Minutes of the Annual Membership Meeting
Bayside Conference Room - Pier 1,
1st DRAFT
The meeting began at
Board members in attendance in addition to President Sauro: Fred Allardyce, Morton Beebe, Bill Benkavitch, Jonathan Middlebrook, Carol Parlette, Lee Radner, Felix Rodriguez, Linda Schwartz, Diana Taylor.
Board member who was absent: Joe Wyman.
New Board nominees also in attendance: Joseph Blue, Anthony Gantner, Connie Hazel, Mary Lou Licwinko.
1. Welcome from President. When the meeting was called to order, there were ten Board members in attendance.
President Sauro welcomed the attendees. He explained the rules for the election of
the new Board, as there are 15 candidates for the 11 positions. A quorum must vote – 65 votes are needed to
make this election legal. If there are
any ballots left on the table, they will be mailed. The BCNA member will be given a week to
return the ballot. Jan Holloway has
agreed to count the votes.
2. Special Guest: President of the Board of Supervisors, David Chiu. President Chiu addressed the membership. He covered several topics, a summary of which is provided:
He is a huge believer in the health and vitality of neighborhood associations.
The City budget crisis - there is a lot going on at City Hall with a half-billion dollar shortfall, half of which is in the discretionary part of the budget. There are 6 weeks to balance the budget; every area will be cut (police, fire, seniors, homeless, rec & park, etc.).
The 40+ labor unions have been asked to give back wage concessions. President Chiu also would like to discuss a 10 – 15% tax increase.
He has proposed a ballot initiative for a 2 year budget cycle and a 5 year forecast – a charter amendment.
He would like to hear what the people of
He would like to ‘jump start’ the local economy; it is over-regulated with 15 departments involved. The business tax is regressive.
Public Transit; $30 million is going into Muni. There will be a fare increase and service cuts.
There are 20 – 25 major development projects in the District. He stated his view on what is happening now as part of the historical perspective. There are pitched battles between the neighborhoods and the developers. The neighborhoods spend thousands of hours and the developers spend millions of dollars. The result is a stalemate. It hasn’t worked – the neighborhood needs a consensus. There is a moratorium at this time.
Because of the 8
Supervisor Chiu then took questions from the BCNA membership.
-Violence on buses. He has initiated a policy change for more police on Muni.
-8 Washington/Sewall
-When asked if he would support a ballot initiative on
city-wide rezoning for open space, he said he is open to see it, if it is
pushed. He also said he has not asked
his colleagues about rezoning from 84 feet to 40 feet [on the waterfront].
In closing, President Chiu stated that the SF Port has a deficit. He is in favor of a bond measure so the Port does not sell off the Seawall lots and other assets to the highest bidder.
3. Approval of Minutes. The minutes of the 2008 Annual Meeting – available on the BCNA website, were approved unanimously.
4. Treasurer’s Report. Carol Parlette presented the Treasurer’s Report. BCNA currently has $4,913.42 on its Balance Sheet. In the last 12 months, BCNA had income of $5,490.00 and expenses of $7,063.00 for a deficit of $1,572.00. However, $500.00 of this was a late bill and should have been expended in a prior year, so BCNA technically has a deficit of only a little over $1000.00. Ms. Parlette further stated the BCNA fiscal year is the calendar year, and the budget has $6,250.00 in income and expenses. Most of the dues come in the fall, so it is hard to tell at this point how this year is progressing.
She made two final points: 1) the newsletter expense takes up a large part of the budget, hence the effort to get more members to accept it in email format; 2) contributions are down this year, so feel free to donate – maybe next year when the economy’s better.
5. Committee Reports.
a. Waterfront Action Committee. Diana Taylor told the members about the work being done by her committee regarding forums on development along the waterfront, including the Northeast Embarcadero Study currently being coordinated by the SF Planning Department. She stated that both she and Carol Parlette are on the Northeast Waterfront Action Group (NEWAG). She said she would like to develop ad hoc committees such as parking & transportation and work with other neighborhood organizations. She encouraged other BCNA members to get involved.
b. Membership Committee. Linda Schwartz told the membership of the efforts to get more people involved. She talked about the new E-Membership initiative and asked the members to ‘…talk to your neighbors, reach out and make a difference.’
c. Newsletter Committee. President Sauro told the membership about the BCNA Newsletter. He thanked June Osterberg for her fine work in writing many of the articles. He stated that there are 4 Newsletters per year and it is the largest expense for the Association, but it is a really important part of BCNA as it keeps the membership informed on what is happening in the neighborhood. He said that the Committee is looking to streamline the Newsletter including sending it vial email.
d. By-Laws Revision Committee. President Sauro stated that the current By-Laws have lots of inconsistencies and are in need of review and update. Jonathan Middlebrook has offered to chair the Committee. President Sauro asked the membership if anyone wanted to help – someone with legal experience – and that their input would be welcomed.
6. Quorum Call for Board Election.
President Sauro addressed the membership about the election of the new Board. There are 15 candidates for the 11 Board positions. The initial count of membership present at the Annual Meeting showed that there is not a Quorum. Therefore, members present should vote and turn in their ballot at the end of the meeting. Members not present would be mailed a ballot which must be returned by June 17th. Jan Holloway has agreed to receive and count the ballots.
Each of the candidates present at the meeting addressed the membership. The order was alphabetical. The candidates each introduced themselves, told the membership something about their background and stated their reasons for wanting to be elected to the Board. President Sauro made a statement on behalf of Joe Wyman, who was not present.
7. New Business.
a.
8. Next Annual Meeting. The next BCNA Annual Meeting is tentatively scheduled
for
8. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Benkavitch
Secretary