Minutes of the District 72 Semi Annual Council Meeting
8 November 2014, the Copthorne Hotel, Tau Henare Drive,
Paihia, Bay of Islands
Those present (see Appendix A)
1Call to order and welcome
District Sergeant at Arms Officer John O’Leary announced the Semi Annual Council meeting and warmly welcomed all present and requested all cell phones be turned off.
District Governor Kingsley Moodythen called the meeting of the Toastmasters International District 72 Semi Annual Council to order at 1:12 pmand extended a warm welcome to all delegates and members present. Healso extended a warm welcome to non-Toastmaster members who were present.
Meeting officials
The business meeting officials for this meeting were:
Timers: Darryl Rolleston and Dale Adamson
Ballot counters: Sharon Gordon Claire Meginis, Julie Romente and Miranda Friend
Chairman of Ballot Collectors and Counters: PDDG Joy Ackrill DTM
Parliamentarian and Chairman of Credentials Committee: PDDG Chrissy Meyer DTM
District Governor Kingsley thanked all those people named for their dedication and effort both leading up to and including the Council meeting.
2Mission Statement
Lieutenant Governor Education and Training Carol Mitchellread the Mission Statement.
3Speaking rights
District Governor Kingsleyexplained voting and speaking rights along with the associated timing.
Only Club Presidents, Vice Presidents Education (or their proxies) and District Officers have voting rights at this meeting.
Under Toastmasters International Policy, District Governor Kingsleyextended speaking rights to all Toastmasters present. He also explained how discussions should be conducted, and advised that priority would be given to Toastmasters carrying ballots.
4Apologies
District Secretary Toni reported the apologies (refer Appendix B).
“That the apologies be accepted.”
Moved: Steve Preston, Wellington Professional
Seconded: Pauline Carr, Area J3
CARRIED
5Confirmation of Quorum
District Parliamentarian Chrissy thanked her helpers at the Credentials desk. They were:
Alan Holloway DTM, Area D8 Governor
Jonathan McDonald ACB ALB, Area F2 Governor
Pauline Wood CC CL, Area F3 Governor
Fiona Hodge CC ALB, Area G5 Governor
Maya Beddie-Geiser ATMG ALB, Area J4 Governor
Joy Ackrill DTM, Past Distinguished District Governor was also thanked for her assistance prior to the meeting.
A quorum for a District Council Meeting is one-third of the Club Presidents and Vice Presidents Education. The District currently has 267 clubs, making 534 votes. One-third of this is 178 votes. District Parliamentarian Chrissyconfirmed there were 224 club votes present and declared a quorum.
TheDistrict Executive currently has 57 Area Governors, 9 Division Governors and 7 senior officers – making a total of 73 members. There were 50District Officers present.
The total number of votes available was 274. A simple majority was 138 votes and a two-thirds majority was 183 votes.
6Changes to and Confirmation of Agenda
DG Kingsley added changes to officer titles as announced by TI and added this to the agenda under item 12.6.
7Minutes from the District 72 Annual CouncilMeeting 10 May 2014
The minutes of this meeting had been published on the District website.
PDDG Murray Coutts raised a point of order – That District Procedures and District Administration Procedures require that all motions and all items to be considered are on the website 28 days prior to the meeting. That was not complied with. Some went up 21 days and some went up even later. Normally in this case each one would have to be voted on with a 2/3 majority, however, to clear things up and to save time he suggested an omnibus motion. That we approve by 2/3 everything that was published on the website by the beginning of the week.
“That all motions and items of business for this meeting that were posted on the District website by 1 November be approved for consideration at this meeting”
Moved: PDDG Murray Coutts DTM
Seconded: Pauline Wood, Area F3
CARRIED
Corrections to the minutes
There was one correction. PDDG Murray Coutts DTM spoke in relation toitem 4.2 on page 7 of the minutes. He specified that this item was a motion in relation to the District Awards that was moved by himself that had been recorded incorrectly. Murray specified that his wording, as verified by himself following review of a tape recording, was “that the awards motion as printed on the website be approved”. He checked with the past District Secretary who was seconder to this motion that she believed this was the motion she was seconding which was confirmed however, Murray felt that some members of the top table may have felt that this motion was not approved at that time. Murray Coutts recalled that the Chair at that meeting did not restate the motion to the meeting before it was put. He specified that it is not what the chairperson of this meeting thought was being passed but in fact what the main body of the meeting thought was being passed. He requested that the minutes be adjusted to reflect what actually happened whereby a whole new set of District Awards was approved.
DG Kingsley clarified for the benefit of the meeting that there was a procedural issue in that the official record as published of the particular business at that meeting says one thing and Murray was adamant that what he intended, and what he believed, had been agreed to was a different thing. Kingsley clarified to the meeting that what we currently have is a major update of our District awards. The difficulty that some attendees had with the set of proceedings at that particular meeting was that Murray was presenting a report which incorporated a lot of recommendations. Those recommendations have not yet been given the opportunity of being debated. Since that meeting the District Administration team has established the need to further debate the individual recommendations from the report and this is still a work in progress.
DG Kingsley noted that this issue be raised as a significant difference in the way that the minute was recorded in May and suggested that we put it to one side at the moment to sort out how it is to be dealt with while work is still being done on the appendices contained in the published District Procedures still current on the District website.
Area F2 Governor Jonathan McDonald asked if it were possible to rescind the minuted motion and reconsider the motion Murray believed he had moved.
DG Kingsley thanked Jonathan for his attempt to clarify the situation but identified it was not possible for this motion to be put.
PDDG Joy Ackrill, Turbine Talkers, said that it was her understanding that it was adopted at that meetinghowever she did not have the benefit of a recording or any other way of confirming this. She indicated she understands there is a difference of opinion as to whether that happened. What we are doing here is deciding if the minutes are correct or not. There is some doubt as to whether the minutes are correct and given that, she suggested that the top table needs to decide whether to accept the correction to the minutes and then the meeting needs to decide whether to approve the minutes being corrected or to be left as they are.
DG Kingsley thanked Joy for her clarification.
PDDG Alun Chisholm, Orion Health, confirmed that he had taken a recording of the meeting and confirmed that Murray’s recollection of this was correct as reviewed by himself from that recording.
Past District Secretary Penny Coffey told the meeting that she had taken notes during the meeting as well as recording it. She noted that she had since passed the digital recorder on to the current secretary. She recollected that she went over the motion several times, word for word, to ensure accuracy before passing on to the District Governor and District Parliamentarian to double check as well. Given her thorough process she was unable to explain how this could not have been recorded correctly.
Marlene Krone, Silver Service, offered a solution to resolve this. That the minutes be accepted subject to this particular issue being sorted. This would be done by going back, correct it and then the correction comes to the next meeting as an amendment to this point in the minutes. She noted this is a common procedure in the public arena.
DG Kingsley confirmed that we record that there is a difference of opinion that is to be taken away, worked on and then provide proper notice of how this will be dealt with prior to our next meeting. He noted that this decision may be felt as unsatisfactory to some but he indicated he also felt that a hasty decision on this should not be made today.
PDDG Murray Coutts in his right of reply noted the history of this item. A general committee made up of PDDG Steve Bullock, Parliamentarian at the time Laurel Frances and Judy Love. This team had done some work at the time but did not have the report completed for the council meeting. Murray was then given the role of putting the report together and then took it to the November 2013 council meeting. Due to not enough delegates at that meeting having read the document it was deferred to the May 2014 Council.
Murray gave formal notice of motion that at the May 2015 District council meeting he will move the exact motion that was moved, as specified prior, in May 2014. He strongly noted that if nobody debates a point then the assumption will be that everyone agrees with the point in mention. He pleaded with everyone to have read the motion prior to the May 2015 meeting.
“That the minutes of the District 72 Council Meeting of 10 May 2014noting the difference of opinion over the District Awards motion are taken asread and confirmed.”
Moved: Terry Cave, Area E10
Seconded: Andrew Elphick,Westport
CARRIED
7.1Matters arising from the minutes
There were no matters arising.
8Correspondence
District Secretary Toni advised that no items of correspondence had been received.
9Urgent Business
9.1Confirmation of Officer Resignations
District Governor Kingsley announced the officer resignations since the District 72 Council Meeting on 10 May 2014: Refer Appendix C
“That the District 72 Council accepts the resignations of the officers as listed.”
Moved: Christine Alcott, Division H
Seconded: Anna McDonald, Academic
CARRIED
9.2Confirmation of Officer Appointments
District Governor Kingsley announced the following officer appointments since the District 72 Council meeting held on 10 May 2014: - Refer Appendix D
“That the District 72 Council approves the appointments of the officers as listed.”
Moved: Joan Hook, Eden-Epsom
Seconded: Timothy Law, Business Breakfast
Carried
DG Kingsley congratulated and warmly thanked all volunteers for stepping up to District Officer level.
9.3Confirmation of new clubs into areas
District Governor Kingsley confirmed the placement of the three clubs recently chartered into the following areas:
Kororareka Toastmasters – Area F7
Pipitea Toastmasters – Area E10
IPc Toastmasters – Area J2
DG Kingsley warmly thanked all those who worked so hard to get these clubs chartered and also thanked and encouraged those currently working to establish new clubs.
10District Treasurer’s Reports
10.1Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2014
District Treasurer, Sarah Bate, presented the Audited financial report for the year ended 30 June 2014 with the following comments.
The financial accounts had been audited and the audited report had been submitted to and accepted by Toastmasters International. DT Sarah noted that the setting of budgets was not always easy given that there is a change of one or two members in the Trio each year. This was considered to be a successful year in comparison to the previous year. Careful cost control meant that District 72 finished the year significantly under budget. Thanks and congratulations were given to all District Officers for managing costs so efficiently. Due to amalgamation of all accounts now Division accounts will not show separately on reports however Divisions and Areas are still being tracked separately. Sarah also noted that the Bay of Islands convention was going to be successful.
“That the auditedfinancial statements for the year ended 30 June 2014 be
received.”
Moved: Sarah Bate, District Treasurer
Seconded: Ellie Young, IPDG
CARRIED
There was no discussion.
“That the District 72 auditedfinancial statements for the year ended 30 June 2014be adopted.”
Moved: Jonathan McDonald, Area F2
Seconded: Nathan Saminathan, Area A5
CARRIED
DG Kingsley extended a sincere vote of thanks to Sarah Bate and the District Audit team lead by Peter Scholtens for their hard work and having the financial documents filed on time.
10.2Budget for the year ending 30 June 2015
District Treasurer Sarah presented the District 72 budget for the year ending 30 June
2015 with the following comments.
WHQ set the membership revenue target each year and District 72 is currently outperforming this figure. In the past each club was asked to pay a per head donation for members to assist in covering Division and Area expenses. WHQ have indicated the donation practice is not acceptable so alternative funding options had to be considered. TI have indicated that a District service charge, bulk funding proposal would be acceptable as long as it is not called a donation. This service charge will be invoiced to clubs and will need to be GST inclusive. At this stage, based on Division and Area running costs, the per head figure is likely to be around $10.00 + GST per member though this is not yet confirmed. The Trio is still working on the mechanics of this due to some Divisions having a door charge to attend conferences. We were reminded that the budget is, and will continue to be, a live document and not set in stone. The recent conventions have been marketed very well resulting in higher numbers in attendance and have come up with a surplus from both the Palmerston North and Christchurch conventions. Sarah personally thanked the committees of the Bay of Islands and Waipuna Conventions for submitting accurate timely budgets. Overall District 72 is still running at a deficit however this is much lower than was forecast at the Palmerston North Convention last year due to good strong cost controls and the bulk funding idea with clubs.
“That the District 72 budget for the year ending 30 June 2015 be received.”
Moved: Sarah Bate, District Treasurer
Seconded: Jane Atkinson, Division A Governor
CARRIED
Discussion followed.
Rob Julian,Ohariu, asked why NZ have to comply with USA tax laws. Sarah explained that due to TI HQ being domiciled in California USA their tax laws also apply to us.
Murray Coutts, Silverdale, re budgeted expenditure on marketing – sought assurance from the Trio that the current year’s budget, when compared with last year’s budget that did not achieve Distinguished District status, will enable the District to meet Distinguished status this year. LGM David Templeman reported that at this stage as at the 1st of November we were already at 3% of our growth target which is right on the goal. David noted that this year the marketing budget is being spent in ways that are a lot more targeted as with the Kia Ora magazine. He also noted that when there is less money coming in all are required to take a hit on their budgets. He indicated all the marketing budget would be spent this year and he was confident of membership targets being met.
Joan Hook, Eden-Epsom, indicated that while she understands the reasoning behind the change in the Area and Division accounting requirements, she expressed concern at the proposed District Service fee noting that some clubs with low membership may not be in a financial position to pay if they were charged. Joan asked if the Trio would set the figure in concrete or if there will be further discussion around this.
DT Sarah pointed out that in previous years the per head figure across the Divisions ranged from $5.00 to $12.00. She also noted that although the donations were being collected by clubs that some Divisions were not spending that money. In this new model the cash flow will be efficiently used however to ensure operational function the figure of $10.00 has been budgeted for at this time. Sarah noted Joan’s point that between Divisions this figure may need to differ and she understands the Trio were working through that process.
DG Kingsley noted that this is a year of transition between models and extra feedback had been forthcoming from the Exec Committee the previous evening which was also going to be taken into consideration. He noted that we need to adapt to the current circumstances and requested patience and understanding while this process is taking place. He also specified that in essence this was simply a change of name from Donation to Service Charge, in order to comply with TI regulations. More detail will be forthcoming.
Timothy Law, Business Breakfast, asked if the Service Charge would be $10.00 overall for members with duel membership or if it would be per head for each club they were a member of. DT Sarah noted that under the Donation model clubs did pay for each club member and that she is not expecting this to change. She also pointed out that Tim was a member of a Division that only charge $5.00 per head per club and also had a door fee for conferences. She expects that there will be an adjustment considered in this regard.