October 8, 2020 – 6:30 PM
(DRAFT)
WCNO Board/Staff Present: Robin Lewis (Board Chair), Monica Colberg, Patricia Deinhart-Bauknight (Executive Director), Sheree Breedlove, Jeff Schmidt, Anna Gerdeen, Brock Schumacher (Board Treasurer), Eric Hoffer (Board Secretary), Richard Schmalz
Community Members Present: Amanda Dobbs, Ini, Krystin, Maria Ahlgren, Shannon Glenn, Tommy Valerio
6:30pm — Call to Order & Welcome
Robin Lewis called the meeting to order.
6:32pm — Zoom Procedure Review
Eric Hoffer informed everyone that they’d be muted the whole meeting, until designated times or until they raised their hand (via video or Zoom button) and were called upon. Meeting would be recorded for minutes.
6:35pm — Review and Approve September Minutes
No questions. Moved to approve by Richard Schmalz. Seconded. Approved unanimously.
6:45pm — Treasurer’s Report
Some reports presented (visit office or request through ED to review). Currently solid & stable on spending. Spending, “should” be about $12k based on available funds but we have been typically spending less.
Question around potential spending for programming by Anna Gerdeen, particularly around Project Nandi. Tabled until later in the meeting.
6:55pm — Executive Director’s Report
Patricia Deinhart-Bauknight reviewed her ED report, including clarifying the discussion around the upcoming Communications & Outreach Coordinator. She summarized other activities, including conversations with the city, searching for other potential office space, and a grant submission.
7:05pm — Upcoming WCNO Board Elections
Discussion around timeline and urgency. Monica Colberg moved to push back Annual meeting & elections to November 12th for proper planning and communication. Jeff Schmidt seconded. Approved unanimously.
Open Seats
There will be six open board seats, and then the new board will elect officers for the upcoming year.
Process
Discussion around need for accessible voting, sharing board candidate bios, and broadly communicating meeting information. Anna G. will coordinate flyering. Jeff S. will research online voting systems.
Outreach and Communication
Task force formed to flesh out other information and coordinate needs with staff.
7:45pm — By-Law Check-In and Planning
By-Laws need to finish being reformatted, though content is ready for review/vote at annual meeting. November election will function under current by-laws, with new by-laws being approved immediately thereafter. Eric H. will annotate the draft by-laws so community members can see the changes suggested clearly. WCNO will field questions over the next month, but will attempt to keep the conversation limited to potential major concerns at the annual meeting.
7:55pm — Potential New Neighborhood Priority Review
With the rescheduling of this October meeting, the community was not able to vote on approving the additional Youth Education Opportunity neighborhood priority. Given the size of the November Annual meeting agenda and the board transitions, this priority review will be tabled and picked up right away by the new board.
For clarity, this would mean the WCNO would add “Additional Youth Education Opportunities” to its list of priorities and seek to contract $30,000 of NRP dollars to provide funding for such programs in the neighborhood (e.g. supporting learning pod tutoring programs). Once approved, a fair and open process with a clearly-communicated Request For Proposals would follow.
COMMUNITY QUESTION RE: PROJECT NANDI: If the youth education funding is being delayed, is there a way to support Project Nandi (a local organization providing technological resources and supplies to students with the highest need) with some support right away, even if smaller? Patricia and Brock agreed to follow up with Ini from Project Nandi.
8:20pm — Committee Reports & Updates
Housing Committee noted the need for mortgage and rental support in the neighborhood and reached out to the Salvation Army about providing rental & mortgage assistance to the community.
Motion to donate $5,000 to the Salvation Army, with the stated purpose of providing rental and mortgage assistance to residents of the 55412 area code. Discussion. The deep need for this support was lifted up. The problematic reputation of the Salvation Army (especially in the LGBTQIA+ community) was highlighted. Agreed to do further research and return to this issue soon.
8:30pm — Mediation Possibilities
Tabled until after a new board is elected.
8:30pm — Adjourn