USA Table Tennis
Board Meeting Minutes
July 9, 2000

Sunday, July 9, 2000:

President Sheri Pittman called the meeting to order at 12:40 p.m. EDT.

Present were George Brathwaite, Jim Butler, Amy Feng, Tong Lee, Jimmy McClure, Sheri Pittman, Barney Reed, Dennis Taylor, Bob Tretheway, Lily Yip, and Executive Director Ben Nisbet.

1) John Webb of the Greater Ft. Lauderdale Sports Commission addressed the Board. His primary message was that Ft. Lauderdale has enjoyed having the Open in their city and would like to have us return for future Opens.

Motion 1: Moved to discuss election issues and subsequently decide how to proceed further.

Proposed by Jimmy McClure; seconded by Tong Lee.

Passed: 10-0-0

2) The chair noted that Lily Yip was taping the meeting. She reminded Ms. Yip that as per association policy the tapes would become the property of USATT, eventually to be archived in Colorado Springs. Ms. Yip indicated that she understood and agreed to be bound by this policy.

3) The Board discussed the Pittman proposal for the composition of the Board of Directors and for the details of terms of service. Resolution of this question was the reason for this meeting being called and bringing Board members to Ft. Lauderdale.

Ms. Pittman’s proposal was the only proposal on the floor. Bob Tretheway distributed a handout that included comments on and reasons for his opposition to Ms. Pittman’s proposal. The primary opposition to the Pittman proposal was that it was too encompassing and that the Board was unqualified to determine how it should organize itself. Rather, consultants should be hired to determine which stakeholders in the organization should be represented on the board. In short, discussion on the resolution of the ramifications of the Board’s vote of May 7, 2000, to allow the general membership to elect the officers of the association should be tabled until the Board sets up a body consisting non-board members, with a set of recommendations on how the association be best organized to achieve its goals and mission.

Jim Butler left the meeting at 2:13 p.m. EDT.

MOTION 2: Moved to appoint Hank McCullom as the interim Community Based Organization Representative to the Board until such time as we have Community Based Organization members who will elect their own representative.

Proposed by Barney Reed; seconded by Jimmy McClure.

Passed: 6-3-0

In Favor: AF, TL, JM, SP, BR, LY

Opposed: GB, DT, BT

MOTION 3: Moved to appoint Wendall Dillon chair of a five-person ad hoc Election Reformation Committee. The President shall appoint the remaining non-athlete members subject to Board approval.

Proposed by Sheri Pittman; seconded by Bob Tretheway.

Passed: 9-0-0

MOTION 4: Moved that the scope of the Election Reformation Committee shall be to examine our electoral process and offer to the Board a system for the election of officers and other Board members. Additionally, the committee shall submit its report to the Board no later than September 1, 2000.

Proposed by Bob Tretheway; seconded by George Brathwaite.

Passed: 8-0-1

In Favor: GB, AF, TL, JM, SP, BR, BT, LY

Abstain: DT

MOTION 5: Moved to approve Jimmy McClure as one of the members of the Election Reformation Committee.

Proposed by Sheri Pittman; seconded by Dennis Taylor.

Passed: 8-0-1

In Favor: GB, AF, TL, SP, BR, DT, BT, LY

Abstain: JM

4) The Board met in Executive Session from 2:55 p.m. to 3:25 p.m. Matters discussed in Executive Session are privileged and no minutes are kept.

MOTION 6: Moved to permit Ben Nisbet to move forward with the Warren internet collaborate at his discretion with the parameters of contracts being reviewed by our attorney and technical documents being reviewed by a technical committee established by Mr. Nisbet.

Proposed by Bob Tretheway; seconded by Jimmy McClure.

Passed: 9-0-0

5) Table contracts for upcoming USATT tournaments were discussed. The current contract has expired and direction is needed for how to proceed. The Board was reminded that the table sponsor takes on many responsibilities traditionally borne by a local organizing committee, such as setup and tear down.

Butterfly and Stiga have agreed to split the table sponsorship for upcoming tournaments.

MOTION 7: Moved that the Executive Director move forward with negotiating table contracts for the Nationals & Open.

Proposed by Bob Tretheway; seconded by Dennis Taylor.

Passed: 8-0-1

In Favor: GB, AF, TL, SP, BR, DT, BT, LY

Abstain: JM

6) The ball contract for upcoming USATT tournaments was discussed. The current contract has expired. Given the current uncertainties regarding 40mm balls, it was generally agreed that Ben Nisbet should prepare specifications and request bids.

7) There is enhanced momentum toward making the China trip marker. The CTTA, USATT, and the prospective sponsor met at the Open and arrived at a general agreement on logistics. The trip will be from October 4-16, 2000, including travel time. Ben Nisbet stressed that these dates were selected at the request of the sponsor.

8) Ben Nisbet requested that the Board not award a bid for the 2001 Open location until he can pursue additional bids.

9) Barney Reed raised the issue of reimbursements for Board members who do not make a good faith effort to attend entire Board meetings. The Board determined that the Treasurer and Executive Director would follow policies currently established.

The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m. EDT.

Respectfully submitted,

Dennis Taylor, Secretary