[amsat-bb] Re: BoD Elections

[Barry A. Baines]

Tim:

After reading your note, Tim Liley's and Dee's, I'd like to comment on  
your e-mail.

The July/August 2009 issue of the AMSAT Journal does contain the  
minutes of the 2008 Board Meeting in Atlanta.  Our editor, Ed Long is  
finalizing the issue and it should be to the printer in the very near  
future.  While the minutes provide a summary of the BOD actions taken  
in October 2008, we've already publicized key actions and steps taken  
in previous distribution of information. Further, much has happened in  
the past 10 months, so while the minutes may be interesting to review,  
please keep in mind that the minutes do not reflect the current status  
of the organization.

There are no other formal 'meeting minutes' or 'committee minutes' to  
be published.  No 'official meetings' where the BOD has taken official  
votes or made decisions that require documentation have taken place  
since the 2008 AMSAT Symposium.  The BOD (including the Board  
Alternate) does meet informally each month to be briefed on the status  
of activities of the corporation. For example, I have kept the Board  
fully informed of the status of our actions on ITAR. However, minutes  
are not kept since no votes have been taken.  This same information is  
later provided in ANS bulletins or in my 'Apogee View' column  
published in the AMSAT Journal.  BTW, these teleconferences now  
include the two individuals running for the Board for the first time  
since it is clear that the entire slate of five candidates will end up  
being elected to the Board or serve as the next Board Alternate.  By  
including these individuals in the current BOD teleconference, they  
will be more fully prepared to assume their new duties in September  
following announcement of election results.

Likewise, there are monthly teleconferences of the senior leadership  
team, but no minutes are kept because these are tactical meetings.   
The Engineering Task Force meets regularly but no minutes are formally  
taken.  Keep in mind that this group was appointed by the President,  
not the Board.  Engineering Task Force Chair Bill Ress, N6GHZ has  
published material in the AMSAT Journal regarding activities of the  
Task Force.

Please keep in mind that AMSAT has widely distributed information on  
the state of the organization through a variety of means.  If you want  
to review AMSAT's situation and evaluate the actions of various  
individuals before making a decision on the Board, you might:

-Read the candidate's statements
-Review the articles in the past year of AMSAT Journal, including  
Apogee View, articles on SuitSat-2 and ITAR, etc.
-Review past ANS bulletins which have provided information on AMSAT  
activities/accomplishments
-Review the videos available on the AMSAT Website of the various AMSAT  
presentations given at Dayton. These presentations provide complete  
coverage of the current status of AMSAT as of Dayton, the status of  
SuitSat-2, ARISS, and operations.  Go to:  http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/information/videoNews.php

Lastly, the entire AMSAT leadership, including the current board  
members and prospective board members, is available to answer member  
questions or address concerns.  The-mail addresses of the current  
leadership team are listed on the masthead of the AMSAT Journal.  The  
AMSAT website 'officers page' provides a mechanism for sending  
comments to specific board members and officers.  The candidate's  
statement that I wrote for this year's BOD election includes my AMSAT  
alias e-mail address.  There are no restrictions on individuals  
contacting our volunteers in leadership positions.  Note that two of  
the five candidates are current BOD members, two of BOD candidates  
have not previously served on the Board, plus one additional  
individual is the current Board Alternate.  All of these candidates  
can be contacted by their AMSAT e-mail aliases as well.


Regards,

Barry Baines, WD4ASW
President-AMSAT


On Aug 27, 2009, at 4:40 PM, Timothy J. Salo wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I still haven't returned my ballot for the AMSAT Board of
> Directors election, in part because I don't feel that I
> have really good information on which to make a decision.
> I would like to vote for a Board that will be effective and
> strengthen the organization.  It is particularly important
> to select the best possible board because, in my view, AMSAT
> is an organization in serious trouble.  But, I would prefer
> to base my vote on the recent accomplishments, recent
> positions during board meetings, and explicit near-term
> objectives of the candidates.  I would prefer to not simply
> use a blunt strategy of voting against all incumbents and for
> all challengers. Unfortunately, I don't feel that I really
> know much about the activities of the individual board members.
>
> To remedy this, I suggest that the close of the BoD elections
> be postponed until at least thirty days after the following
> have been published:
>
> o A list of all Board meetings held over the last year
> o Minutes from all of these Board meetings
> o Minutes from all AMSAT committee meetings of the last year
>
> We can certainly have a discussion about the appropriate
> level of transparency for the Board and its committees, and
> whether the Board is meeting those objectives.  Here is what
> the D.C. statutes under which AMSAT is incorporated have to
> say on the matter:
>
>  Each corporation shall keep correct and complete books and
>  records of account and shall keep minutes of the proceedings
>  of its members, board of directors, and committees having any
>  of the authority of the board of directors; ... All books and
>  records of a corporation may be inspected by any member having
>  voting rights, or his agent or attorney, for any proper purpose
>  at any reasonable time.
>
> -tjs