Meeting details

Date: July 14, 2010

Location: Secretary of State’s Office, Blue Spruce Conference Room, 1700 Broadway, Denver, Colorado

Members Present: Bishop Dan Gincig, Beau Williams, Austin Gomes, Tom Bednark, Jeanne McEvoy, John Smith

Members Absent: Nick Pizzuti

Secretary of State Officials Present: William Hobbs, Rudy Johnson, Patrick Ryan, Shannon Bee

Meeting was called to order at 10:00 A.M.

A motion was made by John Smith to approve the May 13, 2010 meeting recording as presented. The motion was seconded and approved by unanimous vote of the Board.

Secretary of State report

A report was made by Mr. Johnson on the financials distributed to the Board. Chairman Gincig commented that the report showed the decline in bingo/raffles overall has been less than in past years. Also, it appeared from the report that there has been an increase in the profit for the charities. Ms. McEvoy thought that the Board needed to look at its long term goals to assist the charities. One of the major issues she saw was getting volunteers to assist, and one of the goals the Board should look at is to come up with ideas to help with this, such as finding a way to allow for compensation to the volunteers. Chairman Gincig pointed out that in the past it had been discussed, but it would take a Constitutional change. He asked if the Secretary of State’s office could possibly look at ways to make changes to the Rules and/or Statute that would make it allowable, such as allowing the reimbursement of expenses to volunteers.

Chairman Gincig asked if the Secretary of State could comment on the fee changes that took place for the upgrade in the Bingo/Raffles system. Mr. Johnson stated the internal system is basically completed, but the external phase has yet to be completed and implemented. Mr. Hobbs commented that the IT division has been working at a deficit in help since the hiring freeze, and that the office has just recently been trying to rectify this problem.

Discussion of 24 number system and rule changes

Mr. Johnson commented that the system has not been approved for use in the state, the only approval has been for limited testing. Chairman Gincig stated Mike Shea had allowed in the previous meeting for testing to continue until such time as the system was approved. Mr. Johnson said our office would research this issue further. Mr. Amen stated that he felt the game was already legal in the State as it stood. Mr. Hobbs felt that not everyone appeared to agree on whether the system was allowable and that the Secretary of State’s office had some question as to whether the device qualified for use under the current laws.

Chairman Gincig said the system was looked at as a potential game to help the charities make money and to increase profit to the charities without needing more than one or two volunteers to run the game. Mr. Hobbs said he would like to see some of the economics of the system before coming to a conclusion. As he understood, currently the system had been run without any cost to the licensees in the test phase.

Ms. McEvoy asked how long it would take to implement changes to the rules concerning the new 24 number systems? Mr. Hobbs stated a Rule change would take at least three months. He also pointed out that the Secretary of State’s office still has some question as to if statute changes will be needed, is this the right time to do these changes, and does it benefit the non-profits? Our office will need to answer these questions before going forward with changes to the Rules. Ms. McEvoy also questioned whether the test period had been long enough or diverse enough to determine if the technology would be profitable to the groups.

Chairman Gincig asked if the groups currently running the 24 number systems could continue? Mr. Hobbs stated that he was not comfortable to allow the testing to go on continually until our office has reviewed the previous Board meeting tapes to see if our office authorized the continuation of the tests. He also wanted to be able to consult with the Attorney General’s Office to see if the game was allowed under the current statutes. Mr. Hobbs stated the Secretary of State’s office going forward would try to get a quick decision on the legality of the game. If it is determined to be legal, further testing may be authorized to determine if it is profitable for the groups.

A motion was made by Mr. Williams to create a letter of appreciation from the Board to Mike Shea for his service. The motion was seconded by Ms. McEvoy and approved by unanimous vote of the Board.

Ms. McEvoy moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Gomes and approved by the Board.

Closing

Meeting adjourned at 11:40 A.M.

The next meeting of the Board will be September 8, 2010 at 10:00 at Secretary of State’s Office, Aspen Conference Room, 1700 Broadway, Denver, Colorado.