Location: (Teleconference via Zoom)
Time: 7-8:15 p.m.
In attendance: John Wooding, Chair; Richard Carr, Vice Chair; Bart Glaser; Marta White; Alison Raffalovich, Secretary; Taylor Youngblood; Bart Jacob; Preston Tyree, Chair Ex Oficio; John Reese Thomas, Treasurer.
Not in attendance: Ted Herr, Ed Dorn, Brittany Estes Garcia, Mariana McEnroe.
1. Greetings and Pleasantries [John]
2. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes [Alison Raffalovich] – May Steering Committee Meeting and General Meeting minutes were approved and have been posted.
3. Treasurer’s Report [John Reese Thomas] – With sponsor grants, we got another $2500 in support during May. The only expenditures were some neighborhood grants.
4. MNA Committee Updates and Reports:
4.1. 4th of July Parade and Festival [John W.]
With COVID-19 cases still rising in Austin and Travis County, there was discussion of how to mark the holiday while observing health guidelines. Richard offered to set up a real-time viewable Google route for a car parade. We could also include carts, bikes, scooters, or other modes of transit. Sponsors could also participate in decorated vehicles if they want to.
We also discussed a home decorating contest with prizes to winners by category – e.g., homes v. condos/apartments. Apartment dwellers can also submit pictures of their doors or balconies. Taylor will ask block captains if they’d like to rally their blocks around decorating. Taylor will work on setting up a poll for neighbors to vote (with the photos submitted to the email address set up by Bart J – [email protected], which will go to Taylor and John Thomas We’ll also promote it on Facebook and other social media.
5. Document Shredding [Bart Jacob] – We discussed bringing in a mobile shredding machine for neighbors to safely get documents shredded. Central Texas Shredding charges $300 for 2 hours. We could potentially use the parking garage near the Alamo or the parking lot in the shopping center with Best Buy, or perhaps in an open lot in the new areas still being built out. Bart J will check with Patricia Thoms about what lots we could or could not use. Zach Scott near Tilley might be feasible. We will target 6/27 for two hours in the morning to have the shredder in the neighborhood.
6. Supporting Local Businesses (Non-sponsors) [Taylor Youngblood] – How can we help all local businesses in Mueller at a time when they are really hurting, including those who are not current sponsors? If the local businesses wanted to offer virtual exercise classes or special picnic baskets, etc., we could share lists of the businesses and their promotions, while also including our sponsors.
7. Ascension Seton – June General Meeting Update [John] Helen Walker said the space is likely to not be available until August as it’s being used for storage currently. We will do a virtual meeting in June and possibly July, depending on how things unfold.
8. May General Meeting Agenda [John]
8.1. Treasurer’s Report
8.2. POA Review
8.3. Mueller Commission
8.4. Local Business Spotlight – L’Oca D’Oro
9. MNA statement about unfolding events in the wake of the George Floyd murder and other incidents of police brutality against people of color. Koreena Malone, Chair of our Neighborhood Engagement and Inclusion Committee, had asked if we would be making a statement. The Steering Committee agreed to ask Koreena if she’s willing to help us draft a statement. We also discussed tangible ways to support our Black neighbors. Kane’s Barbership and Altatude are two local Black owned businesses that were burned in the recent unrest, and the Steering Committee decided to donate $1000 to their GoFundMe site at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kane039s-barbershop and include a $10 tip to GoFundMe. John Reese Thomas completed that transaction on June 4.
10. Marta will make MNA t-shirts available for sale online, and Taylor will post about their availability on social media, the MNA site, etc.
General Meeting 6/20 10AM (virtual)
Steering Committee Meeting 7/1 7PM (via Zoom)
Respectfully submitted June 15, 2020
Alison Raffalovich, Secretary