Minutes of the 21 July 2024 meeting

TRMN Steering Committee: July Meeting Minutes (Unofficial) Date: 21 July 2024
Time: 1700 Pacific / 2000 EST / 0100 GMT
Location: Google Meet

Attendees:

Geoff Strayer – Chair

David Westover (IAN) – Vice Chair

Zach White (GSN) – Steering Committee Secretary

Laura Lochen (RMN)

Mike Houghtaling (RMMC)

Matthew Miller (RMA)

Wayne Bruns (Civ Corps)

Zach McCauley (BoD EVP)

Cindy Van Wyhe (BoD Secretary)

Non-Voting Attendees/Guests:

Mitch Dunn (RHN CNO)

Michael Romero (Speaker, HoL)

NOTE: The Secretary resides in the Eastern Time Zone – all times are EST. The meeting was called to order at 2006 EST.

Agenda Item 1:

The chair delivered a welcome message to attendees. Roll Call was completed, and a quorum was declared.

Agenda Item 2:

A motion was made to approve the minutes from the May meeting. As some of the new members had not received the meeting minutes due to issues with the email list, this item was tabled until later in the meeting to allow those members to read the minutes.

Agenda Item 3:

Divisional reports were received by the members before the meeting except for a report from the IAN and the House of Commons. There were no questions, and the Secretary took a note to follow up with the IAN and Commons for a report.

Agenda Item 4:

The Steering Committee was asked by the President of TRMN, Geoffrey Zoeller, to consider awards for members who had/who will serve on the Board of Directors as a token for their service. Several options were considered from a ribbon to a lesser awarded civilian knighthood until the members focused more on a “plank owner” type award. Several ideas were floated from a pen box set to a lapel pin to a convention badge lanyard. The Secretary took a note to explore options before the next meeting.

Agenda Item 5:

A Flag Promotion Board was conducted for Cindy Van Wyhe and Geoffrey Zoeller. Cindy Van Wyhe was promoted to Admiral of the Red, RMN, with a vote of 7 Aye and 1 Nay. Geoffrey Zoeller was promoted to Vizeadmiral, IAN, with a unanimous vote. The Secretary relayed the promotions to the Bureau of Personnel and provided promotion certificates for signature to the appropriate parties.

Agenda Item 6:

The Steering Committee postulated how to draft a request to the Board of Directors to allow the Republic of Haven Navy (RHN) a full voting seat on the Steering Committee. David Westover motioned that we hold a vote, this was seconded by Zach White. The Secretary conducted a roll call vote to accept the RHN as a full voting member. The vote was unanimous. The Chair took a note to bring the results of the vote and this request to the Board of Directors for consideration.

Agenda Item 7:

A review of the Action Without Meeting that was undertaken by the Steering Committee since the May meeting was provided to the members with the meeting agenda. There were no questions, and the items were approved with a unanimous vote of acclimation.

Agenda Item 8:

The Chapter Policy document, one of the Steering Committee’s final hurdles, was noted as nearly complete. The Chair noted that he would like to bring it to an Action Without Meeting vote by the end of the week.

Agenda Item 9:

Several items of new business were discussed. The Steering Committee discussed the activation of the RHN 5th Fleet approved at the last meeting. It was decided that a Joint Chiefs Directive would be appropriate to officially launch the Fleet. The Secretary took a note to make this happen. There was a discussion regarding a concern the House of Commons had raised about the legality of their conducting business on Discord v. the TRMN Forums. It was decided that they should be following the example set by the House of Lords. Matthew Miller took the task of communicating that to the Speaker of the House of Commons. The May Minutes were revisited and approved by unanimous vote. Setting a time window on when major awards could be submitted was considered. The following was decided: For Knighthoods the deadline for submissions would be August 31st and February 28th. For quarterly awards, the deadline would be the end of the month before issuance. The motion was proposed by Laura Lochen and seconded by Zach White. The motion passed unanimously.

Agenda Item 10:

The Secretary summarized the items completed at the meeting, as well as those that had taskers.

Chair: Bringing the request to add the RHN as a voting member to the Board of Directors

Secretary: Certificates for the Flag Promotions / Communicate with BuPers

JCD for 5th Fleet Activation

Research BoD Service “award”

Update Wiki

Matthew Miller: Communicate findings regarding Discord to the Speaker of the HoC

Agenda Item 11:

The September meeting was scheduled for Sunday, September 8, 2024. The meeting will be at 1700 PST (5 PM PST, 7PM CT, 9PM AST) to better accommodate some of the committee members’ schedules. An agenda and meeting invitation will be sent to participants via the established methods before the meeting.

Agenda Item 12:

The Chair made closing comments and made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Zach White. The meeting was adjourned at 2134 EST.