Minutes of December 7, 2022 Steering Committee Meeting

Minutes of the Mueller Neighborhood Association (MNA) Steering Committee

December 7, 2022

The Zoom meeting was called to order at 7:05pm by Vice Chair Shelly Baldwin.  The meeting was recorded and archived.

Steering Committee (SC) Members present:  Shelly Baldwin, Joy Butler, Erin Gaines, Brett Hall, Ann Hart, Koreena Malone, Josh Rudow, Jason Sears, Sarah Seraj, Karen Swenson and Marta White, ex officio

Newly Elected SC Members present:  Jennifer Jarding, Greg Keller, Meisha-Ann Martin, Chris Ruzin, Preston Tyree

Guest present: Andrew Clements 

Karen moved to accept the Minutes of the November Steering Committee Meeting.  Jason seconded.  Motion passed.

Sarah moved to accept the Minutes of the November General Meeting.  Jason seconded.  Motion passed.

Jason shared the October Balance Sheet and the November Profit and Loss Statement.  As of 11/30/22, the MNA’s total equity was $18794.55.  Jason directed SC members’ attention to the new monthly expense of $89 for a storage unit (previously approved by the SC).  He also noted $610.35 in the “liabilities” that isn’t technically a “liability.”  He let Joy and Koreena explain.

As laid out during a previous SC meeting, participants in the anti-racism training program had to pay up front and were informed at the time that there would be no refunds.  Furthermore, if they missed a session, they wouldn’t be allowed back into the training (that rule came from the training company).  Ultimately, three people signed up but didn’t start the class and four people had to quit before completing the course.  Of the three who didn’t start, one person had an emergency at the last minute and asked Koreena for a refund.  Since there was $610.35 left in the Equity Team’s line item, Koreena agreed to refund the neighbor $100.  Upon reflection, she realized that she should have consulted with the Steering Committee first.  She apologized profusely and asked SC for guidance going forward.  After some discussion, Brett suggested that SC members fund the refund by chipping in their own funds rather than using MNA money.  General consensus was that that made sense.  Jason will talk to the individual and get back to SC members about the logistics of this arrangement.  Everyone agreed that if/when we collect money for a program in the future, the registration form will lay out the refund policy very clearly.

Shelly opened discussion on the proposed Conflict of Interest Policy distributed to SC members before the meeting.  The policy is standard for nonprofit organizations.  Karen moved to adopt the policy.  Ann seconded.  After discussion, the motion passed.  A follow-up item for the SC will be to develop a list of potential conflicts to help SC members determine if they have a conflict of interest that they need to disclose.

In Kathy Sokolic’s absence, Koreena provided history on the Front Porch Flyer to get new SC members up to speed.  The MNA is still waiting for a new quote for the total cost if the publisher were to print more copies for apartment residents.  After a very long discussion, Koreena moved that the MNA rescind the current contract with Neighborhood News and revisit the entire project at the January Steering Committee meeting.  Karen seconded and the motion passed.

Finally, SC members conducted an internal election of new officers for 2023.  This slate was approved by acclamation:  Greg Keller, Chair; Preston Tyree, Vice Chair; Ann Hart, Secretary; Chris Ruzin, Treasurer, and Koreena Malone, Past Chair, ex officio.

The next SC meeting is January 4, 2023.

The meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Ann Hart, MNA Secretary

Note that all documents mentioned in these minutes are considered part of the meeting record.