a. Suspend the reading of the minutes of the previous board meeting. Moved by Lou Hansen, seconded by Sig Christenson. Unanimously passed by voice vote.
b. Old Business: Financial report update by President Ron Martz. About $6,900 in funds is currently available, and an estimated $800 in checks was deposited on the evening of Friday, November 14, 2008. This sum includes $1,600 in PayPal transfers for conference payments. This reflects the credits to MRE coffers.
i. Debits are assumed to be $6,725 in conference costs, a $500 payment to an award winner, $550 for award plaques. This shall leave an estimated $1,500 in the bank.
ii. A potential debit would be $300 for the sale of MRE’s membership list to the Knight Center.
iii. Another debit could be an estimated $75 in surcharges to the Medill School of Journalism for students participating in the conference.
iv. Potential debits also include an estimated $100 for a train ticket purchased by a panelist to attend the conference and an unknown sum following Space A travel by two photographers for another panel.
v. Another looming debit is a $726 insurance payment for 2008.
vi. Other looming debits include a $10 incorporation fee for the nonprofit in the State of Washington and a $99 fee for the registered agent handling the transaction.
vii. An initial payment of $500 to Salome Angrand for her contracted duties during the recent conference.
c. Immediately pay Salome Angrand $500 for her contracted duties during the recent conference. This is a partial payment. Angrand shall submit an hourly accounting of her labors for final reimbursement. Moved by Sig Christenson, seconded by Lou Hansen. Unanimously passed by voice vote.
d. Raise for CY2009 the hourly wage of Angrand from $20 per hour to $25. Angrand estimates a total of approximately 100 hours of labor for CY09. Moved by Sig Christenson, seconded by Lou Hansen. Unanimously passed by voice vote.
e. Merge the positions of Board Secretary and Board Treasurer. This will combine the duties of the offices of Secretary and Treasurer and remove a position from that of the elected officers of the Board. Moved by Sig Christenson, seconded by Lou Hansen. Passed by voice vote with one abstention by Carl Prine.
f. Hold Elections for various board officer positions, with their duties beginning on November 16, 2009. Acting President and current Vice President Ron Martz received submissions by three MRE members to serve as officers of the board. Martz will serve as President. Don North will serve as Vice President. Otto Kreisher will serve as Secretary/Treasurer, a combined position created by the membership. It is moved by Lou Hansen and seconded by Sig Christenson to conduct these elections immediately by secret ballot. This measure passes by voice vote, with both Martz and North abstaining.
i. Results by secret ballot. Martz, North and Kreisher are unanimously elected to their positions. Results are tabulated by outgoing Secretary Carl Prine and vouchsafed by Professor Ellen Shearer.
g. Hold Elections for various board positions, with their duties beginning on November 16, 2009. A list of candidates prepared by Ron Martz is submitted for secret ballot. These candidates are:
1. Sig Christenson
2. Mike Francis
3. Charles Henry
4. Kelly Kennedy
5. Steve Komarow
6. Kevin Maurer
7. Tom Roeder
8. Lou Hansen
9. Eric Longabardi
10. Al Pessin
11. Carl Prine
During the lone campaign statement, Prine tells the board that he does not wish to serve, but declines to remove himself from consideration due to requests by Martz and Christenson to remain on the ballot. There are six positions available. It is moved by Lou Hansen and seconded by Don North that a secret ballot be conducted to elect members of the board, with their duties beginning on November 16, 2009. Unanimously passed by voice vote. Results are tabulated by President Ron Martz, outgoing Secretary Carl Prine and vouchsafed by Professor Ellen Shearer. A majority of the membership present elect Christenson, Francis, Kennedy, Komarow and Hansen members. There is a tie between Prine and Roeder at three votes each for the sole remaining position on the board.
h. Run Off election. It is moved by Lou Hansen and seconded by Don North to conduct an immediate runoff election with the members present. Prine again indicates in the lone campaign speech that he requests the membership vote for Roeder. The majority of the gathered membership indicate that the election of secret ballot continue, with one vote abstaining by Prine. In results tabulated by Martz and Professor Ellen Shearer, it is determined that Prine won the run off election.
