MINUTES
OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF
THE
CATHOLIC DEFENSE LEAGUE
A regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Catholic Defense League (CDL) was held, pursuant to notice, on October 19th,
2004 in the offices of CDL, St. Paul, Minnesota. Present at the Meeting were
the following Board Members: Merlyn Scroggins, Cletus Tauer, Patrick Shannon,
Val Baertlein, Richard Houck, Kelly Rowe, Thomas Schramer, Marlene Reid, Stella
Lundquist and Patrick Phillips. The Meeting was called to order at 4:30 p.m.
and the following business ensued:
After the opening prayer Kelly Rowe submitted the Minutes
from the September meeting and after they were reviewed by everyone, said
Minutes were unanimously approved and accepted.
Next there was a review of the events of last month.
Merlyn reported that a cable station aired an extremely anti-Catholic broadcast
produced by Seventh Day Adventists. It was suggested that contact be made with
the station to complain about it or contact the Thomas Moore Law Center.
Pat Phillips suggested that any items forwarded to CDL
for the website should be ready for cutting and pasting when possible.
Furthermore, Tom Schramer noted that such articles add content and gives people
more to see when visiting the website. Pat Phillips stated that it is very
important that everyone involved with CDL needs to know what is going on with
CDL.
Next, CDL President, Merlyn Scroggins reported fellow
Board members, Jennifer Maas and Hap Corbett, have difficulty attending Board
meetings but would like to participate via the internet; “internet Board
members”, if you will. What ever their capacity, they will continue to
contribute.
Another Board member, Mike O’Neil, has conveyed to Merlyn
his concern that CDL seems to be
endorsing the Republican Party and only Republican candidates. He asked that
his concerns be voiced that CDL avoid being too political. The Board was in agreement
with this.
Lastly, Merlyn indicated that CDL needs to expand its
website viewership by obtaining more newsworthy items from publications outside
the Twin Cities, such as Duluth.
Tom Schramer then
submitted his treasurer’s report. He indicated that revenues were low last
month; however, he noted that the last Defender produced approximately
$3,000.00 for CDL. Furthermore, Tom referred to the proposed budget for 2005
that was put together by Clete Tauer, which has four Defenders planned. Tom
then pointed out that with the Defender being such a good revenue source, Clete’s
proposed budget is achievable.
Upon a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously passed,
it was,
RESOLVED, that the treasurer’s report be and the same is
hereby accepted.
FURTHER
RESOLVED, that the proposed budget for 2005 be accepted for further
consideration by the Board.
The next item of business discussed was the Governance
Committee. Val Baertlein submitted the CDL Bylaws with proposed amendments and
changes. Val reported that he and Dick Houck reviewed the bylaws, which they
believe need to be updated. In addition, the Board of Advisors needs to be
updated. Val proposed that the Board review the proposed changes he indicated
in the bylaws he handed out and they should be voted on by the Board in
November. Val will circulate the bylaws, with proposed changes indicated, for
comments. Also, it was decided that the meeting in November will be the legally
required (as well as mandated by the bylaws) Annual Meeting. This Meeting will
also hold elections for corporate officers and Board members.
Upon a motion duly made seconded and unanimously passed,
it was,
RESOLVED
that the next meeting will be held Tuesday, November 16th, 2004 at
4:30 p.m. and that said meeting will serve as the Annual Meeting of CDL, which
will accomplish the following:
1. Elect members to the Board of Directors,
2. Elect Corporate Officers,
3. Vote on the 2005 Budget; and,
4. Amend and adopt the Bylaws.
Next, the issue of voting on Board Candidates was
discussed. A list of Board candidates was submitted to all of the members in
attendance. Marlene Reid will contact the people listed to see who is willing
to serve as a Board member and who is willing to serve on the Board of
Advisors. Val said he would help too.
There was also a discussion regarding Clete’s proposed
budget. Comments and feed back, especially on the assumptions, will be
discussed at the November 16th Board Meeting.
The Board then discussed the 2005 Banquet, the date for
which is April 22nd, 2005. There have been attempts to get a bishop
to say mass the evening of the Banquet. The proposed Banquet speaker, Austin
Ruse submitted to CDL his bio. Clete noted that we need to get articles and publicity
out about Mr. Ruse to let people know who he is and get people to come to the
Banquet.
Stella Lundquist summarized the advertising that was done
for the last Banquet. She expects the same measures to be taken this year and
proposed that we send out Mr. Ruse’s bio.
Next, under New Business, Pat Phillips noted that Hap has
been very vigilant and diligent in responding to attacks against The Church and
The Faith by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Hap will not subscribe to that
paper, which would put his name on such a list that would give the misleading
notion that he supports the Minneapolis paper. Instead, he goes to a nearby
news stand to purchase the paper on a daily basis. Because Hap has been
invaluable in responding to the Star Tribune’s anti-Catholicism, Pat proposed
that CDL reimburse Hap for purchasing that paper.
Upon a motion duly made, seconded and unanimously passed,
it was,
RESOLVED,
that CDL will reimburse Hap Corbett for his purchases of the Minneapolis Star
Tribune as a way to help him maintain his good work of pointing out attacks
against Catholicism in that paper.
Lastly, Marlene read off a list of judges (Tinglestadt,
Baker, Ross and Griffith) standing for election next month who are pro-life.
She then read a statement that she thought would be good for people to hear at
the end of mass regarding the issue of receiving communion and the issue of
abortion.
Meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted
Kelly M. Rowe, Esq.
Secretary