11:30 - 12:00 Mingle & Network
            12:00 - 12:30 Lunch Announcements
             12:40 - 1:30 Speaker Sign up by 5:00 pm, Saturday, July 18, 2009 to be eligible for the early bird price of $25.  You can also register at the door for $30. (Once registered, unless registration is cancelled prior to cutoff, payment will be expected whether luncheon is attended or not.)

            Click Here to Register for Lunch Meeting

Date:  September 14, 2009
Location: Techmart Network Meeting Center
5201 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara

CPE Credit: 8 hours (6 Fed/2 CA)

Register by July 31, 2009 for early bird price of $165 and $25 of that will go to our chapter to support future education activities. After July 31 the cost is $180 and after September 9 it's $190 at the door. Sign up soon!

Date:  December 7, 2009
Location: Techmart Network Meeting Center
5201 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara

CPE Credit: 8 hours (6 Fed/2 CA)

Register by October 31, 2009 for early bird price of $165 and $25 of that will go to our chapter to support future education activities. After October 31 the cost is $180 and after December 2 it's $190 at the door. Sign up soon!

Date: Monday, January 4, 2010
Location: 1680 Martin Ave., Santa Clara
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:50 p.m.
Registration starts at 8 a.m./1 p.m.

Speakers: Vicki L. Mulak, EA, CFP and Claudia Hill, EA, MBA

CPE Credit: 8 hours

Includes continental breakfast & lunch. (Full-day price includes lunch.)

Register by Dec. 16, 2009:
Members: One session = $80; Both sessions = $150
Nonmembers: One session = $100; Both sessions = $190
After Dec. 16, 2009:
Members: One session = $90; Both sessions = $170
Nonmembers: One session = $110; Both sessions = 210

Date:  January 10 & 11, 2010
Location:  San Jose

Save the date!  More details to follow.

The board voted (after 3 years of study and consideration) to transition to a "Policy Governance" organization style. The previous style was known as "Knowledge Based," a very micro-managerial style that hindered getting things done. There is much anticipation now among the officers and leaders that CSEA can now become more dynamic, reactive, and comprehensive when resolving our unexpected needs, problems, and trends.

But by far the most controversial topic discussed during the board meeting was introduced by a northern CA CSEA director and involved the idea of Term Limits for all CSEA directors. The limits being considered would be four years initial participation followed by a mandatory two-year hiatus then another possible four years of participation. The advantages would include "new-blood" involvement, finding more people that would be willing to participate in the Leadership roles and rotating or cycling out of weak or non-contributors. The disadvantages would include loss of ongoing valuable ideas and contributions from active, seasoned directors.

Chapter of the Year balloting: Big Valley, East Bay, Golden Gate, Mission and North Bay submitted bids. Margy Dunn did a great job of presenting this year's MSEA chapter accomplishments. The results will be announced at the June 27-28 CSEA annual meeting.

Other balloting included EA and Booster of the Year balloting as well as Professional Associate and Student Associate of the Year. No nominees from our MSEA chapter were included. These results will also be announced at the June 27-28 CSEA annual meeting.

There was a motion from the Membership Committee (passed) as a new-member incentive to allow a $25 CSEA credit for any CSEA education offering to all new members during their first year. This may also be an idea for MSEA to consider.

Committee Reports:

Finance and Budget Committee: We have enough cash to cover our expenses (no big concern here) but as of Mar 31, 2009 the CSEA Comparative Income Statement is down $141,697 and our Comparative Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet Assets) is down $192,295 this year compared to last.

Membership and Chapter Development (Supporting Member): Created motion mentioned above and discussed whether or not CSEA should consider withdrawing support from VITA. Competition and loss of business is being feared by VITA clients who are at or above the qualification criteria as suggested in a letter written by a northern CA EA.

Political Action Committee (PAC): Conducted heavy marketing of Pack-Your-Bags-for-Hawaii raffle which, as of March, had brought in $2400. Almost all of the 1,000 tickets were sold, and it is anticipated that the raffle will bring in about $8,000 this year.  The raffle and $2000 prize money was won by Jean Nelsen of Golden Gate Chapter. There is some discussion going on as to whether or not PAC should be accumulating their own funds for so-called "good causes" and if doing so would detract from the goal of "wise" political spending. I was not able to hear all of this discussion but the general consensus of the committee seemed to be that a separate funds endeavor was not necessarily a good idea.

Professional Education Production Committee (PEPCO Member): Immediately before the board meeting the Super Seminar registration numbers included 551 attendees for Las Vegas 1, 301 attendees for Las Vegas 2 and 653 attendees for Reno. This total is down 153 compared to last year at the same time. PEPCO is considering consolidating the two Las Vegas seminars into one. Besides Super Seminars, the upcoming goals and action items currently include California State Tax Agency Representation or CSTAR (Jun 15-16 San Diego, CA) and is being considered as a Super Seminar offering, determining feasibility of online CPE, Tax Boat CPE, Tax Practice Management Workshops Aug 27-29 (in Monterey!), Audio Tax, Education Share Shop (July 30, 10am) a chapter information-sharing event) and Basic and SEE class offerings.

Scholarship Committee (per Margy Dunn, Member):  Scholarship requests are now reviewed for 3 distinct submission periods each year (1/1 through 6/30; 7/1 through 9/30; 10/1 through 12/31). The Committee will be reviewing scholarship applications for the current period during July. Students are encouraged to submit their applications by the June 30 deadline to be considered in this round of awards.

Respectfully submitted,
James Houston, EA
408.446.4433