Executive Board Meeting minutes

February 2, 2018—Attending: Janice Merrill Brown, Trevor Lalish-Menagh, Diane Snell, Tracy Bier, John Barber.

Treasury report will be in March newsletter.

Three items had been referred to the Ex Board from the general meeting the week before.

1. Support for mural project at 31st & Jackson. There were some voices of support but also some concern expressed that we would have to sign on to a design that wasn’t our choice.

Decision made to request that final deciders on a plan be a committee consisting of two representatives from Leschi and two from Mt. Baker. These representatives should be residents of their respective communities and have some kind of art background. Secretary will draft a letter to the mural project committee to request this caveat. Trevor can take it to the next CANDC meeting.

2. There is controversy over a part of Frink Park which is being planted by a volunteer and is making changes to an open spot that neighbors enjoy for gatherings. Decision was to have John Barber contact the Parks person in charge of this area to work out a compromise between the two factions.

3. Sally Wagner brought up the fact that Leschi Park is being used more and more and is being tended less and less and is showing the wear and tear. Diane Morris suggested a community wide cleanup. Lawrence Pitre suggested a larger, district wide community wide effort. Janice will speak to her group at work that takes on community projects to see if they would host a work party on the second Thursday in May. John Barber will coordinate with the Parks representative to see if tools could be borrowed and specific tasks outlined. The District wide aspect could be addressed by each neighborhood choosing a project for May and we could feature all projects in the newsletter.

In addition to these specific concerns, Bill Caldwell said he was willing to investigate what funds Parks gets and how they are allocated. Diane Ramsey Gayton offered to help.

New Business

Emergency Hubs: Trevor brought information on emergency hubs which are part of the city’s plan to address the aftermath from a natural catastrophe. He and Tracy are planning a meeting in April which will feature a possible event and the city’s plans for neighborhood recovery. Tracy said her speaker usually gets more than our $50 honorarium for speaking. Diane agreed to make her annual $100 donation to this project. Tracy felt that this would be acceptable.

Elections: Since three of four officers are completing The second year of a term for folks who resigned and the 4th officer (secretary) needs to be elected for a second term, elections need to be held in May. Notice will be put in the newsletter for the two months prior as required by the by-laws. All current officers are prepared to run again.

March program: Members of the Transit Riders Union, the folks who helped us get back the #27 bus, have taken on a new cause: housing for all. They don’t feel the city plan is adequate to address the needs of the ever-growing homeless population.

Board Meeting location when Central not available: Dian F indicated there would be two months when she was away and we would need to meet elsewhere. All agreed that BluWater Bistro was convenient.

Home Street Bank: When Janice met with difficulties over signing the bank card for our Bank of America account, she saw Home Street Bank nearby and went inside to discuss our needs. The Bank does service non-profits and would not require both new and old officers to be present for card signing. (Note: we have never before been asked to bring the outgoing officers for a signing.) We will ask Janet, our current treasurer, to assess their services and make a decision when she is back from her season in the sun.

Old Business

Racism: Janice has been working with a woman who does these programs and she is available in May for a panel discussion. Once again, her speaker fees are more than what we usually give, so Janice offered to donate $100 as well to boost the amount we can pay.

~Respectfully submitted by Diane Snell