2007 Annual Meeting Minutes

Present: President Gary Cohen (BC); Mary Celeste (CO); Acting Secretary Paul Feinman (NY); Linda Giles (MA); Barry Kohn (CA); Mark Leban (FL); Tim Preston (MB); George J. Silver (NY); Brian Weagant (ON); Ted Weathers (CA); and Treasurer D. Zeke Zeidler (CA). Past President Michael Sonberg (NY) participated by telephone for parts of the meeting.

Call to Order: President Cohen called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m.

Minutes: Paul Feinman was designated Acting Secretary for this meeting. The minutes of the September 8, 2006 meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., submitted by Michael R. Sonberg, Acting Secretary for that meeting, were distributed. After a correction to the spelling of Brian Weagant’s last name was noted, the minutes were approved unanimously.

Financial Report: Treasurer Zeidler submitted a written treasurer’s report covering September 2, 2006 through August 31, 2007. The report was approved. One of the major 2006 expenses was a $3,100.00 donation to the Tulane Journal of Law & Sexuality, which had been previously recommended by a special committee and approved at the 2006 AGM. There were no expenses associated with the 2007 Annual General Meeting. The report was approved unanimously.

Membership Report: As of the meeting date, there were 55 members who had paid 2007 dues. The report was adopted.

Election of Board of Directors: The following 14 paid-up members were nominated for election to the Board of Directors: Arlene Bluth (NY); Mary Celeste (CO); Gary Cohen (BC); Paul Feinman (NY); Linda Giles (MA); Barry Kohn (CA); Mark Leban (FL); Tim Preston (MB); George J. Silver (NY); Michael R. Sonberg (NY); Brian Weagant (ON); Ted Weathers (CA); and D. Zeke Zeidler (CA). The directors were declared elected by acclamation.

The Annual General Meeting of the IALGJ was recessed and a meeting of the Board of Directors of the IALGJ convened at 2:35 p.m.

Election of Officers: The following board members were nominated as officers:

• J. Gary Cohen (BC), President
• Arlene Bluth (NY), Vice President
• Paul G. Feinman (NY), Secretary
• Ted Weathers (CA), Treasurer
  

The officers were unanimously elected by those board members present.

As the new treasurer, Ted Weathers, will be added as a signator on the bank accounts and Joe Biderman will be removed as a signator.

The Annual General Meeting of the IALGJ was reconvened at 2:45 p.m.

Accommodation Stipend: After a brief discussion, a consensus was reached to forego the issuance of accommodation stipends for the 2007 Annual General Meeting and for the future.

2007 Annual Dinner Stipend: A motion was made and seconded directing that the monies that would have funded the 2007 Accommodation Stipends instead be used to fund a 2007 Dinner Stipend. The IALGJ will pay a maximum of U.S. $100 per judge towards the annual dinner. This amount will be calculated by including the judges’ food costs as well as the judge’s share of the room rental cost plus any taxes, service fees and gratuities that may be charged but not including any alcohol costs or bar associated taxes or fees. It was agreed that this amount would be paid directly to the organizer, as he will be charging the annual dinner event cost on his account. The dinner will be held at the Vancouver Club on September 28, 2007. The spouses, partners and guests of the judges in attendance will not receive a dinner stipend. Judges will be expected to reimburse him directly for their own liquor costs and for the costs associated with any guests they bring to this dinner. The motion was approved unanimously.

Annual Dues: On motion, seconded and unanimously approved, 2008 dues were set at US$50.00.

Site of 2008 Annual General Meeting: A motion was made and seconded that the locale and date of the 2008 Annual General Meeting be fixed as Friday, September 5, 2008 in San Francisco, California, to coordinate with the NLGLA’s 2008 Lavender Law Conference on September 4 - 6, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, San Francisco. After significant discussion about the IALGJ and NLGLA’s relationship and our role at the Lavender Law conference, the motion was approved, with Barry Kohn dissenting. As part of the discussion, it was agreed that Zeke Zeidler would serve as our liaison to the NLGLA and Lavender Law planners. It is also hoped that the San Francisco location will help improve our attendance!

Membership Retention and Recruitment: As differentiated from the Membership Report (Item 4, supra), President Cohen led a discussion of how new members can be brought into the organization and how former members can be encouraged to renew their memberships. President Cohen expressed his sincere appreciation to Secretary Arlene Bluth for her extensive follow-up efforts in personally contacting people to join or renew their memberships. There was discussion about mailing an updated membership directory as soon as practicable and asking each member to then identify potential members in his or her jurisdiction or elsewhere. Furthermore, members are asked to notify the President or Secretary when they learn of a newly appointed/elected judicial officer who should be contacted for membership. Finally, President Cohen designated Judge Bluth (2006/07 Secretary and 2007/08 Vice President) the Retention & Recruitment Coordinator to work with Judge Feinman (2007/08 Secretary) on membership issues.

Tulane Journal on Law and Sexuality Conference: President Cohen reported that he attended the Journal’s symposium on January 25, 2007 in New Orleans where he moderated a panel on marriage and the LGBT community. Three professors spoke. Our donation was to the Journal only not to the symposium.

Old Business:

• Surplus Funds Committee
  Judge Robert Lee, Judge Brian Weagant and Judge Larnzell Martin had previously made two recommendations. One has been carried out (see item 12, supra). The other, involving the Point Foundation, seems to have fallen by the wayside. There did not seem to be a consensus among those present that the Committee pursue other options.

New Business:

• Educational Outreach Committee
  Judge Mark Leban and Judge Mary Celeste agreed to serve as co-chairs of a newly constituted committee. The purpose would be to reach out to the providers of judicial education seminars and make our organization and membership available as a resource for training judges re concerns of the LGBT community and the LGBT judiciary.

Adjournment: 3:30 p.m. P.S.T.

Respectfully submitted,
Paul G. Feinman
Acting Secretary