Minutes for the Board Meeting on November 17, 2020
Attendees:
Peter Melhus, AA6PM
Jeff Walker, N6ADE
Walt Spector, W6WS
John Glass, NU6P
Don Steinbach, AE6PM
Meeting called to order by Peter Melhus at 19:30
Special Meeting of the Board of Directors
- Appointment of a new President to fill the vacancy created by Ron Jones’ death
- SARA Bylaws gives the Board the authority to fill an officer vacancy.
- Peter asked the Board if there are any additional candidates to be brought forward – no other candidates.
- Do we want to discuss the proposal of Jeff Walker taking over the President’s role until the next Board election?
- Jeff spoke and gave a short discussion consisting mainly of:
- Yes, he will accept this position if voted in by the Board
- Will continue Ron’s legacy and operating principles until our next election
- Peter asked for the Board to vote on having Jeff Walker assume the role of President for the remainder of the current Officer’s term (ending first Wednesday in January, 2021). All ayes, motion is unanimous
- Peter asked if Jeff would like to run the remainder of the meeting. Jeff declined and was happy to have Peter continue through his agenda
- Next, discussion about the vision for the club, the make-up of the Board, and thoughts going forward
- John: we need to continue to evolve (crawl, walk, run). Maybe bring in one public service event. When the club was formed in 1989, the focus was entirely on emComms. Now, we have grown to include members interested in DXing, contesting, digital modes, etc. We have blossomed into a general interest club. We do, however, need to keep emComms as one main reason for our existence.
- Don: we need more skills in other facets of ham radio. He cautioned that another survey might overwhelm the membership if we still have last year’s survey and it might remain usable.
- Peter: injected that our last survey only garnered about 6-7 responses.
- Walt: discussed the evolution of the board and the desire for some new faces to round out the focus. 49 members is the highest the club has ever been.
- Don: guest speakers other than emComm focus has been great!
- John: we do need, however, to spend a few meetings on emComm topics. We do have many new members and a focus on how to do things and how to build skills to be better equipped to support the city in time of an emergency
- Peter: indicated that Brent put together a letter to the FCC in SARA’s name to show our opposition to the proposed Amateur Radio FCC $50 licensing fee
- Don: indicated that he also wrote a letter on behalf of SVECS with the same opposition
- John: mentioned the possibility of a low-key Field Day at possibly the Warner Hutton House. This was well received by the other Board members
- Peter will send out an email to our larger distribution list letting them know of the selection of our new President.
- Membership Renewals
- John indicated a possibility:
- 49 members is the most in the club’s history
- Some of the gains were a result of the 30 year anniversary party, Ron and Peter’s efforts, and a push within CERT to obtain their amateur license.
- Suggest we carry our membership and give 2021 as a free year.
- Don motioned to:
- Extend all members to get a 2021 as a free year of membership
- Anyone who submits dues for 2021 get credit through 2022
- Discussion ensued and the motion was amended to read:
- All members get a one year extension to cover 2021. If anyone has paid dues for 2021, they will receive an extension through 2022.
- Peter and Don first and seconded, all in favor, (all ayes), motion passed unanimously
- John indicated a possibility:
- Santa Clara County ARES members need to refresh their personnel details
- Peter indicated that all ARES members need to go to the SCC ARES RACES web site and review/acknowledge their personal profile.
- Other discussion:
- GoDaddy renewal is upon us. Jeff will handle.
- Groups.io might be a better vehicle for distribution list management (both the membership list, and the larger net nanny list). Jeff will look into how to populate a list in groups.io (thinking right now is it requires a paid account)
- Corp Yard keys. Need to re-distribute the keys (with City approval) to appropriate members who might need access for repeater repair.
Meeting adjourned at 20:45
Respectfully submitted, Jeff Walker, Secretary