Switch to standard library
diff --git a/www/secretary/workbench/tasks.rb b/www/secretary/workbench/tasks.rb
index 90ab4ef..df69171 100644
--- a/www/secretary/workbench/tasks.rb
+++ b/www/secretary/workbench/tasks.rb
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@
     _.system! 'svn', *args
   end
 
+  # alternate version using library method
+  # assumes correct ordering of parameters
   def svn!(command,path,options={})
     options[:env] = env if env.password and %(checkout update commit).include?(command)
     ASF::SVN.svn_!(command,path,_,options)
diff --git a/www/secretary/workbench/views/actions/emeritus-request.json.rb b/www/secretary/workbench/views/actions/emeritus-request.json.rb
index d55a0ec..e9ffd22 100644
--- a/www/secretary/workbench/views/actions/emeritus-request.json.rb
+++ b/www/secretary/workbench/views/actions/emeritus-request.json.rb
@@ -41,15 +41,14 @@
   end
 
   complete do |dir|
-    dest = "#{dir}/emeritus-requests-received"
     # checkout empty directory
-    svn 'checkout', '--depth', 'empty',
-        ASF::SVN.svnurl('emeritus-requests-received'),
-        dest
-    message.write_svn(dest, @filename, @selected, @signature)
+    svn! 'checkout', [ASF::SVN.svnurl('emeritus-requests-received'), dir], {depth: 'empty'}
 
-    svn 'status', dest
-    svn 'commit', "#{dest}/#{emeritus_request}", '-m', summary
+    # extract the attachments and add to the workspace
+    message.write_svn(dir, @filename, @selected, @signature)
+
+    svn! 'status', dir
+    svn! 'commit', dir, {msg: summary}
   end
 end