Meeting details

Date: September 6, 2006

Location: Secretary of State’s Office, Aspen Conference Room, 1700 Broadway, Denver, Colorado

Members Present: Austin Gomes, Don Kuzina, David Esses, Julia Eddy, Dan Gincig

Members Absent: Jerry Gooding, Daniel Toussaint, Nick Pizzuti, Delbert Lennie

Secretary of State Officials Present: Mike Shea, Rudy Johnson, Shannon Bee

Meeting was called to order at 10:10 A.M.

The Pledge of Allegiance was conducted.

Secretary of State report

Mike Shea stated that the office has received numerous written comments regarding the proposed rules. The hearing has been kept open for additional written comments until the close of business Friday, September 8. From the comments received regarding the rules, flexibility for the groups appears to be paramount. This is why the Secretary of State’s office is leaning more toward flexibility for groups in the new rules. The new rules are also trying to get groups to keep 30% of the income from progressive games for the organization, while allowing the groups to split the rest of the income to prizes however they see fit. The proposed rules still allow a $2,500 limit on payouts for an occasion with no per game limit. The Secretary of State’s office will also craft the rules so groups can either put the sales from that night into the jackpot which goes that night, or have the jackpot go at the next session. It would be the choice of the group.

It was decided that the Secretary of State’s office will not set the price of cards in the proposed rules. This will be left up to the discretion of the charity.

Open forum

Marc Rosen asked about allowing relatives of employees to work bingo? Mr. Shea said the language has been changed in the rule so only relatives of hall owners cannot also work as a volunteer while working for the hall.

Comments from the Board

Don Kuzina asked that the progressives be allowed to be the last game of the session in the new rules. Mr. Shea stated that this needed to be sent to our office in writing before the Friday deadline for comments on the new rules.

Mr. Kuzina also pointed out that the $2,500 cap is just that, groups can give prize(s) away up to $2,500, but it is not a requirement that they give this large a prize away. There seemed to be some confusion at the hearing on Tuesday that this was a required prize amount.

Mr. Rosen asked about the advertising pool brought up at the close of the hearing by Mr. Amen. Was the State considering this? Mr. Shea stated that the Secretary of State’s office does not want to be the advertiser for the groups. The new rules, however, will allow groups to create a pool of money for advertising purposes if they wished.

Mr. Shea commented that the new rules will probably go into effect the first part of December. The existing rules will still be effective until that time.

Mr. Gincig stated he was in total agreement with the proposed rules as amended from the hearing. All members of the Board were in agreement.

New officer nominations were the next order of business.

Mr. Kuzina nominated Mr. Gincig as Chairman of the Board. No other nominations were made. Mr. Gincig was elected as Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Esses nominated Ms. Eddy as Co-Chairman of the Board. No other nominations were made. Ms. Eddy was elected as Co-Chairman of the Board.

Corky Kyle stated that the Board agenda is needed at least two weeks before the scheduled meeting. He also suggested the Board develop a meeting calendar in advance for the next year. Mr. Shea seconded this and stated that the Board only needs to hold six meetings in a year and they should only set meetings when something needs to be discussed. Mr. Kyle also felt there should be an orientation for any new Board members. He also felt the Board should make an educational calendar to educate groups to utilize bingo as a fund raising option.

It was decided that the next meeting of the Board would be November 15th.

Mr. Gomes moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Kuzina and approved by the Board.

Meeting adjourned at 11:40 A.M.

Important reminder

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 15, 2006 at 10:00 A.M.

The meeting will be held at the Secretary of State’s Office, Aspen Conference Room. The address is 1700 Broadway, in Denver.