DRAFT MINUTES OF ACBL DISTRICT 4
BOARD MEETING
Voting Member Attendees:
At-Large: Joann Glasson (Board
President), Bob Cole (1st VP), Rick Rowland (2nd
VP),
Absent (Immediate Past President), Craig Robinson (National Board), Absent
(Pres Appt.), Deepak Khanna (Pres. Appt.) (5 of 7)
Unit 112: Robert Simard,
Warren Marsland (arrived during Tournament Reports), Mary
Poplawski (for Laura Krauss), Harry Nuckols (for Mark McDermott) (4
of 6)
Unit 120: Walt Mitchell, Ray
Depew (2 of 2)
Unit 121: Susan Khanna
(for Barry Gorski (1 of 2)
Unit 133: Barbara Miller,
Valerie Barber (for John Schwartz) (2 of 2)
Unit 141: Tom Purl, Jay
Apfelbaum,
(for Joan Brandeis),
Coughlin,
Marie Trethaway, Tom Sakaguchi, John Marks, Elaine
Landow
(12 of 12)
Unit 168: Ron Orr, Tim Smith
(for Bob Priest), John Klinger, Bert Murray, Pamela
Unit 190: Alan Horowitz, Tom
Grabowski, Anne Taylor (for Ward Schaumberg),
Richard Popper (4 of 4)
Unit 217: Ed Bissell, Mary
Ann Churba (for Sue Pierce) (2 of 2)
Non-Voting Invitees:
Bob Glasson, Judiciary Committee
Chair
Alan Hodesblatt, Tournament Director Don
Swan, NAP
Coordinator
Deb Klinger, Lancaster Regional co-chair
Jane Segal, Board of Governors
A meeting of the ACBL District 4
Board of Directors was held at the Lancaster Host,
Joann recognized Alan Horowitz, the
newly elected President of the Delaware Unit 190.
Bill advised that he would soon request Unit Presidents to submit their 2010 unit representatives’ names and that the number of representatives per unit will not change. The calculation is based upon the October 1 unit membership as obtained by Craig Robinson from the ACBL. The report showed that the District had a net gain of 80 members since last October 1. The Unit breakdown as of October 1 is as follows:
UNIT 10/2008
10/2009 CHANGE 2010
REPRESENTATIVES PER BYLAWS
112 1,229 1,212 -17 6
120 357 368 +11 2
121 280 242 -38 2
133 304 311 +7 2
141 2,644 2,707 +63 12
168 916 988 +72 5
190 731 714 -17 4
217 149 148 -1 2
TOTALS 6,610 6,690 +80 35
The minutes of the Valley Forge Board meeting of
Rick Rowland reported that District
finances are not as “rosy” as in the past. He is
waiting to receive profits from the
Joann thanked the Klinger’s and the entire Lancaster Regional Committee for another excellent regional.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
DISTRICT 4SPOT
Elaine Landow advised that the deadline for the December 1 issue is next week.
CHARITY
Beth Rosenthal did not attend the meeting.
FINANCE
Dave Kresge reported that he had not received a financial report from neither the NAP nor the King of Prussia Regional.
DISTRICT RECORDER
Dan Boye was not present. He previously informed the Secretary that he had nothing to report.
NAP
Don Swan reported on the October 2009 attendance and winners in each flight:
Flight “A” (
1. Tom Weik & Dan Boye
2. Barry Gorski & Albert Bingaman, Jr.
3. Rick Rowland & Craig Robinson
Flight “B” (
1. Anne & Bob Taylor
2. Michael Mayer & Lewis Klein
3. Christopher Marlow & Andy Muenz
Flight “C”
1. Mary Boyd & Peter Harris
2. Samuel Litzenberger & Clay Madison
3. Linda Regan & Laurie Shelton
Don presented the participation history as follows:
05 06 07 08 09 05 06 07 08 09 05 06 07 08 09
Flight “C” 7 0 --STaC--- 5 8.5 ---STaC--- 12 8.5 50.5 46.5 46.5
Flight “B” 6 11.5 12 8.5 0 18.5 15.5 17 13 13.5 24.5 27 29 21.5 13.5
05 06 07 08 09
Flight “A” 11.5 13 11 11 14 11.5 13 11 11 14
Grand Total 48 48.5 90.5 79 74
Don noted the still significant increase in Flight “C” due to the STaC format. Craig summarized the participation as follows: 1 new club, 1 lost club from last year, and the exact same table count compared to last year.
A discussion ensued over the site for Flight “B” and Flight
“A”. Craig said that the New York Unit (112) can
choose the weekend and the Bridge Studio of Wilmington will
accommodate. The NAP District finals should not conflict with
the Reading Sectional and must be held in September to avoid a
conflict with the World Championships in
Jay Apfelbaum passed on a request from Lois Sanders that the NAP District finals not coincide with the Buffalo Regional.
Bill noted that Craig was successful in obtaining a list of qualified players from District 4 from the ACBL (consisting of all players who won master points in a Club Qualifier).
Later in the meeting Mary Poplawski proposed that all NAP District
Final s except “C” be played at the Lancaster Regional in
2010 only due to the WBF World Championships in
GNT
Ray Depew informed the Board that the 2009 GNT went well. Mary Poplawski noted that a Unit might run a GNT Unit Qualifier even though it would not have any meaning regarding qualification (as any team could still go on to the District finals whether or not they participated in the Unit Qualifier).
EDUCATION
Mary Poplawski requested the Board approve a subsidy of $500 per site for two Teacher Accreditation Programs (TAP’s) in 2010 at two of our Regionals. The subsidy permits the attendees to pay $50 rather than $125 to attend. Because of sufficient attendance the subsidies were not expended in 2009. Mary reminded the Board that Bill Bauer and she were stocking ACBL series and Audrey Grant Better Bridge Series texts for teachers. An article on the stocking program will appear in the December 4Spot.
JUDICIARY
Bob Glasson said that there were no cases to report.
APPEALS
JoAnn Sprung was not present, but had informed Joann Glasson that she had no report.
INTERMEDIATE/NEWCOMER
Ala Hamilton-Day had no report.
TOURNAMENT COORDINATOR
John Marks, having taken over for Elaine Landow, is having many of the same problems that Elaine experienced. Unit coordinators need to complete the 2011 schedule and begin to plan for 2012.
John reminded the Board of the District STaC, December 7 – 13. This year, Club Managers must register on the ACBL website to participate.
TOURNAMENT
John Marks had no report.
TOURNAMENT REPORTS:
2012 Summer NABC - John Marks along with co-chairs Joann Glasson and Craig
Robinson have appointed three Committee Chairs (I/N – Susan
& Bill Grover), Entertainment (Pat Civale) and Registration
(Ray Depew assisted by Judy Argento). Units will be asked to
volunteer to staff certain functions each day.
WBF World Champ. - John reported that a regional tournament would run in parallel. (10/1 – 10/16/10) Planning is going well. Volunteers are needed to operate the
viewgraph.
(7/6 – 7/12/09) about $4,000. The I/N program and hospitality expenses were
higher and table count was down. Belt tightening is in
order for next year (7/12-7/18/10).
(10/26 – 11/1/09) primarily on Mon/Tue. Wed/Thurs/Fri attendance was
comparable to 2008. Possible causes are: Ocean City Regional
just concluded, fear of flu, and the economy. The Tournament
Committee has added Rick Rowland to handle finances and
Craig Robinson to replace Don Marlettt. Next year’s
tournament will be held Nov. 1 to Nov. 7, three weeks after the
Philadelphia WBF event concludes.
(8/3-8/10/10)
(8/3-8/10/10) chair the Tournament.
(4/26 –
5/2/10)
and Tom is hoping to obtain favorable hotel room rates.
(2/28 –3/2/2011) schedule and that several hotels are being considered.
DISTRICT DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Craig Robinson reported that adding a fourth NAP flight (2000-5000)
would be considered in
Craig indicated that the WBF World Championship would not provide either a financial reward or risk. There is some financial protection for the Lancaster Regional.
OLD BUSINESS
1. District 4 Youth Program Fund Implementation.
Mary Poplawski reminded the Board that the Board approved participation at the
though, to spearhead the project. Before forging ahead, Joann reminded Craig
that he is to find out what fees or expenses the ACBL might charge participants.
2.
Textbook Stocking Program
Mary Poplawski advised that an article promoting the District textbook stocking
program would appear in the next 4SPOT. Mary obtained a list of TAP
graduates but it did not have e-mail addresses.
3.
GNT Open Flight Location
Ray Raskin proposed changing the site of the GNT open flight to the
Southern part of the District since nearly all recent past
participants come from the Philadelphia/Wilmington areas.
Players would save on hotel and commuting costs. Ray Depew
countered that the GNT helps his sectional by sharing costs and that
some GNT participants also patronize the Sectional on Friday and
Sunday. Craig noted that as standalone GNT event, 8 teams would
produce revenue of $1,100 but cost $1,000 for a director for 4
sessions and the host site would expect to be compensated for
space. Rick Rowland and Rich Popper felt a change would
disenfranchise
4.
Naming of Regional Events for Living People
Ray Raskin requested that Regional events be named for living as well
as deceased persons. Since the bylaws only provide that a
Tournament Committee obtain approval for naming an event for a person
(without specifying living or dead) the Board concluded that
Tournament Committees could already request approval for naming an
event for a living person. Indeed,
5.
Number of Boards Played in an Event
A few Board members chose to bring up the matter of event selection feeling that more pairs’ events should be scheduled. Tournament chairs and others were of the opinion that the majority of players preferred team events, particularly bracketed K/O’s. Any tournament that departed from the players’ expectation of K/O’s starting every day would likely face diminished attendance.
The discussion then morphed into a discussion of the number of boards played in a session. A motion to require 52 boards minimum at a regional A/X pairs or team event carried. Craig pointed out this board policy would impact regionally rated events at NABC’s hosted by District 4. It was felt by many that the extra boards could be played in the same amount of time that 24 boards would be played in B/C/D events.
NEW BUSINESS
1.
Two Board Meetings vs. One (
Rick Rowland moved to eliminate the 2nd board meeting generally held at the Philadelphia Regional (King of Prussia) citing the cost of dinner and gratuity, free plays and mileage subsidy approaching $5,000. Instead of meeting, the committee reports would be posted to the District website. The fiscal year would need to change to September 30 rather than May 31.
The proposal generated a lot of debate. Tom Purl felt that the role of the Executive committee would be greatly expanded. However, the Secretary pointed out that the Executive Committee generally considers about 3 matters/year of which two or all three are routine matters. However, any items voted upon at the 2nd meeting would add to the number of matters to be considered by the Executive Committee. Mike Salton felt the Board meetings were very worthwhile as he learned from the dialog and would be willing to extend the length of a meeting to accommodate even more discussion. Jay Apfelbaum said the issue of two meetings vs. one is a question of governance, not of money, as a 2nd meeting could be held without all the expensive prerequisites. Everett Young pointed out that the President could call a special meeting if necessary. The Secretary added that four units could request a meeting and that 15 days notice is required before a special meeting could be held. Mary Poplawski questioned whether or not the bylaws make mention of financial policy relating to Board meetings (answer: the bylaws do not prescribe prerequisites). Walt Mitchell liked the interaction of “live” Board meetings (as opposed to a teleconference or something similar). Walt received permission to conduct a “straw” vote on whether Board members would be willing to give up prerequisites. It appeared that an overwhelming number would be willing.
Rick received permission from the Board to modify his motion such that only prerequisites would be eliminated (and not the second meeting). However, Rick Rowland conducted a vote on his motion to have only one board meeting/year and the motion failed. The Board then proceeded to vote on eliminating various prerequisites. The Board voted to eliminate free plays for Board members at each Board meeting, keep the Lancaster breakfast, but to eliminate the King of Prussia meal and to retain mileage subsidies for both meetings.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Craig Robinson reported that the 8 current Unit Presidents and 8
immediate past District Presidents are eligible to serve on the
Nominating Committee. Nine of the 15 eligible members attended
last evening’s meeting (not including Leon Lyday and Carl
Cronrath, two Past Presidents who relocated to
Craig Robinson reported the committee’s recommendations as follows:
President - Bob Cole of Unit 133
1st Vice-President - Rick Rowland of Unit 190
2nd Vice-President - Walter Mitchell of Unit 120
Treasurer - Rick Rowland
There being no further nominations from the floor, nominations were closed and the Secretary was instructed to cast a unanimous ballot for each candidate.
REMARKS & APPOINTMENTS BY INCOMING PRESIDENT
Bob thanked the Board for electing him District President. He
then thanked outgoing President, Joann Glasson, for her nearly two
years of service and for holding a transition team meeting in
Bob announced the following appointments:
1. Bill Bauer will continue as Board Secretary (unanimous Board confirmation).
2. Don Swan is one of the two Presidential Appointees to the Board as a member-at-large (unanimous Board confirmation).
3. The Executive Committee appointees will be made at a later date after their respective units select the 2010 Board members. Bob intends to appoint members form units not already represented on the Committee.
4. Ray Raskin will serve as the Board of Governors representative on the
Executive Committee.
Bob still has three committee chairpersons to talk with, but those he has talked with are willing to continue.
NEXT MEETING
A full board meeting will take place during the Valley Forge Regional
after the
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Bauer
District 4 Secretary
william.baueriii@verizon.net