Each month, it is the goal of this CSMFO newsletter to provide its members with the happenings at the Board level. The actions taken at these meetings can have some profound effects trickled into every chapter and benefit members in many numerous ways.

September’s meeting was pushed up by one week due to the upcoming CSMFO Strategic Planning Session, which is scheduled to begin Sunday, October 4 and end on Tuesday, October 6. With that being said, the September 17 Board meeting was rather lightweight but purposeful with five items on the Discussion/Action portion of the agenda. Those items included the following:

Steps challenge update/sponsor recognition – Mia Corral of Chandler Asset Management introduced the Steps Challenge that CSMFO Members have been engaged in throughout the month of September utilizing the App “Move Spring.” Mia thanked everyone for participating and encouraged everyone to get involved. As of the date of the Board meeting on September 17, CSMFO Members had taken approximately 9.6 million steps and averaged a robust 7,600 steps-per-day!

Next up, the CSMFO Board was presented with the 2021 Calendar Year Draft Budget. This item was introduced by the Executive Director of CSMFO, Melissa Manchester. Melissa highlighted changes from the prior year and what the Board could expect to see for the upcoming 2021 calendar year. A second draft will be provided at an upcoming Board meeting prior to adoption before the end of December.

Did you know that every year CSMFO forms a Nominating Committee to hand pick who will be on the upcoming ballot for the positions of President-Elect and Board Members for the north and south? This year’s Nominating Committee will be comprised of the President, President-Elect, Past President, and four other Past Presidents. Ballots will go out in November with the election closing on December 18 and new members seated during the 2021 conference.

CSMFO also formed an Ad Hoc Working Group to decide on the future of management services. Currently, CSMFO utilizes the services of Smith Moore & Associates (SMA) and has done so since 2009. This Ad Hoc group was created because in January of 2019, CSMFO’s Executive Director formed her own firm, but remained in the position of Executive Director through a subcontract with SMA. This prompted the CSMFO leadership to inquire about the structure and oversight of the contractual arrangement, and how the change adheres to CSMFO’s current bylaws, policies, and procedures. The direction the Board gave the Ad Hoc Committee at this meeting was to develop a Request for Proposal for association management services to bring forward to the Board for their approval by January 2021. In addition, the Board also directed the Administration Committee to extend the current SMA contract through April 30, 2022 for all services.

Lastly, sometimes it is necessary to have Close Session Board meetings and CSMFO held a Closed Session meeting prior to the Open Board meeting scheduled for 2:00 P.M. on September 17. There were two topics of discussion in Closed Session: 1) 2021 Conference Commitments; and 2) CalPERS Ad Hoc Committee. As more information is made available on these two topics, you will be able to find it here on CSMFO News.

Discussed during future topics of Board meetings was the opportunity to continue challenges like those of the step challenge through the Move Spring app. Be on the lookout for future motivational and talent sharing challenges announced through CSMFO Communications.

The next CSMFO Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6 during the Virtual Zooming Planning Session.