Training Log Archive: iansmith

Running along the Hudson. It was warm and very humid: 25 C.

Event: WOC 2018 - Latvia
 

OUSA Board call

0. Approved minutes.

1. OCIN and SMOC has put a bid on October 19-21 for the OUSA Nationals in Ohio/Southern Michigan. Reception is very positive, especially as we currently don't have anything on the calendar. Barb notes that babysitting is a challenge for national events and would like it at the event.

2. AGM business. There are four Board positions up for election - the terms of Ian Smith, Bob Forgrave, Peter Goodwin, and Greg Lennon. The nominating committee was made of Mary Jo Childs, Gavin Wyatt-Meyer, William Jameson (board member). Committee did great work finding candidates with a main objective of maximizing geographic diversity and diversity of experience. Side note: we need a club presidents' e-mail list. Nominating committee came across about 10 people who expressed interest, but not this year. Fantastic work from William and company.

OUSA Board Candidates: Susan Grandjean (CROC, MTB-O and Ski-O background), Alan Stefaniak (Central Virginia), Edward Clai Gardener (Austin), Joseph Huberman (BOK), Matthew Robbins (OCIN), Ian Smith (NEOC).

3. OUSA Masters - Alex, Ed, CSU folks are trying to make it happen in New England (UNOland?). It might be 2x Middle distance instead of 2x classic.

4. AGM meeting - there will be an AGM in Laramie, and most of the Board will be there. Sadly, I will not - I'm going to NAOC, and grad and personal life preclude going to Laramie so soon after NAOC.

5. Finance update from Pat Meehan - transition to Jitasa has been a bit difficult. We were working with a guy, but he ended up leaving Jitasa a few months ago.

6. BAOC requested a $24,000 loan for August 31, 2018 to help cover projected NAOC expenses. A motion was called to grant this loan without knowing the current state of OUSA finances, specifically exactly how much unrestricted funds that are unallocated are currently in the bank (the estimate was $65,000 from Pat). Furthermore, on March 25, 2017, OUSA passed an "Operating Reserve Policy" that states the following:

OUSA will maintain a minimum operating reserve sufficient to cover all our restricted and board-designated commitments, plus an additional amount to cover unrestricted spending. The minimum operating reserve shall consist of the sum of:
100% of all outstanding restricted commitments
100% of the balance of all Board Designated commitments
25% of the total unrestricted expenditures from the prior fiscal year

The operating reserve will be held in a bank account or a readily accessible mutual fund account. Endowment funds do not count toward this operating reserve.

Currently, we have less than this amount in cash and cash equivalents. In making budgeting and spending decisions, the Board will prioritize the re-establishment of the operating reserve.

I had strong reservations against passing this loan because I did not have enough information to know whether we were being consistent with our stated policies. The motion passed; I was the only one to vote no, Alex abstained, and Barb did not respond to a request to vote.

What even is a fiduciary responsibility? This is perhaps the first time we have tested our reserve policy apart from budgeting for 2018, and the Board didn't even try to uphold it. We all agree that supporting BAOC's NAOC 2020 bid is important, but we couldn't even take the time to find out how much money we had in the bank. This is precisely the reason OUSA almost became insolvent in 2016 under the financial weight of the ED contract.

I'm disillusioned; what is the point of having a reserve policy if it will be abandoned every time a good idea appears?

C • policy 6