Monday June 6, 2005, 7pm, EWEB Community Room
PRESENT: Diane Albino, Katie Cousins, Lara Howe, Brad Lerch, Jack Makarchek, Marlene Monette, Deane Morrow (alternate), Joseph Newton (alternate), Greg Rikhoff, and Lawrence Taylor. Anna Scott and Bear Wilner-Nugent both arrived during Announcements.
Secretaryís Note: During Agenda
Review, Greg moved and Brad seconded to move ìSet September Board Meeting Dateî
from new business to old business; and Lara moved and Marlene seconded to move
ìKRVM Broadcast From Fairî from new business to old business. Both motions
passed: 10 in favor and 0 opposed. Joseph and Deane voted for Bear and Anna who
had not yet arrived.
Brad said thereís a new baby in the Family. A healthy happy redhead, Lincoln Frederick OíBrien, was born on June 2 to Gabe and Mariah of Pre-Fair Kitchen and Pre-Post Security. norma added that Nora Bee was born May 27 to Amy and Jarod of Peach Pit Crew.
Lara said Julie Daniels of BRING Recycling reported that they met their goal of $250,000 in matching funds and thanked the Fair for supporting their cause.
Joseph said the Oregon Bioneers Conference will meet in Eugene October 14-16.
Palmer said anyone interested in being a dispatcher for the Department of Public Works for Black Rock City aka Burning Man should see him, adding, ì Itís a 3-5 week commitment and I will be your manager.î
Grumpy said he and others will be doing some research at this yearís Fair by ìlooking over peopleís shouldersî to see how data is collected and used. This is part of the computerization project to understand how computers can help people do their jobs for the Fair. He hoped to have the project operating for this yearís Fair, but it will be next year instead.
Leslie said New Zone Gallery moved to 975 Oak Street Alley.
Bear said camp hosts who have not attended a training meeting in the past two years should attend one of the trainings to be held at Main Stage Meadow from 10am-noon on Saturday June 25, Sunday July 3, and Thursday July 7 or from 11am-1pm on Wednesday July 6.
Lara said those interested in being Waste Warriors
should attend one of the meetings to be held on Thursday July 7 at 7pm,
Friday July 8 at noon, or Saturday July 9 at noon. Meetings will be at the
Recycling Dock. Donate your time for a 2-hour shift, helping people learn how
to correctly sort their trash, and get a cool t-shirt for your time. She
thanked Elizabeth Mattson for designing the celtic knot on the back of the
t-shirt and Springfield Screen Printing for doing such a wonderful job printing
the shirts. She also thanked the food vendors and the Food Committee for their
whole-hearted support of the cutlery project, and especially thanked Sue Kesey
for distributing the cutlery from her warehouse and for storing it there after
the Fair. Food for Lane County will be washing the utensils in exchange for a
donation to their program. About 75% of the food vendors are participating in
the project even though it is not mandatory to do so this year. She encouraged
everyone to thank the participating booths for using durable cutlery and to be
sure to return the utensils to the correct buckets at the recycling kiosks.
Joseph moved and Anna seconded that the minutes of the May 2 Board meeting be approved. The motion passed: 9 in favor and 1 abstention (Bear).
MEMBER INPUT
Hosanna Broderick
said there is ìa hole in the craft jurying process and I fell through that hole
with a pretty big thump.î She said she made repeated requests to obtain
information but couldnít get anyone to answer her queries. She distributed a
letter to the Board detailing her struggle. She made 35 phone calls and sent
messages by both e-mail and snail mail but it took weeks for her to obtain the
information she needed. Her original letter showing approved crafter status led
her to believe she had a good chance of receiving a one-year only booth so she
made plans accordingly. When she was finally able to get answers to her
questions she discovered she had not made the top ten and was frustrated that
the weeks she wasted trying to get information could have been better spent
finding a booth share situation.
Dena Neeman (Pony Rides) said she wanted ìto set the record straight on what happened with the Pony Rides.î She detailed her 20-year history with the Fair, starting with the two sites she originally considered and why she chose the site where she was situated for so long. She talked about a movement 10 years ago to get rid of the Pony Rides and revert to green space. She said she was contacted by Kirk Schultz of Construction Crew in Spring 2004 and told the Pony Rides needed to move because of the relocation of Strawberry Lane due to flooding. She decided she couldnít participate in the 2004 Fair because the new area wouldnít be suitable and there wasnít enough time to do what was needed. She has several criteria she uses for assessing the suitability of a site including workable corrals for the horses and crew, safety issues, and enough exposure to insure economic viability. She felt the proposed Chela Mela location would suffer from the noise of nearby stages. She is upset by the process and lack of clear communication. She said this has not been an open process. She attended a path planning meeting expecting her issue to be discussed, but it wasnít. She wants to know why she canít be in the green space around her old area. She wants to know why the Rabbit Hole canít be moved. She was told the History Booth needed room to expand but she didnít believe that was true. She said, ìItís important how you say things, but itís also important what you say. Things should be true and based on facts. What I want to know is: Is there a plan for development? Does the Board have control?î (Note: After 20 minutes, Marlene encouraged Dena to come to closure.) Dena continued by saying she probably wouldnít be at the old Dog Pound location and that she probably wouldnít be at the Fair at all. She doesnít want to be in the hot sun or be facing cars. She said ìthe experience has been killed for the moment. What are my options? Call me, Iíll come back when you have space for me. Thatís your decision, not mine.î
Jon Pincus said heís been following the Pony Rides issue since the mid-1990ís. He distributed a written proposal to the Board and unfurled a large map of the site and showed where Denaís rides used to be. He said that Dena was not treated properly both last year and this year because she was not included in the process. He said this shouldnít be an operations issue but should be a Board decision. He suggested letting Dena operate her rides behind the Rabbit Hole location for this year only, and then find a suitable replacement spot for her for 2006. He said her old paths are still intact and that she does an excellent job of tying back tree branches and releasing them at the end of the Fair. He stressed that this experience is wonderful for the kids and we need to preserve this tradition of the Fair.
Jon Silvermoon (Co-Coordinator of Dog Control Crew) reported that several members of his crew resigned over the relocation of the dog pound. He suggested that if the Pony Rides are not going to move into the old dog pound location, that they be allowed to return to their original place.
Judy Dottino (Office Crew), who camps at the dog pound, said Denaís pony rides have ìnational and international acclaimî and that her original location allowed her to give the kids a ìwilderness experienceî which would be lost if she was located in a grassy meadow.
STAFF AND OFFICER REPORTS
General Manager: Leslie said it seems ìlike a long time since Spring Fling and the Vision Quest which she referred to as an ìamazing experience where we asked ourselves what we want to be to each other and to the world. Everyone was reminded of our good intentions and our good visioning.î She was impressed with ìhow openly we talked with each otherî and called it a ìdouble day of fun and communityî because of the Spring Fling that same evening. Many thanks to norma for her usual great job on the Fling. The following weekend the Fair sold $2,000 worth of tickets at the City Fling. ìHuge appreciation to super volunteers Tia, Loretta and Darin, Jenny, and Palmer, Andyman and Charlie R., Geoffrey for the slide show, Brian, DP and Ben from Entertainment, and all the folks at the Crystal Ballroom. She said ìtell all your The following weekend the Fair sold $2,000 worth of tickets at the City Fling. She said lots of folks come from Portland and asked everyone to ìtell all your Portland friends to ride the Peach Train.î The OCF has itís first-ever ìpackage dealî because Amtrak approached the Fair about offering a deal that includes a train ride, a two-night hotel stay in Eugene, and a Saturday ticket to the Fair. Buses will be bringing people from the coast and she is still working out a place for people to park their cars while they ride the bus to the Fair from the coast. The Green Tortoise will bring people up from San Francisco. She said the first month ìwith our wonderful new AM, Charlie Ruff, has us wondering how we ever got along without him. Heís a joy to work with.î She said Steve and Andy and Charlie have had huge challenges onsite with ìthis crazy weather.î She thanked Construction Crew for getting everything ìup and runningî and said there were lots of people there for the opening of Main Camp. She thanked Brad and Indigo for hosting the Coordinatorsí Potluck last night. She announced she has the same amazing and dedicated team of back-up managers this year who she appreciates and counts on hugely, and also thanked Charlie Zennache, second year swimmer, for his work. She completed a permanent license agreement with the City of Veneta about the Ballfield entrance. The street will appropriately be called Line Drive. She also worked out an agreement with John Lafky of Horizon Screen Print. Coordinators working with Horizon will need to go through the office for a purchase order. The contract with White Bird has been completed. She thanked Beth and Kirk for their ìfabulous workî with the OCFís participation with the Oregon State Fair in August. She also thanked Katie for organizing the Leadership Communication Workshop and said, ìAs weíve all heard tonight, we can all improve our communication skills.î She concluded by saying there was an all-day Culture Jam staff training the day before the communication workshop, so ìas you can see, it has been a very full month!î
Administrative
Assistant: norma thanked everyone who
helped with the Vision Quest summit and the Spring Fling, and gave a big thank
you to those who donated items for the raffle. She thanked Robin for helping
her get the entertainment schedule online and Charlie for providing lots of
office help. The office will be moving to the site on June 11, but Robin will
staff the town office on Mondays and Fridays. (Note: The entertainment
schedule looks great and you can even click on the various acts and be directed
to their individual websites.)
Site Manager: Steve W. said he will continue with his ìusual opening of providing precipitation statisticsî by reporting that normal rainfall in Eugene for May is 2.66 inches and we had 3.85 inches. ìIíve been asking all of us to sing and dance and pray for rain. What an incredible result! Now itís time for us to get specific and ask for half an inch of rain every Tuesday night.î He said, ìThe Fair site continues to be green, wet and soft, and the forecasts for June are for more cool and wet weather. Everyone needs to tread lightly especially with your vehicles, and conditions may require occasional closures of paths and roads to vehicles.î They had two major utility projects to complete before Main Camp opened. One was an EPUD power line to a transformer location in Main Camp. He thanked C-2 Construction for installing it in two days with no problems. The other project was ìa potable water line from The Hub to Main Camp which we did ourselves.î He thanked Andy for ìwearing a superhero cape as Trencherman and doing an incredible amount of work on that for two weekends.î He thanked Tim Wolden, Water Crew, Construction Crew, and Site Crew. He also thanked Tim Justis of Pacific Electric and OCF Security who did the electrical work so everything will pass inspection; and Jim Stevens and Aquametrics for installing and maintaining the new water purification systems. Jim put in two systems on the wells at Zenn Acres and The Hub this month. He thanked Charlie Ruff for ìjumping in on all these thingsî as well as working with Qwest to get DSL onsite. He said, ìThe energy onsite these past three weeks has been incredible. Despite difficult conditions, weíre ahead of the curve which is a good place to be.î He said both Dahinda Meda and Nancy Courtright have been having medical challenges, so it was ìespecially heartening to see them back onsite this past weekend and to see their smiling faces and to be able to give them hugs.î
Assistant Manager: Charlie said we now have DSL onsite ìthanks to Andy for giving up his phone line.î He looks forward to planning some big work parties onsite, but also appreciates people coming out any and every weekend that they can.
Co-Treasurers: Steve G. (Grumpy) said he will have more to report during ìBudget Issuesî but for now he wants to thank people who helped distribute budget information at the Coordinator Potluck, especially Lucy Kingsley, Indigo Ronlov, and Leslie C.
President: Jack said, ìItís been a long time coming to have a sense of wholeness onsite. The value of the Swanson property will be more and more evident for many years to come. It makes everything feel different having no fence there. It opens up possibilities. The weather has been winterish but there has been no lack of volunteers. People have been diligent about staying off the paths which are really, really wet.î He reminded everyone to ìkeep a low impactî and said that Construction Crew will ìdo all we can to keep traffic off the 8.î He added, ìOn a different note, the Supreme Court was not favorable this past week as they are not allowing us to medicate ourselves as our doctors see fit.î He also said that wilderness area protection has been rescinded and that we need to keep pressure on our governor to keep wilderness intact. He gave what he called his ìstanding requestî by reminding everyone to ìtell your friends, co-workers, cousins, strangers, everyoneî to come to the Fair, saying it is ìthe best bang for your buck with three days of more entertainment and more intellectual discourse than you can get anywhere else. Letís act locally, and have a global effect.î He talked about his personal experience at the Vision Quest summit, saying he had been thinking a lot about ìthe big pictureî but was affected by all the personal interactions about peopleís hopes and desires. He thanked all the volunteers, and reminded everyone to ìbe safe on your way to the Fair and on your way home.î
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
PEACH
POWER AD HOC TASK FORCE
Anna said the committee will have meetings during the Fair; times and locations will be posted at Main Camp. They have met electronically, so she is looking forward to meeting with everyone in person. She invited participation from anyone interested.
VISION
QUEST TASK FORCE
Beth has been busy with Construction Crew and thanked her co-chair Dedee Wilner-Nugent for all the work she has been doing to prepare for the next phase of the committeeís work which will be a survey at the Fair. She said they will ìhave a real presence at the Fair.î
OLD
BUSINESS
DONATION TO SMART PROGRAM
Lara moved and
Lawrence seconded that the Board donate $500 to SMART.
Background: Liz Degner is the South Valley Area Manager of the SMART program (Start Making a Reader Today.) She thanked the Board for their past support of the program and said the money they are requesting now would be used to help pay for a program which serves 30 children in Veneta. The children meet twice a week with a volunteer who reads to them for a half-hour. Once a month every child is allowed to select a book to keep and to take home.
Peach Gallery and Board:: Thumbs up. Marlene said, ìWe think youíre great.î
The motion passed: 10 in favor and 0
opposed.
DONATION TO HELIOS RESOURCE NETWORK
Lawrence moved and Lara seconded that the Board donate $500 to the
Helios Resource Network.
Background: Dianne Lobes is a community networker with Helios who said the donation will be used to help fund their upcoming FACTS event (Family and Community Town Supper). She talked about their program of bringing all kinds of people together to share a meal and discuss important topics. The topic at their supper on June 15 will be Lane County Eco-tourism. They are a non-profit organization working to ìempower local groups and businesses working toward sustainability.î
Peach Gallery: Thumbs up. Leslie said this group has been around for a long time and has a great track record. She said their Green Directory was a prototype for the Peach Pages.
Board: Lawrence said, ìOne of the key factors in environmental protection as a viable political position is economic prosperity. Having an economic engine that is synchronous with environmental protection is really important.î
The motion passed: 10 in favor and 0 opposed.
DONATION
TO CENTER FOR COMMUNITY COUNSELING
Marlene moved and Lara seconded that the Board donate $650 to the Center
for Community Counseling.
Background: Don Oakerson said their phone
ìrings off the hook with people who need counseling and have no insurance.î
They have 70 professionals who volunteer their time. Clients pay $2 to $30 per
hour on a sliding scale. They offer anger management classes as well as divorce
and parenting classes. He talked about his personal situation of growing up
with an alcoholic father. He was able to receive counseling and break the cycle
of abuse and now has ìtwo wonderful children and a wife Iíve been with for 16
years.î He said other people need counseling but donít have the resources to
pay for it. They know they want to make a change in their lives and they reach
out to the Center for help.
Peach Gallery: Thumbs up. Grumpy asked why a $650 donation instead of the usual $500. Marlene responded that counseling options are becoming increasingly scarce in our community and that the CCC has benefited many people including some of our own Fair family. She said mental health is ìso important, and therapy has saved my life.î Palmer Parker (Fair Central) said he has benefited from their services and asked ìhavenít you all noticed a difference in me in the last year? Iím fucking good now. No, take that word out. No, leave it in!î
Board: Bear said as a criminal
defense lawyer he sees examples of people who needed therapy but because they
didnít get it they ended up in the criminal system instead. Joseph thanked Don
for all they do for the community. Lawrence said CCC is a great resource in our
community and ìjails have become de facto mental health centers and state
hospitals are backloaded. Itís like you have ambulances to nowhere at the
bottom of the cliff and no fence at the top of the cliff. These folks are
helping to build a fence at the top of the cliff.î Anna asked if they ever
applied for a grant from the Jill Heiman Vision Fund. Leslie said they received
a grant one year, but not this year. Anna supports the motion, but encouraged
them to apply through the JHVF because they could get a larger grant that way.
Jack asked if they have religious affiliations; Don answered no. Jack supports
the motion and joked that ìIím not sure whether Iím sane or insane most of the
time.î Don joked back saying that heís not a therapist so heís not qualified to
say. Brad supports their work and asked that their phone number be included in
the minutes. (Note: Phone
541-344-0620 or e-mail ccc@ccceugene.org. )
The
motion passed: 9 in favor and 1 opposed (Katie).
CONSIDER APPOINTMENT OF REEFER CREW
CO-COORDINATOR
Lara moved and Marlene seconded that the Board appoint Lisa Cooley as
Lower Miss Piggy Reefer Crew Co-Coordinator.
Peach Gallery: Steven
Chase (Reefer Crew Co-Coordinator) said that Lisa will be ìa great attribute
and is a fantastic organizer.î He also announced that there is ìa new baby girl
in our camp. Weíre now four generations there. She has an incredible astrological
chart so Iím sure weíll be hearing from her in about 15 or 20 years.î
Board: Lara
thanked Lisa for stepping up and said itís because of ìamazing volunteers like
you and other people in the room that make this whole thing happen.î
The motion passed: 10 in favor and 0 opposed.
CONSIDER
APPOINTMENT OF SWEEP CREW CO-COORDINATOR
Bear moved and Lawrence seconded that the Board appoint Mark Kimball as
Sweep Crew Co-Coordinator.
Background: Mark said he is sad to be accepting this position instead of Paul Dudley who passed away last month. He will miss Paul and ìthat wonderful smile of his.î
Peach Gallery: Leslie said this is ìincredibly bittersweet for all of us.î She thanked Mark for stepping up and sent ìbig love to Paul.î
Board: Bear said he was sad to not be appointing Paul but ìvery happy we have Mark. His presence has been very helpful and wonderful at camphost meetings.î Lara knows Markís daughter and said, ìIf itís true that apples doesnít fall far from the tree then you must be amazing.î Lawrence said he doesnít know Mark well but just met him at the gathering of remembrance for Paul which he described as a ìcross-over of lawyers, judges, and OCF folks and the pipe organ played ëTeddy Bearsí Picnicí.î
The
motion passed: 10 in favor and 0 opposed.
BUDGET
ISSUES
Background: Grumpy
said there are three line items in the budget that need to be increased. The
first is an increase of $1,000 in the ëeducation and trainingí line item of the
GM budget. This is to support more participation in the seminars which have
been helpful to many OCF people. The second is an increase of $2,000 in the
insurance line item of the GM budget. This is to cover a portion of liability
insurance which was excluded from the Fairís general policy this year. The
third is an increase of $1,000 in the Crew Services budget to cover the
increased cost of providing water bottles that are made of cornstarch and are
biodegradable.
Greg moved and Anna seconded that the Board adopt the first increase.
Jack moved and Joseph seconded that the Board adopt the second increase. Jack
moved and Brad seconded that the Board adopt the third increase.
Most of the discussion centered on the third proposal after several Board members expressed their gratitude at being able to participate in the seminars and thanked the OCF for sponsoring their participation. Brad said he attended two seminars and had an ìamazing experience.It helped me to look at things in a different way. We try to fix things way too fast. We face big issues that require in-depth thought, but our society is stuck in quick fixes.î
Peach Gallery: Grumpy
said the water bottle will be biodegradable but the cap and the ring are not.
Jen-lin Hodgden (Feedback Coordinator) thanked Laura Stewart for finding out
about the compostable water bottles, and also suggested keeping a ìchurch keyî
by every recycling kiosk so people can easily remove the ring and put it in the
proper waste container. Stephen
Chase suggested reusable water containers and a system for delivery. Leslie answered that the Fair will have a bulk water
system in place next year, but ìthis is the best we can do this year.î Grumpy
reported that David Hoffman has the opinion that metal containers are better
for bulk systems and that ìweíll probably hear more about that and other ideas
as we discuss the new water system later.î Steve W. said the Fair now has a
potable water line to the bus stop area.
Board: Lara thanked Tony Clementi and Laura Stewart for their hard work and said that given the new cutlery program this year and the ban on plastic cups, she feels like biodegradable water bottles are ìicing on the cake.î Joseph agreed with Stephen that reusables are best but said ìweíre making progress.î Diane said thereís a place to fill bottles with filtered water in Community Village. Jack said future discussions of water distribution ìshould include more fountains now that we have potable water.î Anna reported that LUMP Committee approved its first trial grey water project which will happen at Energy Park. She would like to see appropriate grey water disposal be part of whatever water systems are developed.
All three budget motions passed: 10 in favor and 0 opposed.
KRVM
BROADCAST FROM FAIR
Background: Grumpy said Chris Calise of KRVM would again like to broadcast from Blue Moon Stage like they did last year. He said there were no problems with it and that KLCC, who broadcasts from Main Stage, is happy with it as well. Leslie asked if anyone had checked with the Blue Moon stage manager and Grumpy said he would do that.
Jack moved and Bear seconded that the Board, subject to the approval of
the Blue Moon stage manager, allow KRVM to again broadcast from Blue Moon
Stage.
The motion passed: 10 in favor and 0 opposed.
SET
SEPTEMBER BOARD MEETING DATE
Diane moved and Marlene
seconded that the September Board meeting be held on Monday September 12 at 7pm
at Aliceís Wonderland. The motion
passed: 10 in favor and 0 opposed. (Note:
The usual first Monday meeting date falls on Labor Day.)
PONY
RIDES
Deane moved and Joseph seconded that the Board move the discussion of
the Pony Ride issue from new business to old business so it could be discussed
tonight instead of next month, but the motion failed: 0 in favor and 10
opposed.
CONSIDER
DONATION MORATORIUM FOR MAY-JULY BOARD MEETINGS
BEGINNING
IN 2006
Brad moved and Lawrence seconded that the Board implement a moratorium
on considering donations during the pre-Fair months of May, June, and July.
Considering that donations sometimes come with specific time constraints, this
policy may be overridden by a vote of the Board to put a specific donation on
the agenda during the moratorium months.
Background: Brad said it is fine with him to begin discussion of the motion tonight but to postpone a vote until later. He just felt it was time to begin the process of reviewing the policy because donation requests take up so much of the Boardís time.
Peach Gallery: Palmer said he is not in favor of this motion. He said ìwe are here to benefit the community and I urge you to vote no.î Grumpy is in favor of a ëyesí vote and said it ìwonít stop donations that are necessary to consider before the Fair but it will give more discipline to the process. He said 90 minutes of the May meeting was taken up with donation requests and this ìwas time that should have been spent on Fair business.î He said the Board already spent 75% of this yearís donation budget. Leslie shares Palmerís feelings and is a ìbig promoter of the Fairís philanthropy.î She tells people to buy a ticket to the Fair so they ìcan help us to help others.î But she also said, ìDonations have become the priority that has dominated the Boardís time. We get exhausted and cross with each other and donít get to the real business at hand.î She suggested that even if the moratorium is not approved, that the Board ìlook at some sort of structure to make our meetings work better at this time when critical operations issues are being discussed.î Michael James Long (Security Crew) said heís surprised he agrees with Grumpy and Leslie at the same time. He said Brad has the right idea to open this up for discussion. Jon Pincus said because of the exception clause the motion makes sense to him.
Board: Bear disagrees with
Grumpy, saying ìPhilanthropy is the business of the Fairî and finds it
ìmildly ironicî that the Board is usually told they donít control operations
issues and is now hearing they spend too much time on donations and leave
little time for operations. He also feels it may violate the by-laws because a
vote by one Board would ban a certain type of decision-making by a future
Board. He called himself a ìprocess queenî and said ìwe canít ask future Board members
to follow this rule.î Lawrence asked, ìWhatís the issue? Whatís the problem? If
one worthy recipient would be denied, it wouldnít be a good idea. But that
wonít happen.î He also said he is not convinced it would constitute a by-laws
violation, saying ìItís an organizational rule and subject to change.î He said
it seems like common sense and he looks forward to further discussion of the
matter. Jack said, ìIt has a lot to do with rhythm. This is an impediment. The
smallest stone can trip up a needy person. The language of the motion seems to
imply that our Fair business is more important than someone elseís needs.î
Joseph agreed with Palmer and said, ìHard cases make bad law.î He said last
monthís requests did take a long time, but ìwe chose to be up here and
sometimes itís going to be a long meeting.î Greg thanked Brad for ìthinking
creatively and for trying to find ways to keep us from treating each other
badly. Listen to the tapes from last monthís meeting if you doubt that we
didnít end up treating each other badly. Last monthís donations were important
but there was a cost attached to it.î He said, ìThanks for putting something
out there that we can all take shots at. If not this, we need to find another
way to talk about how we do this, and how we treat each other while we do this.
There will be times when we must prioritize our work.î Anna said she once
suggested that the Board consider donations on a quarterly schedule but the
motion was defeated. She said, ìWe need to find a way to make our monthly
meeting more effective.î Katie said she has ìan internal struggle and debate
each time a donation request comes up. I take a strict interpretation of the
purpose of our organization as stated in our by-laws and that is why I often
cast a ënoí vote.î She further stated that ìthis is the most ëfeel-goodí thing
we get to do as a Board and we shouldnít keep this to ourselves. It shouldnít
be that whoever gets the idea to come to the Board gets the donation.î She
suggested the idea of a Donations Committee that would study worthy groups and
make recommendations to the Board a couple of times each year. Deane said, ìIf
it ainít broke, donít fix it. If weíre busy, use shorter sentences.î Marlene
said ìlast month was exceptional and rather than make a dramatic change because
we had one bad month perhaps we could do better if we all try harder to confine
ourselves to the topic.î Brad said the meetings right before the Fair usually
have a busy agenda. His goal with the motion is not to let donation requests
that are truly time-critical go by the wayside, like BRINGís request last month
when they were faced with a matching funds deadline. He added that we do
donation requests early in the meeting after the officersí reports, out of
respect for our guests, then we end up ìdealing with the harder issues later in
the evening when weíre tired.î Jack moved and Marlene seconded to table the
motion. Lawrence and Brad wanted to continue the discussion for ten more
minutes until 10pm. The motion to table failed: 4 in favor and 6 opposed
(Lawrence, Lara, Marlene, Brad, Greg, and Anna). Lawrence feels ìwe are not so
intimidating a body that folks will be deterred from approaching us for help if
we pass this motion.î Brad said when people request a donation ìwe should ask
them if it can wait until August, and if so we should just put it on the agenda
for later.î Marlene yielded time to Leslie who said that the Board should allow
the office staff to field some of these questions when people request
donations. The staff is there ìto serve the Board.î She also thanked Bear for
ìpointing out my inaccurate statement about operations. What we dealt with last
month were a number of critical policy issues that affect operations.î Jack
called the question and Katie seconded. People objected because they said they
did not want to vote on the motion tonight. Jack and Katie rescinded calling
the question. Jack moved to table the motion. Joseph seconded. The motion to
table passed: 7 in favor and 3 opposed (Marlene, Anna, Bear).
The meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm. The next Board meeting will be held on Sunday, June 26, 2005 at 4pm onsite at Aliceís. The agenda, subject to change, will include the following tabled items: Budget Issues; Consider Donation to Educational Environments School; Consider Donation to Muscular Dystrophy Association Summer Day Camp; Consider Appointments to Elders Committee; Consider Donation Moratorium for May, June and July Board meetings beginning in 2006 (Brad); as well as the following new business: Consider Donation to Lane Longhouse; Discussion of Pony Rides Location; Discussion of Craft Inventory Notification Process. The discussion of Elder SOPís is tabled until the August meeting.
Minutes by Barbara Edmonds who thanks Dr. Masuru Emoto (ìThe Hidden Messages in Waterî) for the following quote: ìThink about the fact that people around the world enjoy coming together to celebrate. When people gather, wear special clothes, sing and dance, and are festive, the result is that stagnant and evil vibrations are dissipated and joyous vibrations are created. All things vibrate, and they vibrate at their own frequencies. When you understand this, you will significantly broaden your understanding of the universe. With this understanding, your eyes will open to things you have never seen before – things previously pushed to the back of
your consciousness – and these discoveries and feelings will give new life to your soul.î