The monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Century Road Club Association was held on Monday, June 9, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at the midtown offices of W.P. Carey. Board members Ken Harris, Ben Harris, David Taylor, Chris Forsyth, Matt Howard, Wendy Nickerson, Douglas von Bushberger, Mike Green, and Martha Lees were present.
1. The minutes of the May Board meeting were approved online in advance of the meeting.
2. The next Board meeting will be held on Monday, June 30, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. at the offices of W.P. Carey, provided that Eugene Boronow is able to attend to discuss funding for the junior program. Otherwise, the meeting will be held on Monday, July 7, 2008.
3. The Board discussed the currently small number of women signed up for the Harlem Criterium and possible ways to get more women to pre-register. Options discussed were: (a) comping the entry fees of CRCA women who pre-register; (b) making up the shortfall in the planned number of women riders to promoter John Eustice up to a total of 20 riders; (c) trying to solicit regional teams to attend the race; and (d) taking no action. After discussion, the Board decided to table the issue and took no action at the meeting.
4. Mike Green, Director of Open Racing, raised the possibility of moving the Club time trial championship from Floyd Bennett field this August, for which location and time it is currently scheduled, to the fall Bear Mountain race, with the Bear Mountain race to become an omnium held over the course of two days. Some Board members noted that the Floyd Bennett time trial was successful last year and is already being counted on by the membership, suggesting that the Board could plan ahead now to make one of next year’s Bear Mountain races an omnium. A vote was taken regarding whether to cancel the Floyd Bennett time trial and move the Club time trial championship to September; the motion was defeated 8 votes to 1.
5. Mike Green inquired about the progress of the junior program, and queried whether any juniors were expected to go to L’Abitibi and/or the Nationals. The Board agreed that it should ask Eugene Boronow for a written update regarding the junior program and have him report in person at the next Board meeting. It was agreed that Treasurer Ben Harris would send Eugene an e-mail seeking the following information: a race calendar for the rest of the season; a list of objectives for key riders; an estimated budget for the rest of the year; an indication as to whether he planned to send any juniors to training with Mike Fraysse; a status report on the season to date; and a report as to whether any help is needed from the Board to execute the junior program’s goals.
6. Mike Green shared a suggestion that, instead of having a Club newsletter every month, the Board post stories on the CRCA website on an ongoing basis, and have the newsletter serve as an archive of the website articles. The topic was discussed but no action was taken at the meeting.
7. Mike Green proposed that the Board update the Club uniform for next year. The Board voted unanimously to hold a contest to design a new Club uniform, with a free dinosaur membership as the prize. It was decided that the Board would select finalists from the submissions, with the winner to be selected by vote open to the entire Club membership. It was agreed that President Ken Harris and Mike Green would spearhead the contest project.
8. David Taylor, Vice President of Racing, reported that he had been contacted by a representative of an inline skating club with a proposal that the skating club “piggyback” on CRCA races, using the Club’s infrastructure and marshals. The Board unanimously voted to open a dialogue with the skating club, but it was agreed that the Board would have to have numerous questions answered before any such cooperation could take place.
9. Wendy Nickerson, Director of Marshaling, observed that it would be a good idea to make a prioritized list of team duties for next year to ensure that the Club has help where needed. Douglas von Bushberger, Director of Teams, agreed to circulate a list of team duties remaining for this year to help make sure all remaining needs for the year are covered.
10. Ken Harris advised the Board to expect a couple of requests for funds in the near future. First, Paul Allong is expected to seek approximately $2,000 to take juniors Khary Ward and Gabriella Allong to the track Nationals in California. Second, Matt Koschara is expected to seek approximately $2,500 to $3,500 to send six Sakonnet riders to Nationals. The Board agreed that it should develop criteria for how deciding which of such proposals should be funded. As a separate but related matter, Ben Harris observed that the Board could place a “sponsor this rider” feature on the Club website, to assist in matching willing donors with needy riders.
11. Ken Harris observed that a racer who had recently finished serving a two-year suspension for doping has joined the club as an Associate member. Ken observed that the Club has a good reputation for clean racing and voiced concern that the Club’s reputation could be damaged should this rider be sanctioned while racing as a CRCA member. He also voiced concern that the presence of such a rider in the Club could potentially hurt the Club’s relations with the City and with Central Park Conservancy, or limit the Club’s ability to recruit and serve junior and development racers. He proposed that such athletes be barred from joining the Club for a period equal to the length of their official suspension before being permitted to become Associate members, and required to wait the same period of time again before being permitted to become Racing members. The Board discussed the matter but took no further action at the meeting.
At approximately 8:30 p.m. the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Lees, Secretary