BOARD MEETING MINUTES March 3, 2003

Members present (all):
Denise Teal • Joyce Norris • Beth Bartholomew • Michelle Olsen • Linda Koutsky • Laura Tomaszewski • Karen Herceg • Janet Lewis

Call to order:
5:40 p.m. Pacific Time by Denise Teal

1.  Recording Secretary's Report: Michelle Olsen

1.1  Approval of minutes of January board meeting
Minutes were approved previously via email, refer to Section 5 for details.

2.  Corresponding Secretary's Report: Linda Koutsky

• Letter sent to Maureen Schulz notifying her that she was not suspended from BCSA because the AKC made an error.
• Letter to Betsy Korbonski notifying her that the Board had approved the Border Collie Club of Greater Los Angeles conformation show to be held on May 22, 2003.
• E-mail message received from Purina Parent Club Partnership Program notifying us that the club has earned $880.72 for the year. Half of this will go the Canine Health Foundation and half will be distributed by Purina directly to the club.
• Canine Health Foundation news brief was received from AKC-forwarded to Lisa Ochoa for possible inclusion in Borderlines.

3.  Treasurer's Report: Beth Bartholomew

3.1  Interim Financial Report

• Checking balance: $20,624.30
• Savings balance: $50,000.00
• Health balance: $ 2,336.16 (included in savings balance)
• Rescue balance: $10,061.90 (included in savings balance)

4.  Interim Business Transacted by US Mail

4.1  New Members approved

• Noel Sich
  Address 12917 30th Ave, Plattsmouth, NE 68048
  Telephone 402-298-8546
  Email sichya@yahoo.com
  Sponsor Sandy Jones
• Margaret Grundman
  Address 13236 Haxton Pl., San Diego, CA 92130
  Telephone 858-793-2660
  Email margaretgrundman@yahoo.com
  Sponsor Kathy Murphy
• Robin Kilbury
  Address 11235 Akron Ave., Inver Grove Hts., MN 55077
  Telephone 651-455-6878
  Email rek3@attbi.com
  Sponsor Susane Joura Hoffman
• Maureen Scheall
  Address 3731 East Ave K, Lancaster, CA 93535
  Telephone 661-946-4121
  Email mscheall@earthlink.net
  Sponsor Pat Charlton

5.  Interim Business Transacted by Email
The following seven motions were voted on via email since the January Board meeting:

5.1  Motion 2003-01
Motion: To appoint Carolyn Herbel as permanent Judges Education Coordinator.
Motion made by: Joyce Norris
Second: Linda Koutsky
In Favor: Beth Bartholomew, Karen Herceg, Laura Tomaszewski, Michelle Olsen

5.2  Motion 2003-02
Motion: To approve as written the January 6, 2003 minutes.
Motion made by: Denise Teal
Second: Joyce Norris
In Favor: Linda Koutsky, Beth Bartholomew, Karen Herceg, Laura Tomaszewski, Michelle Olsen

5.3  Motion 2003-03
Introduction: The Board of Directors received a letter via e-mail from Charlotte Lamont, attorney for Robyn Powley, on January 24, 2003. The letter threatened a lawsuit against the Border Collie Society of America based on the decision of the 2000-2002 board to deny approval of the Greater Los Angeles Border Collie Club specialty with Ms. Powley as the conformation judge.
Motion: To retain attorney Doug Spidel, of Spengler, Nathanson, Toledo, Ohio, whose initial retainer is $500.00, to protect the interests of BCSA.
Motion made by: Denise Teal
Second: Laura Tomaszewski
In Favor: Linda Koutsky, Beth Bartholomew, Karen Herceg, Joyce Norris, Michelle Olsen

5.4  Motion 2003-04
Introduction: The ballots for the revised standard will be sent to the membership soon. Our bylaws require that the President (with approval of the Board of Directors) appoint three members to count the ballots. The inspectors must be members in good standing who are not members of the current Board or the membership chair.
Motion: To appoint Kim Green, Lois Rifner, and Lynn O'Keefe as inspectors of election for the vote on the revised standard.
Motion made by: Denise Teal
Second: Karen Herceg
In Favor: Linda Koutsky, Beth Bartholomew, Laura Tomaszewski, Joyce Norris, Michelle Olsen

5.5  Motion 2003-05
Motion: To grant parent club approval to the Border Collie Club of Greater Los Angeles to hold a conformation show on May 22, 2003.
Motion made by: Beth Bartholomew
Second: Linda Koutsky
In Favor: Joyce Norris, Michelle Olsen, Karen Herceg
Against: Laura Tomaszewski

5.6  Motion 2003-06
Motion: In the future, the Board of Directors will not categorically deny parent club approval for a show based solely on the requesting club's selection of Robyn Powley as the judge.
Motion made by: Linda Koutsky
Second: Joyce Norris
In Favor: Michelle Olsen, Karen Herceg, Beth Bartholomew
Against: Laura Tomaszewski

5.7  Motion 2003-07
Motion: To appoint the following members as alternate inspectors of election for the standard revision ballots: Nancy Little, Jacque Hoye, and Joanna Yund.
Motion made by: Denise Teal
Second: Laura Tomaszewski
In Favor: Joyce Norris, Michelle Olsen, Karen Herceg, Beth Bartholomew, Linda Koutsky

5.8  Change to Judges Education Committee Chair Description
The board clarified the description of the Chair Position as follows:

• Added AKC Licensed Judge to list of qualifications for the position, as an alternative to the existing requirement. Now the sentence reads, "breeder, owner or co-owner of at least four Border Collie conformation champions or AKC Licensed Judge."
• Under duties: Changed original language of "Develop and maintain a standard presentation that will be used for all judges education presentations" to "Create a presentation outline that will ensure uniform information at all judges' education presentations."

6.  Committee Business

6.1  Breed Standard Committee: Joyce Norris, Liaison
Ballots are in the mail for a membership vote on the new Breed Standard text.

6.2  Breeder Referral Committee: Karen Herceg, Liaison
The new breeder referral form submitted to Borderlines for publication, with an April 30th deadline for returning them. Will also post a preliminary page on the club website, and the actual list of breeders will be updated in May.

6.3  Health Committee: Laura Tomaszewski, Liaison

• Laura reported that Debbie Brooks has resigned as chair of the health committee due to time constraints. Laura offered to serve as the new chair. Laura is a health care professional, so meets the required qualifications for the position. Michelle Olsen moved to appoint Laura as the chair, and Beth Bartholomew seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
• OFA quarterly report for our breed was received. Denise reported that Laura has been designated as the new recipient of these reports. Laura is going to see if she can format it for inclusion in Borderlines.
• Laura reported that Peggy Timm, DVM has expressed willingness to serve on the health committee.
• Laura is in the process of creating an email discussion list on yahoogroups.com, for BCSA members, to begin to gather information and feedback to help determine the direction of the committee's focus.

6.4  Health and Rescue Foundation Committee: Laura Tomaszewski, Liaison
Richard Whorton submitted some research and background material on establishing a Health & Rescue Foundation, with several options for the direction our club could take. He requested feedback from the board and support to continue with the steps necessary for the creation of the Foundation. Discussion was held, but no formal decisions will be made at this point. Denise had provided Richard with an attorney's contact information-a person who is experienced in setting up non-profit dog club foundations, such as this one. Richard is in the process of contacting this person and will report back. Laura will make contact with Richard to give positive feedback on the information gained thus far, requesting him to continue his work in the same direction.

6.5  Versatility Award Committee
Janet Larson Versatility Award at the Specialty: Emily Czapek will not be able to head up coordination of the award at the specialty. If someone is willing to take over that responsibility, please contact Sandy Jones. It was decided, upon the suggestion of Emily, to only accept pre-registrations for ease of processing.

7.  Old Business

7.1  2003 National Specialty: Sandy Jones, Chair

• Budget: Preliminary budget was reviewed and approved by the board. Expected income is approximately $56K, expected expenses $45K.
• Catalog: a separate herding event catalog will be compiled (apart from obedience/conformation/agility), sold for $5 each. Barbara Witte will compile the catalog free-of-charge; the club will pay the printing costs. The main event catalog will be prepared by the Show Superintendent and produced by a professional printer.
  Registration fee: the general specialty registration fee has been eliminated this year. Due to this change, there will be no exhibitor "goodie bags."
• Ribbons versus rosettes: the question was raised whether to move towards offering rosettes only for first places, and flat ribbons for all other placements. It was agreed upon that rosettes are appropriate for all placements since this is a national-level event. Linda Koutsky volunteered to coordinate the ribbon ordering. Linda mentioned that there is a significant cost savings potential if you an order the ribbons after the closing date, so you have accurate counts of entries to minimize the number of ribbons ordered. This is the method that was used in the last two specialties.
• Host Hotel: this year we are switching to the Best Western for the host hotel. They have similar accommodations for dog events, the price was better, and the location is closer to Purina. There is hope that with the closer location, there will be greater participation in specialty events held at the host hotel.
• Hospitality Room: Denise reported that she is going to be in St. Louis soon, and will stop by the new host hotel to preview the hospitality room.

7.2  Conformation Class Color Division Issue
The question of whether or not to allow color splits in conformation classes, how the classes should be split, and what the color definitions are is still a pending issue. Currently, AKC rules allow clubs, at their choosing, to split classes into "Black and White" and "AOAC" (any other allowed color). The board decided to refer this issue to the Breed Standard Committee to research the issue and gather membership input, then propose a recommendation for how the issue should be handled. Our club has the authority to define this policy, and need only notify AKC of a change, which would then be publicized by AKC to all licensed show superintendents.

7.3  Missi Roland Membership Application
Karen Herceg made a motion to approve the membership application of Missi Roland, Laura Tomaszewski seconded the motion.
In favor: Linda Koutsky, Joyce Norris, Beth Bartholomew
Opposed: none
Abstain: Michelle Olsen

8.  New Business

8.1  AKC Archives
AKC recently announced that they would archive club information free of charge. Denise is coordinating efforts to submit any historical club material we have that we would like to have archived, and will ask Nancie Mages to send a Border Recorder book.

8.2  ROM/ROMX Advertisement Policies
A question was raised on how ROM/ROMX dogs may be advertised in Borderlines, and under which definition this type of ad falls. Currently, it is not completely clear in the policy whether this is a kennel ad or a "brag" ad, and whether the ROM/ROMX dog itself and/or the progeny must be listed with health clearances. It was determined that this may be considered a kennel ad, which only requires that the dog itself have health clearances listed, not the progeny. However, clarification is needed in the guidelines for this particular case, since there will often be cases where the ROM/ROMX dog is elderly, altered, or deceased, and no longer has up-to-date health clearances (in which case, the clearances in effect at the time of the breeding of the progeny would be listed). It was decided to refer this issue to the Policies and Procedures committee to determine the wording clarification. Denise will contact the chairs.

8.3  Membership

• Denise prepared a postcard to be mailed to all members whose membership has lapsed, informing them of the by-laws policies on this issue, and encouraging them to either re-apply for membership or provide reasoning that their case may be determined "meritorious" by the board, such that their late renewal may be accepted.
• There was much confusion over membership renewals this year, and the board discussed options for making this process smoother next time. It was decided that reminders would be sent to all members in early December, 2003, with a clear reminder of the by-laws policy on late renewals.

9.  Date of Next Meeting
Monday May 5th, 2003, 5:30pm Pacific Time.

Adjournment motion:
8:07 p.m. Pacific Time by Karen Herceg, second: Joyce Norris

Respectfully submitted by Michelle Olsen, Recording Secretary.

Minutes unanimously approved by the board via email.

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Page Updated 08.02.2007