1. The American Legion Post 176 General Membership Meeting was called to order at 1930 on 14 November 2006, with Commander Taborek presiding.

a. The vice Adjutant called roll. The following officers were absent from the meeting: Sergeant-at-Arms Thiebaut and Adjutant Braman. All other officers were present with the exception of Jr. Past Commander Kampanos who has resigned.

b. In accordance with the motion carried at the 5 Sep 06 General Membership Meeting, minutes of the previous meeting were published on the Post Web site.

c. Commander Taborek introduced Suki Knarr as the newly hired General Manager; he also indicated that the Ladies’ Auxiliary was present at the meeting to hear the external audit report.

2. The Commander introduced Mr. Dave Collins from Goodman & Company who gave the following audit report:

a. The external audit focused on two items, the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement.

1.) The audit covered the Balance Sheet (assets and liabilities) and the Income Statement (revenues and expenditures) for calendar year 2005.

2.) Problems were encountered with determining the revenue stream due to lack of internal controls and missing documentation to support transactions in the general ledger. Segregation of duties did not exist. Multiple people were involved in the same activities, and there was no managerial review of transactions recorded in the ledger. The build-up of payables was not recorded in the books and was not caught by the Legion, but by vendor personnel. In addition, there was no access to contracts to support hall rentals.

3.) The mortgage obligation with Prosperity Bank was confirmed, along with the cash account, the certificates of deposit, and the land and building assets. The land and building were recorded at cost, not fair market value. The liabilities included the mortgage, but not operating expenses or wages. Accounts receivable and accounts payable were not part of the audit; neither was the Auxiliary or the SAL.

b. Questions and answers about the audit were as follows:

1.) Are there specific recommendations? Yes. Contracts need supporting files in sequential series (to support expenses). This correction is easy to implement with managerial review and oversight.

2.) What are the assets versus liabilities? The Post had a positive equity as of 31 Dec 2005. There were approximately $1.2 M in assets (ignoring appreciation of land), and $600 Kin liabilities on a modified cash basis.

3.) Does the Post have any legal liabilities with the IRS or the County? There are no tax liabilities based on the Form 992 submissions. However, management should review gaming procedures with internal legal council.

4.) Did the auditors see any 2006 records? Yes. They looked at some Jan 06 bank statements, but no contracts were seen. The Corporate Board is looking into a new revenue tracking system to integrate processes and establish controls.

5.) Was there any specific evidence of malfeasance? No. The main issue was that reconciliations did not agree with transaction ledgers, mainly because of missing contracts on hall rentals. This can be corrected with management oversight.

6.) Did the auditors see any 1099 documentation? Yes. They did see some. The audit company has completed a comprehensive report with several good recommendations. Commander Taborek said the report will be reproduced and published in the Post Scripts if there is room. In any event, it will be made available to the general membership.

3. Committee Reports were as follows:

a. Commander Taborek gave the following report for the 1^st Vice Commander:

1.) Membership Committee: Sixteen candidates were presented for membership this evening. The names were read and approved in block. This brings the membership to 80.7% of the 2007 goal. The Post needs 75 more members to meet the Jan 07 goal of 85%.

2.) Ways and Means Committee: Sunday breakfast is 12 Nov from 9:00-11:00 AM. The Friday night dinner for Nov is cancelled. The Commander stressed the need to advertise our programs.

b. Commander Taborek gave the following report for the 1^st Vice Commander:

1.) Boys State: John Bednarek gave the Commander $216 last month for Boys State from the Boys in the Back Room; Walt Myers also contributed $57.

2.) Sons of the American Legion (SAL): The SAL still has White House ornaments for sale. The cost is $17. The SAL also has flag kits for sale for $15.

c. 3^rd Vice Commander Dzierski reported on the following activities:

1.) Adopt-a-Highway: John Young will head the program for 2007. The program requires four clean-ups a year.

2.) Bingo: Bingo is a major source of income for the Post. Proceeds have been increasing, but not as much as in the past. Please continue to support this activity.

3.) Children & Youth: Klaus Dahlke will be the chairperson again this year.

4.) Community Service Awards: A volunteer is needed to head this program.

5.) Junior Law Cadets: A volunteer is needed for this program. Activities are scheduled to begin in Jun 07.

6.) Junior Shooting Sports: Shooting events will start in May. The team will have new air rifles that can handle multiple shots.

d. Finance Officer: No status to report. Bob Cable is reviewing the financial records and he will provide monthly reports to the membership. One of his goals is to clear legal issues that have affected the Post, the Corporate Board, and the EXCOM.

e. Chaplain: No status to report. A special election will be held at the 5 Dec 06 membership meeting to fill the Chaplain position.

f. Service Officer: Ali Nikolai reported that several months ago, Post 176 held a spaghetti dinner for members of the Recruiting Command in Springfield. This is the organization that the Post adopted under the VA program. A second dinner was scheduled, but the date was left to the Recruiting Command. The Command has contacted the Post and requested the dinner for 21 Nov. Bill Strawsburg, the acting General Manager, has reserved a room for the dinner and has made catering arrangements for the food. There are sufficient funds in VA program budget to cover the cost of the food and the labor.

g. Corporate Board: The Corporate Board is investigating the removal of trees around the buffer zone and the Board has appointed Rich Tiner as the project manager for the tree-planting work. He gave the following update on the tree situation:

1.) Fairfax County is requiring the Post to do site work and plant trees in the reserved area behind the privacy fence in the parking lot. The underlying reason for site work and tree planting is that one or more members of the Post improperly had cut down the trees in the reserved area without obtaining County permits, and the County is lawfully requiring a replanting to be performed by and at the expense of Post 176.

2.) The Corporate Board has asked John Sawyer to investigate the circumstances of the tree-cutting. A comment was made that trees were cut on the back side because the Health Department was concerned about rodents. It was also pointed out that when the Post bought the property in 1998, they signed an agreement to maintain the trees.

3.) Rich Tiner has asked the County to provide a written requirement for the work to be done. He has also talked to the County about the tree stumps, and he is soliciting bids for overgrowth and stump removal. The County has told the Post that stumps and underbrush must be cleared away, and 65 trees (50 evergreen and 15 shade trees) must be planted by 1 Apr 07. The projected expenditure for the project is $50 K.

4.) With respect to this issue, the County did not assess a fine for the incident, just a requirement to replace the trees. Rich Tiner is going to talk to the Forestry Service about types of trees and the specifications for planting them, i.e. distance from the wall, etc. He recommended that the Post be prepared to approve the expenditure of funds at the appropriate time and investigate ways to cover the expenses.

h. Post Scripts: Klaus Dahlke has taken over the Post Scripts from Tony Dzierski. The 15^th of the month is the submission date for articles. Pictures should be included if they are available.

3. Old Business

a. The joint Veterans Day ceremony with VFW Post 7236 was held at the Post on 11 Nov. Guest speaker was Thomas Hall, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs.

b. Past Commander Lew Lipscomb was presented with a past commander’s pin; he was also designated as Junior Past Commander to replace Jim Kampanos who resigned.

c. A question was asked about vandalism of Post property, specifically the Past Commander’s picture being removed from the wall. Doug Kendall agreed to look into the matter and replace the missing picture.

d. A question was asked about cubicles for temporary storage. The Commander replied that cubicles could be built if the cigarette machines were moved.

e. A comment was made that bingo lights need to be checked prior to the start of the game.

4. New Business:

a. Commander Taborek raised the issue of the motion that was passed at the 1 Aug 06 General Membership Meeting, giving the Corporate Board sole authority to hire and fire General Managers and other Post workers. He concurred with Comrade Vatter that the motion was in conflict with EXCOM responsibilities in the American Legion Officers Guide, and if he were there that evening, he would have ruled the motion out of order because Article III, Section 5 of the By Laws states that "the order of business for this Post shall conform to that set forth in The American Legion Officers Guide and Manual of Ceremonies." He said the EXCOM could delegate the hiring authority to the Board, but the members attending a general membership meeting cannot do so without first changing the By Laws. He further stated he will present this situation to the EXCOM at the 28 Nov meeting and propose some policies which will make the EXCOM and the Board of Directors work more closely together.

b. Commander Taborek prepared an analysis of the Constitution and By Laws which he presented to the membership. The analysis focused on the respective roles of the membership, Corporate Board, and Executive Committee. Judge Advocate Dents asked the Commander what the purpose was of the analysis. The Commander replied that the membership, by adopting the current Constitution and By Laws, has given over governance and administration of the Post to the EXCOM and the Corporate Board, and therefore cannot make policy at membership meetings. Resolving the issue raised above is between the EXCOM and the Corporate Board.

c. The Commander appointed Mike Siwic to publicize our next social event (on 2 Dec) in the community announcements sections of the Journal newspapers, the Communicator, and WMAL.

d. Nominations were opened from the floor for the vacant post of 2^nd Vice Commander. Maudie Price, chairman of the nominating committee, presented retired CWO4 Bob Paige for the position. He is a veteran with thirty years’ service and an 11 yr member of the Post. There being no other candidates, a motion was made and carried to accept Mr. Paige by acclamation.

e. Good of the Legion: A member of the Post has asked the American Legion for a new rope and flag for the flag pole at his apartment building. The Post will supply the rope and flag.

d. There being no further business, a motion was made and carried to adjourn the meeting. Bob Cable won the 50-50 drawing and donated the amount ($35) to Boys State. The Post will make a matching contribution. The meeting was adjourned at 2048.

Ali Nikolai Ed Taborek

Vice Adjutant Commander