CALL TO ORDER: The annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Parkinson’s Support Group of Sonoma County (PSGSC) was called to order at 10:05 a.m. by Chair/President Kathy Osbun.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the Board Meeting of December 19, 2012, were approved as read.
Also included in the motion was the election of Board Officers for 2013: Kathy Osbun, Chairperson and President; Arlene Irizary, Vice Chairperson and Program Coordinator; Sandy Grant, Treasurer; Barbara France, Secretary; and George Irizary, Correspondence Secretary.
The full 15-member Board is as follows: Kathryn Osbun, Arlene Irizary, Sandra Grant, Arthur Rosenblum, George Irizary, Davis Brown, Dana May Casperson, Suzanne deKozan, Cedric James France, Robert David Getzoff, Karen Lovvorn, Phyllis Sands, Gloria Stubbs, Ann Walker and Barbara France.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer Sandy Grant reported that in December, 2012, $100 was received in the general meeting donation jar, and $1,000 was received from the Edwards Foundation. Expenses included a $500 donation to the Parkinson’s Association of Northern California (PANC), which for several years has paid our liability insurance for monthly meetings; $237.17 for the annual holiday party; $35.14 for meeting supplies, and $20.30 for finance committee supplies. Sandy also reported a depreciation expense of $647.83, a non-cash item (Depreciation had not been expensed in prior years, so this catches us up, according to Sandy).
Sandy said PSGSC spent $1,108.05 less than budgeted in 2012 and was complimented by a consultant for non-profits who said that “we are doing a good job” with our finances.
The tulip pin fund raiser is within about $15.00 of breaking even, but Sandy said she was advised that PSGSC is required to pay sales tax on the pin sales. After the break-even point, all pin sales will generate a profit.
SOUND SYSTEM: Sandy said she was advised that the malfunctioning PSGSC sound system could be disposed of at the Board’s discretion as long as the system was determined to have no value. PSGSC was advised that the system is not in compliance with FCC wireless frequency parameters. On the motion of Dana May Casperson, seconded by Sandy Grant, the Board agreed to hand over the system to member Bud Suiter, who requested the troublesome old system when the Board decided that money would be better spent adding components to a newer speaker/amplifier owned by PSGSC.
HUMAN RACE: On the motion of Sandy Grant, seconded by Dana May Casperson, the Board voted to decline participation in the Human Race fundraising event for lack of someone to take on the added organizational responsibilities and the physical demands of the event.
VOLUNTEER CENTER: On the motion of Dana May Casperson, seconded by Davis Brown, the Board voted to continue membership in the Volunteer Center at an annual cost of $125.
DATA BASE: Art Rosenblum volunteered to work on the PSGSC data base, which had been managed by retiring Board member Barbara Stiling. On the motion of Dana May, seconded by Karen Lovvorn, the Board voted to create a Membership Committee comprised of Art, Gloria Stubbs (who manages member name tags), and Treasurer Sandy Grant. All agreed that privacy is a priority and the list is not to be shared with other groups or individuals.
PROGRAMS: Program Coordinator Arlene Irizary reported on speakers scheduled through June of 2013. The upcoming Feb. 2 speaker is Matthew Arnold, a movement disorders specialist with a private practice in Berkeley, CA. For the March 2 meeting there will be a panel on community resources and other options. Panelists will be Dorothy Foster of Redwood Caregivers Resource Center; Liz Claret of Care Management/Sonoma County Adult and Aging Services; and Joy Lovinger of Senior Placement Services and a board member on the Sonoma County Area Agency on Aging. Other upcoming speakers on the schedule are Lin Zhang, a movement disorders specialist at UC Davis Medical Center; Alan Bernstein, neurologist and researcher; and Casey Kho from the California Telephone Access Program.
MOVEMENT DISORDERS SPECIALIST: Kathy reported that progress is being made in the goal of bringing a movement disorders specialist from UCSF to Sonoma County, to hold a clinic once every other month, if possible. Currently there are no such specialists practicing in Sonoma County.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned early to provide time for viewing a power-point presentation by Sonoma State University master’s degree candidate Ryan Roberts. The presentation deals with Parkinson’s Disease and the importance of timeliness of PD medicines when Parkinsonians are hospitalized. The next Board Meeting will be February 20, 2013, at Brush Creek Senior Living off Hwy. 12 east of Brush Creek Road. The above minutes are subject to approval at the February meeting.