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Annual Board of Director's Meeting Minutes MINUTES OF THE MEETING NO QUORUM: AMRA’s Constitution & Bylaws requires that there be at least 9 Board members present in addition to the President in order to conduct business. President Dillon entertained a motion to make an exception to that rule for this Annual BOD Meeting only. Motion by Gilman, seconded by Dow - “To make an exception to the rule for the BOD meeting on September 16 & 17, 2004 only, that the Board be authorized to conduct business with 8 Board members in addition to the National President. PRESENTATION OF COLORS AND THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE: The Sergeant-at-Arms, Mike White, presented the colors and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. OPENING PRAYER: Fred Gilman recited the opening prayer.
PARLIAMENTARIAN: President Dillon appointed Ronald Gibbons as Parliamentarian for the duration of this meeting. BOD MEMBERS PRESENT: Bernard Dillon, Anne Boomgaard (arrived at 9:15 a.m. which made a complete quorum) Donald Buhr, Thomas Burton, Linton Dow, Vernal Favreau, Ronald Gibbons, Fred Gilman, Robert Jock, and Michael White. BOD MEMBERS EXCUSED: R.G. Brown, Harry Butts, Rosemary Gaulin, Randall Gilless, Ed Lawton, Herbert Schattle, and Robert Stone. BOD MEMBERS ABSENT: David Cook. DELEGATES: Chuck Shorey, Chap 2-1. NON-BOD MEMBERS/GUESTS PRESENT: Crystal Mang (Recording Secretary), John Campbell (Executive Director), Trudy Shorey (Visitor), and Shelly Tummons (NHQ staff). Credentials Committee: Report given by Buhr. There are four members listed as delegates on a letter provided by Chapter 2-1. However, the only delegate present is Chuck Shorey and he has been certified. PRESENTATION OF 2003 ANNUAL BOD MINUTES FOR APPROVAL: A couple items were discussed. The following recommendation was made by Burton: To include all reports and attachments with the minutes when they are distributed, and that they could be copied using both sides of the paper. Dillon stated that the office staff would make the decision about how the minutes and documents are photocopied. Motion by Gilman, seconded by Shorey to approve the 2003 Annual BOD Minutes as printed. Burton voted no, all others in favor. Motion carried. RESUMES FOR NATIONAL OFFICE AND DIRECTORS: Motion by Jock, seconded by Buhr: PRESENTATION OF NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (NEC) MEETINGS CONDUCTED BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 2003 AND SEPTEMBER 2004. The following change will be made to the minutes of the NEC meeting conducted on 2/18/04: Change the year for Conventions to the odd years, and the Annual BOD Meetings to be held in the even years. The following changes will be made to the minutes of the NEC meeting conducted on 7/13/04: Tom Burton will be added to the attendee list. Motion by Burton, seconded by Dow: “To accept the NEC Minutes with corrections noted.” SPECIAL INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE REPORT: The special committee was appointed by President Dillon to look into the behavior of 3rd Vice President Tom Burton. Members were Ron Gibbons, Vern Favreau, Fred Gilman, Don Buhr and Mike White. The special committee conducted interviews and reviewed documentation. They presented their findings and made recommendations to President Dillon. President Dillon presented the committee’s findings and recommendations to the voting members of the BOD soliciting their vote to accept or reject the recommended actions. Of the 16 voting members, 14 voted in favor of the recommendations. Two members did not respond and vote after repeated attempts to contact them. The recommendations of the special committee and the results of the BOD vote to accept these recommendations are enclosed. In a couple instances Burton attempted to make statements about the special committee actions. President Dillon reminded and reiterated to Burton that he accepted in writing, the letter of reprimand. Therefore, Burton was out of order with comments referring to an issue that was already concluded. NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT AND ELECTION OF NATIONAL OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS. Note: Per President Dillon, the election of officers was moved to this time slot to allow for the installation of officers on the dinner-cruise this evening. Linton Dow, Chairman of the committee gave his report (enclosed) and presented a ballot (enclosed) of candidates. President Dillon asked if there were any nominations from the floor. No nominations were made. Burton asked if there were any nominations sent into the Nominations Committee, which were not put on the ballot. The reply was “yes”. President Dillon stated that since Burton stated in writing that he would not run for any AMRA national office for the 2004-2005 terms, his name was not included on the ballot. Voting was conducted by paper ballot. The tally was conducted by John Campbell and Crystal Mang, and supervised by Director, Mike White. Election results were as follows: Directors – Class of 2005 Directors – Class of 2006 (All previously elected) Directors – Class of 2007 (All newly elected) PROPOSED REVISIONS TO AMRA’S CONSTITUTION & BYLAWS: See enclosed document with the proposed changes. Each item was presented individually, motion entertained, discussed; no changes were made to any items. Therefore each motion was made to accept each resolution as shown in the document. Item 1 – Motion by Gilman, seconded by Jock. Unanimously carried. Motion made by Jock, seconded by Shorey to accept all proposed revisions as a whole.
Motion made by Gilman, seconded by Jock to commend Don Buhr for all his work implementing the electronic accounting program this year. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT: The enclosed report was presented and highlighted by John Campbell. President Dillon expressed his appreciation to John and the rest of the NHQ office staff for their efforts and hard work to moving AMRA into the future. 11:50 a.m. – Meeting suspended.
Following lunch, The Officers, Directors, Office Staff and guests enjoyed an afternoon of fellowship and fun. After crossing Lake Champlain on a ferry, we went on a luau-themed dinner cruise aboard the “Northern Lights” – cruising along the shores of Lake Champlain. We all had a wonderful time. During the cruise, the installation of officers was conducted for the newly elected officers and directors. In addition to enjoying an awesome buffet dinner, we played “Aloha” (bingo), and had a trivia contest. Even though the water was rough during the trip across the lake to Burlington, the waters calmed just in time for our cruise. Thank you to all who made the cruise a success!
SEPTEMBER 17, 2004 The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. followed by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. BOD MEMBERS PRESENT: Bernard Dillon, Anne Boomgaard, Donald Buhr, Thomas Burton, Linton Dow, Vernal Favreau, Ronald Gibbons, Fred Gilman, Robert Jock, and Michael White. BOD MEMBERS EXCUSED: R.G. Brown, Harry Butts, Rosemary Gaulin, Randall Gilless, Ed Lawton, Herbert Schattle, and Robert Stone. BOD MEMBERS ABSENT: David Cook. DELEGATES: Chuck Shorey, Chap 2-1; Curtis Banker, Chap 2-1. NON-BOD MEMBERS/GUESTS PRESENT: Crystal Mang (Recording Secretary), John Campbell (Executive Director), Trudy Shorey (Visitor), NHQ office staff - Shelly Tummons, Irene Thomas and Linda Lamica. Rick Mang is visiting until the office staff returns to NHQ.
MEMBERSHIP AND CHAPTER COMMITTEE REPORT: Ronald Gibbons, Committee Chairperson, presented the enclosed report. Burton recommended that NHQ have larger quantities of supplies on hand for use at the various Retirement Activity Departments (RAD) and open houses. One goal of this committee for the next year is to focus on increasing our regular (non-ASI) membership. Any suggestions to accomplish this goal are welcomed. AUDITING COMMITTEE: Fred Gilman, Committee Chairperson, presented the enclosed report. The following motion was made by Burton, second by Jock: “Direct the Executive Director to obtain estimates from a few professional auditing firms and to present those estimates to the NEC. At that time the NEC has the authorization to hire a CPA to conduct the annual audit if the NEC determines it is financially feasible.” Unanimously carried. A discussion was held about the current procedure for payroll processing, and the writing and signing of checks. It was determined that the current process is and efficient and sufficient.
b) Find out if AMRA Directors and Officers have any insurance coverage if they were to be injured while conducting official authorized AMRA business, and/or while traveling on official AMRA business. c) To conduct an inventory of office equipment and stock to see if it exceeds our coverage limit of $23,623.00 and report back to the NEC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHOOSE DIRECTORS WHO WILL REPRESENT THEM ON THE NEC DURING THE 2004-2005 TERM. The Directors present chose the following to serve on the NEC: Linton Dow, Vern Favreau, Fred Gilman, Bob Jock. Rosemary Gaulin was chosen to be the Alternate – she would only vote if needed to have a quorum present to conduct business.
SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT: President Dillon, committee member, presented the enclosed report. There were 17 qualified applicants. The NEC approved ten $300.00 scholarships and all ten scholarships were awarded for the 2004-2005 school year. VIDEO – NATIONAL CEMETERIES: Mike White presented a video with information about the death/burial benefits for veterans and their families. Copies of the video are available. Contact Mike for more information. ED SINGER, VICE PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION & SOCIETY INSURANCE COMPANY: Highlights of his presentation: ASI has given control of some of the advertising budget to AMRA. ASI is very satisfied with the relationship between their home office staff and AMRA’s NHQ staff. ASI now has 75 employees at the home office, and expects to write one million claims in 2005. ASI has experienced significant growth in a their business this year. The Hartford Insurance Company has been a partner in this growth. This growth also helps AMRA and its membership. There was a question & answer period during Ed’s presentation.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: The results of the Executive Session are: 1) Motion by Jock, seconded by Burton - “Linda Lamica and Shelly Tummons be permanently hired. 2) Motion by Buhr, seconded by Favreau – “John Campbell be permanently hired. 3) Motion by Buhr, seconded by Jock – “Effective 1 October 2004, the entire office staff receive a 3% cost of living pay increase. NEW BUSINESS CERTIFICATE OF CHANGE: Motion made by Burton, seconded by Gilman – “To authorize President Dillon to sign the document, and request the office staff file the “Certificate of Change” to notify New York State that our headquarters is now located at 5436 Peru St., Suite 1, Plattsburgh NY 12901. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTS: President Dillon proposed an increase in the scholarships be offered for the 2005-2006 school year. The enhanced program would be much more attractive, would be more beneficial to the students, and will enhance AMRA’s marketing and fundraising efforts. Motion made by Gilman, seconded by Buhr to offer the following scholarships: 1 - $1,000.00 This represents an increase from 10 - $300.00 scholarships (total $3,000.00) this year to 13 scholarships totaling $5,500.00. If the fundraising efforts, and the annual membership deposit do not raise sufficient funds to cover the scholarship, a transfer from the AMRA general fund will be deposited into the scholarship fund to cover any shortfall. Unanimously carried. ADD NATIONAL GUARD TO THE AMRA BROCHURE/APPLICATION: Burton recommended that we specifically add “National Guard” as a branch of service to the AMRA brochure/application the next time they are printed. ASI CONTRACTS & AGREEMENTS: No new agreements were entertained between ASI & AMRA during the past year. POSTAGE STAMP HONORING VETERAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS: Preliminary plans are in the works to develop a U. S. postage stamp to honor veteran service organizations. Each stamp in the block will depict different Veteran Service organizations. All BOD members present were in agreement that we ask Ed Lawton to proceed with AMRA’s support of the above postage stamp project. 2005 AMRA ANNUAL BOD MEETING/CONVENTION: Prior to this meeting, the BOD voted by various means and opted to hold the convention in Dayton, Ohio. President Dillon is authorizing a maximum of $300.00 to defray costs for each authorized national officer and director. Motion by Gilman, seconded by White – “To reimburse a maximum of $300.00 per authorized national officer and director to attend the National Convention in 2005. Vote: Burton – no. All others voted yes. Motion carried. Motion by Gilman, seconded by Dow – “To schedule the 2005 Annual BOD Meeting/Convention as a 3 day conference.” Vote: Burton – no. All others voted yes. Motion carried. John Campbell and the 2005 Annual BOD Meeting/Convention Committee will check on dates in which the hotel is available, and to firm up the pricing of conference rooms, etc. A report will be made to the BOD as soon as possible. We will need to make a financial commitment to the hotel by January 2005. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CLOSING REMARKS BY PRESIDENT DILLON: President Dillon expressed his appreciation for the Board’s support. He noted that the input and cooperation of BOD members throughout the meetings made this year’s meeting very successful. In addition, he thanked the hard work of all of the staff for their work preparing for the meetings and the outstanding banquet and sunset dinner cruse on Thursday evening. President Dillon pledged to work to the best of his ability to keep AMRA moving forward by enhancing our name recognition profile among military retirees and provide more benefits for our membership in the coming year. One of President Dillon’s goals is to increase the monies within the College scholarship fund so we can offer better and more scholarships to our membership. President Dillon’s wife Alberta also extended her appreciation for the opportunity to visit with all of the Board and their spouses at the dinner cruise on Thursday evening. CLOSING PRAYER: Fred Gilman presented the closing prayer. COLORS RETIRED: Sergeant-At-Arms, Mike White, retired the colors. MOTION TO ADJOURN by Dow seconded by Favreau at 2:45 p.m. Unanimously carried. Meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Crystal E. Mang, Recording Secretary. Approved for distribution by President Dillon, September 27, 2004. |
