Southwest Open Meeting Minutes
September 2, 2018 at 9:00am

Opening

The regular meeting of the Texas Chess Association was called to order at time on September 2, 2018 at 9:00am in Irving, Texas by Eddie Rios.

Attendees:

Jim Hollingsworth, Lonann French, Luis Salinas, Claudia Munoz, Estanislao Anzaldlia, Renate Garcia, Rob Jones, Louis Reed, Tom Crane, Reginia Rios, Eddie Rios, Jeff French, Barb Swafford, J.P. Hyltin

Approval of Agenda

The agenda was unanimously approved as distributed.

Approval of Minutes

Motion to approve former minutes of meetings brought by Jim Hollingsworth and second by Luis Salinas.  The motion carried 9-0 with 0 abstentions. Tom Crane requested minutes updated and posted by October 30, 2018.

Old Business

Eddie Rios led discussions regarding:

  • TCA’s background checks for tournament staff.
  • Proposal allowing a faction to select their regional director vs. appointment.
  • Disclose fees collected and incumbent expenses to be verified by receipts.

New Business

2018 Board of Directors Election report was delivered by Jeff French:

Started at: July 15, 2018 at 12:00 am; Finished at: August 31, 2018 at 12:00 pm; Time zone: Central Time (US & Canada); 122 of 283 ballots cast. 1 spoiled.

PresidentVice PresidentSecretaryTreasurer
Eddie Rios: 44 votes (36.4%) Forrest Marler: 85 votes (72.6%) Lonann French: 109 votes (100.0%) Barb Swafford: 112 votes (100.0%) 
Tom Crane: 77 votes (63.6%) Estanislao Anzaldúa: 32 votes (27.4%) 
Tom Crane wins with 63.6% of the vote.Votes tallied: 121Abstentions: 1 Forrest Marler wins with 72.6% of the vote.Votes tallied: 117Abstentions: 5 Lonann French wins with 100.0% of the vote.Votes tallied: 109Abstentions: 13 Barb Swafford wins with 100.0% of the vote.Votes tallied: 112Abstentions: 10 

Jeff French called for the election results to be approved, motion was second by Luis Salinas.  The motion carried 10-0 with 0 abstentions.

New officers acknowledged and assumed nominated roles.

Tom Crane reviewed old business to capture any motions moved into new business.

Tom acknowledged awarded tournaments: 2018 Grade in Houston (North – change name to Texas Grade as no South was bid), Texas State Amateur Open, 2019 Super State, 2020 South ran by TCA and 2020 North to Luis Salinas allowing organizational process to move forward.

Motions:

  • 1. Proposal to allow representative elections on bylaws changes designated by the President (J.P.  Hyltin) Discussion ensued in more detail by J.P. Hyltin.
  • 2. Change Election Ballot Language (Jeff French). Jeff provided changes and J.P.  printed for distribution. The motion carried 8-1 with 0 abstentions. / Tom referred this motion, to be moved to a teleconference for further discussion.  Other motions to be discussed in future teleconferences:  3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 17.
  • 5. Change Bylaws Committee Chair from immediate Past President to Vice-President (Jim Hollingsworth). Friendly motion:  previous meeting minutes approved and to be posted by October 30, 2018.
  • 6. Online only publication for Texas Knights (Jeff French and Jim Hollingsworth). Jim led the discussion on savings estimated at $3,150 and how it could be repurposed by TCA. Luis Salina’s pointed out the lifetime membership states paper copy by first class mail as a deliverable. Tom Crane took an action to engage lifetime members and determine how to meet expectations.  Lonann French second this motion.  The motion carried 9-1 with 0 abstentions.  Tom Crane put a delay of action for stopping the printed version of Texas Knights magazine until September 1, 2019 unless it is prudent to move up the time line.
  • 7. Only one scholastic general population meeting per year on scholastic and one general membership meeting per year. (Eddie Rios).  Luis Salinas discussed previous meetings.  Motion deferred to Spring meeting (2019).
  • 8. Everything that affects bylaws and structure shall be referred to the bylaws committee before placing on agenda and opening to discussion.
  • 12. Transitioning regular non-subscribing members into regular members (Jeff French and Jim Hollingsworth).
  • 13. Eliminating “without magazine” for blind memberships (Jeff French and Jim Hollingsworth).
  • 14. Purging all “online only” memberships from the Bylaws (Jeff French and Jim Hollingsworth). Discussion was led by Jim.  P.  Hyltin second the motion.  The motion carried 8-1 with 1 abstention.
    • (14.a) Junior Tournament membership to increase from $1.00 to $1.50 to support Southwest open. (Luis Salinas). Deferred to Spring meeting (2019).
  • 15. Replacing the financial statements in Texas Knights to links (Jeff French). Motion was second by J.P.    The motion carried 9-0 with 0 abstentions.
  • 16. Replace candidate statements in Texas Knights with online Ballot Profiles (Jeff French) Motion was second by J.P.   The motion carried 9-1 with 0 abstentions.
  • 18. Proposal to create TCA affiliate memberships (J.P. Hyltin) Discussion by Barb Swafford that we have a school club membership.

Agenda for Next Meeting(s)

Tom Crane has proposed regular tempo teleconferencing discussions to review the following motions and have them worded and prepared for the next general meeting:

  • (3) Remove paper ballots as a voting option. (Jeff French). Deferred.
  • (4) Sets a “member in good standing” date for TCA Elections to July 1st. (Jeff French) Deferred.
  • (9) TCA will not fund any expenses for organizers who have been awarded any events.  (Eddie Rios).  Tom Crane discussed the usage of P/L forms for regional events. Jim Hollingsworth stated adding to the bidding forms as a requirement.  Deferred.
  • (10) Our structure, which is stated in our bylaws, Regional Directors take care of designated regions and are appointed by the President.  Scholastic committee members and other positions are appointed by the president as well, Regional Directors are to also serve as the Board of Directors.  Therefore, Regional Directors are the sole Directors of the regions and are responsible for awarding the Regional Tournaments based on established critique.  (Eddie Rios).  Deferred.
  • (11) Extend the time served for elected officers to two years.  Effective immediately (Jim Hollingsworth and Eddie Rios).  Deferred.
  • (17) Resolve issues with the language for background check requirements in TCA Events. (J.P.  Hyltin). Deferred.

Addendum

Motions detail submitted by Jeff French and Jim Hollingsworth that was omitted from official agenda

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned by Tom Crane at 1:30pm.

Minutes submitted by: Lonann French, Secretary TCA
Approved by: Thomas E. Crane, President Texas Chess Association