Greater New York Bridge Association

The Board of Governors is meeting again today. Didn’t we just have a BoG meeting two weeks ago? Yes, but that was a special meeting to discuss any reactions we would have to the Board of Directors meeting during NAOBC (in particular, sensitive decisions around the ethics committee and decisions around the virtual club membership policies).

You can see a video of that meeting.

First, ACBL financials are doing well. During the pandemic, ACBL revenues were $100K below budget, but expenses were $842K below budget, for a net change of $742K. The net operating income for the year due to operations was $899K! Not bad for a pandemic, thanks in large part of the virtual clubs and online regionals.

This is a regular meeting which includes updates and reports from ACBL executives: the president, executive director, in-house consel, treasurer, and others. We also discuss motions and various other items of interest. Here is the recap of the meeting:

First, we did achieve a quorom.

Minutes from prior meeting approved.

You can take a look at the prior meeting minutes.

Revision of the mask policy:

If a player is willing to prove they have been fully -vaccinated 14 days prior to the tournament, then the player will not be required to mask for the tournament.

Update from In-House Counsel:

There is still pending litigation discussed last time between former and current ACBL directors and the ACBL. Following a court decision, ACBL has agreed to retroactively pay overtime in numerous cases. Some of the directors are appealing the court decision, and so the litigation continues.

Financial Report

See some prepared financial slides.

Updates on ACBL Board of Directors Meeting:

The discussion item from the prior meeting, requiring every player at ACBL clubs to have a membership number, has a promising update. During the Board of Governor special meeting two weeks ago, the feedback was overwhelmingly negative for requiring ACBL numbers for club players. Management has heard the feedback and decided not to move forward for now with any motion or changes.

Also discussed last time, a proposal to reduce the subsidy and per diem for board of directors members during NABCs. Specifically, ACBL could save $34,000 by reducing the subsidy for the days after the BoD meeting but prior to the end of the NABC. The board of directors passed this motion effective 2022 (after Austin NABC).

Other Business And Questions?

There was discussion about how members can prove their vaccine status per the new mask policy. Joseph Jones said that is still in discussion, but it is likely ACBL will partner with a 3rd party service that can provide digital certificates for fully vaccinated members. In-House counsel reminded us that clubs are private establishments who set their own rules and guidelines. ACBL does not control a club’s mask policy. The policy only applies to tournaments (sectionals, regionals, NABC).

Vaccines that were approved by the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda would all qualify. However, there is not yet a decision on vaccines approved by other countries not including the above.

Quite a few board of governors members mentioned that enforcement will be very difficult. For example, members raised concerns the vaccine certification might not be rigorously checked, and those without vaccines might wear masks to start but not diligently keep them on. Would wrist bands or badges be a solution? There seems to be overall a lot of concerns about how the mask policy will properly be implemented, given the new vaccination status revision.

Coffee Service Update

If we can obtain coffee at a reasonable price, there will be coffee for the Board of Governors meeting in Austin.

Should Board of Governors Change their Name?

Back to the question of the Board of Governors being a poor name, should we change the name? It is not a board, and does not govern. What are some other possible names?

A Committee that looked into this has provided 3 possible options:

Advisory Council
Advocacy Council
Advisory Board

Note, the committee originally considered “counsel” in place of “council”, which would also be a somewhat fitting and descriptive name.

The newly named entity would have no difference in responsibilities or operating procedures – it is simply designed to be a more intuitive name for what the current board of governors does.

Barbara Nudelman, former ACBL President and former Board of Governor Chair, recommended that we do not change anything because the old name worked, and is not broken.

Another member mentioned that changing the name of the BoG might gain the group a clean slate and newfound respect, because of concerns that the BoG has not commanded much respect over the past 55 years Past President Bob Heller agreed.

A motion was put to the floor that the BoG change the name (to something to be determined). The votes were 39 in favor and 12 opposed. So the motion passes.

Note: As District 24 2nd alternate to District Director, I am a voting member of the Board of Governors and voted against the motion. Why? Because I would prefer to spend our energies discussing more pressing matters.

Choosing the New Board of Governors Name: Advisory Council?

Nance Lodge mentioned it might be important to have some version of the word Representative in the name, because that is a large part of what we do for our Districts and the membership. She also said we should table the proposals and come back in the future with additional thoughts.

However, the board went to a vote and there were 25 in favor of Advisory Council and 14 opposed. It seems we will soon be called the ACBL Advisory Council instead of the Board of Governors!

Timing of Future Special Meetings

In the future, the Advisor Council, formerly BoG, can maximize impact on ACBL and the membership by obtaining written copies of all motions that will be voted on during the ACBL Board of Directors meeting. A straw poll of the majority of members in attendance felt this was a good idea.