December 2014

Brian Samuels, President, called the meeting to order at 3:40 pm. Other board members present were Leslie Altick, Valerie Baldwin, Jim Harris, Bob Horowitz, Todd Makler, Kevin O’Leary, James Stuart-Smith, and Jody Williams. Incoming board members David Puryear and Paul Davis attended, as did Marian Kelly, Gill and Paul Barsley, and John Prior.

The minutes from the November 6th meeting were approved.

Brian welcomed the new board members, Paul Davis and David Puryear, and welcomed back Todd Makler for another term.

The board nominated and elected the officers who will serve in 2015. Jody Williams will be President; Leslie Altick will be Vice President; Todd Makler will be Treasurer; and David Puryear will be Secretary.

Reports

Firecracker

Brian welcomed Gillian (Gill) and Paul Barsley to the meeting and thanked them for agreeing to act as co-chairs for the Firecracker. James noted that we now have received a contract from the Santa Clara Convention Center. It states that at this time, parking is free but that may change subject to whatever events are at Levi Stadium. We still need a chair for setup and take down. ACBL has essentially approved the schedule. James estimates that the unit will lose approximately $1,000 dollars unless table fees are raised to $12. There was a thorough discussion of the financial risk the unit incurs with the Firecracker’s current format and venue as well as the fiduciary responsibility of the board to protect the assets of the Unit. It was noted that other clubs’ sectionals nationwide are already at higher prices. The motion to sign the contract and set table fees at $12 (and mitigate the risk of a loss) passed unanimously. The effort to decide how to handle future Firecrackers will begin immediately after the New Year.

President’s Report

Elinor’s memorial game will be held in February, 2015. Brian will speak at the game.

The executor of Jean Flocks’ estate contacted Brian to let him know that the bequest should be sent to us in late December.

As the first Thursday of January is New Year’s Day, the next board meeting will be on Friday, January 2nd at 3:00 pm.

Treasurer’s Report: Todd reported the Unit would be in the black for 2014 if not for the different accounting for the funding of the Education Fund in 2015. He and Brian had discussed the proper accounting and agreed that it is as extraordinary expense in 2014. The motion to approve this passed. Todd is currently testing Quickbooks Online. There will be another financial review early in 2015.

Education: Val reported that henceforth, Frank Smoot’s class will not be Unit sponsored. Frank will be, as all other teachers, responsible for managing the class and paying the unit rent for the Bridge Center. The Larry Cohen seminar will now be held on July 25-26 in 2015. This will be cleared with Will Watson as the seminar will pre-empt his Sunday game.

Unit Games: The Unit game schedule is set for 2015. There had been a problem with how Will Watson was paid for directing games. A motion passed to pay Will and Lynn Yokel a minimum of $120 for each Unit game they direct. Jim noted that it may be necessary to impose a fee for the Christmas Party in 2015.

Board of Directors’ Manual: Jody has put all of the documents that are relevant for directors on the Unit website. On the Unit Governance page, there is a link to Governing Documents. There are also documents under the Unit, then resources for club owners and directors. What needs to be done is to update several committee head position descriptions as well as other volunteer position descriptions. Jody asked each of the board members to look at the Work in Progress document and come prepared in January to discuss which require committee formation and on which committees they would like to participate.

Kibitzer

Marian would like the board to think about what the Kibitzer should be in the future. It has yet to be decided how the responsibilities will be divided between Marian and Carolyn. Marian also asked that the Secretary also provide a very brief summary of each board meeting for the Kibitzer.

Old Business

Finance and Investment Committee: Brian reviewed the proposed policy to define the function of this committee. The motion to adopt this policy passed. In January, Jody will propose the membership of this committee for the board to approve.

Defibrillator Update: Some of the teachers/club owners have been advised by their insurance agents that there is some liability that might come with being certified to use the defibrillator. The Unit’s insurance company has been unhelpful in clarifying whether this is true. The board decided to open the training to Unit members. Brian and Jody will follow up with the insurance company to determine if there has ever been a successfully prosecuted lawsuit against a Good Samaritan using a defibrillator in California.

AV Upgrade: There will soon be a specific place for the A/V cables. A Unit member has asked whether our system can display the result of a game’s final round. This is possible now with our projection system. However, a technical problem only allows us to display what’s currently on the director’s screen. At game’s end, the director is frequently busy waiting for last minute results and the screen is the one used to input results, not the current standings. We could ask directors to show the standings screens as often as possible, but a better solution would be to find a way to allow directors to do what they normally would while the projection system (or a large LED screen which one Unit member has requested) shows the results.

Partnership Desk: Jody reported that Corine Carter will take over the partnership responsibility that Aruna had been managing. She will be talking with each of the club owners. She hopes to put an article in the Kibitzer and the board is committed to helping her.

Bridge Center Repairs: Kevin noted that the dealing machine has been refurbished. He also opined that we need two more timing clocks, which might be another use for the A/V system.

Brian’s Closing Comments: Brian thanked everyone for the work they contributed during his tenure as president and for helping to leave the unit in significantly better condition that it was when the outgoing members joined the board. He reviewed the major accomplishments of the last two years. The Unit members’ discontent with the board has diminished significantly and in many cases gone. The administration of the unit has improved significantly – there are new By-Laws and the Unit’s most significant policies have been documented and are available to everyone. The board now follows the spirit of Robert’s Rules of Order, and the actions of the board are transparent – there are no secret meetings. All decisions are reported in the minutes – the detail of which go beyond Robert’s Rules. We’ve strengthened the board by adding people who wish to be on the board. We have dramatically improved our financial infrastructure including preparation of a budget and regular financial reports, and the Unit will actually show a surplus this year (which will fund the Lecture Series in 2015). We have a beautiful Bridge Center. Our Unit games are growing. Our teachers are very popular and our classes are full. Our special events (e.g., Learn Bridge in a Day, the Kantar Seminar) have been very successful. And our Education Programs have been very popular. Brian then thanked each of the directors for their individual contributions. James and Todd thanked Brian for his leadership, without which it would have been difficult to achieve the results listed above.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:40 pm. The next meeting will be on January 2 at 3:00 pm in the Bridge Center.