Greetings Everyone,

Let me tell you what your board of directors has been doing.  It’s been a busy start of the year and some major developments have occurred.  First, after much debate and discussion, we’ve adopted new bylaws for the club.  I know, I know, most of you probably nodded off at the mention of the “B” word, but they really are important to the functioning of the club.  They help ensure an orderly and consistent approach to matters brought before the board.  Of particular note is some revision to the selection process for our president and directors.  We have eleven directors, three of which are the president-elect, president, and immediate past president.  If you do the math, that means the president-elect is effectively also elected to a three-year board term.  The remaining eight directors now serve two year, staggered terms (under our old bylaws, all directors served one year terms).  Our nominating committee (made up of the most recent five active past presidents plus the president-elect) puts together a slate comprised of a president-nominee and four proposed directors.  That slate will be announced to the club in December for ratification.  Ann McGinley, as the immediate past president, chairs the nominating committee.

            We’ve also made some changes to the Elinor Vallerga Educational Fund (EVEF).  The EVEF was established as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, which means, among other things, that donors to the fund may claim a charitable deduction on their income taxes for donations made to the fund.  The purpose of the fund was rather narrowly tailored to educational scholarships and related educational projects.  The board has decided that the scope of the EVEF should be expanded to include general charitable projects in addition to the educational projects.  To that end, the official name of the EVEF has been changed to Santa Rosa East Rotary Foundation (SRERF).  The endowment accrued under the EVEF has been preserved unchanged and will continue to be used as it always has (educational purposes only).  A fictitious business name license is being acquired by the SRERF that will allow us to continue using the EVEF name so there should be a seamless transition for those dealing with the EVEF.  Donations to EVEF will still be made as before and all EVEF funds will remain segregated from other donations and used only for the purposes set forth in the original EVEF founding documents.  But there is also being established a second account in the name of the SRERF through which our charitable endeavors (formerly run through the services account) will be run.  Thus donations made to SRERF will also qualify for charitable tax-deduction status.  Now the disclaimer, the Santa Rosa East Rotary Club and the Santa Rosa East Rotary Foundation do not provide legal or tax advice and donors should direct all such inquiries to their legal or tax advisors.

            The last major piece of business for the time being is the new financial controls policy adopted by the board of directors.  Although we’ve experienced no financial improprieties, the board has deemed it prudent to establish a financial controls policy to help protect those handling club monies from wrongful accusations as well as to protect the club from financial misfeasance.  The policy includes a separation of duties so that those writing checks and having control of club checkbooks will not also receive original bank statements.  Our treasurer, Brian Reed, will continue to collect and disburse funds as before, but now our new defacto controller, Mike Musson, will receive bank statements, reconcile accounts and prepare financial statements.  The new bylaws, which were adapted (although heavily revised) from the RI form of bylaws for all clubs, include a provision calling for annual audits.  The board has investigated this matter and determined the cost of such an audit at $3,000-$5,000 annually to be unreasonable given the size of our club.  The board is of the opinion that strict adherence to the new financial controls policy will negate the need for an audit and will amend the bylaws to remove the audit requirement.  Of perhaps more immediate interest to our membership at large, however, is the new policy regarding the collection of cash.  All cash collected at any event will be counted by two club members before it leaves the room.  This “take a prisoner” policy is intended to protect those taking custody of cash from being wrongly accused of misfeasance.  If you are in the position of handling cash (be it Cloud 9 dollars, fundraising monies, fines, whatever), be sure to have another club member count the money as soon as possible after it is collected and in all events before you remove the money from the room.

            That’s it for now.  The board meets the second Tuesday of each month, 5:30 pm at 576 B Street, 2d Floor Conference Room.  All are invited to attend.