Governing Council Opening session - by Dirk Vanderlaan

We were welcomed to the meeting and the key-note speaker was Ashley Wagner.  After some procedural items, our own Lisa Earle was tasked to be the chairperson of the minutes committee.

Reports from committee members, treasurer report and foundation reports were received, and new clubs were approved to become full members.

A number of bylaw changes were voted on:

• USFS does not discrimate based on sexual orientation in addition to race, color, age, gender, religion or national origin
• Moved parent committee from Athelete services to Membership services
• Vacancies in the Board of Directors will be filled by majority vote by the directors
• The Presidents term was increased from one year to two years, with no more than two consecutive terms.
• All delegates, board members and committee members etc must be at least 18 years old
• Honorary membership in USFS for Gold medal winners at the Olympics or World Championship and exempt from paying membership dues was sent back to committee to clarify a number of issues raised

Business was suspended for the rest of the day as the hour was getting late, and there was a "meet the candidate" forum that was due to start.  Business to resume tomorrow morning.  Altogether, the above took about 3 hours.