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Minutes of the
ASLCS Executive Committee
ASLCS Fall Meeting
Burlington, VT
Thursday, September 13, 2007 |
President Clemens called the meeting of the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries to order at 12:10 p.m.
Quorum
Executive Committee members present were Laura Clemens, President; Patsy Spaw, President-Elect; Millie MacFarland, Secretary-Treasurer; Cheryl Laube, Associate Vice President; Brad Hendrickson, Elected Associate Member; Suzi Lowell, Appointed Principal Member; Rob Marchant, Appointed Principal Member; Carmen Cauthen, Appointed Associate Member; Scott Kaiser, Appointed Associate Member; JoAnn Hedrick, Immediate Past President and Tara Perkinson, Immediate Past Associate Vice President, and Natalie O’Donnell of NCSL staff. A quorum was present.
Approval of Minutes
Patsy Spaw moved that the minutes of August 8, 2007 be accepted and Greg Gray seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved.
Approval of Treasurer's Report
Millie MacFarland presented the Treasurer’s Report with a balance of $44,907.68 as of September 6, 2007.
Balance as of July 31, 2007: $45,707.27
Total Deposits: $1,365.00
Subtotal: $47,072.27
Less Disbursements: $2,164.59
Balance as of September 6, 2007: $44,907.68
JoAnn Hedrick moved that the report be accepted and Patsy Spaw seconded the motion. The report was unanimously accepted.
President Clemens inquired if there was objection to taking New Business up out of order. There being no objections the President asked Patrick O’Donnell, Chair of the Bylaws and Standing Orders Committee, to present the recommendations of the committee. Chair O’Donnell stated that the work of the committee had begun in 2006 under Chair Jeannine Wood who put a lot of time and effort into the revisions and under his Chairmanship the current committee worked closely with Jeannine Wood to complete the project. The committee’s goal was to edit the standing orders to reflect current ASLCS policies and to make them easier to navigate through and more user friendly. Chair O’Donnell then reviewed the document in detail with the committee. A discussion was held and on motion of Patsy Spaw and seconded by Millie MacFarland the revisions were unanimously adopted. Chair O’Donnell thanked President Clemens and members of the executive committee and informed members that he would update the document as approved by the executive committee and send copies to the full committee.
The second part of the task was to update the indexes to the Bylaws and the standing orders and Chair O’Donnell presented the improved indexes for approval. Scott Kaiser moved acceptance of the new indexes, JoAnn Hedrick seconded the motion and the committee unanimously accepted the updated index.
President Clemens thanked Chair O’Donnell and members of the Bylaws and Standing Orders Committee for their diligence and superior work.
Obie Rutledge, Chair of the Legislative Administrator Committee, thanked President Clemens for the opportunity to chair the committee and made the following recommendations to the committee: 1) increase the current budget of $7,150 for the next year, stating that it costs approximately $2300 per edition; 2) review the printing standards and make the standards uniform; and 3) purchase a new camera to assure higher quality photos. President Clemens thanked Chair Rutledge and without objection referred the matter to incoming executive committee for decision.
A discussion was held regarding the archives of the society relative to ensuring that all appropriate documents get forwarded to Archivist Steve James in Massachusetts.
A discussion was held regarding the potential membership of Clerks from other governmental entities. After brief discussion President Clemens directed Natalie O’Donnell to send a communication to the Clerks that had inquired advising them that ASLCS Bylaws do not permit them to be members; however, we encourage them to attend our meetings.
Patsy Spaw gave an update on the spring meeting which will be held in Ashville, NC, at the Renaissance Hotel from March 31 to April 1, 2008.
An update on the budget for the 2008 annual Professional Development Seminar (PDS) was given by President Clemens and Natalie O’Donnell which resulted in a discussion regarding hotel attrition rates and the necessity to provide transportation from a second hotel to the conference hotel which will result in some additional expenses to the meeting budget. Members were informed that there will be a loss for the annual PDS; however, the final financial details will not be available until January 2008.
Natalie O’Donnell reported a balance of $16,999.00 in the Professional Development Revolving Account as of September 13, 2007.
Rob Marchant, Chair of the Subcommittee on the Society’s Financial Footprint, reported to the committee that following a discussion of the subcommittee members with Bill Pound, Executive Director of NCSL, the issue has been resolved to the satisfaction of both ASLCS and NCSL. The agreement is that NCSL will open a checking account under NCSL/ASLCS and the Secretary-Treasurer will continue to have physical possession of the dues account checkbook. The account will be included within the periodic audit of NCSL’s financial accounts. The Secretary-Treasurer will retain the responsibility of sending invoices to all members, receive and record dues checks, and maintain the membership data base. After recording of the dues checks, the Secretary-Treasurer will send the dues checks to our NCSL liaison who will deposit the funds into the dues account. NCSL will receive the bank statements on a monthly basis and forward a copy to the Secretary-Treasurer to be used for preparation of the Treasurer’s report. The agreement maintains the authority and responsibilities of the Secretary-Treasurer as required by Article II of the Bylaws, provides greater internal controls than currently exist for the dues account, and permits ASLCS to continue using NCSL’s taxpayer identification number in compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and the USA PATRIOT Act. The management plan for the dues account was accepted by unanimous consent.
JoAnn Hedrick presented the 2007 Reference Guide for use by the President and Executive Committee.
Announcements
Immediate Past Associate Vice-President Tara Perkinson thanked members of the committee and expressed her gratitude for opportunity to serve the society on the executive committee.
President Clemens expressed her deep personal appreciation and thanked all the members of the executive committee for their many hours of dedication during the past year.
There being no further business before the committee Patsy Spaw moved to adjourn, Tara Perkinson seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned at 2:56 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Millicent M. MacFarland
Secretary/Treasurer
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