MINUTES OF A MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
RANDONNEURS USA, INC.
Held January 9, 2019
A meeting of the RUSA Board of Directors was convened by telephone conference and called to order by the president at 1701 PST.
The following Directors were in attendance:
• Debra Banks
• John Lee Ellis
• John Capn Ende
• Jake Kassen
• Nigel Greene
• Lois Springsteen
• Dave Thompson
A Motion was made and passed to approve the meeting minutes from December 5, 2018.
There were two motions that were passed in email that were approved at the meeting:
- MOTION: Stop sending the RUSA Handbook to new members and continue to have in the store for sale.
- MOTION: To approve Gardner Duval’s succession of Nick Bull as RBA of the Capitol Region.
The RBA Liaison reported that the Fresno, CA region has been deactivated at the request of the RBA and the events for 2019 were cancelled.
Officer elections were held for 2019. The president reported that the current officers all expressed interest in continuing in their current roles. Each of the following officers was elected by individual vote:
Secretary: Lois Springsteen
Treasurer: Dave Thompson
Vice President: Debra Banks
President: John Lee Ellis
The Treasurer distributed a report for review prior to the meeting and answered questions from the group during the meeting. Discussion of the cost of supporting each member was discussed and compared to current dues. There are bubbles of cash because of long-term memberships. Increases in insurance fees may cause cash reserve changes in 2020. The biggest expense items are the newsletter and insurance. A one-year cash reserve is considered prudent to maintain operations.
Nominations for the American Randonneur Award for 2018 were compiled by a volunteer and presented to the board in email. These were discussed at length and a selection was made.
The president stated that there is nothing new to report on the Romo v. RUSA case.
The waiver committee reported that valid waivers for minors are required by our insurance. Until we have clarification from our insurance company on what constitutes a valid waiver for a minor, minors are permitted to ride in Florida and Alaska only. An announcement will be made to the members.
A web team update was provided. Waiver acknowledgement is now part of the online join/renew process. PBP content will be consolidated for easy access by our members. There’s a new block on the home page about PBP and subscriptions to this content will be allowed in the future. The web committee is adding more volunteers for its 2019 strategic initiative to move to a new database structure and more contemporary programming system. A theme update is coming to the website.
A New Year’s email blast is planned to cover the wool jersey reorder, PBP 2019 jersey design, PBP pre-registration dates and reminders to renew membership.
It was decided that a board member will be added to the Insurance Committee, in addition to other members as needed.
RUSA membership requirement and fees were discussed. RBAs will have plenty of notice if and when the membership fees are changed. Membership requirements and liability concerns will be shared with RBAs in future presentations.
The meeting was adjourned at 1924 PST.