B O A R D M I N U T E S
Chicago Headline Club
Board of Directors Meeting
September 1, 2004
President Ben Bradley called the meeting to order at noon.
Present: Ben, Michelle Stevens, Paula Brien, Tim Mantz, Andy Dunning, Meg Tebo, Howard Dubin, Rob Olmsted, Art Menke, Deb Cohen, Mary Wisniewski, Bonnie McGrath, Howard Schlossberg, Karen Callaway and Susan S. Stevens. Jason Jedlinski, Abdon Pallasch and Kristin McQueary were not present because they were at the GOP convention.
Minutes: Board approved minutes of last board meeting and Richard Roth’s report on the membership meeting.
SPJ convention delegates: Ben, Howard Dubin, Meg, Andy, Casey Bukro and possibly others plan to attend. Board by voice vote, with Meg abstaining, agreed to set up a $750 fund in case anyone needs reimbursement. Leftover funds will be returned to the general fund. Howard and Ben said they are not accepting. No others at the time of the meeting were reported accepting.
SPJ convention issues:
-Board agreed by voice vote for our delegates to vote for Christine Tatum.
-No board recommendation on a bylaws change for one member, one vote at convention. Currently, a chapter has one vote for every 50 members. Howard Dubin said he was uncertain about implementation.
-Board by voice vote directed delegation to vote for a change of 12 regions to 7 and add 4 at-large directors for new media, freelance, print and broadcast.
-Board took no stand on a proposal to eliminate the SPJ secretary-treasurer post from the leadership ladder. It failed at a national board meeting, Howard said, but might come up again.
-No position taken on a proposal to start a Young Journalists Division.
Membership: Ben distributed a proposed letter from Jason that will be sent to members who failed to renew. Jason also sent word that he has valid e-mails for 82 percent of our members. Ben said Jason has done a fantastic organizational job.
Treasurer: Howard distributed a report for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2004. Total income was $82,445, total expenses, $76,610, surplus for the year $5,835, previous year assets $98,841 and current assets $104,676. Howard asked how often the board wanted detailed reports and was told probably quarterly. Jason will put the report in a newsletter he will do after the convention.
FOI: Meg reported she and Molly McDonough are working on a wallet-size tri-fold with FOI information and a card to present when protesting a closed meeting. A reporter’s notebook with similar information also is being created for distribution at the Brownlee Series. Board approved spending about $600 for the printing.
Lifetime Achievement Awards: Ben thanked committee members Karen Callaway, Bob Crawford, Jeff Flock, Carol Marin and Abdon Pallasch, again led by Bernie Judge. Board members must be SILENT about the selections until they are notified.
Karen said the nominees are Ray Coffey, Jerry Crimmins, John Drummond, John Drury, Bruce Fein and Brenda Warner Rotzoll. Board approved all of them by voice vote.
A debate about posthumous awards was continued to the next meeting.
PRN Series: Andy said the next to last session was to be the following day.
Molly: Ben appointed Past President Molly McDonough president ex-officio.
Bylaws: Ben said a committee will be established to review each and every one of our bylaws. E-mail Ben if you are interested in joining the committee.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan S. Stevens
Secretary