Board of Directors

Regular Meeting -- June 10, 2007

The Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 2:03 pm. The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the meeting: President Pam Latham (Oceanna), and Vice President and Treasurer Pam Chambers. The following directors were absent: Secretary Kathy Lee. Robert McGarey (Executive Director), Robert Gardner and Leslie Harvey were also present at the meeting.

Reading of Mission Statement and Approval of Minutes

The Mission Statement was read aloud at the beginning of the meeting. Minutes from the previous meeting were read aloud and approved as read.

New Board Member

Leslie Harvey was unanimously elected to fill Position 1 on the Board of Directors.

Vice PresidentŐs Report

Shabby Chic. Pam said she bought some material that might be good for Shabby Chic throw pillows. Leslie explained that Shabby Chic, for her, doesn't mean doilies and tiny roses on a white background. For her, Shabby Chic means getting old things and making them better. On getting rid of the clutter in the Center, Oceanna suggests creating a committee to deal with Shabby Chic and setting a budget. Leslie recommended that we watch Clean Sweep on HGTV to get ideas on how to clean up and make the Center more beautiful inside.

Executive Director's Report

Working Together. Bob told a story about his work at New College and the ARE Clinic in Phoenix, and how he expected himself to do everything, fix everything, and be responsible for everything. He thinks this may have led to him not inviting others to help as much as he might have, and consequently led to "burning out" people such as Lia and Pam. He would like to have more of an inclusive attitude, inviting others to help in this wonderful project. He's phrasing it currently as "What can WE do?"

Membership Fees. Bob is thinking about a flat fee of $75 a year for membership, where a friend could join for $50 more. A voting member would have to have been a member for 2 years. It sets a lower bar for people to become members, which has both an up side (more members) and a down side (possibly less commitment). The Church of Conscious Harmony has very steep and exhaustive membership requirements, since they want people to know what they are committing to. However, our steep requirements seem to have been keeping potential members away. This item was tabled until the next meeting.

Garage Apartment. J.P. is leaving July 4th, so a new person or a non-profit will be needed to take over the garage apartment. Leslie suggested that we rent the garage apartment to some artists for use as an art studio. Four artists paying $150 a month would more than make up the income lost as a result of our artist-in-residence moving out.

Travel. Bob leaves in June for 10 days to do fund raising in Lake Tahoe and to present a workshop at a national relationship conference, and again in July for a family reunion. This will have a financial impact; however, he may be able to arrange some Personal Growth Sessions while he's in California to offset the loss of income.

Finances. Bingo continues to do well this year, much better than last year. Once the electricity in the Cottage gets repaired by Marcus Barnes, the rent for INACS may go up by a hundred dollars.

GoodwheelChairs. Rebekah wants to remain informed, but has too much going on in her life to work on it. Bob's taking over her tasks. He has begun sending emails to people advertising scooters or wheelchairs on Craigslist, and thinks he might get some donations that way. Our first step is to get inventory. After that we can start selling the wheelchairs and doing workshops for Larry's social workers to let them know about the existence of GoodwheelChairs.

Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at around 4 pm. Minutes submitted by Pam Chambers, Acting Secretary, June 10, 2007.