League of Women Voters of Butte County Board Meeting Minutes January 11, 2022 5:30 pm Via ZOOM |
Members Present: Mahalley Allen, Roxanne Ferry, Sandra Flake, Lori Fuentes, Claire Greene, Patty Haley, Janet Rechtman, Toni Reid, and Satsie Veith
- 1. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 5:31 pm.
2. Approve Meeting Minutes
The minutes for the December board meeting were approved.
3. Financial Report/Week of Giving Final Results
The LWVBC's new Week of Giving total (including donations direct to the fund for November 30-December 17), as well as donations that came in through the NVCF Classy page, is $2263.39. There were also direct contributions to LWVBC of $435, for a combined total of $2,688.39. LWVBC should be getting the 2nd quarter report for the LWVBC Education Fund from the NVCF soon.
Sandra shared a preliminary profit and loss budget vs. actuals report for July through December 2021. She will update the report when she gets finalized information. According to the preliminary report, LWVBC is short $4,150 in membership dues, but since the preliminary report, more membership dues have come in, and Sandra will update the numbers in the next report. On the whole, LWVBC is running reasonably well for the first half of the fiscal year.
4. Dues Payments Still Out
Roxanne reported she continues to send email reminders for members to pay their membership dues and some members need to be called as reminders to submit their membership dues. Satsie, Toni, Lori, Janet, and Patty volunteered to help Roxanne call people who need reminders.
5. Office Rent
Satsie updated the board that the landlord will be raising the office rent, although he does not yet know the amount. Currently, the rent is $875 per month, which is split with Altacal. Meanwhile, there were recent repairs to the heating unit, costing $514, to be split with Altacal. The heating unit maintenance workers told Satsie that the heating unit is very old, and she is waiting to learn more information about the status of the unit and burn marks found on the unit. According to the terms of the lease, LWVBC is responsible for professionally maintaining the heating, electrical, air conditioning, etc. We have a month-to-month lease. Board members discussed the pros and cons of having office space, and we will continue this discussion going forward.
6. Mission Statement Update
The California league has adopted the national league's updated statement: "Empowering voters! Defending Democracy!" Board members agreed to use this new slogan, perhaps without the exclamation points, but also keep our mission statement.
7. Response to Supervisor Teeter's Email
Board members discussed whether it is necessary or appropriate to respond to Supervisor Teeter's recent email regarding redistricting. Board members agreed Satsie should respond to say thank you and that we are pleased he is not opposed to a redistricting commission in the future.
8. Update on Programs
Toni reported the Natural Resources Committee would like to have their first water program, titled "Butte County Water: Where Does Your Water Come From, How is it Distributed, and Why Does it Matter" as an evening Zoom presentation on Thursday, March 3rd. Satsie will confirm with AAUW that they do not have a conflicting event that evening.
Jessica Jones, the Area Director for Disposal Operations at Waste Management, has agreed to speak at a joint Redding/Butte County league event in April. Satsie will work with the Redding league to determine the event date.
Janet updated board members that the Social Policy Committee is continuing to work on its three programs focused on housing/homelessness. The first program will be on housing/homelessness "myths and realities."
9. Update on Fundraising/Budget Committees
Lori and Sandra will meet soon about the budget committee, and Lori will schedule the committee's first meeting in February. Toni updated board members about the challenges of fundraising during the pandemic, and board members discussed some fundraising issues.
10. Discussion of plans for June Primary preparation
Board members agreed it is still too early to decide plans for the June primary election. LWVBC will hold candidate forums that are relevant to Butte County in April. If a candidate runs unopposed, we will not hold a forum for that position. The positions that will be up for election in the June primary are:
11. Newsletter Deadline January 20
The deadline for newsletter articles is January 20th. The newsletter will come out at the end of January.
12. Adjourn
Meeting adjourned at 6:40 pm.