Location: Telemeeting (via Zoom)
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Time: 7PM to 9PM
In attendance – John Wooding, Chair; Richard Carr, Vice Chair; John Reese Thomas, Treasurer; Alison Raffalovich, Secretary; Taylor Youngblood; Bart Jacob; Bart Glaser; Ted Herr; Marta White; Preston Tyree, chair ex officio.
Not present – Ed Dorn, Mariana McEnroe
Items:
1. Greetings and Pleasantries [John W.]
2. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes [Alison Raffalovich]
3. Treasurer’s Report [John Thomas] – With the donation to the GoFundMe site for two Black-owned businesses and the costs of the secure document shredding event, we had a net loss for June but are still in a strong cash position. We are also in a positive position for our year-to-date P&L.
4. Committee Updates:
4.1. Neighborhood Engagement and Inclusion [Koreena Malone] – Koreena has been trying to reach out and meeting many neighbors. She came to Mueller through the affordable program, which she learned about through Leadership Austin. She is trying to raise general awareness of the program, working with Catellus and increase engagement. It can be difficult to broach discussions about race and difficult to navigate those conversations, but Koreena has experience as a community organizer with Austin Interfaith, in addition to her day job as an accountant. Koreena is willing to engage with each individual on the Steering Committee and help us understand how to help create space for those conversations with a productive approach. Mueller is a very politically engaged community and Koreena wants to help us host an accountability session by September with candidates to talk with them about their commitment on issues that our community is energized around, while respecting our nonprofit charter that defines us as a non-political organization. She will create a grid with 5-7 questions or asks from the community, based on stories and issues presented by community members, and she would want to show all the candidates with their positions on each of the asks, ideally updated annually to keep the accountability tally current. Koreena has reviewed our diversity statement and wants to help us explore how to productively go beyond diversity to inclusion.
4.2. Fourth of July [John] – The fire truck with the two cars accompanying it have set a route for the 4th and it’s posted on Facebook and the website, and Taylor has shared with the block captains. If we share tracking of the procession as it goes, we can discourage people from congregating for an extended period and remind people not to come out until the cars and truck approach.
5. Zoom Pro Subscription [John W.] – Zoom Pro with two hosts (enabling two meetings to handle simultaneously with up to 100 people each) is about $299/year. Bart J set up an email alias for Zoom(at)Mueller Neighborhood.org to use to register the password. A motion to approve purchase of the license for six months passed unanimously.
6. Austin Safe Mobility Bond [John W.]– The Transportation and Urban Planning Committee unanimously supports it and recommends the MNA Steering Committee add their support as well. The initiatives are complementary to our neighborhood principles of urbanism. There was a motion for the MNA to sign onto the letter already drafted in support of the vision, which passed.
7. Selling T-Shirts [Marta White] – We normally sell a lot of t-shirts at the 4th of July event, so Marta has been researching alternatives to in-person sales. She proposes that we reopen the store we originally had when we first ordered, at least through August, and Marta will get messages anytime a neighbor places an order. She can set each individual’s shirt on her porch and have a contactless transaction. We’ve sold 7 in the past few days. Taylor will help Marta get word out via our website, Facebook, block captains, Nextdoor and Instagram, along with Front Porch Flyer. Marta has already posted on Mueller neighbors and Mueller marketplace.
8. August General Meeting Agenda [John W.]
8.1. Treasurer’s Report
8.2. POA Review
8.3. Mueller Commission
8.4. Local Business Spotlight: L’Oca d’Oro – they have already sent in a video and they may update it slightly
General Meeting 07/18 10 a.m. – Digital
Steering Committee Meeting 09/04 7 p.m.
Respectfully submitted July 20, 2020
Alison Raffalovich, Secretary