National Council of the United States
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Inc.
Official Minutes of the 2015 Midyear
Business Meeting
St. Louis, MO April 11, 2015
The National Business Meeting of the Council of the United States was opened by President Sheila Gilbert in St.Louis, MO at 9:00 am CDT. Althea Graham reported that there are 120 National Council Members, with 86 members present, which exceeds the number required for a quorum.
ITEM: The New Council Members and Proxies introduced themselves:
Brand New Councils Stockton, CA and Knoxville, TN
New Council Members / 13 ProxiesPaul Novotny / Green Bay / Maura Bonnarens / Oakland
Kyle Reis / Atlanta / Danny Camarena / Sacramento
Warren Wright / Columbus / Todd Coulter / Biloxi
Christopher Bodin / Jacksonville / Michael Elliott / Dubuque
Dennis Quinn / Rockford / Jerry Ficke / Lincoln
Stan Miller / Portland / James Gaunt / Seattle
Judy Helein / Arlington / James Hafenstein / Milwaukee
Nancy Ban / Stockton / Robert Hart / Wheeling/Charleston
Pat Farner / Knoxville / Jim Irving / St. Louis
John Ryan / Indianapolis / Richard LaPorte / Boston
Don Bucciarelli / Philadelphia / William Lewis / St. Paul/Minneapolis
Irma Colabrese / Camden / Grace Vera / Spokane
Al Bannon / Pittsburgh / Frank Walder / Wilmington
Joe Clark / Arkansas Council
Frank Barrios / Phoenix
Joleen Boyer / Austin
Nick Lomonte / Galveston-Houston
Doris Gebbia / Lafayette
Dave Rogers / Santa Rosa
Pat Worick / Kalamazoo
Unrepresented Councils
Archdiocese of Hartford / Diocese of Jefferson City
Archdiocese of Louisville / Diocese of Juneau
Archdiocese of Mobile / Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph
Archdiocese of San Francisco / Diocese of La Crosse
Diocese of Albany / Diocese of Lexington
Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown / Diocese of Metuchen
Diocese of Brooklyn / Diocese of Monterey
Diocese of Charleston / Diocese of Owensboro
Diocese of Charlotte / Diocese of Palm Beach
Diocese of Fargo / Diocese of Puerto Rico
Diocese of Gaylord / Diocese of Rockville Centre
Diocese of Grand Rapids / Diocese of Saginaw
Diocese of Great Falls-Billings / Diocese of San Bernardino
Diocese of Honolulu / Diocese of San Jose
Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux / Diocese of Wichita
Diocese of Youngstown
ITEM: Approval of the Consent Agenda, including Minutes of the National Council 2014 Business Meeting was moved, seconded and approved.
ITEM: President’s Report Sheila Gilbert
· When I think about culture change, I remember that Formation change took us 15 years. In today’s climate you cannot take 15 years. We have to get on with moving the Society forward. We have to ask ourselves “How is this going to impact the people we serve?” “Is this going to help us to grow in holiness?” If we keep those as our bottom line, it won’t take quite so long to make the culture shifts. What do you want to happen? We can see culture change happening in the Society. We are all in this together. National is all of us.
· Every Council needs extension and revitalization. We are not sure exactly how to do that. If national is going to be effective, we will have to be available for some real one-on-one consultation. How do we keep the conferences mentored and supported? We need to hear what those problems are.
· Kim Bobo, founder of the Interfaith Justice Worker, will speak to us on employer wage theft and related issues that threaten the ability of lower-paid workers to get, and keep, what they have earned. What kind of questions should we be asking.
ITEM: Treasurer’s Report Mike Nizankiewicz/ Richard Morin
· Overview of the Audit Committee - The Audit committee was not as active as it should be. We added two members to the Audit Committee, Anthony Caruso, CFO St. Petersburg and Andrew Wilson, a forensic auditor from Phoenix. Because of Laura Kamper’s efforts we were able to get everything done for the auditors and had the audit ready for the Finance Committee in January. We also were able to give them the 990 in time for a review. According to Sarbanes-Oxley, we should be changing our auditing firm on a regular basis, so we are sending out an RFP to evaluate outside CPA firms.
· Overview of the Finance Committee which consists of Mike Nizankiewicz, Althea Graham, Dave Barringer, Sheila Gilbert, Richard Morin, Bill Henckler and Laura Kamper. We have a vacancy due to the resignation of Pat O’Dea who was very active on this committee
· February Financials - since we switched from Cash to Accrual, our Consolidated Statement, Audit and 990 were all the same. This required quite a bit of reconciliation to make them all the same.
· Investment Portfolio – in 2009 we had concerns about our investment firm. The Phoenix Council advised us to look at Buckingham Asset Management which we contracted with in May 2010 to handle our investments. Vladimir Masek, of Buckingham Asset Management reviewed our investment program. We have two Investment Funds, including a larger Fidelity Account. After 10 years the net proceeds over time is $795,000 which is an annualized return on investment of 5% per annum. If any Council has funds to invest, contact Buckingham. Collectively, our accounts can get the benefit of a critical mass, but with separate accounting for every SVdP that participates.
Acceptance of the February Financial statements was move, seconded and approved.
· Overview of the Budgeting Process
The Finance Committee does the work to prepare the budget. The stake holders are asked to put together the budget, using the criteria of what must be done, needs to be accomplished, and what would be nice to do and could be considered for funding. The Budget Committee met and presented the draft Budget to the Board in January.
· Details of the budget
o Expected revenue is up about $500,000
o Solidarity process as proposed in Resolution 134 will continue to be a percentage applied to revenue, minimum of $150, which will be adjusted annually by the CPI; government grants which do not include a provision for administrative costs can be taken out. $10,000 exemption per conference remains. This year the CPI is 2.9%.
o Development revenue will increase because of the Direct Mail program started in November.
o Budget includes a merit increase of 3% for fulltime employees and due to Mike Syslo’s retirement, provisions for three new employees.
ITEM: RESOLUTION 132 to approve the 2015-2016 National Budget
At the last National meeting we agreed to review the 2014-15 budget. No changes in that budget are required.
Resolution 132 was moved, seconded and unanimously approved.
ITEM: Guest Speaker Wage and Poverty Issues Kim Bobo
Kim Bobo the founding Director of Interfaith Worker Justice spoke about wage theft in America and how her organization is working to get this topic on the national agenda.
ITEM: CEO Report Dave Barringer
· Dr. Lance McCarthy will be taking over the administration of the Haiti Program. On another issue, International Twinning with Haiti which had been suspended, has been reauthorized.
· Where we are with solidarity. In Madison, we approved a two- year pilot program which will officially end in September. We brought the Solidarity resolution back to this meeting to approve it six months before it becomes effective in October. A handful of Councils who asked to go through a peer review process have been completed. The Solidarity calculation includes elimination of some Government Grants with allowance for administrative costs of 10% or less and a CPI factor added to compensate for inflationary increases. The CPI application only affects the large Councils at the top and the Councils with the minimum. The percentage rate of .06 stays the same for five years. Everything resets in five years.
RESOLUTIONS Ray Sickinger
ITEM: RESOLUTION 134 – to Modify the current Solidarity Contribution.
Resolution 134 was moved and seconded.
An amendment was moved and seconded that the annual CPI adjustment factor apply to the $10,000 per conference exemption as well. The amendment failed by a vote of 15 - aye, to 64 - nay, with two abstentions.
Resolution 134 was approved as written.
ITEM: RESOLUTION 119 Revised Resolution on Noncompliance
A Revised Resolution on Non-Compliance, was considered by the Governance Committee and approved by the Board of Directors January 17, 2015. The resolution was moved and seconded. An amendment to change the words from “Should each assign,” to “Will be best served by assigning” was moved, seconded and defeated by a vote of 21 – aye to 57- nay.
Resolution 119 was approved as written
ITEM: RESOLUTION 131 Resolution to amend the Election Process set forth in Article 12 of the Bylaws of the National Council
Resolution 131 was moved, seconded and approved.
ITEM: RESOLUTION 133 Establish a Bequest Distribution Policy
Resolution 133 was moved, seconded and approved.
ITEM: RESOLUTION 133A to approve the Bequest Distribution Policy
Resolution 133A was moved, seconded and approved.
ITEM: RESOLUTION 130 – a Resolution to Amend Model Bylaws pertaining to typos or grammar
Resolution 130 was moved, seconded and approved.
Open Discussion Items:
· Reminder about the July Invitation for Renewal program.
· Joe Butkovich related details about the tornados in the Rockford Diocese. North Central Disaster Relief will be responding to the 4F tornados, that resulted in two deaths, with heavy damage in Rochelle and the city of Fairdale completely destroyed.
· Mark Gordon, Diocesan Council President of Providence reminded everyone to register for the upcoming National Assembly, August 26-29th.
Meeting was adjourned at 3:10 p.m.
Submitted by: Althea Graham Prepared by: Sherry Brown
National Secretary Executive Administrative Assistant
PowerPoint Presentations from this meeting can be downloaded from the website www.svdpusa.org
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April 11, 2015