OAALJ BOARD MEETING MINUTES
January 27, 2000

President Charlotte Rutherford called the meeting to order shortly after 6:00 p.m. on January 27, 2000, at the Phoenix Inn in Wilsonville, Oregon. Board members Erika Hadlock, Steve Rissberger, Daina Upite, and Lynne Wehrlie attended. The board discussed the following issues during the meeting:

1. No minutes from the previous meeting were available, so no minutes were approved.

2. Treasurer's report:

Daina reported that the current balance in the OAALJ checking account is $345.78. The association has approximately $10,018.00 in its money market account, including about $18.00 in interest earned in 1999. The board discussed whether OAALJ will need to file any sort of income tax return for 1999. Daina will speak with David Marcus and other people who may know whether non-profit associations that have little income need to file income tax returns.

3. Ethics Committee report:

Steve Rissberger reported that the central hearing officer panel has adopted OAALJ's ethics code as aspirational. Steve will talk to Bill Young about getting a copy posted on the web site.

4. Membership Committee report:

Steve reported that OAALJ has about 50 dues-paying members, including three people who recently renewed their membership. Steve sent out a "final notice" for membership renewal about a week before the board meeting and got no response. The board discussed the possible advantages of having two renewal cycles, one that starts in June and one that starts in December, so people who join mid-year don't have their membership expire after only a few months. Daina mentioned that in 1998, the year the national conference was held in Portland, people who joined after July had their membership continue all the way through 1999. The board decided that having post-July 1 memberships continue through the following year is a better option than having two separate renewal cycles.

The board also discussed what advantages OAALJ members get from paying dues. The OAALJ newsletter goes to everybody on the list, whether or not they are paying members. Charlotte pointed out that it is important for members to support the OAALJ as a professional organization that promotes all ALJs.

5. Communications/Newsletter Committee report

Erika will send an e-mail message to board members reminding them to submit articles for publication. Each board member who is in the central panel will either submit an article on how his or her agency is dealing with the new hearings rules, or will try to find somebody else in his or her agency to write such an article. Board members who belong to the central panel also should talk to managers at their agencies to see if they would be willing to write something on their perspectives on the new rules.

6. Education Committee

The committee had nothing to report. When Charlotte last talked to Percy at the National Judicial College, it became clear that the OAALJ could not afford to bring the NJC here without some outside financial assistance. The board discussed the possibility of coordinating NJC training with the central panel.

The board decided it would try to hold a training session in the fall and discussed the possibility of using local speakers rather than bringing in the NJC. Lynne suggested using Oregon law professors and having a session on writing. Steve suggested holding the training in conjunction with Willamette University and using their facilities. Erika suggested that some Court of Appeals judges might be willing to talk about what they look for in agency orders. The board members agreed that the OAALJ will not give a scholarship this year, but will hold a training session or conference instead.

Daina also suggested that the central panel may wish to adopt a uniform citation style, either using the Court of Appeals' style manual or the Blue Book.

7. Other business

The board discussed the possibility of having a bulletin board on the OAALJ web site on which OAALJ members could post messages regarding their experiences with the central panel hearings rules. Erika will ask Bill if the OAALJ web site is capable of hosting such a bulletin board. She also reminded the board that the messages posted on the board would be open to the public.

Lynne raised the question of whether ALJs might be covered by the Oregon statute that allows some people (including judges) to prevent their home addresses from being included in DMV records. Lynne will review the statute and report back at the next board meeting.

The next NAALJ board meeting will be held in May in Madison, Wisconsin. Charlotte will attend for one day only and her costs should be low because the NAALJ will be paying her air fare and may pay for her lodging. The annual NAALJ meeting will be held later in the year, in Albany, New York, and will last six days. Charlotte will determine which of her expenses the NAALJ will cover and what remaining costs the OAALJ may need to pay for. The board generally discussed the importance of the OAALJ president attending such meetings and supporting its connection with the NAALJ.

The board discussed the need to increase revenues. Each member pays $50 in dues, but $21 of that goes to the NAALJ. Consequently, when it has about 50 members, the OAALJ retains only about $1450 per year in dues. Each newsletter costs about $350 to publish and the board pays $50 for the conference room in which it holds its meetings, leaving only a small amount of money for other expenses. The board members agreed that OAALJ should plan to raise funds by holding a conference or training session.

Steve discussed the need to review OAALJ's goals and prioritize expenditures, and mentioned NAALJ conferences and working with other entities such as the central panel, the Oregon State Bar, the Oregon Law Institute, and Willamette University as priorities. Lynne suggested that the board may need to focus its association with one or two entities to be successful. The board members agreed that OAALJ should support the connection with the NAALJ by sending the OAALJ president to national conferences.

Lynne mentioned that the Oregon State Bar is starting a section on administrative law. She will speak to one of the people involved in getting that section started.

The next board meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. on February 28, 2000, at the Phoenix Inn in Wilsonville. There being no further business, the board meeting adjourned shortly after 8:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Erika Hadlock, Secretary