Unofficial SPAR board meeting minutes 12/8

[sheclown]

Meeting Started at 7:00 and ended at 8:00 pm

In Attendance were:  Louise DeSpain, Claude Moulton, Gerry Troy, Judy Connare, Thomas Love, Kharis Quaintance, Barbara Sweet.  On the phone from New Jersey was Derek Hudson.

Governance Committee has determined that it has 10 directors and needs 5 more.  They intend to fill three by appointment and 2 by election. 

The three appointees will be 1.) an educator 2.) a treasurer 3.) a marketing person.  Announced and voted on was the educator position.  Linda Fife Shannon, of FCCJ will be one of the appointees.  No mention was made about particulars of the other two.

The elected positions will be filled by election on January 15th.  By Monday Jan 5th, all names for nominees must be submitted to the governance committee.  On Monday January 12th board meeting, the governance committee will give a report to the board and the board will vote on nominations.  There will be a general election on January 15th.

There will be an open house on December 16th regarding the Revitalization Meeting.

Louise is working on a new hand out -- a policy and procedure handbook to be voted on for adoption at the next meeting.

BRT buses for Boulevard:  an email was sent by Karla requesting the board to oppose this.  There was discussion with Derek suggesting the board present a preference for light rail.  Board members were encouraged to research the BRT issues. 

Other talk about Santa and light pole decorating.

The drive by shooting was done by the man who drives the loud purple car.  Two men were fighting over a woman. 

The pharmacy was done by professionals.  It took only 1 minute and though it was filmed, it happened way too quick.  No fingerprints.  It is thought that this was not done by locals.

Judy Connare brought up drinking at the labor pool on 8th Street.  It was suggested that neighbors keep a closer watch for foot traffic because less people are able to find work and this can lead to criminal behavior.

Louise DeSpain discussed the CCTP (Commercial Tax Credit Contributors) and how it works for businesses who contribute.  They can receive up to 50% of their donations back if they collect sales tax or pay corp income tax.  They can receive up to 100% of their donations if they make in kind donations.

SPAR has three projects approved by the state:

Hogan's creek
Commercial Corridor
Community Initiatives

This is it for my unofficial minutes.

[zoo]

Louise DeSpain discussed the CCTP (Commercial Tax Credit Contributors) and how it works for businesses who contribute.  They can receive up to 50% of their donations back if they collect sales tax or pay corp income tax.  They can receive up to 100% of their donations if they make in kind donations.

SPAR has three projects approved by the state:

Hogan's creek
Commercial Corridor
Community Initiatives

Thanks for the minutes, sheclown. Two minor corrections on the CCTP. In-kind donations also receive a 50% credit from the state. However, b/c retail goods can be submitted at retail value, the actual cost of the donation to the donator can end up being $0 (so a hypothetical would be, Benjamin Moore paint can cost is $5, but normal retail value of the paint can is $28. Benjamin Moore could receive a credit of up to $14, depending on program subscription levels, so they are still making a profit on their donation).

Also the projects are Hogan's Creek Parks Revitalization, Commercial Corridor Revitalization and Residential Security & Maintenance.

Maybe you should run and try to be the new secretary?!

[Dark Knight]

Hey Sheclown thats the best suggestion I have heard in a long time,,you did an excellant job with the minutes.

[sheclown]

Does the Governance Board have to hold "open" meetings?  Or can they meet in private?  I'd like to attend the next Governance Board meeting especially with the election coming up, but they didn't announce the date or time at the board meeting last night.

Anybody know about this?

[AlexS]

Does the Governance Board have to hold "open" meetings?  Or can they meet in private?  I'd like to attend the next Governance Board meeting especially with the election coming up, but they didn't announce the date or time at the board meeting last night.

Anybody know about this?

From how I interpret the bylaws they are private. The minutes are only available to the board.

Article 11 Section 5. DUTIES OF STANDING COMMITTEES. The duties of the Executive and
Governance Committees and all other standing committees are outlined in the Policies and
Procedures Handbook.
All committees shall record minutes of their meetings and make them available to the Board.

[sheclown]

well...there you have it.

[FinnegansWake]

Yes, thanks for the meeting minutes. I was too beat to make it and had homework duty with the Crumbsnatcher..

I would like to suggest (and will by email) that immediately after the Board meeting naming the nominees, those candidates post something on the forums as to their quals, ideas, and why they want to serve. This is similar to what happened in the past and it was good to know more about the nominees ahead of time. Versus last minute information upload at the General Election.

Phil

[nvrenuf]

Regarding the open positions are they saying that they have reviewed the matrix and the skillsets of the existing board and determined these 3 skills are specifically needed and will be appointed and the other 2 elected positions do not have a specific skillset or place to fill in the matrix? Just trying to figure out who should apply for the 2 elected positions.

[downtownparks]

What about Claude and Barbara. Are they just serving in perpetuity, or are they going to be reappointed? In that case, it would be 5 appointments, and 2 elections, which in my belief is not a good step.

[AlexS]

Sheclown, thanks for the minutes. Wouldn't that be nice if they were always available so quickly for those who missed the meeting. ;-)

And how would that work with the up to 4 positions available for appointment of special skills. Currently there are Louise, Barbara, Lisa, Gerry and Jack already appointed. (Re)appointing Claude and Barbara, and appointing 3 new members would make for a total of 9 appointments.

Article 7 Section 3. NUMBER OF DIRECTORS. The Board shall have between 10 and 15 Directors.
Up to four positions will be available to allow the Board to appoint members who have specific
skills useful to the community or who may not have been available at the time of the election.
At least 2/3 of the Board members must be residents of Springfield Historic District.

[nvrenuf]

I count 10 appointments if that is what they do. Maybe they meant 4 appointed positions each election period. Isn't it just a matter of interpretation? Okay, I'll crawl back into my hole now.

[strider]

As far as I can tell from the various posts, this is the board make up as of today:

Elected:
Jay Fischer - 2005 - term up Oct, 2008
Judy Connare - 2007
Kharis Quaintance - 2007
Thomas Love - 2006

Appointed:
Claude Moulton - 2005 - term up Oct, 2008
Louise Despain - permanent?
Barbara Sweet - 2005 - Term up Oct. 2008
Lisa Simon - 2007
Gerry Troy - 2007
Jack Meeks - 2008 - not legally done per the by-laws.
Linda Shannon - 2008
Derek hudson - Elected, by 2nd term was appointed 2007

So, the board is now split 4 to 8 between appointments and elected members.  After the “election” in January, the board may very well be 3 elected and 12 appointed as the easiest way for them to “fix” the issue with Jay's, Claude’s and Barbara’s term being up and not being addressed by the Governance Committee as of yet is to just re-appointment them as the June 2008 by-laws allow.

Then, add it the fact that as I read the minutes and think about it, does it not indicate that the board is going to vote on all the nominations before the membership gets to?  Do they only mean the two remaining appointments or all of the nominations? If it all of the nominations, then the we must realize that the Governance Board and the Board itself are actually controlling the elections, not the membership.

Does no one else see the potential problem with a CDC’s (their description) board that says it represents the entire community being a majority of appointed members that were basically appointed by an executive committee that already has shown it doesn’t like to follow it’s own bylaws?

Note: edited to reflect corrections by AlexS.

[AlexS]

I think you forgot:

Elected:
Jay Fischer - 2005 - term up Oct, 2008

Also maybe we need a third category.

Elected and reappointed by the board:
Derek Hudson - 2007 (2nd term)

[strider]

I corrected this post,

Thanks, Joe

[sheclown]

Regarding the open positions are they saying that they have reviewed the matrix and the skillsets of the existing board and determined these 3 skills are specifically needed and will be appointed and the other 2 elected positions do not have a specific skillset or place to fill in the matrix? Just trying to figure out who should apply for the 2 elected positions.

The matrix, was only used to describe the appointed board members.  I did not hear anything about the matrix as it was applied to the elected in terms of specific skills.