I wanted to take this time to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year. 2011 has been a great year for our club. Just today we set another record in membership as our membership total became 501 current members.
I have had the great pleasure of serving on the CVC Board of Directors for the past three years (2009 - 2011) with the last two years served as President. In that time I have seen the club grow from approximately 70 members now to half a thousand! As I've said before, this is a positive testament to everyone in this club.
This has been a great way to voluntarily end my term as the clubs President. Effective with the New Year we have some new (and familiar) faces on the Board.
Mitch Albo (current CVC Vice President of Membership and Race Team Director) will be taking over my position and will serve as your 2012 club president.
The Vice President of Membership position which Mitch vacates will be filled by long time club member Sue Bergeron. I welcome Sue and her viewpoints to the Board.
Jim Doane is stepping out of the Secretary position after more than 11 continuous years as such.
Your 2012 club Secretary will be filled by another long time club member and prior board member Dennis Miller.
Wayne Gustafson is also vacating his spot as club Treasurer which will be filled by Caitlin Steel. While Caitlin is a newer member of the club, her professional experience as a CPA will be greatly helpful and appreciated. I know Caitlin will continue the transparency that Wayne proudly supported.
The remaining 2012 board is unchanged and consists of:
Kent Koral continuing to be our clubs Ride Director.
Lee Cole continues on as our Cruisin' the Conejo Director.
Eric Taub remains as our PR/Marketing Director.
2012 is going to be an exciting year with some changes on the horizon. If you attended the December Board of Directors meeting you got a front seat view of some of the topics currently on the table.
First and foremost we have commissioned a re-written set of club By-Laws which will very soon be unveiled for member ratification.
Our bylaws have not been revised in over two decades and our goal is to create a structure that can best support our members and their desires.
Jim Doane and Caitlin Steel, in conjunction with legal advice, have put a lot of work into this venture.
As many of you know, By-Laws are the ruling documents of an organization. Our By-Laws define our purpose, how the club is to be operated, requirements for membership and decision-making groups, etc. Because By-Laws are pretty much set in stone, it is in the interest of organizations to keep them clear and concise.
The CVC By-Laws need to reflect today's needs. Every CVC member will shortly receive correspondence from the Board with a copy of the proposed new By-Laws. It is imperative you take the time to review these By-Laws before ratification.
With these new By-Laws, we now have a new understanding of our clubs 501c3 non profit scope which will also be discussed in order to ascertain if any needed changes are desired by membership at large.
It wasn't until recently that the Board discovered our non profit scope was specifically to only benefit amateur bicycle racing and bicycling related causes. When I came on the Board, we were under the impression that our non profit status allowed for a wider range of charitable donations to any charitable cause the Board deemed appropriate. Over the past several months we've investigated our options and I personally feel we are at the point of needing specific member input in regards to what the purpose of this club should be about.
I now look forward as a club member to working with the new Board in the continued growth of our club.
Happy New Year and continued health.
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Adam Winer
Conejo Valley Cyclists, President
president@cvcbike.org