April 2011 Board Meeting Minutes

April 16, 2011 information

Board Members Present

• Dr. Harry Stille
• David Smith
• Dr. Andrew Johnson
• Dr. Albert A. Neal
• Joe Sabbadino
• Deborah Hartness
• Rusty Hires

Opening

The meeting was called to order by President A. Johnson. He called on Dr. A.A. Neal to give the invocation. Mr. Johnson stated that Susan Baldwin from the Baldwin Driving School and Dr. Beyer from the Department of Education had been invited to speak to the board, but neither guest was present.

The minutes from November 12, 2010 were read and accepted by the board. The minutes from February 25, 2011 were read. Mr. Johnson corrected the minutes from February by inserting that the membership committee would consist of Dr. Albert Neal and Deborah Hartness. David Smith had been appointed Chairperson of the Nomination committee. Steve Phillips and Rusty Hires had been added to the Problems and Resolution committee. After these additions were added, the minutes stood approved.

Old/Unfinished Business

• Mr. Sabbadino passed out copies of old newsletters. We discussed the need for members of the association to be kept informed via a newsletter of current issues that their association was working on, posting it on the website. Ms. Hartness stated that a request for the expense of adding a page for a newsletter had been sent to both Mr. Logan and Mr. Watkins. She had also inquired about the feasibility of adding a link to all the members that had websites. Mr. Watkins had responded that there would not be a charge for adding links to other sites. That could be done by anyone. She had not heard from Mr. Logan. Mr. Smith stated that Mr. Watkins had been unable to come today, but he was interested in working with us. Ms. Hartness stated that she had received an email from Mr. Watkins to the effect, but had not heard from Mr. Logan.
• Mr. Sabbadino continued with what he has been working on by contacting the media and writing legislatures. The main issues are: A. Texting and Driving-this will probably pass, but not as strong as we would wish. B. Standardization and one agency for all of SC driver's education. Mr. Sabbadino had been in contact with Dr. Beyer of the DOE regarding these issues. In addition Mr. Sabbadino is working to get the loop hole removed from the insurance law.
• Next on the agenda to be discussed was the audit. Mr. Johnson stated that an in-house audit of the bookkeeping would be done by himself and Mr. David Smith.
• Dr. Stille gave a treasurer's report and stated he would send a copy of it to the secretary after the accounting audit had been completed.
• Mr. David Smith discussed the 2011 conference for the SCDTSEA. The date of Nov. 11, at the Stillwells Banquet Center was discussed and approved. Dr. Stille will confirm. The theme for this year is Drive Safe and Save Lives.
• Awards were discussed. Dr. Neal is checking on the Governor's Scholarship Program. President Johnson recognized Joe Sabbadino for the Awards and credits he received at the SCR ADTSEA. Mr. Johnson stated he had requested that AAA safety office become a member of our organization and continue their corporate sponsorship.

New Business

• Ms. Hartness discussed the website. She reviewed the reasons for the changes she saw necessary. The color changes to the different columns reflect the colors of the SC flag. The banner needed to be changed to one that uses the mission statement. There needs to be links to all of the current members of SCDTSEA. All these changes had been approved via email by board members prior to her contacting Mr. Logan. She understood that some of the changes could not take place until we agreed on a web master, but the color scheme and change in the banner should be an easy fix. No changes had been made since the changes made after the Feb. conference. The cost of maintaining a website was discussed. Dr. Stille stated his website was maintained for a $100 /year. David Smith state that he may be getting a special deal, but Michael Watkins maintained his website for $115/year. Ms. Hartness states that she had sent the websites design to both Mr. Logan and Mr. Watkins. Mr. Watkins had replied that all those things were possible. Mr. Logan had not responded. Mr. Johnson stated that Mr. Logan had updated the website after receiving the $300 yearly fee for the contract, and that maybe we could use that layout if we went with Mr. Watkins. Ms. Hartness stated that since that was put on the internet by Mr. Logan we would probably lose that site and have to start again from scratch if we went with Mr. Watkins. The mission statement on the back of the agenda was approved and it was agreed that it should replace the picture at the top of the website. Ms. Hartness again expressed concern that the membership was not being kept informed of the association's actions and stated that a website that could be updated regularly would be a step towards alleviating this problem. She also stated that sending out a newsletter quarterly via email would help, as would posting the newsletter on the website.
• Mr. Johnson proposed purchasing a laptop and software that would make contacting the members by email/newsletters more feasible, and could be passed from secretary to secretary. The board approved this motion and it was decided that David Smith and Andrew Johnson would look into buying a laptop.
• The national convention in Honolulu was discussed and members were encouraged to attend. Currently Dr. A.A.Neal is going.
• Programs promoting youth & adult driver safety were discussed. Mr. Smith proposed a poster contest of students from the driving schools who were association members. The theme of the posters would be Drive Safe & Save Lives. The contest would be run during September and October with the winners announced at the convention. Each school would limit their entry to 5 posters. Andrew Johnson and David Smith would work together to set rules, awards, and recognitions. The board approved this proposal.
• The next meeting date was set for 11:00 am on June the 25th at the Lizard's Thicket in Irmo. The meeting was adjourned.