December 2015

President Jody Williams called the meeting to order at 3:55pm. Also present were Paul Davis, Jim Harris, Todd Makler, Kevin O’Leary, Dave Puryear, and new Board members Peggy Chen and Marolyn Imoaka.

The Board approved the minutes with one addition: the word ‘potentially’ was added to the activities exempt from rent. The Board’s intent is to charge rent if the Education Fund has the resources, but to continue our free lecture series without rent if necessary.

The Board approved raising the table fee for Unit games to $12. This does not affect fees at our regular club games.

The Board received limited feedback regarding the printing of the Kibitzer. Opinions were split. The Board voted to discontinue printing of the Kibitzer. It will be available on the Unit’s website and we have begun to send a link to it with an email blast to all members with an email address. In addition, we will make a small number of copies and place them in the wall cases in the lobby. We will monitor how many of these are taken and we can replenish as needed.

Jody reported that we need a graphic artist for the Firecracker flyer. Jim Harris will ask Elan Winkler for suggestions and Jody will ask Cheryl Haines. Paul Davis suggested the Secretary keep a roster of members with graphic arts skills.

The Board elected its officers for 2016, with the new Board members included in the voting. David Puryear was elected President, Paul Davis was elected Vice President, Leslie Altick was elected Secretary, and Todd Makler was elected Treasurer.

Jim Harris reported that Unit game revenue was up 10% for the year. Will is not available to direct the Holiday Swiss game. Kevin O’Leary and Paul Davis will step in.

Kevin O’Leary reported that we replaced the hard drive in our computer, that we will have our own mailbox within the week, and that we are still negotiating rent for the back room we are using for storage. The carpet will be cleaned during the Monterey Regional, prior to the NAP Finals and the NLM Sectional at our facility in January and February.

Todd Makler recommended that we revise our reserve target to correspond to our new budget. The target was intended to provide a 6-month reserve, but was specified as a dollar amount. With more players and a larger budget, we need to revise the target. We have the resources, but we need authorization from the Board. To provide proper notice to members, this will be an item on the January agenda. Todd also proposed a special meeting with the new Board members to orient them to the budget. He will schedule it for sometime in January, in consultation with the new members.

Paul Davis will pursue 501 (c) 3 status in the coming months. He is in contact with a member interested in donating from a charitable remainder trust, which requires the recipient to have this status.

The Board recognized the need for additional Directors who can step in when our regular Directors are not available. We will try to facilitate a Director’s Class in the new year.

The Board agreed to hold its next meeting on Thursday, January 14 and on the second Thursday of each month going forward.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:50pm.