District Board Meeting Minutes

Monday, June 12, 2000, Penticton, B.C.

 

1.  The meeting was called to order by President Steve Hosch at 9:10 A.M.  He declared a quorum with the following members present:  Jennifer Ballantyne, Gordon Bower, Clay Gerstenberger, Dave Grubbs, Steve Hosch, Joe Jabon, Barbara Nist, Gay Parrish, Margaret Pearce, David Schmidt, Larry Spangler, and Angela Taylor.  Also present was Dudley Brown, Secretary.  Roger Putnam, ACBL Field Representative, was also present during part of the meeting.

 

2.  The Agenda was accepted as presented.

 

3.  Taylor moved and Grubbs seconded to accept the Richmond 2000 minutes as presented.  Motion carried unanimously.

 

4.  The following correspondence was reported:

 

     a.  An ACBL letter indicating Barbara Nist was reelected to the National Board for 2001 through 2003.

 

     b.  A request to transfer between Units.  President Hosch stated he would continue to approve such requests routinely per Board policy.

 

     c.  A letter from District 20 President Jeff Taylor inquiring about advertising in the Gazette.

 

     d.  The ACBL Unit Membership Retention Report was received by President Hosch and is available for review.

 

     e.  Gerstenberger presented a request from the Anchorage Regional for reimbursement for DINO Charity Winners free plays redeemed there.  He was authorized to pay the claim and to charge it against the District Charity Game expenses.

 

     f.  An unsigned statement requesting payment for the District’s share of expenses for the Vancouver Unit hosting the District NAOP Finals.  Payment will not be made until the statement is itemized and conforms to District policy for reimbursing the hosting of the finals.

 

5.  The following reports were given:

 

     a.  Treasurer:

 

     (1)  The Richmond 2000 Regional report showing a net gain  of $1,470.

 

     (2)  The District 19 Combined Assets Statement as of December 31, 1999 showing $89,954.61 in Canadian accounts and $38,459.02 in U.S. accounts.

     b.  Tournament Oversight:

 

     (1)  Spangler presented new Regional rotation plans.  Nist moved and Spangler seconded to adopt the four year rotation plan below starting in 2002.

 

Year 1  Richmond  Jan.     Penticton  Jun.     Everett    Aug.     Yakima          Oct.

Year 2  Victoria        Apr.     Penticton  Jun.     Everett    Aug.     Wenatchee  Oct.

Year 3  Richmond  Jan.     Penticton  Jun.     Nanaimo Aug.      Tacoma       Oct.

Year 4  Victoria        Apr.    Penticton  Jun.      Everett   Aug.       Spokane      Oct.

 

Motion carried unanimously.

 

     (2)  Parish presented results of a survey conducted at the Richmond 2000 Regional.

 

     c.  Budget and Finance:

 

     (1)  Jabon presented graphs depicting DINO income and expenditures for the past few years.

 

     (2)  Schmidt gave a printed analysis of DINO expenditures and income by categories for the years 1997, 1998, and 1999, along with three year averages and projected year 2000 expenditures.

 

     (3)  Hosch reported on the audits of 1998 and 1999 financial records.  The Treasurer will meet with the Auditor to clear up some minor questions.

 

     (4)  Schmidt reported on Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency report requirements,

stating that no reports were required as long as Canadian bank accounts totaled less than $200,000.

 

     d.  Schmidt stated that the District-Wide Charity Game is scheduled for Thursday evening, October 26th during a District Charity Week, October 23 through 29, 2000.  Details are presented on page 25 of the current Gazette.

 

     e.  Putnam, Field Representative and District Tournament Coordinator, passed out tournament schedules which will need revising due to the new rotation plan.  He requested clarification on when victory points were to be used for Swiss Team games in the current tournament.  Jabon moved and Grubbs seconded to have both the Championship Swiss events be Victory Points.  Motion passed with ten yes and one no votes.  Schmidt recorded his negative vote.

 

     f.  Tournament Administrator Brown reported progress was slow on combining the Tournament Manual with the Tournament Section of the Policy Manual due to his Windows program on his computer being wiped out by a virus contracted from ACBL furnished disks for the World Wide Pairs.

     g.  Nist asked the Board’s opinion on two issues to come before the National Board during the Anaheim Summer meetings.  The Board was in favor of establishing a policy of leaving the bid cards on the table until after the opening lead.  No consensus was reached on allowing players to look at their own convention card during bidding but there were more negative comments than positive.

 

     h.  Multi-Level Events:

 

     (1)  Hosch told of the lack of income from the GNT this past year.  The Board had previously expressed interest in increasing the subsidy to District teams competing in the National Finals.

 

     (2)  Gerstenberger moved and Jabon seconded to subsidize teams competing at the National Finals at the rate of $600. per team.  Nist moved and Jabon seconded to amend the amount to $800. per team.  Amendment failed with three yes and eight no votes.  Nist recorded her yes vote.  Main motion failed with two yes and nine no votes.  Ballantyne and Jabon recorded their yes votes.  The current policy of $400. per team remains in force.

 

     (3)  Nist moved and Ballantyne seconded to table the issue of how to seed the District Finals of the GNT.  Motion passed unanimously. 

 

     (4)  Schmidt moved and Parrish seconded to establish the following payment or expense reimbursement policy for Units hosting the NAOP District Finals:

 

           A per table pro-rata share of the space costs;

          Specific directors cost or pro-rata share if non-specific directors used;

          Per table charge as per PDI contract for supplies and equipment;

          A pro-rata share of hospitality, not to exceed Regional allocation per table.

 

Motion failed with three yes and eight no votes.

 

     i.  Hosch reported that charges had been brought against two Victoria players  playing in the District Finals of the NAOP and that a hearing will be scheduled during the next Victoria Sectional.

 

     j.  Publications and Public Relations: 

 

     (1)  Grubbs reported that he had established a Domain name and had all new material on the District Web site as of last Saturday.  See www.d19.org.

 

     (2)  Schmidt moved and Bower seconded to charge double the District’s cost for outside ads in the Gazette.  Currently that will be $250. for a full page and $150. for a half page ad.  Motion passed unanimously. 

 

     (3)  President Hosch requested that Bower send information and suggestions to Jude Goodwin-Hanson on a different way to layout tournament events on flyers and ads.

 

     (4)  Schmidt moved and Jabon seconded to reject Mr. McIntyre’s proposal on editing District 19 tournament bulletins.  Motion carried unanimously. 

 

     (5)  The District will continue to publish the Gazette twice yearly

 

     k.  Brown reported that the filing period for the following District 19 Board positions for 2001 through 2003 was open until 15 July 2000 and that the filing period was announced on the District Web Page and in the current Gazette:

 

          Western Washington at Large (Incumbent Steve Hosch has filed.)

          Eastern Washington at Large (Incumbent Clay Gerstenberger is not running.)

 

In addition, the Vancouver B.C. and Seattle Units must appoint for the same three year period.  (Positions currently held by David Schmidt and Joe Jabon, respectively.)

 

6.  Unfinished Business:

 

     a.  Ballantyne took suggestions for adding and deleting names to the standing Appeals, Conduct, Discipline, and Ethics List and will republish it.

 

     b.  Grubbs moved and Taylor seconded to subsidize District 19 members attending Junior Camps one half of their transportation cost up to a maximum of $250.  Bowers moved and Taylor seconded to amend the motion to limit reimbursement to apply to camps held in North America.  Amendment failed with three yes and eight no votes.  Main motion passed with ten yes and one no vote.  Jabon recorded his negative vote.

 

     c.  Nist’s request to have State or Province championships was referred to the Multi-Level Events Committee for recommendations.

 

     d.  The 1999 ACBL Charity Foundation grant will be presented to the Wenatchee Chapter of Habitat for Humanity at the Wenatchee Regional.  Schmidt moved and Ballantyne seconded to allocate the $1000. grant for 2000 to a charity in memory of Annie Bean.

Motion carried unanimously.

 

     e.  The President appointed a committee to investigate the allegations of an improper Unit election brought by three Spokane Unit members.

 

     f.  Nist moved and Parrish seconded to name the 2000 Puget Sound Regional opening night Charity Game in honor of Annie Bean and to make the ACBL Charity Foundation grant presentation at that time.  Motion passed unanimously.

 

 

     g.  The appointment process and duties of the District Recorder were discussed due to the Recorder’s request to resign upon finding a suitable replacement.

 

     h.  Bower discussed the Anchorage and Alaska ties to the DINO Board and presented a request to have the Anchorage Regional listed on the District pencils.  Gerstenberger moved and Schmidt seconded to include the Anchorage Regional on pencils each year for a fee of $100. yearly, with the District to furnish some of the pencils to Anchorage.    Motion passed unanimously.

 

     i.  Nist asked the Board’s opinion on the WBF proposal to increase WBF dues for the ACBL to approximately one dollar per member so that the WBF could do more work to promote bridge.  The Board consensus was to not support the increase.

 

     j.  Bower requested that the ZERO Tolerance policy be enforced or scrapped.  After discussion, the President asked him to submit a suggested policy outlining the administration of the policy at our Regionals.

 

     k.  Putnam explained the use of fill-in free plays at our Regionals to assure full tables in each event.

 

     l.  The President requested that Putnam have a Director announce at the start of any session in which less than twenty-six boards were in play giving the reason for fewer boards.

 

     m.  Ballantyne moved and Taylor seconded to return EZ Bridge texts to the ACBL for credit.  Motion passed unanimously.

 

8.  The following actions occurred during reports of tournaments:

 

     a.  Gerstenberger recruited Board member volunteers to help at the money exchange desk  to be held just before each afternoon session of this tournament.

 

     b.  Taylor moved and Parrish seconded to approve Van Buchanan as Chairperson of the Victoria 2001 Regional.  Motion passed unanimously.

 

     c.  Nist was asked to see if the Puget Sound Regional for 2001 scheduled for October 15 - 21 could be moved to August.

 

     d.  Ballantyne stated that the correct dates for the Richmond 2002 Regional were 7 to 13 January.  Nist volunteered to review the contract for Richmond before Ballantyne signs it.

 

9.  The next meeting is scheduled for Monday morning at 10:00 A.M. at the Puget Sound 2000 Regional in Everett on 6 November 2000.

 

10.  There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:10 P.M.

          Respectfully submitted,                                                   DUDLEY BROWN, Secretary