Rotary Meeting Minutes July 7, 2015

New Marana Rotary President Alice Rigney had an 81% turnout of members for her inaugural meeting on July 7, 2015. A great start for the new Rotary year! She began by thanking Maeve Johnson and her husband Lyle for their annual offering, a wonderful 4^th of July extravaganza for friends and family. Alice was moved by the enthusiasm of the event, and George Rigney even wore his inspirational 4^th of July shirt to today’s meeting. Alice reminded all of us that Rotary is about committing ourselves to our community, and working on lasting change around the world. Words to live by.

 

Calendar Update: 

Tues July 20      Alice will conduct the combined board meeting, 6pm at Taco Giro on Ina Rd.

Sat Aug 1          The 2015 District 5500 Membership Seminar will be held at the Highlands at Dove Mountain. Register online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2015-district-5500-membership-seminar-tickets-17346954207. The seminar runs from 8:15am to 3pm, and the cost of $30 will be reimbursed by our Club.

Sat Aug 8          Alice will be handing out tootsie roll pops on behalf of our Club at the free concert series held at Crossroads Silverbell Park (behind the Marana Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr Library) at 7pm. Come join her to help spread the word about Marana Rotary, and enjoy the music as well.

Mon Sept 28     All Committee Chairs will meet in the evening with the District Governor Frank Presson. Details upcoming.

Tues Sept 29     Mark your calendars, the next evening social will be held at Jo Holt’s home in Oro Valley, with appetizers and Lynne Himmer’s selection of wines.

Fri Oct 9            Our annual awards dinner at the Highlands! It is now named the Service Above Self Awards Dinner. Note to members:  now is the time to start rounding up raffle prizes for this gala event.

 

Other Announcements:

Assistant District Governor Jim Lamb was our guest, and presented our Club with the International President’s Banner of the Year. Thank you, Jim!

President-Elect Mary Straus announced that member Tony Hunter suffered a concussion in a cycling accident, but is on the road to improvement. Thank goodness! Tony is part of Mary’s committee in charge of putting together the annual awards dinner, as well as our new Parliamentarian. We all wish you a speedy recovery, Tony. As a token of our affection, by the way, your name was added to several new committees in your absence. It was the least we could do.

Member Jane Howell unabashedly bragged about her brother Jack Howell’s band, Those Beatles Guys, who performed at Tucson Zoo’s Summer Safari Night on July 3. Jane apparently got her animal freak on that night -- still waiting for the video on that. The band has a Facebook page and their website is https://www.reverbnation.com/thosebeatlesguys.

 

Breaking News:  This is a new segment in the review of our weekly meetings, offering a brief description of an unusual, particularly surprising, or statistically improbable occurrence. Today’s breaking news:  member and astrophysicist Peter Mack returned from a galaxy far, far away. Welcome back, Peter. The curvature of the space-time continuum will never slow you down! HaHaa!

 

Guest Speaker: Attorney, advocate, and former 3-term state legislator Jennifer Burns was introduced by new member Clint Kuntz, and gave our Club an extensive rundown of last session’s bills, particularly those that impacted businesses (she also works with the Marana Chamber of Commerce). A wide-ranging array of bills addressed:

            Indexing of state income tax brackets for inflation

            Auditing of business inspections, allowing businesses to fix errors in the reports

            Expanding business tax credits (opposed by the Chamber, did not pass)

            Renewal of the 4 cent Central AZ Project tax

            Requiring medical doctors to cross-check drug prescriptions for duplicates

            Allowing guns in public places (did not pass)

            Forbidding cities from banning plastic bags

            Support for microbreweries

In response to a question from member Don Jorgensen about a possible special session, Jennifer brought up the current court case on Medicaid expansion, questioning whether the expansion is a tax increase, which can only be passed by a supermajority. Jennifer posed the question that, if a supermajority vote is required to grant AHCCS the authority to raise taxes for Medicaid, then wouldn’t it also be a requirement for other state agencies, such as Parks and Recreation, to raise fees? A question for deep thought – thank you, Jennifer!