Minutes of the April 10, 2008 Meeting

Committee Chairman, Dean Lawrence opened the meeting at 9:36 a.m. at the Louisiana State Police Building, Classroom B in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The Chairman asked for a motion to have a Parliamentary Authority to begin the meeting.  Upon motion duly made by Charlotte Fabre, seconded by Willie Stevens and unanimously approved it was: 

RESOLVED, that a Parliamentary Authority was granted to begin the meeting.

  MEETING OPENING

The Chairman asked Charlotte Fabre to open the meeting with a prayer and thanked everyone for attending the meeting.  Chairman Dean Lawrence asked that everyone introduce themselves.   

 Committee member Ben Pressburg stated that Col. James Leblanc intended to speak with the Committee today; however, due to the death of his father, he was unable to attend.  Mr. Pressburg conveyed that Col. Leblanc has expressed to him that this Committee is a very important and viable Committee and that Col. Leblanc would express his thoughts and feelings regarding this Committee, at an upcoming meeting he would be able to attend.    

REPORTS

MINUTES

The Chairman noted the first item of business was the review of the Minutes of the Meeting held on March 8, 2008.  Warren Broussard stated on Page 2 under the Legislative Bill section, Rep. Smiley is not “Head” of the Appropriations Committee and should be changed to a “Member” of the Appropriations Committee.  Upon motion duly made by Gordon Perry, seconded by Willie Stevens, and unanimously approved, it was:

                RESOLVED, that the Minutes of the Meeting held on March 8, 2008 are hereby approved with a correction on Page 2, under the Legislative Bill, Rep. Smiley is a member of the Appropriations Committee.    

PUBLIC RELATIONS REPORT

Assistant Chairman, Bryan Niebuhr thanked Debra Todd for the work she has done in advertising to help kick off “Motorcycle Awareness” for the month of May. In Joe Spearman’s absence, Debra Todd mentioned that she is working with outside providers to promote advertising for Motorcycle Awareness for the month of May.  The focus will be on DUI/Motorcycle Riders in the Lafayette and the New Orleans area (Jefferson, Orleans, Terrebonne, and one other Parish).  Most of the advertising will be billboards.  Debra’s outside contacts/resources will provide television and radio advertising.  The Committee discussed possible funding from a government or state level that could be used for advertising to promote this Committee and Motorcycle Awareness Month in May.     

WEB MASTER REPORT

Skip Haley mentioned minutes are on the website for January, February and March 2008.Mr. Haley also asked everyone to check their personal information under the “roster” section to make sure the information is correct. 

 Chairman Lawrence mentioned that there will be a Website Committee consisting of Bryan Niebuhr, Jannie Markey, and himself, which will review links to be added to the website.  If anyone has any website links that would be of interest, please forward them to one of the Committee members for review. 

OLD BUSINESS

BY-LAWS

The Chairman thanked Bryan Niebuhr for the work he has done on the By-Laws.  Mr. Niebuhr asked the Committee for their review and input of the By-Laws.  After review of the Committee, it was suggested that on Page 1 under the Louisiana Motorcyclist Safety and Awareness Committee Code of Ethics, item number 2, the word “origination” should be changed to “organization”.  Upon motion duly made by Bryan Niebuhr, seconded by Gordon Perry, and unanimously approved, it was:

                RESOLVED, effective today, April 10, 2008 the By-Laws are approved with the one word change on Page 1 under the Louisiana Motorcyclist Safety and Awareness Committee Code of Ethics, item number 2, the word “origination” should be changed to “organization”. 

LEGISLATIVE BILL

Warren Broussard and Larry Ourso mentioned to the Committee they had met with Rep. Smiley and that the original two drafted Bills, #9 and #83, have been dismissed, and a new Bill# 869 was drafted and then died.  Mr. Ourso mentioned that Rep. Smiley would draft another new bill, but Mr. Broussard and Mr. Ourso did not receive specific information from Rep. Smiley regarding this new bill, other than the new bill will have two parts:  1. Helmet use would be optional; 2. The education program under Mr. Ourso could be moved to another organizational entity.

AWARENESS RALLY 08

Mr. Broussard mentioned that he met with Col. Leblanc to discuss the logistics of the Rally.    Mr. Broussard and the Committee further discussed the details of the Rally.  The rally will be at the State Capital, at 12:00 noon, on April 27^th.  

SAFETY SUMMIT

The Chairman met with Col. Leblanc regarding the Safety Summit.  The Committee will need to set a budget and work on the details.  The Committee discussed items that needed to be addressed regarding hotel, vendors, door prizes, and invitee attendance.  The attendance will be set at 400 for this year’s Rally.  The Safety Summit will be held on Saturday, August 2^nd.  The Chairman put together a committee to work on the project. 

NEW BUSINESS

APPOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE

The Chairman appointed Warren Broussard, Ed Patterson, Willie Stevens, Bryan Niebuhr and himself to the Committee.  The Committee’s purpose is to stay abreast of any items in the pipeline and any bills drafted that the Committee needs to be aware of regarding motorcyclists’ safety and awareness, in the Legislative session. 

APPOINT SAFETY SUMMIT COMMITTEE

The Chairman appointed Debra Todd, Joe Spearman, Warren Broussard, Charlotte Fabre, Mike Jastram, Jannie Markey, and himself to the Committee. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday, April 27, 2008 – Awareness Rally
Saturday, August 2, 2008 – Safety Summit

OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Ourso mentioned that he has not received a Proclamation from the Governor’s office declaring the month of May as “Motorcycle Awareness Month”. 

Other discussions: correct the word motorcyclist to motorcyclists’ in the logo and on the website.

The next meeting is scheduled for May 15^th – with the specific classroom to be determined at a later date.

Members present:  Warren Broussard, Charlotte Fabre, Skip Haley, Mike Jastram, Dean Lawrence, Jannie Markey, Terrell Moss, Bryan Niebuhr, Larry Ourso, Edward Patterson, Gordon Perry, Ben Pressburg, Ed Richards, Chad Romero, Poet Sisco, Joe Spearman, Willie Stevens, Theresa Sullivan and Deborah Todd.     

Associate Members:  David Evans, Tommy King.
Guests:  Jim Chapman.

            There being no further business, upon joint motion duly made by Gordon Perry, seconded by Willie Stevens and unanimously approved, the Meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:38 a.m.