MACA Board Meeting - 23 Feb 2014 at the Boylston Chess Club

Present: Nathan Smolensky, George Mirijanian, Robert King, Doc Kinne, Stephen Dann, Robert Messenger, Johnny Sadoff

Meeting called to order at 14.21ET.

Mirijanian moves to differ January minutes review & approval until next Board meeting. MACA Board members may share these minutes to Board Member candidates making sure they know that they know they are unapproved minutes and cannot be disseminated. Approved 5-1.

Treasuer Report - Bob Messenger
Report submitted to the Board.

Johnny Sadoff joined the Board at 14.41ET.

Membership Report - Bob Messenger
Report submitted to the Board. While we lost 23 member last month, a year ago we had about 800 members whereas we now have 924 so we're actually doing well.

Tournament Report - Bob Messenger
Report submitted to the Board.

Messenger moves for the Board to authorize the Scholastic Committee to determine the MA representative to the National Girls Tournament in Orlando, FL. Seconded.
Motion passes unanimously.

Mirijanian commends Messenger for getting TLAs in both CL and CL for Kids.

Education Committee Report - Johnny Sadoff
Discussions have been held about teaching early primary school teachers how to teach chess (Early Education Initiative), and the Committee is moving forward with the guide they have been working on to suppliment the manual the Committee is endorsing. The Committee is also looking at partnerships with chess-based web sites.

Election Commission - Stephen Dann
Current Candidates for MACA Directors
Entire current board (minus Kinne and Driscoll)

Chris Chase

Tiffany Wang

Edward Chiu

Maryanne Reilly

Dmitry Barash

Frida Kuzmin

Candidates for Officers
Smolensky & Turgeon - President
Sadoff - VP
Sterling - Clerk
King & Messenger - Treasurer

Vote for up to 8 Directors and the Officers.

King moves that the Candidates statements are sent with the Ballot. Seconded. 
4 AYE
3 NAY
Passed.

King moves that the Candidate Statements for Officers be up to 200 words and for Director's Statements be up to 100 words. A candidate only gets one of the two. Seconded by Smolensky. Passed unanimously.

Dann moves that Candidates statements be received by the Election Commission by 10 March. Mailed statements need to be postmarked by 7 March. Seconded. Passed unanimously.

Our visitor, Ed Chu, was given the floor to ask any questions.

Publications Committee - George Mirijanian.
The Committee recommends that MACA produce a double issue to "catch up" with the missing issues.

Upon recommendation of the Publications Committee report, Mirijanian moves that the Board appoint Nathan Smolensky as Editor of Chess Horizons, effective immediately. Seconded. Passed.
6 AYE.
One abstaining.

Upon the recommendation of the Publications Committee Mirijanian moves that MACA produces a double-issue of Chess Horizons. Seconded. Passed unanimously.


Old Business

By-Laws Committee Report - Kinne
Kinne reported that, after discussion, the By-Laws Committee recommended no By-Laws changes for inclusion on the upcoming ballot.

New Business

Smolensky moved to appoint Nathan Smolensky to create an ad-hoc Survey Committee to design, print & provide a survey at the 83rd Mass Open so as to collect information and feedback from the membership which may weigh on future MACA decisisons, and to enhance the feeling of participation in the MACA process. Seconded.
Passed.
5 AYE.
1 Abstention.

Smolensky moves to accept Sterling's Code of Conduct published recently to the MACA email list. Seconded.

Messenger moves to refer the Code back to the Web Coordinator to have it made into a formal Standing Rule. Seconded. Passed 6-1.

Mirijanian moves that the Clerk gives notice to Mr. Frymer that he may be removed for missing 4 consecutive Board meetings.  Seconded by King.
3 AYE.
4 NAY. 
Motion fails.

Motion to Adjourn. Seconded. Meeting adjourned at 18.05ET.
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Doc Kinne, [KQR]