May 2019 - 9

The American Contract
Bridge League
President
Russ Jones
Chair, Board of Directors
Jay Whipple III
Executive Director
Joe Jones
Chair, Board of Governors
Richard Popper

Board of Directors
District 1 * Leo Weniger
District 2 * Paul Janicki
District 3 * Carlos Muñoz
District 4 * Joann Glasson
District 5 * Brian Ellis
District 6 * Margot Hennings
District 7 * Mike Kovacich
District 8 * Georgia Heth
District 9 * Jay Whipple III
District 10 * Russ Jones
District 11 * A.J. Stephani
District 12 * Dennis Carman
District 13 * Suzi Subeck
District 14 * Sharon Anderson
District 15 * Warren Smith
District 16 * Paul Cuneo
District 17 * Bonnie Bagley
District 18 * Claire Jones
District 19 * Julie Smith
District 20 * Merlin Vilhauer
District 21 * Jacqueline Zayac
District 22 * David Lodge
District 23 * Kevin Lane
District 24 * Alvin Levy
District 25 * Bob Bertoni
To contact a district director,
visit acbl.org/boardofdirectors.

A Message
from the President

BY RUSS JONES

The Board of Directors meetings from
the Memphis NABC are now in the
history books. The Board met for two long,
productive days to discuss various motions,
approve the 2019 budget, and discuss the
development of a strategic plan to be put in
place for 2020. In addition, the governance
committee of the BOD arrived in Memphis
a day earlier than usual to work on the first
draft of a new governance plan, which was
discussed at the Board of Governors meeting
in Memphis.
While still very much in the development
stages, the initial draft includes two
governing bodies - the Executive Board
(now the BOD) and the Senate (now the
BOG). The Executive Board would consist of
approximately nine members and would be charged with the general overall
guidance of the League with focus on strategic planning, accounting and
Executive Director review. The Senate would be charged with the oversight of
all bridge-related business. This would include tournaments, masterpoints,
Hall of Fame, NABC scheduling, etc.
There is a lot of work to be done on this plan and a lot of questions to be
answered. We currently have a task force composed of BOD/BOG members
who will be meeting electronically over the next couple of months and faceto-face at the Las Vegas NABC. We welcome your thoughts and ideas.
One of the motions passed in Memphis was a BOG proposal to permanently
expel players convicted of collusive cheating without the possibility of
readmission. The final version of the motion that passed would apply to
"premeditated collusive cheating at an NABC or similar event." Also, anyone
who has been suspended in the past for cheating will now have a mandatory
five-year probation, if readmitted. The BOD and BOG are sending a message
to those who spoil our great game by cheating that their behavior will not be
tolerated.
Another motion that passed was a directive from the Board to ACBL
management to develop a policy to allow for the voluntary relinquishment of
NABC titles (for cases in which teammates have been convicted of collusive
cheating). The details of this policy will be announced soon.
Finally, remember that I am available on social media at ACBL Pres on
Facebook and @ACBL_Pres on Twitter.

May 2019 Bridge Bulletin

http://www.acbl.org/boardofdirectors

May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2019