Notice of the Annual Business Meeting of Toastmaster District 53!
The official Call To Meeting for the District Council Business Meeting was emailed to all delegates on 03/27/23. If you are a delegate but didn’t get your copy, please contact RegMgr@D53TM.org.
About the District Council Annual Business Meeting
The District Council, consists of the District Director as presiding officer, plus the District Program Quality Director (PQD), the District Club Growth Director (CGD), the District Public Relations Manager (PRM), the District Finance Manager (DFM), and District Administrative Manager (DAM), plus the five Division Directors (DVDs) and the Area Directors (ADs) of District 53, plus the President (PRES) and Vice President of Education (VPE)of each club in good standing in the District.
The District Council holds two meetings a year: one before September 30 to finalize and approve the annual budget; and the Annual Business Meeting in April or May, to elect officers for the program year beginning on July 1. Quorum is one-third of the Club Presidents and Vice Presidents of Education. A majority of the votes cast is required to pass most motions.
In the event that any business is transacted at a District Council meeting when a quorum is not present, the action shall be deemed as valid as if a quorum were present if it is thereafter expressly approved. Approval can be granted by affirmative vote of a majority of the Member Clubs in the District on the basis of two (2) votes per club in writing, personally, by mail, fax, e-mail, electronic transmission, or by any other reasonable means.
Proxies for District Council meetings are not permitted. The Club President and/or Vice President Education of any member club may vote on behalf of the club as its representative. Either club officer may carry the club’s two (2) votes or each of these club officers may carry one (1) vote, as determined by the club membership. The representative from any Member Club in good standing is entitled to a maximum of two (2) votes. District Executive Committee members are entitled to one (1) vote and may cast up to two (2) additional votes as a Club President and/or Vice President Education.
Just like Club Officers, your District Officers (senior team, Division Directors and Area Directors) go to training as well! The following is the calendar and brief descriptions of each training that the District Officers are expected to participate in over the next several weeks.
Area Director Expectations: The role of Area Director is that of visitor, coach and guide to the officers of four to six clubs in a geographical area. For some Area Directors in District 53, this can be five clubs in the same city. For others, it can be widely spread clubs more than two hours apart. In this session, you’ll learn what’s expected of Area Directors in District 53, and how to create a successful experience for yourself and for the officers of the clubs in your care.
Effective Area Council Meetings: The Area Director has a team of people to help them coordinate the work of clubs when they work together — the President and the three Vice Presidents of each club are voting members of the Area Council, which decides local matters of importance to those clubs. How can you get them working together where it matters?
Effective Division Council Meetings: The Division Director is a “coach of coaches,” lending support and guidance to the Area Directors that make up their division. How can you lead effective meetings for this group, and how can you work together to bring clubs to success, together?
Building Successful Teams: If an Area Director or Division Director did everything they were supposed to by themselves… they’d be exhausted. An Area or Division Director needs a team, and as a Toastmaster you have to know how to build a successful team to achieve your objectives.
Successful Club Visits: Twice a year, a District officer is required to visit a club and to report on its conformity with the Toastmasters brand, its successes, and its opportunities for growth. This officer is usually the club’s Area Director, who files a written report on the Toastmasters.org website (under District Central) by the end of November and the end of May. We’ll talk about how to conduct yourself during this visit, and what kinds of things you should be alert to, and report on, to your District’s other officers.
Coaching Clubs to Enhanced Quality: Many clubs don’t just want to be clubs; they want to be distinguished clubs, or select distinguished clubs, or even president’s distinguished clubs. We’ll talk in this session about the strategies for achieving that goal.
Establishing and Supporting New Clubs: The District Mission is “We build new clubs and support all clubs in achieving excellence.” Creating — chartering — new clubs is the first part of our mission. We’ll learn how that goal is accomplished in this session, and what each officer can do to support this mission-critical goal.
Organizing Speech Contests: In order to be a champion, a speaker in the International Contest or one of the other Toastmasters contest cycles (Humorous, Table Topics, Tall Tales, and Evaluation) has to advance from a club contest to an Area Contest, a Division Contest, and a District Contest. In this session, we’ll learn how to create a fun and exciting Speech Contest experience for contestants and functionaries alike.
Thriving in the District Recognition Program: Just as clubs have the metrics of the Distinguished Club Program (DCP), District officers have their own metrics for success to be designated as a Distinguished, Select Distinguished, President’s Distinguished, or Smedley Distinguished Area, Division or District. We’ll talk about what those metrics are, why we’re aiming for them, and what we can do on a personal level to help the District achieve these goals locally and regionally, for our own success and the success of others.
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If you’d like to be an Area Director, contact the District Director or your Division Director. If you’d like to attend one of these sessions as an observer and for your own learning, you’ll need permission from a member of the senior team (District Director, Program Quality Director, or Club Growth Director).
Update: The results of this business meeting were approved by a vote of the clubs during the week following the business meeting — 106 YES, 0 NO, 1 ABSTAIN votes were recorded by the clubs. The minimum number of participating clubs was 96, so the results of this business meeting are RATIFIED.
These are “at a glance” informal results of the District Council business meeting held on May 7, 2022 from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm EDT. This report should not be considered binding or definitive, compared with the Minutes of The District Council Business meeting which will be issued as part of the meeting packet of the September 2022 meeting.
District Director Akihiro Ishii welcomed members at 3:00 pm, and introduced the meeting functionaries
Club Growth Director Patti Walter read the Toastmasters Mission, the District Mission, and the Toastmasters Promise.
Registration Chair Norm Thibodeau explained the procedures for online meetings and online balloting via SurveyMonkey.
Parliamentarian Sam Young reviewed the District’s Special Rules of Order. They were passed without objection.
District Director Akihiro Ishii moved on to the adoption of the Agenda and the Quorum Report at 3:20 PM.
Credentials Chair Paul Randolph read the results of the Quorum Vote at 3:25 PM:
The Business Meeting did not achieve quorum, with only 61 of 190 possible club votes available; 64 votes were needed to achieve quorum. An additional 20 votes from DEC members (Area Directors, Division Directors, and District leadership) were present, but do not count towards quorum.
The results of this meeting will have to be confirmed by a separate vote in the coming week, in which member clubs and District Executive Committee members will vote to ratify the results of this meeting.
The District 53 Year-End Audit Report 2020-21, reported by Rich Dirksen, chair of the Audit Committee, passed 76 Yes votes to 0 No votes and 5 abstentions.
The District 53 Mid-Year Audit Report 2021-22, reported by Rich Dirksen, chair of the Audit Committee, passed 74 Yes votes to 0 No votes and 7abstentions. (3:47 pm)
The District 53 District Council Business Meeting Minutes of September 2021, assembled by Steve Lanning, were presented for approval by District Director Ishii. The Minutes were approved by 72 Yes votes, 0 No votes, and 9 abstentions. (3:55 pm)
The District 53 Realignment Plan for 2022-2023 was presented by co-chairs Mohan Padamati and Amy Chiu. Amy Chiu led the discussion. In summary, the District will remain at five (5) divisions, but will reduce the number of Areas from 25 Areas to 24 Areas. The Realignment Plan was approved by 74 Yes votes, 1 No votes, and 6 abstentions. (4:07 pm)
The District Officer Elections for the 2022-2023 program year came next:
Immediate Past District Director Andrew B. Watt presented the advisory report of the District Leadership Committee.
Nominees presented as floor candidates prior to the April 30 deadline.
Unanimous Consent Ballots were cast for the following officers for the 2022-23 program year:
John J. Hogan for District Director
Patti Walter for Program Quality Director
Jacqueline Kessler for Division A Director
Chad Babcock for Division C Director
Paula Zajac for Division D Director
Beth Van Kempen for Division E Director
In the contested election for Club Growth Director, each candidate spoke for 1-2 minutes and then the vote was taken.
Mohan Padamati received 23 votes, and
Bettyann Peck received 42 votes,
with six abstentions.
Bettyann Peck elected as Club Growth Director
In the contested election for Division B Director, Scott Davis spoke for 1-2 minutes, and Norm Thibodeau read a statement on Paul Terman’s behalf since the candidate could not be present due to a prior commitment.
Scott R. Davis received 16 votes, and
Paul Terman received 49 votes,
with 16 abstentions.
Paul Terman elected as Division B Director.
All votes for District Officers for the 2022-23 program year were completed at 4:55 pm.
District Leadership Reports were presented next:
Public Relations Manager Bettyann Peck presented the Public Relations Report. No questions were advanced from the floor
Club Growth Director Patti Walter presented the Club Growth and Membership Report. No questions were advanced from the floor.
Program Quality Director John J. Hogan presented the Program Quality Report. No questions were advanced from the floor.
District Director Akihiro Ishii presented the District Report. No questions were advanced from the floor.