Subject: clarification re: Archibald Letter Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 23:43:29 -0800 From: Lloyd Kumley To: pkpaulson@home.com, FloWinerit@aol.com, kds@pe.net, frankprahl@earthlink.net, Foxheart@aol.com, dradtke@ocln.org, nerren@juno.com, fgh@cruzio.com, ajackson@SSA.CO.Santa-Clara.CA.US (Arthur Jackson), prochelle1@aol.com (Paula Rochelle), clgordon@earthlink.com (Claire Gordon) TO: Members of the Committee of Trustees of the AHA CA Fund for Chapter Expansion and CA Officers & members of Grants-in-Aid Committee: I want to correct and clarify some statements made by Charles Archibald in a letter to Mr. Abramson of June 30. While it is true that Charles Archibald resigned as Secretary (but then agreed recently to complete his term which ends Dec. 31), there have been no resignations of other officers of the Chapter Assembly. What is true is that Treasurer Philip Paulson, VP Dan Nerren, and Member At Large Bob Drake have decided not to run for re-election to another 2 year term. In the election which is being held this summer, the CA will be selecting officers and members of the Committee on Grants in Aid who will take office on Jan. 1, 2000. Several of the current committee members and officers are running for re-election. It is also true that the CA has not acted on the nomination of Paul Abramson. It was only recently that the officers of CA became aware of his nomination. Many of the statements Charles made in his letter are factually incorrect and I suggest you accept them as his opinions. I do not know why he felt it necessary to send such an inaccurate missive to Mr. Abramson, but it appears he was unhappy with some of the results of the CA's Annual Meeting, which were reported in July's Grassroots News. Unfortunately that report was truncated in the newsletter. So I print the entire article at the end of this message, Sincerely, Lloyd Kumley, Chair of the CA >From the Chair, by Lloyd Kumley The Annual Meeting of the Chapter Assembly completed filled the alloted 75 minutes. After introductions of the officers attending: Lloyd Kumley, Chair; Charles Archibald, Secretary, and Dick Radtke, Member at Large; and of the about 15 chapter representatives present, we got down to business. We reviewed and approved Charles Archibald's minutes from last year's meeting and received reports from Philip Paulson, CA Treasurer, which showed 16 chapters have paid dues so far in 1999, the CA had a balance of about $2900 in its accounts, and the annual audit found all books in order. Paula Rochelle, Vice Chair and acting Chair of the Committee of Trustees (COT) of the Fund for Chapter Expansion, sent reports showing some changes in function were adopted at its meeting of April 17, 1999: Art Jackson became treasurer, Claire Gordon became Secretary, Charles Hedges became Member-at-large, and Paula Rochelle, as mentioned before, became Vice Chair. She reported a proposed timeline for the next granting period which envisions a total of 23 days to mail applications to eligible chapters, to have them complete the applications, and to return them so they are received before the deadline. This seems rather tight and will have to be reviewed. One improvement noticed was a deadline for receipt of reports from chapters who received grants in 1999. And, starting to plan the process is defintely a good move! The minutes show $1600 was used to pay a CPA for Financial Statements, a copy of which was included in Paula's report. The report showed a balance in the Fund of about $111,000 as of December 31, 1998 and operating expenses of $580 for 1998. Two chapters reported sending donations to COT in 1998 but not being listed as having done so in the COT report by Charles Hedges. One chapter reported its donation check was sent, but never cashed. After discussion, Chapter representatives voted to ask chapters to send donations for the Fund for Chapter Expansion to the CA Treasurer. Each chapter will receive a timely notice of its donation and the total donations will be forwarded to COT by the deadline. In this manner, it is hoped that all eligible chapters will receive credit for donations made, will receive grant applications, and have all donations timely noted and accurately accounted for. After discussion, Chapter representatives confirmed the appointment of the Chapter Assembly to act as the agent of AHA chapters in negotiations and any actions necessary to resolve problems with the operations and management of the Fund for Chapter Expansion. Candidates were solicited to run for the following offices of the Chapter Assembly, for which there will be an election in July: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, 2 members-at-large, and 3 members of the Committee on Grants-in-Aid. All are 2 year positions that begin on January 1, 2000. It was also announced that Grants were recently approved to: 1) The Humanist Society of Minneapolis and St. Paul for $1,200 to print a monthly flyer for distribution throughout its area and concerning its cable TV program. 2) Humanists of Houston for $1600 as part of the preliminary budget for a conference to be held early in 2000 to explore questions raised by Edward O. Wilson in his book "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge" . 3) Humanist of Georgia for $2500 to develop and disseminate educational tools to other humanist groups. After remembering Howard Gonsalves for his years of service and applauding Frank Prahl for the Grassroots news, the meeting was adjourned until next year in New Jersey. Hope to see you there!! -- end