Working Group: Questions for the SPAR Board

[JaxByDefault]

This thread for members of the community to share questions for the SPAR Board Question & Answer Session on December 4th at 7PM at the SPAR building.

I encourage members to post, critique, and refine questions. The goal is to ask direct and detailed questions that will get the answers most sought by SPAR members and Springfield residents.  Let's eschew rumor and speculation for good fact-finding.

Numbering posted questions sequentially through all posts will aid member discussion.

Civil tone is mandatory.

Remember that SPAR has set a deadline for written questions: please submit them in writing to sparoffice@sparcouncil.org before close of business on Monday December 1st. FinnegansWake will be collecting questions posted on this thread and submitting them to the SPAR board by the deadline.

[strider]

OK, so - let me begin with:

1) Why has a group of elected and appointed board members, mostly the executive and Governance committee, held a hostile take over of SPAR Council?

2) Why did a non-profit that is supposed to represent this entire community force a particular board member, the only one that seems to 1) Want to follow the by-laws, 2) listen to the the entire community and 3) bring accurate and public information to that community, off of the board?  What gives them, in particular, Jack Meeks, the right to do that?

[JaxByDefault]

3) If the changes in the leadership structure were suggested by LISC, what prevented informing the membership of LISC's recommendations, the needed changes, and then calling a special election or having a membership meeting to reorganize the board?

4)What is SPAR doing to improve their relationships with existing business owners in the area?

5) How exactly will the LISC grants be used? Will any of the money go to existing business owners to fix or paint their properties? Will any be used as start up grants for new businesses? Please explain how the LISC funds will be used to promote the opening of 10 new businesses as is stated in the goals for next year.

6) The LISC grant is a matching fund. How much does SPAR currently need to raise, and by what deadline, to obtain the full grant from LISC?

7) Bus Rapid Transit is coming to Boulevard. What is SPAR's position on this proposition by JTA?

8 ) What is SPAR's position on public transit in Jacksonville? Does SPAR currently endorse a transit plan (JTS's BRT, the MetroJacksonville Commuter Rail Plan, etc.)?

[jbm32206]

excellent questions

[sheclown]

[9]* What is SPAR's plan to ensure racial and socio-economic prejudice will not become prevalent during the Commerical Corridor's Revitalization?

*Moderator added numbering in[]; no post content changed.

[JaxByDefault]

Question 9 gets to a key problem with the perceived outlook of SPAR. I hope they answer it.

[jbm32206]

10. Why did the board not notify the community of positions that need to be filled?
11. Why were there no elections?
12. Why is the governance committee made up of only board members?
13. When and how will those open positions be made public, and how would the governance committee decide who meets the requirements of said open position?
14. What positions have expired and when?

[sheclown]

15.  Why is SPAR in such financial trouble? 

[02roadking]

 #16   Has SPAR had a hand in saving any historic structures from demolition in the last 5 years? If yes,
             where and how was it accomplished?
   

[sheclown]

17.) What is SPAR's plan to save the remaining historic structures from demolition and neglect?

[strider]

18) What is SPAR Council's plan to insure future transparency in it's own decision making process as well as it’s dealing with JSO, the developers and the city?

19)  Are the minutes to every board meeting, the voting details and even the “minutes” from the special “e-mail” votes going to be readily made public?

[deportman]

20)   It was stated somewhere that LISC moneys will match any donations provide for some sort of development, if so who will audit the transactions, is there an application process where a record will be kept for everyone to see who received or who was denied and why.

[jbm32206]

21. Will the neighborhood have input as to what and where that money will be utilized?

[sheclown]

20)   It was stated somewhere that LISC moneys will match any donations provide for some sort of development, if so who will audit the transactions, is there an application process where a record will be kept for everyone to see who received or who was denied and why.

good question, Deportman.

[FinnegansWake]

Question 9 gets to a key problem with the perceived outlook of SPAR. I hope they answer it.

Racial prejudice? Where did that one come from? Are you seriously implying that the members of SPAR Council are racially prejudiced?

Phil