Faced with the possibility of a possible lawsuit, our club has decided to retain the firm of Trutanich & Michel. Chuck Michel is the chief attorney for the NRA as well as the California Rifle and Pistol Association. We believe that this firm and Chuck will be a very strong ally with us in the event that the law suit happens. Of course, it is my hope that the threat of a suit goes away but better safe and ready than sorry.

To see some of the many clients that he has please click on this link Trutanich & Michel

His firm will also be working with the board in revising our current corporate charter and bylaws to give all members and the club as much protection as possible in the event of law suits. During this revision, I have proposed to our board that we investigate and look into other changes that will benefit the club.

I have personally proposed 2 changes.

1. That the Membership Chair, a very important position within the club, be given voting privileges and that the delegate to the San Diego Wildlife Federation have the voting privileges removed. By adding one and subtracting one, we keep the same voting numbers.

2. That formal notification to members on all matters relating to the club be allowed to occur through E-Mail or through US Mail using the preference that each member has chosen. Of course, once the board has agreed on what they feel is important in changes and we have the suggestions from legal counsel, the membership will be notified and a vote taken at a General Meeting.

One of our members, Tom Steers was on hand and made some very good suggestions on some events that the club could run to raise some money, including a swap meet or auction at the club. This would be a great way to unload some stuff in your garage that you don't want and a portion of the proceeds would go to the club.

The board has also decided to go to a new trash vendor to reduce our expenses by over $2000.00 per year. This change should go into effect by September of this year.

We are also investigation an additional insurance policy that will protect the Directors and Officers of the club in the event of a lawsuit. This additional policy would protect them in addition to our current policy. Our current insurance policy protects all members of the club working in any capacity with up to $1,000,000.00 in general liability insurance. This includes any member acting as an RSO or Shootmaster for any of our events.

I am in current contact with a company located in Northern California to mine our lead shot at our range. With the increase in our attendance at our sporting clays shoots and the trap league, he estimated that we have 5-10 truckloads full of lead. Removing the lead keeps us up with our lead remediation program for the club and will also give us an added benefit of getting bags of lead shot in exchange for the lead that is mined. The owner of the company will be visiting us in the next couple of weeks to take a look at our layout and arrange for the time for his equipment to come down and setup. During the time of the actual work, the club will be temporarily closed. I will have more information out to our members as I get it.

There is a great need for some of our members to help our in sporting clays. I appreciate all of you who show up at every one of these events to help with setup, breakdown and pulling. I need 2-3 members to volunteer to actually run the event. Our 2 sporting clays chairs, Dave Nilson and Robert Freed will be available to help you with suggestions and answers to any help you might need, but they have been setting up the events all year long and it's time to give them a little rest. PLEASE, CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING, to run a shoot. Believe me, with the machines on the hill, setup and breakdown is simple and management of the event is just ensuring that everything flows smoothly.

As most of you know I have been doing all of the cooking for the work parties for the majority of the year and a big thank you goes out to Cheryl Kyne and Charlotte Jungers for the work that they have performed getting the lunch setup and served. If you would like to help out or even cook for a work party, please give me a call. I will be more than happy to accept the help. Have a safe August and I'll see you at the next meeting or at the club.