
Hasey, Bill McIntosh
Absent: Carol Maggipinto, Charlie Pender, John
Hadley, Don Seldeen
Election
of Officers - In
accordance with Article VIII, Section 8.3 of the By-Laws, Nancy Driscoll
nominated the following slate of officers to serve from December 2007 to
December 2008:
President, Mary Peterson; First Vice
President, Harold Rodgers; Second Vice President, Bonnie Simon; Treasurer, Don
Seldeen; Secretary, Jeanne Boss.
Seconded by Hal Rodgers, approved unanimously.
Number of Board Members
– In accordance with Article VII, Section 7.3(a) of the By-Laws, Hal Rodgers
moved that the exact number of directors shall be fixed at nine (9). Seconded by Nancy Driscoll, approved
unanimously.
Standing Committees
- In accordance with Article IX, Section
9.1, Jeanne Boss moved that the following standing committees and chairs be
confirmed: By-Laws, Don Seldeen;
Facilities, Charlie Pender; 299’r Coordinator, Nancy Driscoll; Hospitality,
Mary Peterson; Membership, Carol Maggipinto; Publicity, Bonnie Simon;
Sanctions, Hal Rodgers; Special
Projects, John Hadley; 299’r Sectional, Nancy Driscoll. Seconded by Hal Rodgers, approved
unanimously.
Advisory Committees
- In accordance with Article IX, Section
9.3, Nancy Driscoll moved that the following advisory committees and non-Board
chairs be confirmed: Ad Hoc, Susan
Slinger; Education, Nancy Wainer; Finance, Ken Llacera; Judiciary, Susan Slinger;
FORUM Editor, Susan Benich; Newsletter Editor, Jonni Faircrest; Open Sectional,
Pam Benz; Webmaster, Ken Llacera.
Seconded by Hal Rodgers, approved unanimously.
Approval of Nov. Minutes
– It was moved by Hal Rodgers, seconded
by Nancy Driscoll and approved unanimously to accept the minutes of the
November 14, 2007 board meeting.
Board Contact Information
– Jeanne will collect the name, contact information, and ACBL number of each
Board member and will forward it to ACBL as required by ACBL.
Pro Tem Secretary - In Jeanne’s
absence, Diana Schilling will take the minutes for the Board in February 2008
and Mary will find another person to take the minutes in January 2008.
Treasurer’s
Report – In Don Seldeen’s
absence, Ken Llacera gave each Board member a copy of the Treasurer’s report. The original budget for 2007 underestimated
dividend income and as a result the assets of $374,561 are $5K ahead as of
11/30/07, and it is expected that SCBC will end the year with net worth higher
than the beginning of the year. Hal Rodgers moved to accept the report. Seconded by Bonnie Simon, unanimously
accepted.
Budget
Review - Ken plans to have the new budget proposal
ready before the January 2008 meeting.
He gave a brief explanation of how the budget is developed.
Checking Account
– It was moved by Hal Rodgers to have
Don Seldeen replace Lois Henry as signatory on the bank account; add Mary
Peterson as signatory; allow Ken Llacera as Chairperson of the Finance
Committee access to the account information, but not signatory. Seconded by Bonnie Simon and unanimously
approved. There was discussion of
bonding persons with bank account and investment account access. Mary requested that Ken Llacera and Don
Seldeen investigate these questions and get back to the board.
Garbage Can/Garden Project
– Jack Simon presented a proposal with a
sketch and estimated budget of $300 prepared by himself and Jerry Goodell to
make the area where the garbage cans are kept more aesthetically pleasing. Hal Rodgers offered to donate some black
slate to the project. If approved, they will begin work after the holidays. It
was moved by Hal Rodgers to proceed with the project as proposed. Seconded by
Bonnie Simon, approved unanimously.
Expense Sharing Agreement/Club Owners
– Bill McIntosh gave a presentation on how club owners and non-club-owner
directors get paid using a model that showed fixed expenses (rent and
insurance) and variable expenses (maid, PG&E and supplies) and how these
costs are divided among the owners and SCBC, along with income from the games
and fees paid to ACBL to run the games. There was also discussion of the fees
for conducting lessons and the possibility of renting the building for
community meetings functions when it is not being used for a game or lesson,
however, it could be problematic if it involved taking down and setting up the
tables and chairs. Mary thanked Bill for his presentation. It was agreed to address the Expense Sharing
Agreement at the next board meeting and the topic was tabled for continued
discussion by the board.
New Business
Request for advertising subsidy
– Bill McIntosh has placed an ad in the Santa Cruz Sentinel promoting the
“Learn to Play Bridge” series of 10 lessons for beginners to start Monday,
January 14, 2008, 7:00 pm. ($528). ACBL
reimburses 75%, and Bill requested reimbursement of the remaining 25% ($132)
from SCBC. There was discussion of
follow up to the beginner lessons, which is a series of 10 lessons at the
intermediate level. Ken offered to place
the ad in the Pasatiempo newsletter and homeowners’ website and will make some
flyers to promote the lessons. Mark
Hasey said that the other club owners support Bill in this project. Bill stated that SCBC has subsidized such
advertising in the past. Mary said the board would review the request and get
back to him.
Board Training
– Mary asked the board members to
acquaint themselves with the information on the ACBL website under “Units and
Districts” that relates to each board member’s function. Ken noted that there are handbooks available
on the site for persons who chair committees.
299’r Coordinator
– Nancy Driscoll reported that including a 199’r section at the unit game was
very popular and well received by the players.
It was moved by Nancy to have a minimum three-table 199’r section at the
regular unit games. Seconded by Hal
Rodgers, approved unanimously.
Nancy has created a form for free play
reimbursement to directors. There was
discussion of who is eligible for “free play”.
Ken will check the policy regarding free play and get back to Nancy and
the board.
By-Laws - Don Seldeen not present, no report
Club Owner Liaison
– Bonnie Simon met with Sherry Gilbreath, nothing to report
Education – Nancy
Wainer, not present, no report
Facilities – Charlie
Pender, not present, no report
Finance – Ken
Llacera gave a presentation to the board from the Finance Committee regarding
the status of the SCBC investment portfolio with regard to the exchange project
that involves diversifying the portfolio. The Finance Committee recommends deleting the remaining exchange cycle,
except for the exchange into the Total Bond Index Fund and adding 12 exchanges
next year to dollar-cost average into Vanguard's REIT (Real Estate Investment
Trust) index fund (VGSIX) in order to provide exposure to
the RE market in SCBC's portfolio. By the end of 2008, approximately 4% of the
total portfolio would be allocated to the REIT fund. It was moved by Hal Rodger to adopt the
recommendation of the Finance Committee.
Seconded by Nancy Driscoll, approved unanimously. Bonnie Simon asked to be copied on the email
discussions of the finance committee.
Hospitality – Mary
Peterson reported the December unit game went very well and offered to assist
the various board members with their unit game hospitality responsibilities, if
needed. The schedule is posted on the
bulletin board.
Membership – Carol
Maggipinto, not present, no report
Publicity/FORUM/Newsletter
- Bonnie Simon. The role of this new
committee is to act as liaison with the Forum and newsletter editors to give
them information regarding board actions that might be of interest to readers
and to handle community publicity, as needed.
It was suggested that the ACBL website may have some suggestions on
publicity activities.
Sanctions – Hal
Rodgers reported that game sanctions are current to March. He will do the sanction for the sectional in
October.
Special Projects
– John Hadley, not present. Mary
expressed appreciation for the work that John and his crew have done in helping
to improve the lighting and plumbing at the center.
299’er Tournament
– Nancy Driscoll, no report.
SCBC Website - Ken Llacera requested feedback from the
board regarding the 299’r poster on the website. New Board of Directors are listed on the
website and Ken will add a listing of the committee heads.
Next
Meeting:
Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 3:30 p.m. at SCBC.
The meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm.
Respectfully
submitted,
Jeanne Boss
Recording
Secretary
Attachment (Goals for 2008)
SANTA CRUZ BRIDGE CENTER
Unit 550
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2008 GOALS
1.
Develop &
implement a marketing strategy to recruit new players.
2.
Create more
learning opportunities for novice/intermediate players.
3.
Launch a pilot
program of youth bridge in Santa Cruz County. (i.e. GATE program, Boys/Girls
Club, etc.)
4.
Update “EXPENSE
SHARING AGREEMENT” between the Santa Cruz Bridge Association (Club Owners) and
the Board of Directors of Unit 550.
5.
Update By-Laws to
conform to ACBL requirements.
6.
Sponsor two
profitable sectional tournaments (299’er and Open).
7.
Assure adequate
Board training for future Board leaders.
8.
Maintain and
improve appearance and amenities of SCBC.
9.
Plan and
publicize monthly Unit Games to attract maximum attendance; increase number of
Unit Games; add 199’er section at every Unit Game.