Ag. Item # 17A - New Business - Governors' Letters Dates

[Bob Armstrong]

Under " new business ", Governor Egis Zeromskis had asked that we discuss the fixing of the dates for the publishing of the Governors' Letters, since they come out so irregularly, and are often many months apart.

Note that under the Governors' On-line Quarterly Meeting rules, the dates of these meetings are now fixed for Sept. 1- 7; Jan. 1 - 7; and April 1-7 ( unless rescheduled for some good reason - example - this meeting was rescheduled due to the Christian Easter Holiday April 1-5 ). Then there will be the Annual General Meeting at the Canadian Open, always in July.

Could the GL's be scheduled to come out regularly a few weeks after the quarterly meeting, so they could contain the " summary minutes " of the meetings?

What do you think of Egis' proposal?

Bob

[Christopher Mallon]

GLs are technically required by the handbook to be monthly I believe.

I also believe the actual record is 10 in one year, done once. 9 was also done once I believe.

[Fred McKim]

Despite the absence of the President, I think this week long meeting is an improvement on the GL concept and would vote for implementation on a quarterly basis.

[Stijn De Kerpel]

I agree. I think the online concept is much better than waiting for the GL - I for one would like to see online meetings done say bi-monthly and GL's done quarterly as a maximum.

[Eric Van Dusen]

I agree with Stijn. The GL is cumbersome and on-line meetings are so much more timely, assuming the president is punctual.

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Stijn and Eric:

The Governors' Voting Modernization Subcommittee dealt with the question of frequency of Governor On-line Meetings. It was felt that initially, we should not over-meet. We wanted to see how the agendas developed, and how governors responded to the concept ( which has been overwhelmingly positive ). We also didn't want to burn the governors out. Also, a big reason for governors meeting is to decide motions - we were uncertain if there would be enough motions regularly to require more than quarterly meetings.

So we went with quarterly meetings. I'd suggest we try this for the next few meetings, and then do a poll of the governors to see whether they would like to continue with quarterly meetings, or go to more frequent bi-monthly meetings.

Any other opinions on Stijn's proposal to go bi-monthly in future, rather than quarterly, as currently suggested?

Bob

[Stijn De Kerpel]

Hi Bob,

I think quarterly meetings would be fine - if there were not enough motions, I am sure that there are many other items to discuss.

I still think GL's are necessary (eg. budgets, bids for National Events, financial statements) but nowhere near the frequency that they are being produced with now.

[Hal Bond]

Hi Bob;

This format is superior to the GLs and I don't see the need for both. Interactive debate is essential and the GLs don't really foster much discussion. The budget issue leaps off the page in this regard. This is the first time the we have even had Governor input on the budget, and the GL has been insufficient.

As for frequency, that can evolve.

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Hal:

I see a use for the Governors' Letters still. They can be used to communicate information from the Executive and the Governors to the members - eg. Executive Reports, results of any e-mail voting, the " summary minutes " of quarterly meetings, general comments governors wish to direct to the members, etc.. For example, I will be asking Lyle to publish the minutes of this meeting, that I am preparing, in a special GL right away, with just these minutes in it, to get it to the members ASAP, by it being posted on the CFC website immediately. I will need Eric's authorization for this. Members will then get to know about this meeting very soon after it closes. If I cannot get Eric to agree to this, then they will simply have to go into GL # 5, whenever it might surface - seems a long time though for members to be alerted to what we've accomplished this week.

What I do not want, is for the Governors' Letters any longer to have anything to do with motions. From now on, all motions will be filed, to be dealt with at the next upcoming quarterly meeting. No publishing of the motions, nor discussion of them, in the GL's. The motions can be set out in the On-line Quarterly Meeting Agenda when it is issued. As well, if the mover/seconder want to alert the governors to the motion, they can always post it on the members' CFC Chess Forum, or if confidential, on this Governors' Discussion Board.

If a motion requires urgency, then this can be told to the Secretary on the filing of the motion, and he can arrange for an urgent e-mail vote.

What do others think ? - do we end the GL's or keep them on with a changed purpose?

Bob

[Christopher Mallon]

You can still publish motions in the GL just don't bother with discussion/voting.