Houston Area Road Runners Association
Board Meeting
April 21, 2003
The meeting was called to order by John Phillips at 6:00.
Members present:
Roger Boak, Bob Hoekman, Ralph Collins, Annie Hadow, Bill Dubinsky, John Phillips, GiGi Wark, Randy Carlson, Ken Gonsalves and Tom McBrayer.
Others Present:
Lanie Rose, Sallye Wolfe, and Lee Baughman
Report of the President:
John changed the order of the agenda to accommodate the representatives from the Run for the Rose 5K. Sallye Wolf and Lanie Rose addressed the board to seek help in promoting a race that was organized in the name of Marnie Rose. Marnie Rose was one of the physicians that were spotlighted in the show Houston Medical last year. The show chronicled her compassionate interaction and treatment of her patients as well as her own personal fight with cancer. Proceeds from the run will be given to M.D. Anderson and Hermann Children’s Hospital. They were seeking assistance in ways to promote and advertise the race. Various suggestions were entertained from the floor and applications were handed out for subsequent distribution.
Reading of the minutes:
The minutes were read and approved.
Reports of Directors and committees:
V.P. of Communications – GiGi Wark
The deadline for the next issue of Footprints May 1st.
GiGi raised the issue of the ballot for elections and noted that there were no nominations from the membership for any of the offices and one nomination of Noah Matthews for a seat on the Board.
She requested information on the banquet and the discussion was deferred until later in the meeting. There was some discussion of the budget for the newsletter that was distributed by the treasurer. In general revenues for advertising were up, but the cost of production was also increased. Generally however the costs in the beginning of the year are higher than towards the end. Also, the mailings were not at the lowest rate because the proper permits still have not been secured for the downtown post office. GiGi also noted that there was un-reimbursed advertising for both HARRA and non-HARRA activities such as PIM. These services also caused an increase in the apparent cost of Footprints. There was an immediate interruption with a resounding “PIM is definitely a HARRA function!” Randy Carlson offered that it was his understanding that PIM was endorsed by HARRA but not a part of HARRA. This led to the opening of a discussion of the relationship of some functions such as PIM to HARRA. There was misinformation amongst the board concerning HARRA programs and the discussion was deferred until later in the meeting.
Finally, GiGi requested $300 in funds to give awards to contributors to Footprints in two categories. Prizes would be given for the best 3 articles and the best 3 photographs. The editorial staff would select these and the awards made at the banquet. There was brief discussion about the awards process. The editorial staff is ineligible for any awards. Annie Hadow felt that $300 seemed excessive and recommended a lesser amount. After some haggling Roger Boak made a motion to give $180 for the awards. Ralph Collins seconded the motion and the board passed it.
Mercedes kindly agreed to see the program through the banquet. There was an additional request for $2500 for VVIP awards for Mercedes Tarley’s program. Ralph Collins made a motion to grant the requested funds and Randy Carlson seconded it. The motion passed unanimously.
V.P. Of Clubs – Roger Boak
Membership Committee - Annie Hadow
Membership is currently at 1650 in 1156 households.
There were two additional applicants that were picked up at the Law Run. There was a question since it was so near the end of the year that if they signed up for next year could they still be counted for their clubs in the last race of the season. There was little discussion, but all in favor of letting them count. If it could help us to raise our membership, lets do it. There was overwhelming support of the notion.
AED – Bob Hoekman
As a near final report on the season, Bob reported on the success of the team and thanked all of the volunteers for their support. There was a scare during the season but no real emergency.
Bob the opened a discussion on the HARRA requirements for our races (distributed by the secretary to the entire board after discussion at last months meeting). He pointed out that for example the Law Run was not adhering to the requirements, which could lead to problems down the road. He raised the following questions regarding the requirements:
1. Runners Tax – if fewer number of runners no taxes are collected. You need 500 or more. Does it apply only to running clubs?
2. Distance and number of parking spaces that are available for runners.
3. A run a few years ago had a med team composed of surgeons and nurses – this would not meet current HARRA requirements for medical support.
4. What are the minimal skill levels required of members of the medical team? Those of an EMT? We should perhaps define the skills such that qualified medical personnel could serve in this capacity even if they weren’t an EMT.
5. Bob volunteered to rewrite this section of the requirements as well as write in that approval of the HARRA medical director is also required.
Road Race Management – Randy Carlson
The Run for the Arts doesn’t look too promising at this point. However Steve Karpas has proposed a 10K run at the HP site to initiate the fall series. He’ll make a presentation at the next HARRA board meeting.
In other news, NIKE is putting up a $50,000 grant in matching funds to build a track. It would be ideal to replace the track at Memorial Park. Randy will get more information.
John Warren spoke to Randy about the possibility of including a cross-country event in the Spring Series. There is a consensus that we would like to see another race of the 5K distance in the series. Randy will invite those who would like to include a race in the spring series to make a proposal to the board.
Roger also wanted to inform the board of the meeting April 29th of the meeting of the Master Planning Board for memorial Park development. Suggested that as many runners be present as possible, particularly in view of the benefits runners should derive from any changes.
Power in Motion – Ralph Collins
The new session of PIM is beginning. There are approximately 200 runners in the group. Their target run is the Friends of Scleroderma held on May 4th.
Race Equipment – Tom McBrayer
The new clocks have been placed in service and performed perfectly, even under adverse conditions. The Ultra event at Bear Creek was timed at the 24 and 48-hour times with the clocks flawlessly.
Tom also reported that equipment rental revenue may be down a bit due to lost races.
Randy brought up the issue of getting information to new race directors. He inquired about the course that was offered for race directors some years ago at the YMCA. Tom responded that the offering was dropped due to various difficulties in actually connecting with the race directors who would benefit from such a course. He did point out the availability of a director’s manual that was available via the internet from Ken Johnson.
What is the relationship between HARRA and PIM or other programs? Power in Motion is a HARRA function. There appears to be some miscommunications and misunderstandings regarding these programs. Bill Dubinsky asked why these functions (PIM, BCC, etc) do not appear in the HARRA budget. Ralph Collins responded that Barb Shepard handled all of the funds and books for PIM. John Phillips said that it was not a question of who handles the money, but how are its operational expenses handled. Does it make money and is it self-supporting or does it ever request support from HARRA. Ralph reiterated that PIM is a HARRA event and it is a part of HARRA. GiGi asked how much of a HARRA event is it, followed by Randy as to what is the relationship? Roger Boak pointed out that it was the same as any program. The difference was that in the past there were problems paying bills and getting reimbursed for expenses so they set up their own accounts to facilitate payments. Tom McBrayer added that PIM was set up to meet the demand of runners to have these types of training groups. Bob Hoekman pointed out that Barb works hard to keep costs down and that PIM always breaks even. It is a self sustaining HARRA program and PIM is also a good source of volunteers for HARRA events. John made the point that no one is questioning the handling of funds, but trying to understand the organizational structure. How can we have programs that contribute to HARRA activities and not know anything about them? Randy conveyed an idea that he attributed to Camille Yarbrough that program directors should be At-Large board members. This was followed by some discussion as to how you can retain some kind of accountability of the different programs. Take the collapse of the Kids Run for example. Bob closed the discussion with the suggestion of generating a manual of information to be distributed to new board members. The issue was then tabled for further discussion next month.
The discussion turned to the banquet. It will be held on Saturday the 14th at the Elks Lodge on S. Willow Dr. The cost is $250 for the half hall with a $100 security fee. There is a $250 clean up charge unless we do it. We bring the food and non-alcoholic drinks and they provide beer and wine. GiGi will look into some sources for BBQ and a DJ. John suggested giving an award to the club with the highest turnout to encourage attendance. Club awards will be presented at the banquet.
Elections will be held before the banquet. The suggested ballot will be:
President – John Phillips
V.P. Communications - GiGi Wark
V.P. Road race Management – Randy Carlson
V.P. Clubs – Roger Boak
Treasurer – Audry Christiansen
Membership – Annie Hadow
Secretary – Bill Dubinsky
At Large Board
Ralph Collins
Noah Mathews
Meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Dubinsky