Minutes of the OCA Annual Meeting & Election 2006
by Mike Swatek

The Meeting was held at 8:00 AM on Sunday 25 June, prior to the 4th round of the 61st Annual Oklahoma Open State Championship Tournament at the Tulsa Airport Best Western. (as announced the prior day at the Oklahoma Open and previously published in the OCB, website, postcards and email broadcast)

Attending OCA and USCF Members
17 were validated and received numbered, color-coded election ballots upon arrival, including:
President Chuck Unruh (Presiding), Vice President John Dunlap, Treasurer Jim Gray, Secretary Mike Swatek and Board Member at Large Ben Shaffer.

Presidents Comments (Chuck Unruh)

Secretary’s Report (Mike Swatek) accepted unanimously by voice vote. See separate report.

Treasurer’s Report (Jim Gray) accepted unanimously by voice vote. See separate reports for 2005 and 2006 through June 23.

Annual Election:

Ballots confirmed to all eligible voters.

President, Treasurer and Secretary – Chuck Unruh, Jim Gray and Mike Swatek were nominated in a single floor nomination for these positions, respectively. There were no other floor nominations for these three positions after some discussion created plenty of opportunity. The nominees were unanimously elected in a combined hand vote for 2-year terms.

Vice President – Jim Bedenbaugh was nominated from the floor. There were no other floor nominations. The nominee was unanimously elected by a hand vote for a 2-year term.

Members At Large election

Floor nominations were Ben Shaffer, Charles M Unruh, Bill Molton, Robert Phy and Jim Rairden. A ballot vote with 3 to be selected on each ballot produced these results: 8, 8, 7, 10 and 12, respectively. Robert Phy and Jim Rairden were elected with a plurality on the first ballot. A tiebreak vote was held between Ben Shaffer and Charles M Unruh in which the result was 8 to 7, respectively. Therefore, the new Board Members at Large for the next year are Ben Shaffer, Robert Phy and Jim Rairden.

Bylaws Amendment Proposal

The original proposal was as follows:
The revision will change the currently set Regular and Youth membership dues stated in the bylaws to instead be maximum membership dues. The verbiage will state: Any person may become a Regular Member of the OCA upon payment of “no more than” $10.00 dues for one year. The Youth member dues will also have “no more than” added.

It was pointed out by a legal expert that the proposed wording was ambiguous. The following was proposed as alternate verbiage to be added as a separate sentence with no other Bylaws changes to better accomplish the desired result.
“In the discretion of the Policy Board, an individual’s regular or youth membership fee may be waived or reduced.”

The revised Bylaws revision was unanimously approved by a hand vote.

OCB Distribution Proposal

Discussion: The cost of the OCB printing and distribution cost exceeds the membership revenue, as shown in the financial report presented at this meeting. The OCB is now available online at the OCA website in a form that can be easily printed by anyone. Only Patron members are covering the cost of their OCB with their membership dues of $25, or more. With elimination of the OCB expenses for Regular and Youth members, these memberships could even be offered for free.

A motion was made as follows: “The OCB will only be printed and mailed to Patron Members, unless they request otherwise.” The motion was unanimously approved by a hand vote.

New Business

None was brought forward by the members present.

Adjourned shortly before 10:00 am

Minutes reported by Secretary Mike Swatek

Follow-up Items:

Jim Rairden decided not to serve as Member At Large. This will be taken up by the Board at their next meeting to be held at the LDMO.

Regarding Free OCA Memberships,

Following the member approved change to the Bylaws, the OCA Board is pleased to announce that Free OCA Regular and Youth Memberships will be provided for all players in OCA Board approved events advertising "Free OCA Membership". These memberships will expire one year from the date of being issued, regardless of the member's current expiration date, unless they have a current expiration more distant in the future.

Membership cards will be issued upon request for these Free Memberships, for the purpose of out of state membership fees being waived under the OSA provision of tournaments. Alternatively, members my print out the members list from the OCA website at www.ochess.org as proof of OCA membership when needed.

Regular and Youth members will receive their OCB electronically from the OCA website, as approved by the Members at the Annual Meeting. The OCB printing and distribution cost was more than the amount of these membership fees. This change facilitates the Board being able to offer Free Regular and Youth Memberships, and at the same time improve the finances of the OCA. Those who would like to continue receiving a printed OCB may do so by becoming a Patron Member. Conversely, Patrons may opt out of receiving the printed edition of the OCB in the mail, to further improve the OCA finances.

The OCA Board is excited about this opportunity to offer Oklahoma chessplayers more value with reduced membership expenses and improved information about Oklahoma chess published electronically on the OCA website at www.ochess.org for everyone.