Minutes of the Operating Committee of the America First Party
Monday, October 21, 2002
BE IT REMEMBERED that the Operating Committee of the America First Party met on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, pursuant to the call of five members of the Committee.
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman at 9:04 p.m. EDT.
The Secretary called the roll of Operating Committee members:
Present:
- Dan Charles of Colorado, Chairman
- Gene Lovell of Georgia, Vice-chairman
- John Pittman Hey of Mississippi, Secretary
- Maureen McHugh of Illinois, Treasurer
- Romelle Winters of New Hampshire, Public Relations Committee Chairman
- Jon Hill of Massachusetts, Finance Committee Chairman
- Ed Moses of Iowa, Rules Committee Chairman
- James D. Jones of Tennessee, Party Building Chairman
- James Edwards of Tennessee, Candidates Committee Chairman
The Chairman led the Committee in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Secretary gave the invocation.
Mr. Lovell moved the adoption of the Agenda. His motion was seconded by Mrs. Winters.
Mr. Jones moved to amend the resolution to add the approval of Operating Committee meeting minutes. His amendment was seconded by Mr. Lovell, and accepted by unanimous vote of the Operating Committee.
There being no further amendments, the Agenda was adopted by unanimous vote of the Committee.
The Secretary, having previously circulated copies of draft minutes of the Operating Committee meetings of August 17 and August 29, now moved for their adoption by the Committee. His motion was seconded by Mrs. Winters, and approved by unanimous vote of the Operating Committee.
There next came up for discussion the matter of the Credit Card processing agreement. The Chairman had procured competing bids from two reputable companies. The National Committee had previously delegated the authority to the Operating Committee to make the final decision between the two agreements.
After careful review of the proposals, Mr. Moses moved the approval of the agreement with US Merchant Solutions. His motion was seconded by Mr. Hill, and adopted by unanimous vote of the Operating Committee.
Based upon the authority granted by the National Committee, and the instant decision of the Operating Committee, Mrs. Winters moved that the Chairman be authorized to execute the contract with US Merchant Solutions. Her motion was seconded by Mrs. McHugh, and approved by unanimous vote of the Operating Committee.
The Committee had a free discussion of ideas of how to better report the party's financial status to the National Committee. The Treasurer stated that she would provide end-of-the-month financial statements to the National Committee. In addition, the allocation of party receipts to the repayment of the outstanding obligation to Mr. Charles will be noted in the financial report.
The Committee discussed production delays in the party newsletter. It is anticipated that the newsletter will be submitted to the printer by the end of the week.
The Committee discussed ways to improve party organization and standing committee coordination. It was the consensus of the members that the Operating Committee needs to meet on a more regular basis.
Mr. Lovell moved that the Operating Committee meet Tuesday evening each week by teleconference at 9 p.m. except on those nights falling on holidays or on which the National Committee meetings are held. His motion was seconded by Mr. Hill, and adopted by unanimous vote of the Operating Committee.
There being no further business, upon motion made by Mr. Lovell, seconded by Mrs. Winters, and adopted by unanimous vote, the Chairman declared the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________
John Pittman Hey
National Secretary
America First National Committee
