Board Meeting on December 6-8, 2019
Board Resolutions
Resolution Nr. 1
ALA Board supports the Latvian Ministry of Justice reforms, as presented by Janis Bordans, Minister of Justice.
Resolution No. 2
ALA Board suggests that high-level U.S. diplomats not attend the Russian Victory Day Parade in Moscow while Russia continues to follow an aggressive foreign policy toward its neighbors.
Resolution No. 3
ALA Board supports U.S. House Resolution 546 “disapproving Russia’s inclusion in future Group of Seven (G-7) summits until it respects the territorial integrity of its neighbors and adheres to the standards of democratic societies.”
Resolution No. 4
ALA Board support U.S. House Resolution 672 “Expressing support of the Three Seas Initiative in its efforts to increase energy independence and infrastructure connectivity thereby strengthening the United States and European national security.” (116th Congress, 2019-2020)
Resolution No. 5
After reviewing Resolution Nr. 7 from the 68th ALA Conference, ALA Board resolves to cancel the proposed tour of U.S. Latvian centers by Sandra Kalniete and will consider a direct donation to the Likteņdārzs project. ALA will continue to disseminate information about about Likteņdarzs.
Resolution No. 6
ALA Board resolves to continue to collaborate with the Latvian Language Agency in finding a way to incorporate a camp setting with youth from Latvia during the upcoming “Sveika, Latvija!” educational tours.
Resolution No. 7
ALA Board supports Elisa Freimanis as the new ALA representative on the PBLA education advisory board, as well as Andra Zommere as an “ex officio” member to aid in the transition of the old board to the new board.
Resolution No. 8
ALA Board resolves to implement a marketing strategy that includes a new ALA brochure, gifts appropriate for collaborative partners, as well as member souvenirs (“swag”) displaying the ALA logo. Līga Ejupe un Kristīne Ģiga-Bauer will gather ideas to present at the March ALA meeting.
Resolution No. 9
ALA Board resolves to support the renovation of the Garezers community gathering area with a $5,000 “Cornerstone” level donation from the 2019 budget.
Resolution No. 10
ALA Board resolves to form a new committee to prepare a plan for possible new film projects and present it to the full board at the March meeting. The committee members will include: P. Blumbergs, M. Andersons, L. Ejupe, D. Dzilna, A. Nāgele, K. Ģiga-Bauer, M. Gudrā.
Resolution No. 11
ALA Board resolves to hold the 2020 board meetings in the following cities and on the following dates.
Detroit, March 6-8
Boston, September (dates TBD)
Washington, DC, December 4-6
Resolution Nr. 12
The ALA board agrees to undesignate the operating reserve of $100,000.
Resolution Nr. 13
The ALA board accepts the financial reports (Statement of Financial Position and Budget vs Actual) as presented by the Treasurer without changes.
Resolution No. 14
ALA Board approves the proposed FY2020 budget as presented by the Treasurer with the discussed changes.
Resolution Nr. 15
The ALA Board resolves to accept the new ALA Investment Policy Statement.
Resolution Nr. 16
The ALA Board resolves to increase the depreciable asset purchase threshold from $1,000 to $5,000.
Resolution Nr. 17
The ALA Board resolves that starting January 1st, 2020, a 5% administrative fee will be drawn from all Temporarily Restricted Fund donations. M. Gudrā promises to post this change on the ALA webpage. This resolution replaces Resolution 4 from the December 2013 board meeting regarding administrative fees.
Resolution Nr. 18
The ALA Board tasks the Fundraising Office with preparing a presentation requesting that Congress delegates vote to raise raise membership fees at the ALA Congress in April.
Resolution Nr. 19
The ALA Board resolves to initiate an ALA70 fundraising campaign to honor the next organizational milestone. Campaign donations will be recorded to the Century Bequest Fund. These donations will not cover annual membership dues.
Resolution Nr. 20
The ALA Board nominates Martins Andersons as a candidate for the WFFL Vice President position.
Resolution Nr. 21
The ALA Board tasks the Statute Committee with reviewing ALA March 2019 Resolution 6 (created to increase member participation at the annual Congress), as well as the slide show presented at the 68th Congress and to prepare information to send out to all ALA member organizations in a timely fashion.
Resolution Nr. 22
The ALA Board resolves to organize a Latvian Heritage Night on February 7th in Washington, DC, when the Latvian Washington Wizards player Davis Bertans will play against Latvian Dallas Mavericks player Kristaps Porzingis.
Resolution Nr. 23
The ALA Board resolves to raise the salaries of the ALA office staff by 3 percent, as well as provide a Christmas bonus ($1,000 to M. Gudra and $750 to B. Dolinsky, after taxes).
Resolution Nr. 24
The ALA Board resolves to support the Likteņdārzs project in Latvia at 15.000 eiro donation level (final value will be approximately $16,600 based on the exchange rate).
Resolution Nr. 25
The ALA Board resolves to support the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) with a donation of $3,000 to cover the expenses of a Latvian keynote speaker at the next conference in Charlotte, NC, on May 28-30, 2020.
Resolution Nr. 26
Taking into account the ALA 68th Congress resolution instructing the ALA Board to prepare proposals for amendments to the statutes, in accordance with Chapter VII of the Statute, to facilitate an increase in individual members and delegates to future Congresses, the ALA Board decides to propose amendments to Chapters III and VII of the Statute to be voted upon at the 69th Congress.
Proposed amendment to Chapter III, Congress (a), which would make it possible to increase the number of individual delegates from 14 to 24:
(Current)
- Every hundred individuals shall be entitled to one delegate.
(Proposed)
- Sixty individual persons shall be entitled to one delegate.
Proposed amendment to Chapter III, Congress (b), which would allow at least 9 member organizations to send 1 delegate to Congress, and another 10 member organizations to send 2 delegates. Currently, only 47 member organizations can send at least 1 delegate.
(Current)
- Member organizations shall also be entitled to one delegate even if their membership is 60 or less, but not less than 20 persons. The member organizations shall be entitled to two delegates from 61 to 120 members and one (1) delegate for each additional 60 members. Two or more member organizations may, by mutual agreement, combine their total number of members of the Association in order to be entitled to one or more delegate mandates jointly, using the same formula as one member organization.
(Proposed)
- Member organizations shall also be entitled to one delegate, even if their membership is 40 or less, but not less than 15 persons. The member organizations shall be entitled to two nominated delegates if they have a membership of between 41 and 80, and one additional delegate for each of the next 40 members. Two or more member organizations may, by mutual agreement, combine their total number of members of the Association in order to be entitled to one or more delegate mandates jointly, using the same formula as one member organization.
(Current) (Proposed)
1 delegate 20-60 members 15-40 members
2 delegates 61-120 members 41-80 members
3 delegates 121-180 members 81-120 members
Proposition to amend Chapter VII of the Statute, “Amendment of the Statute”, which would allow more time for the preparation of amendments to the Statute, if necessary in the future.
(Current)
The statute may be amended by Congress by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that the proposed amendments have been circulated to all organizations 90 days before the Congress.
(Proposed)
The statute may be amended by Congress by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast, provided that the proposed amendments have been circulated to all organizations 60 days before the Congress.