Full Board Meeting
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Minutes
Present:
Admin. Committee- Sandy, Fred, Stacie, John S., John Q., Shiela, Rosemarie, Kendra, Vern
Operations Committee- Mitch, Ricardo, Carlos,
Also present- Luis, Aureliano, Floria (and husband?)
Primary subject of meeting: Upcoming board member elections.
Discussion- The board has been in place for about 1 1/2 years. Board members must be exemplary garden members and willing to put time/effort in to get projects off the ground. Volunteers/nominees are needed to be on April’s ballot as board member candidates. All present Operations Committee members were encouraged to run to stay on the board. Volunteers from the present board will be needed to help prepare for and carry out the election process (ie ballot prep, translation, mailings, voting instructions, administering ballots and receiving votes, etc.)
All board members present agreed upon dates for the election: Saturday and Sunday, April 17 and 18. Only paid members will be allowed to vote. Nominees will be accepted until April 3.
It will be important for as many current board members as possible to show up during the election to help and show support for the process. It also must be made clear to nominees that commitment is important, including regular meeting attendance and involvement in project committees.
Application form for board membership should request applicants to (write a short biographical paragraph describing themselves and their interest in the board and/or submit a photo for easier recognition upon voting time. (Both bio and photo optional.)
Stacie said the database is done, only most recent member information still to be entered, and a mailing can be sent at any time.
Fred volunteered to help with ballot preparation, as he will not be available on election weekend. Kendra agreed to translate mailings into Spanish. Ricardo and Carlos also volunteered to help with election preparations.
Draft Agenda -- Please
Comment
I.
Approval of January 9th Administrative Committee minutes
II.
Discussion of Election Procedures
A. Open house for members to
meet with candidates(?)
B. Date of Election
C. Procedure for voting
III.
Report of the Treasurer
IV.
Field Supply spending proposals ($9,000)
A. Composting toilet
B. Rototiller
C. Other
V.
Discussion of by-law changes
VI.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
A. March 6th meeting
with City of
B. Review of CDGB obligations
for this funding year (ending June 2004)
VII.
Sub-Committees
A. Defining subcommittee
organization and sub-committee tasks (see Appendix for proposal)
B. Assignment of board members
to sub-committees
VIII.
D & O Insurance (for protection of the board from lawsuits)
I. Rules Subcommittee
A. Responsibilities
1. Drafts HCG rules & regulations documents, under direction of Board of Directors
2. Drafts HCG “Administrative Plan” as required for 2003/2004 CDBG grant
3. Proposes waiting list policies, and drafts a waiting list plan for 2004 (one that requires submission of residency and income documents so that low income gardeners are given priority)
4. Proposes plot number policies, and drafts plan for reducing plot holdings for people with more than 1 plot
5. Proposes plan to promote the No Alcohol policy
B. Primary Members: John Quintero
II. Grants and Finance Subcommittee
A. Responsibilities
1. Identifies grant opportunities
2. Organizes grant proposal submission
3. Oversees grant-related funding and projects
4. Proposes plans for tracking garden finances and paying garden bills
5. Keep financial records in order
6. Deposits checks from plot fees
7. Submits receipts to city for reimbursement (CDBG grant)
8. Proposes policies for member reimbursement (after submission of approved receipts)
B. Primary members: Stacie Chun and Sandy Frost
III. Communication/Service Subcommittee
A. Responsibilities
1. Drafts documents related to plot fee collection and demographic information collection
2. Oversees collection of plot fees and gathering of demographic information
3. Creates flyers and mailers for community outreach (English and Spanish)
4. Drafts informational fliers for members (Spanish and English)
5. Proposes plan to organize and document participation of members in required volunteer activities for garden
6. Establishes Message Boards at both garden sites
7. Networks with Local Organizations (Service and Outreach activities)
B. Primary Members: Rosemarie London
IV. Facilities Subcommittee
A. Responsibilities
1. Proposes guidelines for water and facilities use by members
2. Maintains water irrigation systems at both garden sites
3. Proposes and prioritizes needs for upgrades to facilities
4. Directs the purchase and set-up of new equipment
5. Implements new projects
6. Proposes rules and regulations related to organic compliance (ROP/Eden) and proposes methods to encourage organic methods at the Whitman site
B. Primary Members: Verne Morley, Gary Kaplan, John Swarr
V. Market Subcommittee
A. Responsibilities
1. Proposes policies for market garden operation (including per diem rates, stipends for low-income gardeners and policies for pricing of produce)
2. Organizes staffing and pre-market produce collection
3. Organizes festival participation (market garden-related)
4. Pilot seedling sales project (spring 2004)
5. Expands seedling sales project (fall 2004, contingent on CDBG or other funding)
6. Directs purchase of greenhouse (contingent on CDBG funding)
7. Proposes policies for greenhouse utilization for seedling sales, market garden starts and member use
B. Primary Members: Fred Hempel, Sandy Frost, Kendra Johnson (?)