Richard Erickson presented the treasurer's report which was
approved as presented. A copy was furnished to each chapter
president attending and the record copy is on file with the
treasurer.
Charles Block presented the minutes of the Council meeting of
January 13, 2009 which were approved with modification.
The modification is: There was an extensive discussion about how
to share any monies provided to the council from MOAA. A motion was
made and carried that the Huntsville, Montgomery and Fort Rucker
chapters with the largest number of new MOAA members (according to
MOAA statistics) would receive $100. The remainder of the chapters
would share the remaining $400 as follows: 1st place $200; 2nd
place $100; 3rd place $75 and 4th place $25.
In the event of a tie the winner will be decided by a drawing.
The cash awards will be
presented at the 1st Quarter meeting in 2010.
Chapter Presidents or their representative will have to be present
to win.
Legislative Affairs – very little chance of getting anything
passed during this session. Five bills are currently sitting in
committee and none of them deal with MOAA. The Congressional
scorecard on our website has been modified to include a column that
contains MOAA bills and their voting track record.
Peter Brambir notified us that the certificate of appreciation
was in Congressman Mike Rogers’ DC office and he would attempt to
present it during his "Storming the Hill" trip.
Gold Bar Program – National’s inventory isn’t able to handle the
demand from chapters. There was discussion as to what, if anything,
the Council could do to assist our chapters in getting Gold Bars for
ROTC graduations. One suggestion was to have the Council extend
"upfront monies" to each chapter to purchase the bars with the
chapters reimbursing the monies once National pays them the $10 per
new National member. Peter Brambir asked to table this motion until
after his "Storming the Hill" session. This is one item he plans to
address with National during his trip. (Peter also plans to address
the lack of adequate inventory of JROTC / ROTC medals and the
possibility of funding Warrant Officers Bars.)
Peter Brambir made two Presidential trips this past quarter.
First to Ft Rucker for the 50th Anniversary celebration
and second to Huntsville for the induction of Officers program. He
is scheduled to visit East Central AL (Auburn) in May and South AL
(Mobile) in June. He still is looking for chapters to visit in July
and August. Contact him if you would like the Council President to
visit your Chapter this year.