Mid-Florida Officials Association
SUBJECT: Executive Board Meeting of February 25, 2008
The meeting was called to order by the President, Bud Holt, at 7:18 PM.
Attending: Bud Holt, Al Summers, Jeff Pole, Ralph Messer, Paul Gery, Ted Bedford, Wade Clayton, Jeff D’Amelio, Reid Sergent, Dan Cannon, Carlton Dill, James Law, and Terry Lee
Not Attending: Richard Sullivan and Saul Speights
Larry Mayhew addressed the board on a variety of issues. Larry stated that the clinic/meeting dates are not being published as required by the constitution. Dates are to be presented to the board for approval prior to the annual business meeting and then presented at that meeting. Ted Bedford, who serves as the chairman of the Education and training committee stated that it is sometimes difficult to do because the FHSAA does not finalize their calendar for the coming year until after the business meeting.
Another item covered was the booking policy, i.e., section 1, 2, and 3. Larry stated that all members are not in compliance with section 1, which was confirmed by Ralph Messer that some members are being booked before they are registered with the MFOA. This occurs in all four sports. Wade confirmed that mistakes were made but hopefully have been corrected. Since the Booking Commissioner was not present, there was no response for baseball/softball.
In section 2, Carl Dill stated that he is being sent the bookings prior to them being posted and if he has any concerns they are addressed at that time. He also stated that Directors have input as to who should and should not be booked.
Larry covered the booking of tournament games and of fees not as prescribed by FHSAA, specifically no travel fees. Wade responded that the schools are not bound by the regular season requirements and that if we do not want to book the tournament, they can always get a replacement.
Larry brought up the fact that the relative rating is not being used as prescribed for varsity games. Wade explained that it was being used as a guide long with geographical areas. It was pointed out that this language pertains to Sub-varsity contests only. Other members felt that it was ok to book as Wade explained, but not to the exclusion of senior officials on nights when there are only a few games. It was pointed out that the policy also states that (section 10) eligible members in basketball, baseball and softball shall not be booked 3 times in a week for varsity contests before all eligible members are booked once.
Larry also discussed the online testing procedure used by the FHSAA and is concerned that there is cheating or combined efforts by officials throughout the state when taking the test. Larry proposed that the MFOA petition the FHSAA to allow the membership of the MFOA to take the exam at one or two sites and that the MFOA would pay the proctors, if necessary.
A letter from Kevin Townsend was read to the board by the secretary regarding the unfair treatment he receiving from the baseball/softball booking commissioner. The letter stated that other first year officials are being booked more often than he is being booked. It was pointed out by Paul Gery that Kevin has not attended all clinics and that he did not stay for the entire all-day clinic. This will cause him to lose points for that event. No action was taken by the board on this matter, but it was referred to Paul Gery, the baseball director to discuss the matter with Kevin.
While discussing the booking of baseball/softball, it was pointed out that Mr. Sullivan is booking officials who have not registered with the MFOA and told them that they can pay later after working their first game. Jeff Pole stated that this is not policy and would set a bad precedent. There was other discussion pertaining to the booking commissioner by Reid Sergent that, not only was the commissioner not following MFOA booking guidelines he was not attending board meetings as prescribed in the constitution. It was explained that he was working a baseball game on this date, but that he had missed more that the allotted number by constitution. A motion was made by Sergent that Sullivan be removed from his position as prescribed by the constitution, Article V, Officers, section 3.
Second by Ralph Messer. The motion failed with only Messer and Sergent voting for the motion.
At this point, the meeting had to be adjourned because the restaurant where the meeting was held had
to close for the evening. Since all business had not been covered, a board meeting was scheduled for
Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 5:00 PM. The meeting will be held at the Ocala Star Banner office.