AUGUST 8, 2002

27 members attended SANDALL’S first town hall meeting held August 8 at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law. The discussion centered around two key issues for SANDALL.

• What are the direction and goals for SANDALL and how do we go about achieving them?
• Money - How do we get it, how much is enough, and how do we spend it?

Background: The Town Hall was convened following a survey of SANDALL’ s membership during the past year. The survey was not too ambitious. It was kept simple to formalize the good work done in the past, and to help chart the future direction for the chapter.

Some newer members commented that they found the chapter a vibrant organization. There is a lot of energy amongst the membership. In 1999 SANDALL had put in a request to host AALL’s annual meeting. The Board needs to follow through on the status of that request. The 2007 meeting site has been selected. [Since the town hall meeting we have learned that it is going to be in New Orleans.] San Diego can aim for 2008. Hawaii is a likely contender for a west coast location; however, most of those present felt that San Diego is not only an equally desirable location, but also a more feasible selection for the convention in terms of cost and distance considerations. There was concern that current membership is committing future membership, six years down the line, to something that they may not be interested in pursuing. However, there was no strong opposition on account of this concern.

It was suggested that we put together a public relations package that would make San Diego an attractive venue for a future annual meeting. The package should emphasize San Diego attractions. Those who visited the chapter exhibit booths at the annual meeting in Orlando reported that the chapter booths get a lot of traffic and San Diego would get a lot of exposure if SANDALL sponsored a table at upcoming annual meetings.

Publicity: SANDALL needs to engage in publicity efforts in addition to the columns in the San Diego Commerce and the San Diego Lawyer. The following ideas were put forward:

• Offer educational programs with MCLE credits Conduct workshops in basic legal research for non-law librarians similar to those done in the past for the Serra Cooperative system and “Locating the Law” which was offered by SCALL Announce our programs in the San Diego Daily Transcript and the Los Angeles Daily Journal
• Participate in a fun run similar to the “Lawyers Have a Heart Too.”

There is a lot that can be done to give San Diego area law librarians high visibility.

Bylaws: There was discussion of a need to revise existing bylaws which were drafted in haste to get our application for chapterhood ready in time for the Anaheim annual meeting. They were drafted in a very modest way, and it was felt that at least the definition of memberships should be brought into conformity with those of the parent organization.

There has been concern about membership categories and who can run for office. For example, AALL does not allow members from the vendor community to run for office. SANDALL members need to determine what limitations if any should be placed on the various categories of members’ eligibility to run for office. Any changes presented to the membership for a vote on this issue should be done prior to the next election if possible. This is one case where being proactive rather than reactive will make for a smoother nominations process. It was pointed out that the bylaws committee could not always anticipate all situations that arise and that there will be times when the committee will propose amendments in reaction to a circumstance that occurs.

Finances: SANDALL ‘s revenues this past year were approximately $1500 from dues, $1855 from the Fall workshop registration and a vendor contribution to the workshop, and newsletter advertisements.

There was general agreement among those present that vendor support for events should be sought as much as possible. However, we should not base our expectations on last year’s figures. Already this year vendor representatives have seen their budgets for this kind of sponsorship shrink and have not made any commitments so far.

On the expenditures side SANDALL gives out grants, and pays for chapter insurance, newsletter production and mailing, and miscellaneous other expenses. Judging by last year’s treasury report, we took in more than we spent. There was consensus that SANDALL should have a comfortable reserve. How much is enough for a reserve? Currently SANDALL has $10,000; other chapters such as SCALL and NOCALL have substantially more. Beyond the reserve, we should spend money on educational grants to facilitate continuing education and professional development efforts of SANDALL members. SANDALL should offer high quality programs by bringing in paid speakers; one member commented that group expertise in offering programs should not be overlooked. Do we need more revenue to increase member involvement to make us more relevant and attractive to our membership? Should dues be increased? To attract more members we possibly need to tap into our members’ collective creativity rather than our organization’s treasury.

One suggestion put forward the idea of amending the bylaws to stipulate that one-third of the dues each year goes towards grants. The one-third ratio was given as an example. It could be any ratio that the membership agrees on. There was also concern that currently there are no guidelines on how much of the treasury funds the board can authorize spending without general membership approval. This issue needs further discussion.

The Board will be looking at all the ideas generated at this meeting.

Respectfully submitted,
Sushila Selness