BHSAUSA Board Meeting 05/19/2024 

 

A quorum was attained at 6:07 pm EST.
Present were Chairman Calvin Johnson, President Dr. Joel King, Mr. Charles Nagbe, Mr. Tommy Logan, Dr. Butscher, and Esther Caulcrick
Mr. Nagbe was asked to open us in prayer and said the opening prayer.
When prompted by the Chairman, the Secretary stated the purpose of the meeting: to approve the president's budget for the upcoming general meeting.

Initially, the Chairman proposed not to go through the itemized line items in the budget due to time constraint, as the President had to leave early for another meeting at 8:00 pm. However, due to concerns relative to the detail of the budget, the Chairman opt to review  the various line items to ensure a thorough discussion, understanding, and agreement of the budget.
Each item on the budget was discussed, among which was the first item – the raffle and ball tickets, which was presented as an expenditure of $800.00 to potentially affect a $500.00 revenue. The Chairman agreed with this amount, but when he sought approval from each board member, the Secretary asked for a historical reference of what these tickets cost in the past. The President quickly pointed out that the Secretary must not have heard him, but he had referred to the cost previously incurred in one of the previous conventions.  I realized he had spoken about that when I stepped away to have my son call Dr. Butcher to join the call. I posed the question to Mr. Nagbe, at which time he explained that he and his wife, Mrs. Lucinda Nagbe, had usually printed those tickets in their living room on their own computers and that he was willing to do it again at no cost for his Alma Mater. Mr. Nagbe pointed out that the proposed $750.00 should be in the expenditure column and not as listed in the revenue column.
Key decisions made during the meeting included the agreement that Mr. Nagbe and his wife, Mrs. Lucinda Nagbe, would print the tickets at no cost, resulting in a savings of $400.00. The President was assigned the task of printing the program, and the Chairman expressed concern about the program not being printed at the California Convention.
After clarifying that the drink budget was $1000.00 and not $500.00 (the profit), the proposed budget was approved at $1000.00. We will spend $1000.00 on the drinks, expecting to gain about $500.00 profit. The drinks are for both, the meet-and-greet and the Ball. The Chairman proclaimed how confusing this budget was with the line items not always being presented in the right column etc. 
Dr Butscher asked what guarantees we would profit from the drinks. He was under the impression that the Secretary had expressed the assurance that the organization would make the guaranteed profit. The Chairman and Secretary explained that no one can guarantee an outcome, such as the exact amount of profit or whether we would make a profit. Eventually, all members of the Board approved the $1000.00 budget for the drinks.
Regarding the T-shirts, we will leverage the leftover T-shirts, so there will be zero cost to the organization. That should net a Revenue of $750.00.
 
The meet and Greet budget on the expenditure side is $600.00 for the food. Saturday morning Breakfast has a budget of $500.00. After a lengthy deliberation, all members approved the $1100.00 budget for the Meet and Greet and Saturday morning breakfast.
The catered Ball Dinner is budgeted at $2000.00. The President interjected again, stating that we did not have to go through the budget line by line. However, the Chairman overrode the protocol that the Board had to approve, and we continued to review the details as planned. Dr. Butscher asked to be excused and left the meeting at this time. This item was approved by the entire Board.
The president has budgeted $600.00 for music for the entire weekend. He intends to confirm. The program's printing is budgeted at $300.00, and $200.00 for Miscellaneous. The entire board approved all these items.
Transportation is budgeted for $500.00 for the weekend to take the convention attendees back and forth from the hotel to the different venues. The President stressed the importance of safety and sold us on the idea of having us driven around the city. All Board Members present approved.
Advertisement on TLC - We expect the President Emeritus to pay the cost as he usually does, said Dr Joel King. The Chairman questioned whether it was worth advertising on TLC. The Secretary argued in favor of the TLC advertisement, stating that advertising on TLC gives BHSAUSA exposure even if it does benefit us financially by attracting more people to the conventions. The President reiterated that we cannot question the gratuity of such advertising if offered. The President Emeritus Mr. Nuku Reeves has always taken on this project, and his generosity is always appreciated.
The Hotel Meeting Room is budgeted at $650.00 is an added expense payable to the hotel. There is no compromise, as the hotel is where the meeting must be held, so all approved the total of $1650.00 for the Hotel.
Tent and Chair rental $500.00 and decoration of the banquet hall – Approved tentatively to be discussed with the Convention Committee. We all agreed that more negotiations were recommended.
In summary, the President said the Organization will spend $9000.00, and the projected revenue is $13,650.00, for a net income of around $4,650.
The President briefly discussed the security issues on the ground. Since time was limited, we did not go into details on this item. The Chairman thanked all Board members present, especially President Dr. Joel King, for participating in the discussion. 
The Mizpah prayer was said as the closing prayer, and the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Board Secretary, 
Esther Caulcrick