Member Forum

Board Responses to Suggestions and Questions from the
February 20, 2018 Member Forum and Emails to Club Cruceros

The Club Cruceros Board of Directors would like to thank all of you who participated in the member forum on February 20. We would also like to thank those who could not attend the forum for the helpful emails sent to the Club. Some very good points were brought up. The following is a synopsis of those questions and suggestions and the Board’s response to each.

Email to Club Cruceros 2/19/18:

  1. Members nearest Marina de La Paz receive more attention than other members in the fleet.
    1. There is no question that the Club Cruceros local membership is spread out over a wide area. Most clubs are that way. When you join a club, you know it’s location and know you will have to travel to events and meetings or you move closer to its location. In any city, with any type of club.
    2. The Schroyers have been very good to Club Cruceros since the Club’s beginning. They provide us with the clubhouse including free power, water and electricity. They collect our mail, give us free Wi-Fi, have 24-hour security and gave us the Vista Room. Marina de La Paz is a business and supporting Club Cruceros is a good business decision. The Club owes it to them to encourage the hub of the cruising community around them.
    3. In the past we had a General Meeting at Palmira. The meeting had an extremely low turnout. Afterwards that Board decided to not pursue meetings in the other marinas.
    4. Every year the candidates for the Board go to Marina Palmira one morning and meet with the cruisers there. For the past 2 years a few have shown up to listen to what the 6-8 people running for office had to say.
    5. In 2017 in an effort to include members in Costa Baja and Marina Palmira, the Club offered to pay for a shuttle or taxi to transport people to and from a Club event. After numerous announcements on the net no one accepted our offer of a free ride.
    6. There is no right answer to this continuing problem. This Board supports Board and General Meetings in the Vista Room at Marina de La Paz, seminars and workshops in Marina Palmira or Marina de La Paz and social events at the clubhouse patio or La Costa Restaurant. We are open to suggestions if anyone finds a viable solution or finds a better venue.

  2. Why only support La Costa?
    1. Putting on Club events such as Thanksgiving, St. Patricks’ Day, the Beach Party and Bayfest is a lot of work, and La Costa makes it easier.
    2. It is hard to find a venue that will close their doors to all customers for one group for entire weekends and open up hours before they normally open. At La Costa the food, prices and service are reasonable.
    3. In 2017 the Fashion Show looked into a few available venues in La Paz and tried a new one. While the facility was beautiful, they required a large deposit very early, it was more expensive, no one spoke English, and they didn’t follow through with the contract they had agreed to. In 2018 we were happily back at La Costa.
    4. We have a longstanding trustful relationship with La Costa established by a Board member many years ago.
    5. La Costa is centrally located and right on the water.

  3. Why choose only one local “non-profit” group. Rotary?
    1. While the Charity Committee and the Board support the efforts of Rotario de La Paz, we have made no donations to Rotary in at least the past three years. This Board is aware of no donations from the Charity Fund prior to that.
    2. We have supported the efforts of Rotario de La Paz through encouraging members to participate in Rotary fundraising and Christmas gifts for the children in the Colonia of Le Soledad.
    3. To see where the funds from the Charity Fund go visit the Club website at http://www.clubcruceros.net/TheClub/FundDistribution.html
  4. There must be accountability and transparency.
    1. In 2015 the issue of Club Cruceros transparency was visited with quite a bit of turmoil. Since that time there have been many changes to the operation of the Club.
      1. Board members have become very aware of how important accountability and transparency are to the Club Cruceros membership.
      2. Board Meetings are now open to the public. Nonboard members may speak to the Board before the meeting is called to order. During the meeting, non-board members may not enter into the discussions due to time constraints.
      3. Both Board Meeting and General Membership Meeting minutes are posted on the website and at the clubhouse.
      4. Funds from the Charity Account are not only disbursed by approval of the Board they are also posted on the website.
    2. This Board wishes to assure the membership we are aware of the trust you have placed in us to do what is best for the fleet, for the community and for the charities we serve. Full transparency, trust, good faith, integrity, honest communications, all are key words we keep foremost in our minds.

Email to Club Cruceros 2/20/18:

  1. The Boards decision making process has fallen apart. Politics, lack of involvement, absence of transparency with proposed decisions.
    1. The Board invites all members to a Board meeting to view the process in action. We are a group of volunteers and most have no experience working on a Board so Robert’s Rules of Order are not always followed but our hearts are in the right place.
    2. This Board is presently compiling the long-awaited Club Cruceros Standard Operating Procedures. This document outlines procedures for Board members and Committee heads in all facets of Club Cruceros operations. We hope this will aid future Boards with their decision making process’s.
  1. When will the donation to Villas de Guadalupe positively impact the kids. Is this a fund that will start when enough money is available or is there enough money to start immediate construction?
    1. The funds allocated to Villas de Guadalupe are within 2,000 pesos of the estimate to supply the necessary materials for the building of the proposed study center. The funds are available now and the community is ready to start construction.

Membership Forum February 20, 2018

  1. A question was raised about why Mama Bonita’s (last year’s Fashion Show charity) was no longer a charity for the Club. 
    1. Club Cruceros continues to support Mama Bonita’s. The funds from the 2017 Fashion Show were allocated to Mama Bonita’s. Currently, that project is complete. A future Charity Committee and Board may choose to donate funds to Mama Bonita’s.

  2. How do we pick charities and how are they managed?
    1. In the 30 years of Club Cruceros, no Board has adopted written guidelines for the Charity Committee. The vetting and management have been left up to the Committee Chairperson with the approval of the Board prior to fund disbursement. If this year’s Board does not complete the task, we will urge the next Board to adopt guidelines and incorporate them into the Standard Operating Procedures.

  3. There was discussion about the Charity Fashion Show proceeds being re-allocated to another charity.
    1. It was the consensus of the General Membership in their vote at the February 20, 2018, meeting to agree with the Board’s decision to allocate the proceeds of the Charity Fashion Show to the building materials for the study center at Villas de Guadalupe.
    2. This is where the people who were donating funds were told the money would go. 

  4. There was a question about whether there was enough money for building materials to build the study center.
    1. The estimate provided to the Charity Committee for the study center includes the floor, walls, roof, door and windows. The funds collected at the Fashion Show are within 2,000 pesos of the estimate.
  1. There was concern about the permission from the Church for the building.
    1. The Church is run by a group from the community. They are Officers of the Church and are committed to keep this study center a non-religious haven for the children.

  2. There was concern about a person getting injured within the building work site causing a problem for the Club.
    1. By only providing the building materials for the project it was the opinion of the General Membership at the 2/20/18 meeting that we are not causing the Club liability.

  3. A comment was made that the Club is not a legal club.
    1. It is true that the Club is not a registered Business Association in Mexico. We cannot have a bank account, register as a non-profit or sell items for profit. We are a Social Association.
    2. Seven years ago the Club looked into the possibility of becoming a Business Association. The following are excerpts from their findings:

    “There are two basic Organizations in Mexico. “Social” and “Business”. We are currently a “Social Association” There are literally hundreds of Social Associations in La Paz alone… In theory, any group of people that get together on a regular basis, whether Gringo or Mexican needs to be a Social Organization. Neil and Mary Schroyer as representatives of Marina de La Paz are aware of the club’s status and recommend that we… continue to function as other social organizations do... Business Associations, on the other hand are tightly regulated… Attorneys fees for the club to start anew would be in the neighborhood of $3,500 USD… Yearly costs range from $300 to over $2,000.”

  4. There are 2 classrooms that have been started but not finished. Finish one of those buildings instead of starting from scratch.
    1. The two small classrooms are intended to be for religious study and were started last summer with funds from other sources. They are works in process from other benefactors. They are raising more funds to complete them.
    2. The study center is to be constructed on the church property as a non-religious area open to the entire community for children and their tutors to do their schoolwork.
    3. A few years ago the floor of the church was just in the very front where the Minister stood. The next year they had 2/3 of the floor space cemented. This year they had an entire floor. They still have bare cinder block walls with no paint. But they have a full church! Forcing our standards of living on this group is a mistake. They live the way they live. Dictating their process is degrading. The work is done by volunteers, who are we to tell them they are not doing it right?
    4. The classrooms are a part of the church and built by the congregation as a place for religious study. The study center was intended to be for the entire community and set apart from the classrooms.
    5. The plan is to someday have shelving and books. Another organization is committed to help with the shelves and books.

  5. Why are meetings in the stuffy and crowded Vista Room and not La Costa Restaurant?
    1. La Costa is a bar and members drink too much, make fools of themselves and are a disruption.
    2. The La Costa customers are subject to a loud microphone and the unfortunate possibility of people yelling and arguing.
    3. The Vista Room is free to us and perfectly appointed for our needs.
    4. The visual equipment is better in the Vista Room for meetings and for programs after the General Meetings.
    5. Continuity – If the meetings are always in the Vista Room nobody needs to ask the location.
    6. At the Stan Honey seminar, we had 75 people in the room, and it was crowded but it worked.
    7. If Martha were to close the restaurant for our General Meetings, it would help but still would not solve the alcohol problem.
    8. To meet at another venue, someone would need to take on the responsibility of moving the AV equipment.
    9. If anyone finds a better venue for general meetings, please let us know.
    10. The feeling of this Board is that we would rather be in a crowded room than in a room where alcohol is served. Next year’s Board may feel different.