December 2017

Call to Order and Approval of November 9th Minutes: President Dave Puryear called the meeting to order at 3:38 pm. The minutes of the November 9, 2017 meeting were amended to reflect that Jody Williams was in attendance, then approved. Other 2017 board members present included Leslie Altick, Gill Barsley, Marolyn Imaoka, Todd Makler, Alan Polish, John Schwartz and Susan Zhang. Newly elected 2018 directors Dan Thatte, Anne Keyser, and Geri MacDonald also attended. New incoming board member Kip Kado was not able to attend due to travel.

Holiday Party Dec 17: Dave reported that Mary Driscoll will organize the food for the Holiday Party. Paul Davis will be the person in charge on site. Will Watson will direct the game. The game is a charity game benefitting Community Services and Second Harvest Food Bank. Players are asked to bring side dishes for the meal as well as toys and/or Target gift certificates (or equivalent) for Community Services and donations for Second Harvest.

Elections Results: Dave announced that all nominees on the election slate had been elected and offered his congratulations. He also thanked the outgoing members Gill, Marolyn, Todd, and Jody for their considerable contributions during their terms.

2018 Budget: Members of the 2017 Board introduced the 2018 Budget to the incoming members. Todd projected that 2017 results will be essentially break-even. However, the 2018 Budget, which is conservative, is currently showing a deficit. Todd outlined the reasons for each of these results in his Treasurer’s Report (shown below). The 2017 Board chose not to enact any “belt tightening” measures, as the past few years have produced surpluses. The 2018 budget was approved by the 2017 Board and will be accepted/amended with more definitive actual data in January.

Reports: President’s Report – The owner of the game at Unity Church has applied to the ACBL for sanctions for two special games on Wednesdays in 2018. The ACBL routinely asks the Unit if it has any objections. As there were no objections, there is no need to recontact the ACBL. Dave will let her know that in the future, there is no need to ask the ACBL’s permission for special one-time games.

Election of 2018 Officers by 2018 Board – Dave introduced his recommendations for officer positions for the 2018 Board. They are Dan Thatte for president, Dave as Vice President to help Dan with the transition, Susan Zhang as Treasurer, and Leslie Altick as Secretary. A motion to accept the slate was approved by members of the 2018 Board. The new President and Treasurer will join the outgoing Treasurer to change the approved signatures at the bank, the second week of January. The new Board agreed to continue with the monthly meeting time as the second Thursday of each month. Dave announced that there will be a one-day Non Life Master (NLM) tournament on February 10, and a two-day NLM in May. Todd suggested that the point limit for such tournaments be lifted, as the important criterion is that the player not be a life master. Dave will follow up with Alan Cummings, the driver behind organizing these tournaments. Such a change could attract more players and thus raise table counts.

Technology Committee – Dave announced that Jody will remain chair of the Technology Committee for 2018.

Unit Games – Gill first noted that in absence of a Firecracker chairperson, she will update the flyers so they will be available at the Monterey regional. This includes getting the ACBL to approve the schedule. The Bridge Center website will be listed as the place to have questions answered. Joanie Smith has agreed to be Partnership Chairman. On Unit Games, the table counts remain lower than last year. One suggestion was to research whether Pianola can be used to help match partners for Bridge Center events such as Unit Games. Dave will follow up.

Treasurer – Todd explained the difference between the Bridge Center and the Unit for the new directors, clarifying that the Bridge Center’s main source of revenue is the rent collected from table fees paid to club owners. As such, no income accrues to the Unit from games held at the Vi, Los Altos Country Club, or Unity Church, even though they are part of the Unit. The financial results for 2017 are below budget because table fees are down from 2016. The decline in Unit Game revenue is a factor, but so is revenue from regular games. Firecracker expenses were higher than expected for reason that were detailed in the August minutes; something that can be addressed for the 2018 Firecracker. He pointed out that the new board has many options to explore should it be decided to shrink the deficit budget significantly in 2018.

Next Board Meeting: January 11, 2018

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 4:33 pm.