Minutes of the October 18, 2008 meeting of
the Tampa Chapter SAR
President Bell called the
meeting to order at
Members present: Ed Neugaard, Marty Miller, Luke Lloyd, Rodney Stebbins, Alan Bell, Jack Bolen, Cy
Gamber, Robert Yarnell, and Kevin Yarnell.
Welcome
guests: Bob Chapman, Ira Ward, June Bolen and Jeanne Lloyd
The guests were introduced
by the president.
The minutes of the September
meeting were approved.
The secretary announced that
the next state Board of Management meeting will be held Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. The
Tampa Chapter is helping with the registration table on Friday. Ed Neugaard is handling this for the chapter. President Bell
will join him after work.
The treasurer reported a
balance of $2,611.25 in checking and $95.66 in petty cash.
President Bell suggested
that the Color Guard and other members might want to participate in aiding the
Boy Scouts in earning their Citizenship in the Nation merit badge. This would
require a 30 minutes presentation on our part. The membership was receptive to
this idea and Alan will pursue it.
In an oversight we neglected
to choose a nominating committee at the September meeting and so took care of
this at this time. Cy Gamber, Allen Bell, and Jack
Bolen agreed to serve and will present a slate of officers for election at the
November meeting.
The meeting recessed for lunch.
Following lunch our
Registrar, who was delayed in traffic, gave his report. He recently sent notes
to 47 prospects encouraging them to continue their research and applications.
He received a few responses. Currently there are 2 applications and 2 supplementals at National. Richard Hurley’s supplemental
application was approved. Luke also briefed the members on a recent policy
change at National that makes the use of DAR record copies as lineage proof
much more difficult. This topic will be addressed at the state Board of
Management meeting.
The President introduced
Vice President Bob Yarnell who led a round-table discussion on the Electoral
College. He reminded the members that the founders did not trust the people to
directly elect the president fearing that they would be swayed by political maneuverings.
The group looked at the possibility of a candidate winning the Electoral
College but either losing the popular vote or not receiving a majority of that
vote. As an example, Bob pointed out that
Bob also gave the members
some information on the requirements and roles of an Elector. Not all state
electors are required to vote as indicated by the popular vote in their state.
This technically allows that for ‘renegade’ electors. The last such elector
dates back to 1972. He claimed he could not in conscience vote for either
McGovern or Nixon and so cast his vote for his neighbor.
Alternatives to the
Electoral College were discussed. One such change would require that the
electors be selected based on the votes cast in the Congressional Districts and
2 votes, corresponding to the Senator elections, would be based on the total
state vote. Currently
A number of questions and
subsequent discussion ensued.
Cy won the 50/50 drawing and the treasury which was
thus enriched by $5.50.
President Bell led the
recessional. The Jack gave the benediction. The meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Yarnell
Chapter Secretary