{"id":3150,"date":"2010-04-23T10:46:28","date_gmt":"2010-04-23T16:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austinuu.org\/wp2013\/?p=3150"},"modified":"2010-04-23T10:46:28","modified_gmt":"2010-04-23T16:46:28","slug":"march-2010-board-of-trustees-meeting-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/march-2010-board-of-trustees-meeting-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"March 2010 Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 6:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First UU Church of Austin, 4700 Grover, Austin, TX\u00a0 78756 in Room 13<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Attendance:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Trustees<\/span>:\u00a0 Nell Newton, President; Eric Stimmel, Vice-President; Luther Elmore, Treasurer; Chris Jimmerson, Secretary; Sheila Gladstone, Immediate Past President (Ex-Officio); Margaret Borden; Derek Howard; Aaron Osmer, Youth Trustee; Brendan Sterne; Michael West; Laura Wood.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Executive Team<\/span>:\u00a0 Janet Newman, Interim Minister (Ex-Officio); Sean Hale, Executive Director (Ex-Officio)<\/p>\n

Staff Present:<\/span> Brent Baldwin, Director of Music<\/p>\n

Visitors Present:<\/span> Kathleen Ellis, Stephanie (Canada) Gill, Kae McLaughlin, Jeanette Swenson, Daesene Willman<\/p>\n

Call to Order<\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The President called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Adoption of Agenda<\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Trustees present adopted the agenda (Appendix A, page 2).<\/p>\n

Motion:<\/strong> Brendan Sterne\u2013 Adopt the agenda.<\/p>\n

Second:<\/strong> Michael West<\/p>\n

Discussion: <\/strong>None<\/p>\n

Vote:<\/strong> All affirmative<\/p>\n

Reading and Lighting of the Chalice<\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The trustees read the board covenant (Appendix A, Page 1) in unison and the President lit the high-tech chalice.<\/p>\n

Visitor\u2019s Forum<\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Daesene Willman thanked the trustees for being servant leaders and for supporting freeze nights.<\/p>\n

Stephanie (Canada) Gill presented the YEW GROVE Pagan Interfaith brochure (Appendix B) and announced the Ostara Ritual & Potluck on March 21 at 2 p.m. She also announced the Grand Re-Opening of the library that will include a book sale and potluck on Saturday, April 17. Book donations will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the sale will begin at 11 a.m. and go until 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

Consent Agenda Items<\/h1>\n

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The trustees had read the consent agenda items prior to the meeting. The President explained that the board would begin following a new procedure for the consent agenda to begin practicing some of the governance procedures from the recent board training on governance and to leave more time on meeting agendas to hold intentional discussion and exercises regarding governance. She noted that:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Consent agenda reports will be due to the secretary by noon on the Friday 11 days before the board meeting (one week earlier than they have been due)<\/li>\n
  • Trustees will read the reports and direct any questions for clarification to the authors of the reports. Any policy issues brought up by the reports should be communicated to the President and the Secretary.<\/li>\n
  • At the actual meeting, the consent agenda items will be adopted but not discussed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Motion: <\/strong>Chris Jimmerson \u2013 adopt the consent agenda items.<\/p>\n

    Second: <\/strong>Brendan Sterne<\/p>\n

    Discussion: <\/strong>A trustee asked that if a policy issue were raised by a report in the consent agenda whether it would be put on the discussion and action section of the agenda that month. The President replied that it would depend upon the urgency of the issue.<\/p>\n

    Vote: <\/strong>All Affirmative<\/p>\n

    Discussion and Action Items<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    <\/strong><\/p>\n

    Nominations Committee<\/span>: Jeanette Swenson from the Nominations Committee presented the slate for trustees being nominated for the next board year, as well as the Nominating Committee\u2019s suggestion for board appointees of committee chairs (Appendix C). She noted that the Nominations Committee had taken an expanded role this year by conducting leadership training. This seemed to lead to more candidates and those candidates being more prepared and enthusiastic. There were more candidates than positions available. She urged the continuation of leadership development and noted that the openness of the nominating process had also helped.<\/p>\n

    The Trustees discussed the process for the appointment of the Youth Trustee. The current Youth Trustee noted that no choice had been made yet and that the Youth Trustee process is separate and occurs in September.<\/p>\n

    Treasurer: <\/span>The President informed the Trustees that she had accepted the resignation of Luther Elmore as Treasurer due to personal reasons. She thanked him for his amazing work as Treasurer, as did the other trustees. She noted that Kae McLaughlin, Treasurer nominee for the next board year, had agreed to serve as Treasurer for the remainder of the current board year should the board appoint her.<\/p>\n

    Motion:<\/strong> Brendan Sterne \u2013 Appoint Kae McLaughlin as Treasurer for the remainder of the current board year<\/p>\n

    Second:<\/strong> Chris Jimmerson<\/p>\n

    Discussion:<\/strong> None<\/p>\n

    Vote:<\/strong> All Affirmative<\/p>\n

    Review of New Financial Statements Format (Appendix A, Page 18):<\/span> The Executive Director (ED) gave an overview of the financial statements in their new format, noting that the summary page provides key information at the top, followed by more detailed notes for those who prefer them. He gave an overview of the balance sheet and the Profit and Loss Budget Versus Actual Summary, noting that the workbook sent to Trustees also contains a sheet with more details for those who want them.<\/p>\n

    A Trustee noted a concern about plate collections being lower than anticipated and referenced an article that addressed \u201cskimming\u201d of collections within churches. The ED expressed that pledge collections were higher than anticipated and that more church members may be marking their plate donations as going toward their pledges. He also noted that there is always more than one person involved in accounting for plate collections. Luther Elmore also noted that collections for non-profits are separate now rather than split from one collection and that this has worked well but would keep the non-profit out of the church collection numbers as it had been in prior years.<\/p>\n

    A Trustee asked about whom to address any question about the Financial Statements. The ED responded that such questions should begin with him.<\/p>\n

    Discussion with Kathleen Ellis, District Ministerial Settlement Representative:<\/span> The President welcomed Reverend Ellis, who summarized and highlighted information in materials she had brought regarding the settled minister search process (Appendix D). She highlighted the following from the materials:<\/p>\n