1st meeting at Coast Guard Base winds up reorganizing MHA Parent Association
1st meeting at Coast Guard Base winds up reorganizing MHA Parent Association
BOSTON – (12/12/05) The inaugural meeting to enjoin harbormasters in a new Massachusetts Harbormasters Association (MHA) has netted a balance between North Shore and South Shore interests with the Cape & Islands Chapter. Basically, the meeting chaired by MHA president Dave Fronzuto to familiarize the entire MHA with its new by-laws has resulted in a re-shuffle of the parent organization, over-ruling the MHA’s existing By-Laws and creating a new e-board with 3 members each representing three chapters of the MHA. The meeting also voted to go outside the existing Association by-laws to to have the E-Board vote a new slate of MHA officers. The concept Western Massachusetts Harbormasters Chapter as proposed in the By-Laws seems to have been eliminated.
During the day long meeting chapter members agreed to caucus and present the MHA with a new Executive Board with term limits. Voted from the chapters to E-Board were South Shore: Paul Malone (3 yrs), Tim Rothier (2 yrs), Ken Corson (1 yr); North Shore: Rosemary Lesch (3yrs), Jim Caulkett (1 yr), Chuck Famolare (2 yrs); Cape & Islands: Stuart Smith (2 yrs), Dave Fronzuto (3 yrs), Jay Wilbur (1 yr).
Later in the day the newly formed E-Board met to select (by vote) a new MHA association Board from its group. Voted to be returned as President were incumbant David Fronzuto (Nantucket); a new Vice President James Caulkett (Gloucester) replacing Jay Wilbur; as Secretary Stuart Smith (Chatham) replacing Gary Golas; a new Treasurer Ken Corson (Hingham) replacing Greg Fraser. The new E-Board also voted to transfer $3000 from the existing MHA treasury (balance $7900) to help the fledgling South Shore Chapter get underway.
During the working session the MHA also heard from Coast Guard representatives about Maritime Domain Awareness and the new sector concept for the Coast Guard creating Sector Northern New England, Sector Southern New England and Sector South (to NY). The Association also heard from its lobbiest Anne Lynch of Lynch Associates about the state of various bills in the legislture effecting harbormasters. Lobbiest Lynch also brought up the question of how an amendment in the certification bill might include or exclude the Boston Harbormaster from certification requirements.
The objective of the Massachusetts Harbormasters Association (MHA) is to unify the Harbormasters and Assistant Harbormasters within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in one Association, which in turn are separated in regional Chapters. in Massachusetts, there are four Harbormaster Association chapters as follows, the North Shore Harbormasters Chapter, the Cape and Islands Harbormasters Chapter, and the the Southshore Chapter.
Posted on December 13th, 2005 by Administrator in North Shore
