First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 6:30 P.M.,
First UU Church of Austin, 4700 Grover, Austin, TX 78756 in the Gallery
Members Present: Nell Newton, President; Eric Stimmel, Vice-President; Luther Elmore, Treasurer; Chris Jimmerson, Secretary; Margaret Borden; Jeff Hutchens; Aaron Osmer, Youth Trustee; Brendan Sterne; Michael West; Laura Wood.
Staff Present: Sean Hale, Executive Director; Lara Douglass, Director of Religious Education; Brent Baldwin, Director of Music
Visitors Present: Bill Edwards, Chair, Stewardship Committee
Call to Order
The President called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.
Adoption of Agenda
Motion: Margaret Borden – Adopt the agenda (Appendix A) as presented with the correction of two typing errors.
Second: Luther Elmore
Discussion: None
Vote: All Affirmative
Opening Words
The Vice-President read a selection from the church hymnal, and the President lit the chalice.
Visitor’s Forum
No visitors were present who did not already have time scheduled on the agenda.
Consent Agenda Items
Minutes from the Prior Meeting: The trustees had reviewed the minutes from the June 2009 meeting prior to this meeting.
Motion: Margaret Borden – Approve the June 2009 minutes as presented.
Second: Michael West
Discussion: None
Vote: All affirmative
New Members and Resignations: The Secretary reported that two new members, Scott Buthke and Andy Silva, had joined the congregation and that no members of the congregation had resigned.
Reports: The trustees had reviewed the consent agenda items prior to the meeting. These included:
Appendix B: Director of Religious Education Report
Appendix C: Treasurer’s Report
Appendix D: Direct of Music Report
Appendix E: Executive Directors Report
The trustees present also discussed the following items related to the content of the consent agenda items:
The trustees noted that the music report contained some very exciting items including the Artists in Residence program for the season with the Austin Chamber of Music. The Director of Music noted that no improvements to the sound system will be required for this program.
The Executive Director (ED) reported that he was close to being able to hire a new, highly qualified bookkeeper. The Treasurer gave an explanation of several income line items and funds on the balance sheet and answered several questions from trustees.
Motion: Michael West — Accept the Consent Agenda Item Reports including the new members.
Second: Margaret Borden
Discussion: None
Vote: All Affirmative
Discussion and Action Items
Policy Updates on Checking and Investment Accounts: The Treasurer presented proposed policies (Appendix F) to make signing authority for the investment accounts match that which was approved for the operating account at the last meeting. The ability to sign for payments and withdrawals from these accounts would be through a Letter of Authorization process which provides greater security and would eliminate the ability of people to do so through online access. The Treasurer noted that the Vice-President would be added as a backup signatory and for large amounts for all accounts. He answered several questions from trustees on the new processes.
Motion: Margaret Borden – Approve the signatory authority policy changes as presented.
Second: Eric Stimmel
Discussion: There was no further discussion.
Vote: Affirmative – 9, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)
Stewardship Committee Budget Resolution Proposal: The Chair of the Stewardship Committee Chair presented a proposed resolution (see below) that the Board of Trustees would present a balanced budget for the next fiscal year to congregation at The December Congregational Meeting. The resolution was based upon a meeting of the congregation that been held on June 15, 2009 and had established “dream” priorities for the Fall Canvass.
The trustees discussed ways in which this priority might be presented to the larger congregation so that it might motivate greater pledging among those who had not attended the June 15 meeting and who might not be as aware of the budget needs and budget history of the church.
The trustees also expressed a desire that the development of the budget be based upon a realistic projection of the true funding needed to support the ministries, programs and operations of the church so that a true “stretch goal” could be established.
The Stewardship Committee Chair expressed his need to be true to the wishes of the church as expressed at the June 15 meeting. He presented the resolution as follows:
Whereas, the Congregation has demonstrated through the success of the Spring Canvass that it wishes to put the Church’s financial house in order; and,
Whereas, more than 100 members of the congregation met on June 15 and rank-ordered “dream” priorities to guide the annual Fall Canvass; and,
Whereas, the highest-rank ordered choice for the year 2010 is “Balance the Budget”; and,
Whereas, the second and third rank-ordered choices are Building Interior Facelift and Kitchen Renovation; now therefore,
Be it resolved that the Board of Trustees will present to the Congregation at the Annual Meeting in December 2009
a) A balanced budget for 2010; and,
b) Funding that is secured beyond the base budget shall be allocated to fulfilling the dreams of Building Interior Facelift and Kitchen Renovation.
Motion: Michael West – Adopt the resolution as presented.
Second: Jeff Hutchens
Discussion: None
Vote: Affirmative – 9, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Aaron Osmer)
Proposal for the Establishment of Internal Audit Committee: The Treasurer presented a proposal to establish an Internal Audit Committee (Appendix G). The proposal would address the change to the Financial Assets Management Policy, the second vote for which will occur at the December Congregational Meeting. Several trustees asked question about the proposal including how many members would serve, how they would be appointed and what types and what frequency of audits would occur.
The Treasurer tabled the proposal until the August meeting so that it can be put into the standard policies and procedures format.
Interim Minister Search Task Force
Motion: Laura Wood — Thank the task force for their outstanding work.
Second: Luther Elmore
Discussion: None
Vote: Affirmative – 9, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Chris Jimmerson)
Nominating Committee Vacancies: The President reported that due to Shannon Vyff moving out of town and to the resignation of Mary Jane Ford, there were two vacancies on the nominating committee. Sandra Reis and Michael LeBurkien had both expressed interested in serving on the committee. The Trustees discussed procedure for moving forward as to whether to appoint replacement members or to ask the committee to appoint a Chair and then bring back recommendations.
Motion: Chris Jimmerson – Appoint Sandra Reis and Michael LeBurkien to the Nominating Committee and ask the committee to name a Chair by the August meeting of the Board of Trustees
Second: Luther Elmore
Discussion: None
Vote: All Affirmative
Interim Ministry Transition Team: Michael West presented the UUA recommended Interim Ministry Transition Team and the recommended composition for it:
• 5 to 7 members
• Include Past Board Members and long-term, active members
• Do not include immediate past members of the Committee on Ministry, members of the board or their significant others.
The purpose of the team is to serve as a “brain trust” for the Interim Minister throughout the year on the history of the church and to assist with establishing meetings with leadership, etc.
Motion: Luther Elmore – Empower Michael West to put the Interim Ministry Transition Team together
Second: Margaret Borden
Discussion: None
Vote: All affirmative
Bridge Builders Report: The Action Planning Team (APT) Chair presented the updated Bridge Builders Report (BBR) in chronological order for items to be accomplished and responsibilities and with a graphical chart expressing this information (Appendix H). She expressed the need to bring this forward to the congregation and to begin implementation of it with it with all due haste. She called attention to the section on the justification for a consultant for the process. The Trustees discussed several ways to do so and language for doing so.
The Secretary spoke about the recent training session on Policy Governance (PG) that he had attended and noted that PG would address many of the items in the BBR. For example, PG also begins with establishing values-mission-vision and would require establishing policies addressing many of the governance issues in the BBR. He raised a concern that we not have separate groups addressing such issues but in different ways.
The President asked for some slight revisions in the format of the BBR that would provide clarity and the Chair of the APT agreed to revise the document with help and review from the President. The Trustees discussed the need to move forward with the BBR and adopt it as a board, along with ensuring that the move forward be consistent with adopting PG.
The secretary suggested the following resolution:
Resolved that:
A. We as the BoT express our extreme gratitude to the Action Planning Team for their outstanding work and fully endorse and commit to the issue areas and objectives set out in the report.
B. We hereby appoint a Policy Governance Planning and Implementation Team that will be charged with developing a plan for instituting Policy Governance (PG), including but not limited to the following specific actions:
1. Research and determine the resources that will be needed and the work plan that will be required to institute PG, beginning with a process to develop value/mission/vision/ends statements with all due haste and designed to maximize congregational participation and commitment.
2. By the August board meeting, identify any of the objectives in the BBR that would not be addressed through moving toward PG and any objectives that will need an interim process put into place during the time period before PG can be fully instituted.
3. Create a plan for educating the congregation on PG.
C. The initial PG Team will consist of Margaret Borden, Chris Jimmerson, and Brendan Sterne, the Executive Director and the Interim Minister. The PG team may recruit additional members if they determine it is needed.
D. We will present the BBR objectives to the congregation through all reasonable means, including but not limited to:
1. Publishing the BBR on the website.
2. Announcements during worship services
3. Articles in the newsletter and weekly announcements with links to the webpage
4. Schedule within one month a “Very Special Meet and Eat” or other such meeting invitation to the congregation for the APT to present the BBR objectives and the BoT to endorse and commit to them.
Motion: Eric Stimmel – Adopt the resolution as presented.
Second: Brendan Sterne
Discussion: There was no further discussion.
Vote: All affirmative.
The Secretary volunteered to take responsibility for making sure a Meet and Eat or other suitable congregational meeting to announce the BBR gets scheduled and for posting the BBR to the website as soon as the edited version is available.
Human Resources Committee: The President noted that the committee needed to be reactivated and that Sheila Gladstone would like to Chair it.
Motion: Chris Jimmerson — Reestablish the Human Resources committee and appoint Sheila Gladstone as Chair of the committee.
Second: Luther Elmore
Discussion: None
Vote: All Affirmative
Sponsorship of UU Fellowship for Ron Phares: The President reported that Ron Phares had requested the sponsorship of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin and gave a brief overview of what would be involved, noting it is minimal. A trustee noted that they did not have enough knowledge about Mr. Phares to make a decision
Motion: Michael West – Sponsor the fellowship for Ron Phares
Second: Brendan Sterne
Discussion: Several trustees noted the strong contributions Ron Phares has made to the church.
Vote: Affirmative – 9, Negative – 0, Abstain – 1 (Laura Wood)
Vacation Leave Policy Change: The ED presented a proposed change to the vacation leave policy (Appendix I) designed to prevent the future accrual of large amounts of staff vacation leave that had been occurring while fairly resolving current leave accruals.
Motion: Laura Wood – adopt the revised Vacation Leave Policy as presented.
Second: Jeff Hutchens
Discussion: None
Vote: All Affirmative
Recycling Issues: The ED presented a report (Appendix J) that recycling in the church had been started on a volunteer basis but that it was no longer assigned as a responsibility to any particular person or group. He requested that the board clarify role responsibility for recycling. Trustees expressed concern that such projects occur in the church through volunteers but that volunteer support wanes over time, leaving such projects to staff. The ED had suggested the following motion to address both the issues of responsibility and authority:
The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Board of Trustees hereby assigns to the executive director responsibility for creating and maintaining a viable program to recycle the paper, plastic, glass, and cans generated by church activities. The Board of Trustees furthermore trusts the executive director to assign this responsibility the appropriate level of priority and attention it deserves relative to the other tasks and responsibilities assigned to him, even if this means that the recycling program becomes inactive in the short-term.
Motion: Michael West – adopt the motion suggested by the ED.
Second: Brendan Sterne
Discussion: None
Vote: All affirmative
The President noted that there was an Executive Session on the agenda but that the meeting had reached its time limit.
Motion: Aaron Osmer – extend the meeting by 15 minutes
Second: Margaret Borden
Discussion: None
Vote: Affirmative – 9, Negative – 1, Abstain – 0
Executive Session: The Trustees entered Executive Session to discuss personnel issues and persons who were not trustees left the room, with the exception of the Executive Director who was needed to inform the discussion.
Adjourn: After the Executive Session and with no further business, the President adjourned the meeting at 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Chris Jimmerson
Secretary
July BoT Meeting Agenda and Supporting Materials (except for Appendix E below)
