CATA Elections / CATPAC/DEAC
CATA Elections
CATPAC/DEAC
CATA Elections - Ettleson elected CATA chairman for 2011-2012.
Michael Ettleson's fellow directors of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association voted him chairman of the board for the next 12 months, when the directors met June 28.
The new board chairman succeeds Steve Foley Jr., who becomes chairman of the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. Ettleson will act as the show's co-chairman.
Ettleson, principal of Ettleson Cadillac-Buick-GMC in Hodgkins and Ettleson Hyundai in Countryside, leads a board of 17 dealers.
Other board officers include Vice Chairman Kurt Schiele (Elmhurst Toyota-Scion, Elmhurst BMW, and Jaguar Elmhurst); Treasurer John Webb (Packey Webb Ford, Downers Grove), and Secretary Colin Wickstrom (Wickstrom Ford-Lincoln and Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge, Barrington). David Sloan is association president.
Board Elections - At the Expo, results of this month's balloting for the CATA board of directors showed four incumbents and one newcomer won election to three-year terms. Ed Burke, Dan Marks, Mike McGrath Jr. and Colin Wickstrom all won second terms on the board. Bill Haggerty won for the first time.
Also, John Alfirevich of Apple Chevrolet was appointed to the board to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of director Dan Roesch.
A director may serve up to three terms.
CATPAC/DEAC Report 2010 -11 - A report from CATPAC/DEAC Committee Chairman, Mike McGrath Jr.:
As the State continues to have major budgetary struggles, our CATPAC/DEAC committee was continually on the lookout for specific tax or fee increases to the industry. On our own legislative front we maintained our defensive position in an attempt to minimize negative effects on our dealer members. We were quite successful in working with the IADA to keep our position intact.
An initiative was put forward by Attorney General Lisa Madigan, with assistance and input from the CATA, to help consumers hurt by dealers who close their stores and are unable to pay off trade in liens passed the General Assembly. In cooperation with the IADA, we were able to work with legislative leadership to negotiate an agreed bill. HB 880 was the final agreed language to the Dealer Recovery Fund Bill, which was subsequently signed into law by Governor Quinn in August.
The legislation provides for a three member board, composed of representatives from the Attorney General's Office, Illinois Secretary of State and one person representing dealers to oversee the fund. The fund will add a $500 charge to the annual license fee for each new and used motor vehicle dealer and motorcycle dealers, plus $50 for each additional place of business. It is estimated the fund will collect approximately $2 million the first year. Once it reaches a balance of $3.5 million, collection of the fee would be suspended the following year.
The Attorney General's office has indicated that 48 states have some type of fund or bonding requirement to cover these situations. The IADA is expected to administer the fund to oversee that the funds are used and collected in accord with the provisions of the proposed legislation. One of the most important provisions included in the legislation was to structure the fund outside the state treasury as an independent fund.
We continue to strengthen our relationships and believe that our current strong ties in Springfield are significantly helping move the CATA's agenda. Once the new legislative maps are printed we will work with staff to distribute the information to all of the members. Our committee will be requesting ideas from CATA members for the upcoming Veto Session and the 2012 Spring Session. We would like to have all substantive legislation drafted by the end of December.
The committee will meet with the IADA in the fall in order to coordinate our agenda with their ideas.