Board Minutes 2022-12-28

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][alg_back_button][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]JGSPBC BOARD MEETING MINUTES
WEDNESDAY, December 28, 2022

 

ABSENT: Dennis Rice, Lori Schindelman

 

The meeting was called to order by President Beryl Cole at 1:25 PM. Beryl announced that Neil Bass has resigned as Treasurer due to family health issues and Larry will also be stepping down as of January 1st. Larry clarified and said that he has not resigned. Mona moved to make Larry stay on as Treasurer. But Larry said we need to first rescind the motions from the previous Board meeting. Larry is automatically still Treasurer until a new one is appointed.

 

Judy Gelpey made a motion to approve the November Board meeting minutes. Larry seconded and motion passed. Judy then read the minutes from the December 14, 2022 Special Board Meeting. Judy then made a motion to approve the minutes and Larry seconded the motion. Motion passed.

 

Larry asked if Dennis, as Parliamentarian, explained the process that must follow. Dennis did not so Larry explained the next steps based on Robert’s Rules of Order. We have the authority to change a motion if it has never been implemented and it has to carry 2/3 of the majority who passed the original motion.

 

The first motion was that we voted Neil Bass in as a Board member. Barbara asked if he will consider being a Treasurer in the future or are we actively looking for a new Treasurer. Beryl said that his parents are ill and he said he wants to be active. Larry and others feel he should then remain on the Board and the only thing to consider is a change in the quorum. Therefore, the motion does not need to be rescinded.

 

Secondly, the motion to make Neil the Treasurer should be rescinded. Larry moved to rescind the motion making Neil the Treasurer and Joel seconded. No discussion ensued. All approved and motion passed. Mona asked if he would be an At-Large Board member. This will be looked into by Beryl and discussed at the next Board meeting.

 

John asked if perhaps Neil would serve in an advisory role but Allan said no, let it be for right now and let him get through these family issues.

 

We then discussed the creation of the position of Assistant Treasurer that was a motion and one that made Larry serve in this role. Joel made the motion to rescind the second part of the motion and Larry seconded. Motion passed. Discussion then focused on whether we keep the position of Assistant Treasurer. Cindy and others said to just keep the position.

 

TREASURER’S REPORT: Financial Report on website

 

Checkbooks are balanced. Larry moved to accept the Treasurers Report. Cindy asked about the monthly Bill Pay to the Temple. The Temple gets an actual check but it is taking awhile for them to receive it. Larry said he discussed with the Temple and they are okay with the process. Motion then passed.

 

Larry never received a bill from the speaker from the December 14th meeting. Beryl said the speaker is going to send it.

 

Larry also never received the credit we should have received from the South County Civic Center for the meeting that was cancelled due to the hurricane. Beryl will look into that.

 

Larry then presented a revision to the current budget that is posted on the website. There was the addition of the $1500 for the library rental that wasn’t on the original budget. The first column is what was adopted the end of March, 2022, the second column is Actual Expenses through December, 2022 and the third column is a revision Larry is proposing in order to have a balanced budget. Larry said we are still $900 shy of our target for Membership – both Annual and Life. Life member fees are transferred out of the Reserve into the actual budget. Larry is suggesting that we need at least 20 new members to balance the budget. The problem is that we get few new members in January and February and in March we flip them to the next year.

 

Larry then discussed workshops which are budgeted with an income of $1000 to charge for our training. Larry reduced the $1000 to $500 and is looking for a legitimate reason for keeping it there. John said once a budget is adopted, it shouldn’t be changed but you can add a variance or an amendment. Larry said he is proposing an amended budget.

 

Mona said the money came from charging $5 or $10 per person and if we got 30 people, that would be $300 at one time. She feels the $1000 should remain and workshops be planned. Larry’s concern is that we are 4 months into the year and thus far have no income from workshops. Larry recommends reducing the amount. Eric said we had successful workshops in the past and suggested going through the whole budget and then discussing. Eric said there was always a charge.

 

Larry also said the holiday gift to the Civic Center staff should be removed. Under Association Donations, there was discussion of the Stern Fund of the IAJGS. Dennis was involved with it but Larry removed it. The JewishGen of $500 was left in. Dues to IAJGS of $118 was left in.

 

The next change was in the speakers’ travel expenses under General Meetings. There was a lot of money budgeted for travel and Larry asked Beryl and Allan if we anticipate travel for the remainder of the year. Beryl indicated there is a Program Committee meeting in January and committee members will discuss future speakers’ travel plans. Mona will fly down in January, February & March speakers are from Miami and Laura Diamond is in April so there may be some fees associated with Laura. In May, the speaker is local. Larry assumes the $524 is reasonable.

 

Library rental has been added. Larry asked John about hiring people to do specialized website work for us. Money had been allocated but Larry adjusted to $100.

 

In conclusion, Larry is proposing this revised balanced budget. Cindy said there is always wiggle room. The budget can’t always be in black & white so she proposes accepting the revision but open to moving things around. Larry made a motion to approve this revised budget and John seconded. Motion passed.

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

MEMBERSHIP VP – Joel Sisitsky:

 

No changes from last meeting. There are four people listed as paid members but Joel doesn’t know how they paid, check or credit card, and will reach out to them. Larry has no information on them.

 

Larry noted that income is based on 117 paid annual members and 55 life members as of November 30th.

 

Cindy has five speaking engagements over the next couple of months in Palm beach County libraries. She will spread the word and encourage membership.

 

Larry removed the money under Speakers Bureau and it will be found money if it happens.

 

Mona asked why we give a discount by joining in March. Most organizations don’t do this. Eric said it’s not really a discount, it’s an extension of their membership for the following year. Larry said it is considered an incentive, not a discount. The Budget Committee should discuss this issue. Beryl added that our by-laws state that other JGS members can attend two free visits to our meetings.

 

Eric said that he checked the Policies & Procedures manual and it does state that if someone joins after March 1st, their membership is for the remainder of the year and for the next membership year. There was some confusion as to whether it was March 1st or March 31st so Eric clarified this issue.

 

Eric will also check to see if a charge for workshops is in the manual. Mona said we charged for workshops because if people don’t pay, the aren’t fully committed and they tended not to show up.

 

EDUCATION & POLICIES AND PROCEDURES VP – Eric Sharenow:

 

The purpose of the Policies & Procedures manual is that we can go back and check the definitive information. However, it is very laborious to keep checking the manual and Mona said too much has changed. Eric said that he can research the minutes on the Website and can search keywords from the minutes but he prefers to go forward. Mona said so much has changed in the past 3 years, we have to go forward. We can’t use old procedures as a basis. Eric asked that members raise issues and Eric will write the new procedures. Marilyn said that she did not receive the rough draft that Eric sent. Eric said his purpose was to keep the committee small. Marilyn feels she was always on the committee. The committee is meeting on Tuesday, January 3rd with Eric, Mona, Ina and John. John feels that anything important that should be in the manual.

 

Larry agrees that the committee must identify issues but there are adopted rules and procedures that must remain in effect until they are officially changed. It would take a lot of research. Ina said we have binders in the storage unit with old minutes but that would be too time consuming.

 

Eric said he is not wiping clean previous decisions but they have to be found. Marilyn said she has old copies of the minutes.

 

The tagging workshop focusing on documents, photos, etc. will be held by Zoom around February 1st. John will have to figure out how we will charge. He feels we should stick to Wednesdays as that is our genealogy day. The format will be broad at first with slides going step by step. It will be a hands on approach and at a later date, it can be more specific. Judy asked if people can pay by credit card on the website. John said that can be set up. Mona suggested a different price for members and non-members. Eric will discuss with the committee and will get Walter the information so he can promote it.

 

PROGRAMMING – Allan Huss:

 

Programming committee meeting will be held on January 12th. Cindy asked if Allan is head of the committee and this will be discussed at the meeting. Scattered Seeds will be about a week late. He expect to have it ready for proofing on January 14th.

 

MEDIA PUBLICITY – Walter Rosenthal:

 

Walter reported that the ads have been running in five communities: Century Village, Coral Lakes, Huntington Lakes, Rainberry Bay and Majestic Isles. These business card sized ads will run through March and he will track results. It is also in the JewishGen newsletter where he publicizes the speakers and programs. Approximately six to ten guests have paid $5 to attend meeting from the JewishGen publicity and in December there were 11. The Committee sends out welcoming notes to guests, encouraging membership.

 

Barbara Nowak read Walter’s report – The Liaison Outreach Committee establishes & maintains communication and cooperation with local populations as well as local & international organizations. This includes but is not limited to advertisements and meeting notices in community media and JewishGen media including the JewishGen Discussion Group. The committee is also responsible for communicating with guests who have paid to attend our meetings. The current JGSPBC budget includes $1500 for advertisements. A six month schedule for business card sized ads have been placed in newsletters and magazines. “Community media” is often what guests check as to how they received information about JGSPBC. We must welcome and encourage these guests to become members. Our Speakers Bureau is available to groups and houses of worship. In January, Board member Dennis Rice will be speaking at Temple Beth Am.

 

LIBRARY – Barbara Nowak & Cindy Potter Taylor:

 

Barbara reported that all information has been migrated from the old computer to the new laptop.

 

Barbara had sent out our subscription list to the Board with a list of potential subscriptions. Library should be up and running in January. Most people do not subscribe to Ancestry and those who do, do not pay for the World Subscription. Newspapers.com should also be added. New York JGS has a fee of $40. Genealogy Bank gives all the obituaries that are not in Newspapers.com and social security information. White Pages allows for 200 searches per month. My Heritage is also useful.

 

Walter said that the person involved in getting us the $10,000 grant passed away and his law firm granted Walter the power to continue with the grant. The money has been used for subscriptions. Barbara said that only the Board had passwords to these subscriptions as a perk. John asked Barbara for the total amount if we purchase all those listed. Marilyn said it was about $800 per year. Mona said Ancestry often runs specials. We should join on these days.

 

John asked if this money for subscriptions is in the budget. Larry said that the budget assumed that all subscription money was coming from the grant. The subscriptions fees are an external source.

 

Ina asked if the Litvak SIG and others are expensive to join. They are about $100 for each district. Mark said the Galitzianer Group is $50 for individuals but isn’t sure if there is a group fee.

 

Eric feels like we should only get subscriptions that help a broader group rather than a small select group. But Mona feels offering these subscriptions will encourage membership. Eric asked how do we promote this benefit? Barbara said it will be written up in Scattered Seeds, put on Facebook and on the website. Barbara and Cindy will monitor the usage. Judy asked who is designing the promo piece as it must be catchy and available to share. It can be sent to “Friends” on Facebook highlighting the benefits of membership.

 

John asked that all the information be sent to him so he can get everything on line. Eric also asked if the old computer can be used as a back up. Barbara said we have an external hard drive so no need.

 

Larry would like to know the process when paying for all these subscriptions and memberships. Barbara indicated that she will purchase directly and request reimbursement. For the next couple of years, they will be covered by the grant but Walter pointed out there is only a finite dollar amount and that will run out.

 

RECEPTION – Glenn Segal:

 

There were 60 people who attended the December meeting, including 15 guests, both in-person and Zoom. He needs a Zoom list of names after the meetings. If someone completes the application form and pays and Joel activates them, it is updated weekly. There is very little lag time.

 

IT TECHNOLOGY – John Cole

 

John gave an overview of the website, including the new Donate Now button. People can log on to the website and donation capability is on the menu bar with a button to click to make donation, complete the form, etc.

 

Events are listed under scheduled items. That would include meetings for the general public; members only can click on Administration and see Board and committee meetings.

 

Administrative section changes: Zoom links list including Board & Committee meetings & training workshops

 

 

Census – Can download census, on a pdf version

 

Funds – ability to click on the financial tab, others, disbursement forms can be downloaded

 

Minutes are now posted August thru November

 

Videos are available for tech support

 

WP form registration for meetings – there is now a document with three tabs: people who have registered, people who have paid, people who have attended. Glenn must provide information as to how many guests actually attended each meeting in person.

 

Bylaws should be on website. Consensus that they be put on members’ section, not for all to see.

 

Old Business – We are waiting for Dennis to give us a dollar amount for the indemnification insurance. The IAJGS Treasurer was supposed to explain their policy on insurance but we were not able to connect with him.

 

Larry ended the meeting by once again stressing the need for a Treasurer. There are extraneous things that go on such as knowing who uses the credit cards and recurring charges and if the purchase is authorized. The Budget Committee needs a chair that should be appointed by Beryl. Larry recommended Dennis.

 

Membership Reconciliation is another issue. Family memberships can be a problem if they are using two different emails.

 

When people join or renew, the transaction should be recorded within 5-7 days. During the busy season in July and August, it should be done within 2-3 days.

 

Larry feels we should look into getting a bookkeeping service to pay the bills and give us monthly reports. Cindy suggested asking the Temple if they have a bookkeeping service. John will get some information and will share with Larry.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 PM. The next monthly meeting is on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 and the next Board meeting is on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

 

 

Respectfully submitted

Judy Gelpey, Secretary, JGSPBC[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]