Oregon National Guard Association

Board Meeting Minutes

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Present:

LTC (Ret) Fritz McReynolds COL (Ret) Roberta Janssen

BG Steven Beach LTC (Ret) Marc Snook

Robin Webb MAJ Charles Patzner

Capt Scott Gelhardt Col Donna Prigmore

CW3 Doug Herinckx Col James Mitchell

Capt Doyle

1. Welcome by the President – BG Beach was running late so Col Prigmore welcomed members to the meeting.

2. Minute Approval: Meeting was called to order and the October minutes were reviewed. A motion to accept the minutes as written was made and a second was given. Motion passed.

3. Financial Update:

a.  ORNGA Checking Account: The balance in the checking account as of the end of October was $105,039.31.

b.  ORNGCEF. COL (Ret) Janssen indicated the balance in the ORNGCEF account as of the end of October was $33,067.50. A transfer of $32,000 ($1,000 a year to that takes care of the administrative costs) for the next two years of Scholarships was put into the checking account. A donation of $2,260 was received from Rogue from the sale of cases of beer also. The balance in the investment account is now around $220,000.

c.  Budget Report for September/October: COL (Ret) Janssen stated the budget for October was sent out. We are pretty much on track with incoming of Corporate Partners for 2017. Have wrapped up the State and NGAUS Conference also. Our biggest expenditure was Administration costs which was related to the overhaul of our Website, at $700. The website is completely different now and is more user friendly. We also had to return $1,000 to Transhield after one of their representatives gave us a check for Corporate Partner sponsorship after the Company decided not to sponsor this year. Taxes were also completed which cost $875 this year.

4. Committee Reports:

a.  Resolutions: MAJ Patzner indicated he sent an email with an updated spreadsheet the end of October to BG Beach, COL (Ret) Janssen and LTC (Ret) McReynolds. Would like the report sent out to the entire Board at this point. Wants to set up some timelines to work issues that may come up in the future. Col Mitchell indicated not much new on the Air side. There was a discussion regarding a soldier with the New Mexico National Guard who brought up issues with USERA. USERA protects Soldiers for reemployment up to a 5 year limit. There are some exceptions to that for Soldiers who are doing longer tours, etc. Col Mitchell asked if there is an appetite for a Resolution that could say it could be longer than 5 years. COL (Ret) Janssen indicated there was a recent case of a Soldier who was in the Navy and wanted to return to their job, it was denied. Apparently, he had signed a contract before he left. USERA only guarantees you will have a job at the equivalent of pay but not necessarily the same job as when you left. COL (Ret) Janssen suggested getting with NGAUS to get a feel on this. Col Mitchell will do some checking and get back at next meeting.

b.  Corporate Partners: LTC (Ret) Snook indicated he has put together a new list of Corporate Sponsors. He will be sending out an email this weekend to all those people with the Facts sheet.

c.  Membership: Tabled until next meeting.

d.  Awards Committee: Col Prigmore indicated she does not have any updates as of now.

5. Update on State Conference 2017: LTC (Ret) McReynolds stated the conference is scheduled for March this next year. MAJ Lulay donated a case of wine last month which puts us at about 40 bottles. LTC (Ret) McReynolds also indicated he is working with Rogue on getting the 3 Liter bottles. He also stated he went to the Conference center and walked through rooms and working through menu items. The question is how do we want to handle the Hospitality Suite? Do we want to force a consolidated suite like we did at the Riverhouse or allow everyone to have their own individual rooms? He suggested getting a room at the Conference center and have multiple bars, each hosted by a different entity. The rooms are not ideal for hosting these events individually. This process worked very well at the Bend event. COL (Ret) Janssen stated she recommends LTC (Ret) McReynolds go back to the Conference Center and explores cost, etc. and report back at next meeting. Will probably also need to have a discussion with the Company Grades to determine how they feel with a combined room. BG Beach will work on getting a guest speaker lined up and report back at the next meeting.

6. Update on National Conference in Louisville, September 7th thru the 10th: LTC (Ret) McReynolds stated in January he and COL (Ret) Janssen will be attending the NGEDA Conference. We won’t be in the conference center in downtown Louisville as it’s under construction, instead we will be in a conference center near the Airport so everyone will be bused to and from their hotels. BG Beach stated it was great having the Company Grades go this year so would like to do it again, maybe take some additional.

7. New Business: LTC (Ret) McReynolds stated we received a Thank You note from Transition Projects for the money we gave for the Portland Veteran’s Stand Down.

He also talked about a letter COL (Ret) Janssen received about Federal Tuition Assistance. Apparently, there was a change from a Cap on Tuition Assistance being $4,500 a year to a maximum of Semester hours or Quarter hours. The Army is asking if this is something people like or dislike. LTC (Ret) McReynolds will forward out the letter to everyone, if you have issues or concerns, please respond back to the author of the letter and also speak with Chief Diane Beach in the Education Office.

LTC (Ret) McReynolds and COL (Ret) Janssen had meeting with Sarah who is with the Child and Youth Program. They are putting forward a request for some finical support to help with the Youth Military Ball scheduled for February. We were also discussing a partnership on how can we help each other. Will probably see them at the PNDC event in December and also at the State Conference.

a.  PNDC Winter Party: LTC (Ret) McReynolds stated the event is scheduled for 15 December at Clackamas. It will be a luncheon from 11 to 2 PM. He also asked if there were any Strikers in Oregon. Mr Herinckx will do some checking and get back with the group. If anyone else has some ideas on equipment for displays, let him know. Also, will need volunteers to help do set up and tear down. LTC (Ret) Snook suggested having the Amateur Radio SDF guys bring in some equipment to discuss and share with participants? COL (Ret) Janssen suggested he work the issue.

b.  Slack: Tabled until next meeting.

c.  Military Ball Ticket Prices: COL (Ret) Janssen suggested doing a graduated Military Ball ticket price. It was suggested E1-E6 pay $55 per ticket; E7-03 pay $60 per ticket; 04 & above pay $65 per ticket and Non-members pay $75 per ticket. After further discussion the group decided to accept the change. A motion to accept the sliding scale ticket price for the Military Ball was made and a second was given. Motion passed.

d.  Pins & Shirts: It was suggested everyone start thinking about what type of blinky pin we may want to do for the next National Conference so we can get the design and order in sooner. It was also suggested we possibly look at having ORNGA shirts again. This has been done in the past, they usually run between $25 and $30 each. Will add to the docket for next month’s board meeting.

8. Next Meeting: The next meeting date is Thursday, December 1st, 2016 at the ARC in Salem at 5:30 PM. Pizza will be served. Meeting was adjourned at 6:30 PM.