COVERED WAGONS

Chapter of the FMCA

P.O. Box 157

De Soto, Kansas 66018-0157   

 National Director’s Report                 August 21, 2010

The Redmond International Rally has come and gone and was overall a good rally.  The Governing Board meeting this year took only half the time as last year, but I believe we accomplished more.  The following is a brief highlight of events from that meeting.

 First, the three proposals:

 PROPOSAL #1 – This proposal changes the term length of the National officers from one, two year term, to three, one year terms.  In 2005 we changed from two, one year terms to the current one, two year term, because it was felt that the officers could better serve the organization by concentrating on their jobs instead of being reelected.  Going to three, one year terms would make the matter worse.

I recommend that a “NO” vote be cast for this proposal.

 This proposal never made it to the floor.  Instead a substitute proposal was offered to allow the National Officers, with the exception of the National Directors, to serve two “Two Year” terms of an office in a life time.  The four years do not have to be consecutive.  The rational was that the Governing/Executive Boards already set the agenda for the following year before the elections are held, thus the office holder actually has only one year when they are actually active in the policy making for which they would be responsible for carrying out.  The National Directors do not have any term limits and can serve unlimited terms of office.

 This proposal passed unanimously.

 PROPOSAL #2 – This proposal would change the FMCA’s fiscal year from January – December to October – September.  Supposedly this change would allow more up-to-date information to be available for making up the next year’s budget.  I see no reason not to vote “YES” on this proposal.

There were no objections to this proposal.

 PROPOSAL #3 – This proposal would have the National Secretary Cast one vote when there is only one candidate for an office.  Currently, if there is only one candidate for any office, all the National Directors still must cast a vote and then the votes need to be tallied.  This takes about an hour per candidate.  I would definitely vote “YES” on this proposal.

 The National Secretary objected to the wording because, if she ran unopposed, she would be in effect casting a vote for herself.  The wording was changed to read that the unopposed candidate would be elected “By Acclamation.  The proposal was updated unanimously.

 FMCAAssist ©

Note the use of the ”©“.  MEDEX was a service that FMCA paid for and made available to the membership at no charge.  FMCAAssist (FA) is a program designed by the FMCA to provide the members with emergency medical evacuation services that we believe are necessary.  We presented our requirements to several insurance companies and had then bid to provide the services.  The major change is that they are providing what we want, not us accepting what they can offer.

 FA is still a work in progress and will take effect January 01, 2011.  The following are just a few highlights of the new program:

·        Pays for transport from the scene of the accident/illness to an emergency medical facility

·        Pays for transport from the emergency medical facility to an accredited hospital

·        When conditions warrant, will pay for transport to a hospital/long term care facility near your home

·        Finally, will pay for transport to your home for final recovery

·        Each FMCA member must declare a “Home” address.  Mail forwarding service or national post office boxes will not be accepted

·        Pays up to $5,000 to transport children/grand children home

·        Will arrange to have pets transported home, but will bill for reimbursement

·        Supplemental International Travel Insurance is available immediately.  I will ask that the details of this insurance be placed on the Covered Wagons website.

 FMCA Financial Health

The FMCA is in good financial health at this time.  We have assets in excess of $7,000,000 and no liabilities.  We passed a deficit budget of $92,000 based upon everything working out as expected.  I can tell you that Albuquerque experienced a loss of $482,000 and attendance at Redmond was 1,000 coaches below the breakeven point so losses will occur there.

 Here are some brief highlights of our cost cutting plans:

·        17 vacancies at FMCA headquarters will not be filled

·        The offices at “Round Bottom” are being offered for long term lease.

·        We have written off the royalties from FMC allowing a refilling of the past years income tax returns with a resultant $1.2 million dollar tax refund.

·        We have partnered with GMAC so that we receive a royalty payment for each policy sold to an FMCA member

 CONVENTIONS

The Convention Committee has been given the task of reviewing all of the factors of an International Rally which include:

·        One or Two a year

·        Months to be held

·        Type of entertainment

·        Where they should be held

·        Hours for vendors and coach display

 The committee is to present their recommendations to the board in January for discussion and adoption in Madison.

 It was brought up that only 5 out of the 48 states are “Friendly” to FMCA International Rallies which limits where we can currently go.

 The following is the International Rally schedule thru 2012. There are currently no rallies scheduled after 2012.

Winter 2011 – Perry, Georgia (Monday, March 14 thru Thursday, March 17)

Summer 2011 – Madison, Wisconsin (Wednesday, August 10 thru Saturday, August 13)

Winter 2012 – Pomona, California (Thursday, April 19 thru Sunday, April 22)

Summer 2012 – Indianapolis, Indiana

SIX STATE ASSOCIATION

Future Six State Rally sites:

2010 – Shreveport, Louisiana (Wednesday, September 29 thru Sunday, October 3)

2011 – Hutchinson, Kansas (Wednesday, September 28 thru Saturday, October 1)

David R. Marlowe

Covered Wagons Chapter National Director