Issue:
Dear Membership,
First, I want to report the results of the two resolutions put to the regular membership by the Board. Of our 212 members, 156 cast votes, or 73%.
The first resolution, to appoint Randy Schmidt as the Kanji auditor after the tragic passing of Anthony Rowley, was approved overwhelmingly: 142 supported his appointment and 14 abstained, with no one opposing. Randy will now serve as Kanji for the remainder of Anthony’s original term, which ends next year. With his long experience at the Club, including as a director, Randy will be well qualified to perform the Kanji's role of monitoring the Board.
I also want to thank the members for their strong support of the second resolution, which was a raft of changes to broaden membership categories and add new pricing plans aimed at increasing membership. This resolution passed with 131 members approving, nine opposed and 16 abstentions. With the passage of this resolution, one of the most sweeping rewrites of membership rules in recent years, the Board will take steps to restore membership numbers that dropped due to the Club's relocation, the Covid pandemic and the structural changes in the news media industry. Now the actual work begins.
The Club continues its work to offer press conferences that are impactful and informative to our members. Over the last month, we have had a wide range of speakers, from a former rear admiral of the Maritime Self-Defense Force to an economist, a political analyst and a bereaved father whose son took his own life. We also had a standing-room-only press event with the boy idol band JO1, which was kicking off its America tour. In November, we will host Sadaharu Oh, the home run king of Japanese baseball, and Genta Koja, the newly elected governor of Okinawa.
I want to end by thanking you for your patience and support during the time when I have had to run the Club in the absence of our president. I am happy to report that Dan Sloan should be back on his feet soon and will resume his duties. We are all hoping for his speedy recovery.
Martin Fackler
First vice-president
