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ACBL Board
Meeting at Spring Philadelphia NABC |
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The ACBL Board of Directors met in Philadelphia, PA, March 3-6, 2003. Items of interest on the agenda were as follows:
A. The ACBL Board of Directors approves a World Junior Individual Championship to be held every other year (even-numbered years starting in 2004) in North America at the site of the Summer NABC. B. The World Junior Individual will begin with a short opening ceremony on the Wednesday evening preceding the final weekend at the site of the Summer NABC. There will be four sessions: Wednesday evening, Thursday afternoon and evening, and Friday afternoon. The closing ceremony and awards dinner will be held on the second Friday evening. C. This will be a World Bridge Federation Event. The ACBL Junior Fund will underwrite the following expenses not to exceed $4,900: Directors $ 1,000.00 Supplies $ 120.00 Opening Ceremony $ 840.00 Closing Ceremony $ 1,440.00 The Daily Bulletin $ 500.00 Prizes $ 1,000.00 Carried Comment: I voted against this entire motion for two reasons. First, given the extremely small numbers of junior members in the ACBL, this event will likely be too small to be noteworthy. Second, the Junior Fund monies are raised in Junior Fund games held at clubs & tournaments. These funds should be spent primarily to enhance the membership of all juniors, not just those very few who compete in international competition. The ACBL Board confirmed the following appointments by ACBL President, Al Levy: Director of the NABC Appeals Committee: Joan Gerard Chairman of the NABC Committee: Barry Rigal Co-chairs of the NABC Seeding Committee: Nadine Wood and Bruce Reeve Hall of Fame Committee: Richard Freeman and Judy Kay for a three-year term. Cecil Cook was appointed to a one-year term as chairman of the committee. Bylaws Committee: Nadine Wood, Sue Himel, Harriette Buckman, Georgia Heth, Linda Mamula, Gary Blaiss, and Jim Miller. Competition & Conventions Committee: New appointments are Steve Beatty (Chairman), Jeff Meckstroth, Bart Bramley, Bob Hamman, Chip Martel, and Peggy Sutherlin. 031-181: Election of ACBL Treasurer Jerry Fleming declared his candidacy. There being no additional declarations of candidacy, nominations were closed. Fleming was elected to the office of ACBL Treasurer for a one‑year term beginning May 1, 2003. Carried without dissent. Item 031-66: ACBL Masterpoint Awards for the European Bridge League Championships A. The following formula will be used to award ACBL Masterpoints for each event held at the European Open Championships to be held in Menton in June 2003. B. These points will be awarded for this Championship only.
Comments: Although this motion passed with only two dissenting votes, a number of board members had reservations about awarding ACBL masterpoints for non-ACBL events. I believe that the ACBL needs to be a part of world bridge. Reciprocal accommodations such the above agenda item should not only be approved, but encouraged.
Item 031-15: Fees for ACBL AffiliatesManagement is authorized to collect fees for ACBL services to affiliated organizations. Effective date: 1/1/04 Carried. Comment: The affiliated organizations are the ACBL Educational Foundation, the ACBL Charity Foundation, the Canadian Bridge Federation (“CBF”), the United States Bridge Federation (“USBF”), and the CBF Charity Foundation. In the past, because of board policy constraints (or lack thereof), collection of fees for services rendered by the ACBL staff has been inconsistent with the costs of providing those services. This clears the way for management to implement a consistent fee structure that will recover the costs incurred in providing these services.
Item 031-160: Junior Fund Money (023-165) The ACBL will conduct Zone 2 trials to select its junior teams for international competition. The trials are open to all Zone 2 members; teams must be comprised of members of the same NBO. Funding for ACBL Junior teams participating in international competition will be provided by ACBL regardless of the country of origin. All Junior Fund money collected from ACBL sanctioned junior fund games shall go to the ACBL. Those funds will be used to support junior programs and activities intended for all ACBL juniors. Any unused Junior Fund money will be carried forward. Deferred to Summer 2003 meeting. Carried. Comments: Current ACBL board policy requires that all funding for junior programs come solely from the Junior Fund monies. In practice, the Junior Fund monies raised in Canada go to the CBF; the funds raised in the US go to the ACBL. Subsidies for the training and costs of the Canadian junior players in junior international events come from the CBF Junior Fund; subsidies for the training and costs of the US junior players in junior international events come from the ACBL Junior Fund. In both countries, the subsidies do not cover all of the costs involved. The creation of the USBF has caused some confusion. Ideally, the subsidies for the US junior teams should now come from the USBF, but it is currently not financially able to do so. So the ACBL Junior Fund has continued to provide the subsidies for US junior players in international competition. This motion would keep all funds raised in ACBL Junior Fund games (including those held in Canada) in the ACBL. Subsidies for junior players competing in international junior events from both countries will come from ACBL Junior Fund. Item 031-75: Competition & Conventions CommitteeThe Competition & Conventions Committee is structured as follows: The ACBL President selects the chairman of the committee from it members for a one-year term. The committee consists of eight to twelve members appointed by the President in consultation with the C & C committee chairman. The committee is comprised of: 1. The chairman of the bridge committee. 2. One member of the Board of Directors chosen in consultation with the chairman of the Bridge committee. 3. The Chief Tournament Director (CTD). 4. One Tournament Director (TD) designated by the CTD. 5. Four experts given three-year staggered terms. 6. Up to four additional experts given one-year terms. Carried without dissent. Comment: The purpose of this committee is to review conventions and convention charts, the alert procedure, the convention card and conditions of contest plus any other competitive aspects of bridge play, such as timing and procedures. They make their recommendations to the ACBL Board of Directors. The above motion came from key members of that committee, expanding the size of the committee.
Item 031-110: Tournament Director Education Status ReportManagement’s tournament director education status report is received. A report on the 2002 Tournament Director training, evaluation and cost will be submitted to the Tournament Committee no later than April 1, 2003. A complete training and evaluation program will be submitted to the Tournament Committee as a Management agenda item in Long Beach at the 2003 Summer NABC. Carried without dissent. Comment: Tournament Director training has become a hot item for the ACBL Board of Directors since management is gearing the TD staff to the eventual handling of tournament appeals at all levels of play.
Item 031-111: Masterpoints for WBF Events
Notes: The Bermuda Bowl; the Venice Cup; the Senior Bermuda Bowl; the Rosenblum Cup; the McConnell Cup; the Senior Teams; the Open, Women’s, Seniors and Mixed Pairs held at the World Championships; the Olympiad Open and Women’s Team World Championships. Carried without dissent. Item 031-112: North American Bridge Championships – Appendix 6. The newly amended Appendix 6 to the North American Championships Guidelines is approved as a living document with periodic changes being made as new information becomes available. Deferred to Summer 2003 Meeting. Carried. Item 031-113: Platinum MasterpointsItem 983-68 Platinum Masterpoints is amended as follows:
A
A new pigment – platinum – of masterpoints is established to recognize
those points currently considered for the player of the year award
(NABC+ events). These events include
Nationally rated events held at NABCs which have neither upper
masterpoint limit nor an upper age limit (i.e. junior or youth
events). B. . . . . . C. . . . . . Carried without dissent. Item 031-114: Appeals Casebook Guidelines Approval is given for the creation of a manual for appeals guidelines. This work will be coordinated by two appeals committee members, two tournament directors and a coordinator for the material. To be completed by December 31, 2003 Carried. Item 031-115: ACBL Masterpoint Regulations (paragraph D) Item 023-195 is amended as follows: A. . . . . . B. . . . . . C. . . . . . D. For all Club/Internet games with 30 or more tables (60 pairs), awards for positions lower than first will be determined using the scale for overall awards for 4-session events. To provide a smooth transition from 15 – 60 pairs, the following will apply for 16 to 59 pairs: 1. Calculate the placing award using the scale for overall awards for 4-session events. 2. Calculate the placing award using the existing club scale for first place without a cap. For an open game first place = pairs x 0.1. 3. Compare the placing awards from #1 and #2 above and use the lower award. Effective date: Immediately (when clubs install ACBLscore version 7.10 or newer). Carried without dissent. Item 031-02: ACBL Code of Disciplinary RegulationsA. Delete 2.16 Betting on the results of any ACBL sanctioned event and renumber the subsequent sections Not Carried. Aye: 2, 6, 8, 10, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24. B. The ACBL Code of Disciplinary Regulations is approved as amended. Carried without dissent. Comment: Since the ACBL has no intention to prosecute those who make a friendly wager on a bridge game, I thought that the provision in the Regulations should be deleted. Item B covered numerous changes to the Code, too many to be covered here. You can download a copy of the new Code from the ACBL website. Item 031-45: Reconsideration Policy (022-45) Sections 7, 8, and 9 of the Hall of Fame Charter are approved. Deferred to Summer 2003 meeting. Carried without dissent. Comment: There were a number of provisions in the Charter that many board members felt the Hall of Fame Committee should review again before approval should be given. Volunteer officials who need copies of various ACBL materials will be notified by ACBL that they may request one copy of the necessary documents, free of charge, once each year. The communication should include a description of all appropriate documents for the particular official, a statement of which documents have changed in the last twelve months, and a postage-free reply card that requests the appropriate documents from ACBL. Note: These are the officials and documents that are referred to above. Handbook of Rules and Regulations All unit secretaries, all district presidents Code of Disciplinary Regulations All unit and district disciplinary chairs and district appellate chairs (or to the unit and/or district president when no official is named) All unit and district recorders Handbook for Appeals Committees All unit and district appeals chairs, (or to the unit and/or district president when no official is named)
Recorder
Regulations and procedures
All unit and district recorders Carried without dissent. Item 031-50: NABC+ Events EligibilityIn order to participate in an NABC+ event, a person must be an ACBL member whose service fee or dues is current. Effective date: 7/1/2003 Carried. Comment: I think a player should be a member of the ACBL before he/she is eligible to play in our organization’s most prestigious events. Item 031-51: Amendment to Election Procedures (Recall of District Director) The ACBL Election Procedures are amended by adding the following section XXIV XXIV. Recall of District Directors a. A recall shall be commenced by the filing of an announcement of recall attempt ( the “Announcement”) with the Director of Elections. The Announcement shall be signed by at least ten ACBL members of Units within the District in which the recall is brought and shall include the name and address of the person designated as the contact person for the recall attempt (the “Contact”). Within ten days of receipt of the Announcement, the ACBL Director of Elections shall send a petition form to the Contact to be reproduced and used for the collection of signatures for the recall attempt. The petition shall include the following information: 1) the Commencement Date of the recall attempt which shall be the date of receipt of the Announcement by the Director of Elections (the “Commencement Date”); 2) the name of the Director to whom the recall attempt is directed; 3) the number assigned by the ACBL to this recall attempt; and 4) a place for the signature of the member who collected the signatures contained on that page of the petition, said signature representing certification that the signatures contained on that page are valid to the best of the collector’s knowledge and belief. The Director of Elections shall provide written notice of receipt of said Announcement to the Director who is named for recall and to the President of the applicable District. The Director of Elections shall also provide to the Contact the number of members of each Unit of the relevant District as of the Commencement Date. Each signature on the petition shall include a printed or typed name, date, and the ACBL number of that member. All names and signatures must be signed and dated within 130 days of the Commencement Date. The petitions must be received by the Director of Elections within 140 days of the Commencement Date. Names and signatures dated prior to the Commencement Date or more than 130 days after the Commencement Date shall not be counted. b. Intentional submission of fraudulent signatures shall subject the person submitting such signatures to disciplinary action by the ACBL. Invalid signatures shall not be counted, but do not invalidate otherwise valid signatures on that page. c. The Director of Elections shall provide written notice of receipt of recall petitions to the Director who is named for recall, the President of the applicable District and the Contact. Within 30 days of receipt of the recall petitions, the Director of Elections shall: (1) verify the names filed as to District and Unit; (2) determine whether the recall petitions filed meet the ACBL Bylaw standards for Director recall (contain signatures of [sic at least] 60% of the members of the District, constituting [sic at least] 60% of the members [sic of] each of [sic at least] 70% of the Units in the District as of the Commencement Date). (3) provide a certification of results to the Director, the President of the District, and the Contact. No verification of the validity of signatures shall be made initially by the Director of Elections. d. Unless a protest is filed as set forth below, the petition results shall be deemed final 30 days after the date of the certification of results, and, if the ACBL bylaw requirements for recall have been met, the position of Director shall be deemed vacant. e. The Director under recall or any ten persons who signed the recall petition may protest the certified petition results by filing a protest with the Director of Elections within 30 days of the certification of results. Such protest must be in writing and shall include the reasons for the protest. Upon receipt of the protest, the Director of Elections shall refer the protest to the Election Protest Committee for action. Within 30 days of receipt of the protest from the Director of Elections, the Election Protest Committee shall: (1) reject the protest as without merit, or (2) set a telephonic or in person hearing on the matter consistent with the Procedures of the Election Protest Committee. The action of the Election Protest Committee may be appealed to the ACBL Appeals and Charges Committee in writing by either party making the appeal within ten (10) days after the announcement of the Election Protest Committee decision. The Appeals and Charges Committee shall render its decision within 120 days of such appeal. Pending the disposition of an appeal, the incumbent Director shall remain in office. These Procedures for Recall of District Directors shall take effect on March 15, 2003. For recall efforts already in progress as of the effective date, the procedures set forth in section a, above, shall not apply and petitions for such recall must be received by the Director of Elections by July 23, 2003. Carried. Comment: This agenda item was brought to the board by management as a result of certain actions in District 20. See my comments on the Executive Session in the Phoenix report. Item 031-182: Ratification of Audit CommitteeThe 2003 Audit Firm is approved. Deferred to Summer 2003 meeting. Carried without dissent. Comment: I chair the Audit Committee this year. Since it had been several years since we have put the audit firm contract out for bid, we recommended the above. Please call if you have any questions or comments concerning this report. Chuck Wilkinson 1806-B
Saint Ann Street |
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