Board Minutes for May 25, 2010

Board Members Present: Fran Brazzell, Patrice Davison, the Rev. Diane Dowgiert, Marion Leonard, Chaz McBride, John Schaefer, Linda Selsor

Board Members Absent: Ed Savard

Members Present: David Burks, Margot Garcia, Chris Wallace, Mickey Dowling

Purpose/Agenda Item	Action/Result	Person(s) Responsible	Due Date/ Completed
Transition, Chalice Lighting &Opening Remarks	Rev. Dowgiert opened the meeting with a reading of the “Task of the Religious Community” by Mark Morrison-Reed	Rev. Dowgiert
Consent Item: Minutes	MOTION to approve the April 27, 2010 minutes was seconded and passed.	Linda Selsor
Resignation	Fran Brazzell read a letter from Ed Savard in which he resigned from the board, the church and withdrew his pledge. MOTION to accept Ed Savard’s resignation was seconded and passed with 1 abstention. A letter will be sent thanking him for his service.	Linda Selsor
Follow Up Items	Follow up items completed include: 1. Letter of thanks to Lisa McDaniels Hutchings 2. E-mail thanking Mike Greenbaum for his service 3. E-mail to Carolyn Cooper thanking her for her service 4. Letter to James Welch advising him of rescinded membership 5. OWL and YRUU accounts have been set up Cash policies need to go on June agenda	Linda Selsor
Informational: Minister’s & ET Performance Reports	1. While the costs of unemployment expenses in the event of a layoff were calculated, the cost of purchasing unemployment insurance needs to be determined. ET will follow-up with the insurance carrier. 2. Now that Ed Savard has resigned, the status of development of life enrichment workshops needs to be determined. ET will follow up with Richard Brodesky.	ET ET
Consent: Support of District/National Resolutions	UUA General Assembly (GA) in Phoenix: There have been evolving developments regarding whether or not GA should be held in Phoenix given passage of SB 1070. The PSWD resolution, supported by the UUCT board, called upon the UUA to investigate whether or not GA should be pulled from Phoenix. Right after the annual district meeting, the district board of trustees held a conference call with all ministers and board presidents of UUA churches in Arizona. The consensus of the call was that it was too early to pull GA out of Phoenix, there was work to be done, and they didn’t want to cause more harm to the state. Shortly after that call, the UUA met and decided to direct the UUA General Assembly planning committee to consider boycotting the state. In a subsequent cluster meeting, ministers, religious educators and music directors from Arizona and Nevada churches took a unanimous stand against the boycott out of concern for the economic impact on the state and those most needy in the state. They felt their moral and religious presence in Arizona in opposition to SB1070 would have a greater impact than a boycott. Rev. Dowgiert was asking for the board’s support of the cluster position. MOTION seconded and unanimously passed supporting the cluster’s position to keep General Assembly in Phoenix in 2012
Informational: Archive Reorganization	As a part of UUCT’s growth initiative, the Rev. Charles Gaines has been compiling historical information to track trends. He would like the board’s permission to reorganize archives, to get clear a system in place, and to determine what gets kept and for how long. The treasurer cautioned that any reorganization and retention plan take into account legal requirements for retention of financial records; those involved in church finances will want input in the process. She also recommended that he consult with Susan Call and Darlene Mathews, who wrote the church history. Retention and archiving of electronic records should also be included. The board was grateful for his offer and agreed that he could look at documents in order to prepare recommendations for the board. The board asked Rev. Gaines to present a more fleshed out proposal at a board meeting before proceeding on the actual reorganization. One outcome will be development of an archiving and retention policy. Linda Selsor agreed to provide a sample business records retention policy from another not for profit.	Fran Brazzell Linda Selsor
Consent: Rev. Johnson Minister Emeritus Status	Follow up work is needed now that the congregation voted to confirm minister emeritus status on Rev. Johnson. The annual meeting motion needs to go to UUA in Boston for placement in Rev. Johnson’s permanent file. Linda Selsor agreed to send the motion to Fran Brazzell. Fran Brazzell will send the motion to Boston Margot Garcia agreed to work on planning the formal ceremony acknowledging confirmation of the status and will ask Darlene Mathews if she would be willing to help. A gift is traditionally given as a token of congregation’s regard—in the past this has typically been a significant financial contribution. Fran Brazzell will work with Margot Garcia and Darlene on a gift.	Linda Selsor Fran Brazzell Margot Garcia Fran Brazzell
Consent Emergency Fund Policies	Linda Selsor shared the proposed policy for use of the congregationally restricted emergency funds. The policy, developed by the Endowment Committee, was approved, with revision, by the Finance Committee. MOTION seconded and unanimously passed to adopt proposed policy for use of congregation restricted emergency fund.
Informational: Financial Report	Pledges are $18,000 below expectations. Cash flow was down to $4 or 5,000 at end of week. Room rental income continues strong. The church spent $20,000 more in April than it took in. This was due in part to three pay periods and the loss of snow bird pledges. It is the time of year to start paying close attention and monitoring cash flow weekly. The FY 11 budget is now on the website. Last year there was an article in the newsletter asking members to pre-pay pledges for summer. This will be done in June because the fiscal year starts in July. Notices will be sent asking members to complete pledges through the end of the year. When asked about rental income creating a problem with the IRS, Margot noted that it is less than 10 percent of the budget so we are OK right now. She is still trying to get money out of Vanguard Fund. The board president will need to go with Margot to complete the transaction.	Margot Garcia
Consent: Stewardship Committee	$301,508 has been pledged from 190 pledging units. This is down from 199 last year. We came out higher than last year even with the lower number of pledging units. The average pledge was around $1,500. Although a number of pledges were lost this year, almost all were gained back through 35 new pledges this year. 43 members have not pledged. UUCT pays UUA and PSWD dues for a lot of people that are not making a financial commitment to the church. A letter, signed by Chris Wallace, Fran Brazzell and Mary Wiese will go out asking them what they want to do. The letter asks them to pay the minimum and to be member, to become a friend or become an inactive member. The Stewardship Committee has agreed to stay on; they just need to confirm ongoing membership with Steve Cox. Lessons learned from the pledge campaign are as follows: 1. Establish a year round committee; 2. Set a dollar goal; 3. Hold up budget priorities or initiatives more clearly and boldly; 4. Use technology--e-mail and website better; 5. Be able to access the database better when information is needed; 6. Deal realistically with pseudo members carried on the books; and 7. Explore better ways of doing things such as cottage parties. John Schaefer commended Chris Wallace for her work as Stewardship Campaign Chair. Rev. Dowgiert attended a district workshop that presented a radical change regarding stewardship campaigns which represents a paradigm shift away from an annual campaign. An item regarding how to handle money pledged at the annual meeting in support of paying our UUA fair share will be placed on the agenda for next month’s meeting.	Fran Brazzell
Consent: Memorial Garden Naming	A proposal was made to name the memorial garden in honor of Barbara Tegethoff. The Memorial Garden is already named in honor of Gladys Ferrini who contributed the original money for the wall. The board asked the Building and Grounds Committee to explore options and come back to them with suggestions for an appropriate memorial in Barbara’s memory for the garden.	Building and Grounds committee.
Consent: Ad Hoc Bylaws Committee	Linda Selsor has lined up members for the Ad Hoc Committee including David Burks, Carolyn Cooper, JD Garcia, Jim Periale and Carolyn Saunders. She hoped to convene the first meeting of the group in July or August. Rev. Dowgiert indicated that Chris Wallace would serve as the liaison to the committee in her absence.
Informational: Strategic Plan Final Report	A member requested a report on the status of our last strategic plan. Fran Brazzell asked for recommendations from the board. The board recommended preparation of a brief, bullet point summary of what did and did not get accomplished. Fran Brazzell agreed to prepare the summary.	Fran Brazzell
Transition/Closing Remarks	Linda Selsor will not be in attendance at the June meeting. Patrice Davison agreed to take the June minutes. Linda agreed to e-mail the minutes to Patrice. Rev. Dowgiert closed the meeting reminding all that the way it often hard, the path is seldom clear but you are not alone and we are not alone.	Linda Selsor