President Comstock called the meeting to order at 8:10 p.m. (EST). Present were: Fred Comstock, Joyce Fletcher, Kathleen Brewer, Richard Nix, Lloyd Amodei, Ola Jeanne McCollough, Ann Sunday, Peggy Jackson, Marby Kelly & Pat Kennedy. Leanna Terrill was absent. (Melany Anaya arrived approx. 35 minutes into the meeting).
Board Reports
President - President Comstock said that all future meetings would start at their assigned time and that people who were late would have to catch up the best way they knew how. We will not be taking the time to catch people up to was has transpired prior to them coming on board. There was a length discussion relative to the Red Lion Hotel bill from Portland, OR. Comstock has previously sent a copy of this hotel bill to all Board members. Fletcher raised the question as to why we were paying for food for workers. Comstock asked for Board Reports.
Vice President – no report
Corresponding Secretary – Fletcher shared correspondence from Lisa LaMere regarding the Meet the Breed booth (will discuss later in the meeting)
Treasurer’s Report – Nix raised the question relative to the $900 bill from the Ways & Means Committee. He was not expecting such a large bill.
Anaya joined the meeting at this point and took over the taking of the minutes, the approx. time was 8:35 (EST).
Recording Secretary – Motion to approve the minutes of 1/23/07 as corrected by McCollough, seconded by Sunday.
Motion approved.
Unfinished business
Breed Standard Results - Anaya reported that she received the color-only ballots at her home, alphabetized the envelopes and delivered them unopened to the CPA for counting. A notarized report from the CPA was received and was read to the board: 372 ballots were returned, 355 were valid. There were 173 “Yes” votes, and 182 “No” votes, therefore the proposed change to the breed standard will not go forward.
Membership Directory - Anaya reports that she and Comstock were working on a way to export the membership data from the current program being used (Avery), into an Excel spreadsheet so it would be easier and more user-friendly to use. Much of the data will need to be reformatted which will be time-consuming but Anaya will do it as quickly as possible so that the data can be printed out and a directory can be mailed to all members asap.
Slate of Officers Ballots - Anaya noted that the ballot for the officer election had been mailed out, that the deadline for returning the marked ballots was March 20th, and that the CPA would have the results delivered to Anaya by March 31, 2007. Since Anaya will not be at the Annual Meeting in May 2007, the sealed results from the CPA will be mailed to Comstock, for him to take to the meeting and read to the membership.
Affiliate Club Chair – Regarding a letter from Byron Elder, the Affiliate Club Chair, about his concerns about certain Affiliate Clubs, the board would like to know if Elder can briefly attend the board meeting in KY in May to address the issue in person. Anaya (Affiliate Club Liaison to the Affiliate Club Chair) to contact Elder to see if that is possible.
2008 Show – It was mentioned that we still need a new Show Chair beginning with the 2008 national specialty. Marcia Terry has offered to take the position but it was noted that Terry is not a current BTCA member. It was thought that Terry would be submitting an application for membership and could possibly get voted back in after the Annual Meeting in May 2007. It was noted that it would be beneficial to have a new Show Chair shadow Brewer at the 2007 show. So far no one else has volunteered to take the position and it was the feeling of the board that the new Show Chair should not be a board member and should be able to attend the first part of each board meeting to give the board an update.
Treasurer Bonding – Nix reports that bonding for the position of Treasurer was renewed for the next 3 years.
Copyrighting Breed Standard – Fletcher reports she received the information but had misplaced it and only recently found it. Fletcher to mail the information to Amodei to review and report back to the board.
Charitable Trust – The Trustees of the Charitable Trust sent out 2 letters to the board that they are not approving the 2 grants that they were recently asked to approve (Patella Luxation and Cancer/Lymphoma Grants) and that they are not going to release any more funds because the trust would eventually not be viable if depleted. The board is not aware of how much money is in the account and that information is not being released by the Trustees. The board thinks there is currently approx. $15,000.00 in the account. The board also questioned whether the Health Committee was ever reimbursed the $900 they were charged to set up the account. It was thought that they had not. Correspondence from the Trustees takes months, and they have been ignoring the request to drop the previous Treasurer, Deanna Jones, and add the new Treasurer (since July 2006) Richard Nix. Currently, Nix is required to be a Trustee, with access to the funds, and he is not because Jones is still on the account and they have not replaced her with Nix.
The membership should know that the Trust was originally set up with money that the Health Committee raised because they wanted to be able to accept tax-deductible donations.
The board feels that most members do not know what the trust is for, including such questions as why the account was opened, how much money is in the account, if it is a separate entity from the BTCA, etc. It is also unknown how often they meet, what criteria they use when they approve/disapprove requests for grants. It was thought that a memorandum of understanding would be helpful to the membership as it seems that the Trustees “make up the rules” as they go along. To resolve the uncertainty it was felt that the board put some of the questions in writing and possibly meet with the Trustees at the National Specialty in May 2007. Amodei & Comstock to draft letter addressing issues and mail to the Trustees asking if they are available to meet in KY.
Meet the Breed Booth – Letter received from Lisa LeMere volunteering to take over the Meet the Breed both for the next 3 years. Motion by Fletcher for LeMere to act as Committee Chair and to form a committee as she sees fit, seconded by Sunday, motion approved.
New Business
Commonwealth of MA – Comstock reports that the BTCA is current until Nov. 2007. It was questioned as to whether Deana Jones had filed the club’s taxes as per the minutes of Oct. 23, 2006. Comstock to call Jones & report back to board.
Committee Reports – Fletcher requests that all committees submit a committee report by May 1, 2007. Limit 1 page per committee.
Annual Board Meeting – 5/21/07 at 9 a.m.
Ask Ernestine - Anaya reports that the Ask Ernestine email receives about 5-10 emails per week, mostly from non-BTCA pet owners asking about everything from where to find obedience classes in their area to how to travel with a boston terrier. It was felt that a FAQ page might be of use on the BTCA website. Anaya to send a list of typical questions to all board members and have them submit answers to be posted on a FAQ page on the site.
Show Dedication – Jackson to submit 2 pages of information about Lillian Huddleston for the national catalog to Brewer.
Donation – Jackson explained that an anonymous donator would like to donate a valuable boston terrier oil painting to the BTCA auction but that it would be nice to give the donor a nominal amount back since the painting is worth a large sum of money. Motion by McCollough to accept the donation and to split the selling price 40/60 with the donor (donor to receive 40% of final selling price), seconded by Sunday, motion approved.
Mailing costs – Nix was concerned that the show packets are being mailed to all members AND are also being mailed in the Coast to Coast, costing the club an extra $400 in postage. Motion by Fletcher to exclude the show packet in the Coast to Coast from now on, seconded by Nix, motion approved.
AKC Achievement Awards – Nominations due to AKC by May 11. The board decided on the following: for conformation, Leonard Myers, for Companion/Performance: Dottie Truman.
AKC Request – AKC has requested that BTCA submit puppy photos for the AKC website. Fletcher motion for board to table until May meeting, seconded by McCollough, motion approved.
Next meeting is May 21, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. EST. Motion to adjourn by Amodei, seconded by McCollough. Motion approved. Meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m. EST.
Respectfully submitted,
Melany Anaya and Joyce Fletcher
