Board of Directors Minutes 070706

National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Inc.

Official Minutes of the 2014 Midyear Meeting Business Meeting St. Louis May 3, 2014

The Business Meeting of the National Council of the United States was opened by President Sheila Gilbert in St. Louis, Missouri at 1:00 pm on May 3, 2014.

ITEM: Sheila Gilbert announced that the Agenda was rearranged to move resolutions earlier in the schedule. No objections were raised. The approval of the Consent Agenda was moved, seconded and approved.

Ray Sickinger explained that according to Robert’s Rules of Order, every voting member has the opportunity to speak before the nonvoting members speak. Executive Directors who are associated with a present Council Member are free to speak after all Council Members who wish to have spoken.

ITEM: Linda Strasburg was introduced as the new Regional Vice President for the South Central Region, taking Ralph Hassel’s position. Ralph is now the Leader for Goal 5. The new Council Members and Proxies introduced themselves:

New Council Members Proxies William Seck ADCC Oklahoma City Mary Messerli Diocese of Sioux Falls Michael Champagne ADCC New Orleans James Hafenstein ADCC Milwaukee Marty Cormack Diocese of Rochester Ron Semega Diocese of Cleveland Donald Kany ADCC Denver Phil Wippel Diocese of Lansing Mark Gordon Diocese of Providence Ken Nier Diocese of Green Bay Jay Schmallen Diocese of Fargo Bill McIntyre Diocese of Biloxi Ed Frakes Diocese of Oakland Ida Fisk Diocese of Boise Rob Henry Diocese of Orlando Sina Pierret Diocese of Spokane Cathy Garcia Diocese of Victoria Kermit Patty Diocese of Baton Rouge Therese Frye ADCC Detroit Helen Henry Diocese of Beaumont Ed Markiewicz Diocese of Greensburg Eva Periera ADCC Santa Fe Joe Williams Diocese of Trenton Patty Burns Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee Unrepresented Councils Diocese of Wichita Diocese of San Bernardino Diocese of Charlotte Diocese of Springfield, ADCC MobileCharlotte Diocese of Saginaw Diocese of Juneau DioceseIL of Charleston ADCC Dubuque Diocese of Grand Rapids Diocese of Puerto Rico Diocese of Little Rock Diocese of Albany ADCC Louisville Diocese of Monterey Diocese of La Crosse Diocese of San Jose Diocese of Sacramento Diocese of Honolulu Diocese of Worcester Diocese of Lafayette Diocese of Metuchen Diocese of Palm Beach Diocese of El Paso Diocese of Knoxville ADCC of San Francisco Diocese of Kansas City/St. Joseph Diocese of Gaylord Diocese of Santa Rosa ADCC Galveston/Houston Diocese of Camden Diocese of St. Augustine ADCC of St. Paul & Minneapolis Diocese of Arlington Diocese of Great Falls/Billings Diocese of Youngstown Diocese of Columbus Diocese of Houma/Thibodaux Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown Diocese of Lexington Diocese of San Jose

Althea Graham reported that there are 120 National Council Members with 74 members present, which exceeds the number required for a quorum. May 3, 2014 1 ITEM: Resolution 104A Governance Committee – Tom Fahl Tom Fahl introduced Resolution 104A which was a resolution pertaining to non-compliance issues that could lead to litigation with third parties. Originally the resolution was approved with a request that criteria be developed with the way the resolution was to be enforced. The Governance Committee was asked to outline the process for review, jurisdiction, finance, etc. Resolution 104A was moved, seconded and approved with one nay vote.

ITEM: Resolution 114A, a supplement to Resolution 114 which pertains to noncompliance issues that involve third parties, had the potential of inviting legal problems. The amendment from the floor at the 2013 Midyear Meeting added language that conflicted with the Rule of the Society. The language indicated the appeal process would be initiated by three members of the Council, whereas the Statute indicates that the President can suspend a member, conference or council, if appealed it would go to the National Conciliation Committee. Resolution 114A was moved and seconded. Two amendments from the floor were moved, seconded and voted down.

A third amendment was moved and seconded, that notification of the appeal process be included with the suspension decision by adding the sentence. “Notification of the suspension of a member, conference or council must be sent in writing by first class mail (to the last known mailing address of the member, conference or council being suspended) and include advice of the right to appeal the suspension according to the Rule Part 3, Statute 17.”

The amendment was approved by a vote of 49 in favor, 24 against, and 1 abstention. A motion to postpone Resolution 114A to the September 2014 meeting was approved.

ITEM: Resolution 117, a resolution to Amend National and Model Bylaws to provide for a Savings Clause was introduced. Resolution 117 was moved, seconded and approved.

ITEM: Resolution 118, a resolution to amend Model Bylaws pertaining to termination of Executive Directors was introduced. An amendment to include the words “or Conference” after the word “Council” was moved, seconded and approved. The amended Resolution 118 was moved, seconded and approved.

ITEM: Resolution 119 was included with the Council Member packet for discussion only. Comments regarding this resolution should be sent to Mike Syslo.

ITEM: Treasurer’s Report National Treasurer, Mike Nizankiewicz  Richard Morin was introduced as the volunteer CFO, who assisted Laura Kamper in migrating the financials from a Cash to Accrual based accounting system. The Financial statements reflect this change.  We have collected about 75% of the solidarity so far; fairly confident we will be receiving the balance.  Various items of the February Financial Statement were explained.  The February Financial Statement was moved, seconded and approved.

ITEM: CEO Report National CEO, Dave Barringer 1. Christian Brothers Financial Services information will be in the next e-Gazette if you are interested. They can perform their screening service for you but you can retain your own investment company. 2. In the interest of transparency, we moved to the accrual accounting system. Secondly the revised Treasurer’s Report was simplified for better clarity. And thirdly, the budget process will be revised to give you better information. How is your money actually spent? How much is spent on travel, salaries, support? Some items have not been tracked in the budgeting process such as Invitation for Renewal (which we run at a loss) and money for legal fees. We spend money on legal fees, but we never put that in the budget, it was absorbed from the operating revenue. The new budget will include those line items. 3. Accountability - we asked you “What are the five things that we need to do to move our Society forward?” What you have seen today is a result of what you told us, like the need for better governance. The initiatives all fit into the Strategic Plan. We need to plan for them in the budget. We have more ideas than we have money.

May 3, 2014 2 4. Systemic Change – we have two major Hope in Action workshops planned for this summer, focusing on the direct interaction we have with our friends in poverty. Secondly, working with other outside organizations, nonprofits, government, advocacy efforts, collaborations, etc., that affect those living in poverty. Third, changing ourselves to fulfill our mission going forward.

We will focus on the financial side today, take the money we have and use it in alignment with Catholic Social Teaching. Solidarity funds about half of our needs, the other half is funded by fund raising. National doesn’t want to be competing with the local organization for donations. How can we go to potential donors together? The Development committee will take a look at that, and ideas like shared purchasing contracts. We also need to define the division of authority for decisions made by the Board and those made by the National Council.

ITEM: President Report National President, Sheila Gilbert  We are planning training for Formators to do Ozanam Orientation in Spanish, in Phoenix July 31-August 2. If you need more information, contact Guadalupe Valencia at the Phoenix Council. We will also put the information in the E-Gazette.  We want to do an evaluation of the Midyear Meeting. We changed the length, content, sessions, and are including Executive Directors in our deliberations. We will send out an evaluation. Take time to think about the meeting. Have we got the time frames right? Have we got the content right? Was there something that you missed? We didn’t have a Mass together, we will try to get that in the next time.  Our staff is a real valuable asset for us. The Board puts in a lot of time and energy. Regional Vice Presidents are doing extension/problem solving to build the Society and make it what we want it to be. Goal Leaders are moving our Strategic Plan forward. There is really a lot that has already been finished. The initiatives are tied to what you agreed to with the Strategic Plan. Our goals are working together, not working in silos.

Meeting adjourned at 3:25 pm CDT

Submitted by: Althea Graham Prepared by: Sherry Brown National Secretary Executive Administrative Assistant

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