March 1, 2001
Reno, Nevada
The meeting was called to order by
President Randy Eiland at 4:30 p.m. Also present were Susan Schomburg, Maryben
Stover, Becky Hart, Jerry Fruth, Duane Barnett, Susan Kasemeyer, Lawrence
Kanavy, Maggy Price, Earle Baxter, Lem Beason, Vonita Bowers, Dane Frazier, Jim
Baldwin, Mike Tomlinson, Frank Farmer, Dean Jackson, Barney Fleming, Courtney
Hart, Vicki Rutter, Steph Teeter, Barbara McCrary, John Parke, Louise Riedel,
Terry Woolley and executive director Kathleen Henkel.
This being his last meeting as
president, R. Eiland thanked the board members for their hard work during the
past two years.
The first order of business was to
accept L. Kanavy as Northeast Regional Director to replace Hans Devouassoux,
who has resigned.
SECRETARY'S
REPORT. The minutes of the midyear Board meeting were published in the December
Endurance News with the notation that they had not been approved. Comment
sheets were sent o the Board, and corrections noted thereon were:
1. The number of "aye" and
"nay" votes on the issue of listing non-finishers was reversed.
2. The education committee report and
presentation of the new Riders' Handbook were omitted.
3. There was a question as to whether the
"additional distance" charge for a new ride was to remain at $5.00 or
increase to $10.00.
4. One comment stated that eight issues
remanded to committee were unfinished.
5. A question was asked concerning the
elimination of the $10 fee to belong to AERC International.
M.
Price moved to approve the minutes as
corrected. J. Parke seconded. V. Bowers moved to amend, subject to a review of
the tapes, to resolve the question of the increase of sanction fees (point 3).
S. Schomburg seconded. Motion to amend carried. Original motion as corrected
carried.
It
was suggested that a backup procedure be established in case the secretary
cannot be present. Remanded to Sunday meeting.
NATIONAL OFFICE
REPORT. K. Henkel reviewed a letter objecting to the sending of horse mileage
medallions and certificates during the year instead of being presented at
convention. Kathleen explained that the 1000 through 3000 awards will be
announced at the regional presentation and the 4000 and up awards will be
mentioned at the banquet. She reported that the routines of the office are working
well. The conversion to the new computer system is almost finished and the
yearbooks are completed.
NATIONAL OFFICE
COMMITTEE. V. Rutter reviewed the committee's charter. A new member survey was
instituted Dec. 1, 2000. She reviewed the results of 79 surveys returned to
date out of 250 sent out. The Administrative Policies and Procedures manual is
being revised.
Steph Teeter introduced Mike Maul,
who explained Tomcat, the new computer system, which was developed by students
from California State University, Sacramento. The Board voted a resolution of
appreciation to Mike for his hard work on this project.
TREASURER'S
REPORT. V. Rutter reviewed the year-end Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss
statement. The P & L statement showed a total income of $679,123.58; total
expenses of $601,493.79; net income of $77,629.79.
GOLDEN WEST
HISTORICAL CENTER. Larry Suddjian presented the plans for the Golden West
Historical Foundation Center, to be constructed in Auburn, CA, by a coalition
of a number of organizations, with a total proposed budget of $2,000,000. M.
Price pointed out that, although AERC has made a donation of $500, we have not
made a commitment to be part of this project.
At 6:10, B. Fleming moved to recess
for dinner. S. Teeter seconded. Motion carried. The meeting was called back to
order at 7:05.
FINANCE
COMMITTEE. V. Rutter referred to an Administrative Policies and Procedures
manual as prepared by Carlos Crespo. It was the consensus of the Finance
Committee that C. Crespo would be asked to prepare a streamlined version that
would be more applicable to AERC.
V. Rutter moved from committee to increase rider fees to $4.00 (an increase
of $1.00), beginning with the 2002 season. (This would result in a total
increase of $20,000.) Motion carried 22-1.
BY-LAWS. Steve
Rutter presented changes and additions since the previous proposal in October.
J. Parke moved from the By-laws Committee to adopt the revised, amended by-laws
as presented, with Alternative I for Article III. V. Rutter moved to amend Article
5.05 as follows . . . If a member does not pay the annual dues by the first day
of the ride season, they automatically become an inactive member until their
dues are paid for that ride season. T. Woolley seconded. A point of order was
raised—no vote was taken. L. Kanavy moved to
table the discussion until we look into re-incorporating into a state more
friendly to our organization. M. Price seconded. T. Woolley Howe moved, B.
Fleming seconded to require a roll call vote. Motion carried. Roll call vote
resulted in the following members voting AYE: S. Schomburg, B. Hart, J. Fruth,
D. Barnett, S. Kasemeyer, L. Kanavy, M. Price, E. Baxter, L. Beason, V. Bowers,
D. Frazier, J. Baldwin, F. Farmer, D. Jackson, C. Hart, S. Teeter, B. McCrary,
J. Parke, L. Riedel, T. Woolley. NAY: M. Stover, B. Fleming, V. Rutter. Motion
carried 20-3.
Mary Lutz, USET, Mike Tomlinson,
AHSA, and Michael Stone, FEI, addressed the Board on factors of international
riding affecting AERC.
PROTEST AND
GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE. J. Parke reported on three protests that have been
resolved. Three more have been filed. The P & G Committee will coordinate
proposed changes with the Rules Committee, changes to be presented at the
midyear board meeting.
LEGAL COMMITTEE.
Rich Maxwell has resigned. J. Parke spoke of the need to establish protocol to
allocate work of the committee. R. Eiland thanked Rich for his work as
chairman.
COMPETITIONS
COMMITTEE. Connie Caudill reported on the progress of plans for the National
Championship Ride. T. Woolley moved for committee that the National Championship Ride be a dual sanctioned AERC-FEI ride, and
that ride management work with J. Baldwin to secure funding for the FEI portion
of the ride. It will be conducted under AERC rules. T. Woolley moved for a
roll call vote. Motion carried. The original motion passed unanimously.
T. Woolley moved for committee that
the ride manager for the National Championship ride be allowed to pursue
sponsorships for the ride. A sponsorship obtained by ride management will go in
its entirety to the ride for its enhancement, and is not required to go to
AERC. Remanded for consideration at the Sunday meeting.
T. Woolley moved that in the light of the delay in processing the
application for the Ft. Shelbourne Ride, and the lack of listing of the XP2001
ride in EN that a half page ad be offered for the Ft. Shellbourne Ride (and to
include XP ride if he desires) in the April issue of Endurance News to make up
for this oversight. J. Baldwin moved to amend to add "slick pages" in EN to publicize the XP2001. B.
Fleming seconded. Motion to amend carried. Motion as amended carried.
TRAILS
COMMITTEE. J. Fruth suggested that AERC should give recognition to trail
preservationists.
RULES COMMITTEE.
V. Bowers stated that any rule changes are to be published 30 days in advance
of their going into effect, and to appear in a separate area in Endurance News.
The Rules Committee will work in conjunction with the Protest and Grievance
Committee to formulate new procedures.
VETERINARY
COMMITTEE. Duane Barnett reported that in 2000, 17 rides were tested including
85 horses, with no positives. There is a need to require the names of all
veterinarians who officiate at rides; the office may develop a ride result form
including all such information, rather than using extra forms. A website where
riders could ask questions of veterinarians may be developed. There is a need
for a statement concerning nutriceuticals. A question has been asked as to
whether LD rides should be drug tested. Remanded to Sunday meeting.
INTERNATIONAL
COMMITTEE. Mike Foss reported three new zone representatives have been elected:
Wendy Merendini and Theresa Cross from the Pacific South zone, and Valerie
Kanavy from the East zone. The demonstration processes for the Pan American
Championship ride will soon be underway. There are now ten rides that are FEI
approved with more possible. USET has approved funding for zone riders for the
PAC; USET will fully fund riders for the World Championship. Funds raised for
zone teams go through the AERC treasury, and are guaranteed to be available
only to the zone where they were raised. M. Foss requested that the Board
develop a statement concerning International's relationship to AERC for him to
take back to the International Committee. A further report from International
will be presented on Sunday. M. Foss inquired as to a method of expediting
answers from the Board in a timely fashion. Matters of this sort can be brought
to the Executive Committee. In light of the action to drop the $10 fee for International
members, there is a need to define International membership for voting
purposes.
AWARDS
COMMITTEE. D. Jackson announced that jackets will be given as awards. It was
suggested that winners be given a choice.
SEARCH (FUND
RAISING) COMMITTEE. D. Jackson proposed assigning $10,000 from the general fund
to conduct a mail campaign. L. Kanavy moved to remand to committee for
specifics. F. Farmer seconded. Motion carried.
EDUCATION
COMMITTEE. M. Price announced that the Rider Handbook is ready to be printed.
New riders will receive a copy free, old riders will purchase them.
RIDE MANAGERS
COMMITTEE. B. McCrary announced that the revised manual, which was sent to the
Board for comment and editing, will be ready for printing. S. Schomburg
suggested that multi-day rides be defined in the book.
SANCTIONING
COMMITTEE. No report. It was pointed out that all rides in excess of 150 miles
need to go to the special sanctioning director.
MEDIA COMMITTEE.
Genie Stewart-Spears referred to a proposal from Diana Riddle which had been
sent to the Board concerning media. M. Price moved, D. Jackson seconded to pursue contacts on the initial stages of
this proposal. Motion carried. A new logo is under consideration and it was
suggested to involve the membership in this project.
CONVENTION. S.
Kasemeyer reported that all seems to be in order.
OLD BUSINESS –
No report.
NEW BUSINESS. V.
Rutter moved, T. Woolley seconded that Beginning
with the 2001 ride season, horses who reach 5000 endurance miles will receive a
blanket, presented at the awards banquet, embroidered with "AERC 5000 Mile
Endurance Horse." As the horse continues to reach mileage plateaus in 1000
mile increments (i.e., 6000, 7000, etc.) a plaque with the horse's name and
mileage accomplishment will be presented at the awards banquet. For the 2001
ride season, all horses who have achieved 5000 miles will receive the blanket,
and those with greater than 6000 miles and completed an endurance ride will
also receive a plaque with their mileage accomplishment. T. Woolley moved
to amend by adding Will begin once we
have a sponsor. D. Jackson seconded. Motion to amend carried. Original
motion as amended carried.
V. Rutter stated that an e-mail list
for every committee is now in existence. She also asked if BOD e-mail archives
should be made available to the public. The consensus was that they should
remain privileged.
There was a motion and second to
close the meeting at 11:50 p.m.
GENERAL MEETING
March 3, 2001
Meeting called
to order at 1;30 p.m. Robert Suhr installed the following Directors at Large:
J. Baldwin, B. Fleming, D. Frazier, B. Hart, M. Price, M. Tomlinson, M. Maul,
R. Rittenhouse.
The next order of business was
election.
President: D. Frazier nominated L. Kanavy. S.
Schomburg nominated B. Fleming. Susan K. nominated J. Fruth. Each candidate
commented. J. Fruth withdrew his candidacy. B. Fleming was elected.
Vice President: J. Steele nominated J. Fruth. M. Price
nominated B. Hart. J. Fruth was elected.
Secretary: R. Eiland nominated L. Riedel. She was
elected by acclamation.
Treasurer: R. Eiland nominated V. Rutter. She was
elected by acclamation.
The meeting was opened to the floor
for questions and comments by the members.