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The meeting was called to order by President, Jan Robinson at 5:40 p.m., following an early planning session and pot luck supper.
Present were: Jan Robinson, Leslie Lawson, Larry Sullivan, Don Holznagel, Sandy Sterling, Lyleth Winther, Jeanette Hopkins, Cathy Lauer, Loretta Welsh, Sandi Whiteman, Bruce Conrad, Sue Lydic, Gerry Lenzen, Jim Morrow, Kena Jacobs, and William Smith.
Leslie announced that Hwy 26 Westbound will be closed on Saturday, April 14th and that persons attending the Spring Seminar at the Beaverton Elks will need to find an alternate way to get there. She also called for volunteers to help the book vendor set up the tables and arrange his display of sale items.
The Minutes of the last meeting were presented and Loretta made a motion, 2nd by Sue to accept the minutes as presented. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report Jeanette will email her report to the Board members and a copy will be filed in the Minutes notebook.
Surplus Sales Loretta advertised 4 items of old and unusable printshop machinery on Craig’s List. Jim Morrow reported that one item, the Tabbing machine, was sold for $25.00.
Corporate Sponsorships Emmert International has donated a vacation package of 4 days and 3 nights at Mazatlan. This is an estimated value of $2100. Jeanette told us that she can’t post it on EBay because she needs to be a registered agent in order to place items for bid. The cost to become registered is about $75. She will look into other avenues to dispose of the donation
DNA Bruce reported on misunderstandings between the members of the DNA group and some Research Assistants regarding the book check-out policy of the GFO. The rules established are that books may be checked out for a period of 2 weeks, and that they may be renewed again for another 2 weeks if there is no one waiting to see the book. If after the 4 weeks, no one has requested the book, the member may physically bring the book back to the library and check it out again to start the check-out and renewal process again. The question came up regarding the book if GFO decides it no longer wants to keep the book, can it be returned to the person who donated it. The answer is “NO”. Once a book is donated, it becomes the property of GFO and a tax deduction has been allowed on the item.
Hall of Fame Don presented his revised policy for nominations to the Hall of Fame in a more exact format. He then made a motion that we accept the revisions. Leslie 2nd that we accept the revised policy. Discussion was called for and Lyleth suggested that “by year” should be removed from the statement “List of services, activities, positions and accomplishments by year” because the nomination is secret until the award is given, and in some cases, only the nominee would be able to provide the exact year. Lyleth moved, 2nd by Don, that we accept the amended statement. Gerry questioned the paragraph stating “Prior to the award presentation, an official biography will be prepared from the data submitted in the nomination and will be presented to the awardee for verification and/or corrections.” He suggested that “Prior” should be replaced with “after”, and “prior to publication of the award” should be inserted after the word “presentation”. Also, the words “and/or corrections” should be deleted because verification implies that. Motion was made by Larry and 2nd by Sandy S. to accept the policy. To the Schedule for nomination process, July was added to the timetable as the date for publication of the official biography. Sue moved to accept the policy as amended. Loretta 2nd the motion and the motion carried.
Spending Policy Jan will make a presentation on the spending policy at GFO at next month’s Board meeting.
FGS Hall of Fame Lyleth read her nominations for the FGS/Ruth Bishop Award.
GFO Hall of Fame The nomination for the GFO Hall of Fame award was also presented.
Lyleth made a motion that we accept the FGS and GFO nominations, 2nd by Loretta. Motion passed.
GFO Website Gerry and Larry would like us to check out a list of websites for other genealogy societies and compare them to our website. How can we improve our website to make it easier to use?
National Endowment for the Humanities Jan brought up for discussion the feasibility of applying for this grant. If accepted, this money would not be available until 2008. The deadline for applying is May 15th 2007. It was decided that there is not enough time to properly prepare an application, and there were no volunteers to take on the project. This grant is offered every year and we will start to put together an application for next year.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m.
Submitted by
Cathy Lauer, Secretary
The meeting was called to order at 6:20 p.m. by President, Jan Robinson, following a planning meeting to revise the By-laws.
Present were: Jan Robinson, Leslie Lawson, Don Holznagel, Lyleth Winther, Jeanette Hopkins, Cathy Lauer, Sandi Whiteman, Bruce Conrad, Gerry Lenzen, Kena Jacobs, and William Smith.
Minutes were presented and corrections noted. Leslie moved to accept the minutes as corrected, 2nd by Jeanette. Minutes were approved.
GFO Spending Policy Jan distributed copies of a proposed policy and said that revisions need to be done. For lack of time, the proposal will be tabled until the June Board Meeting.
First Families Lyleth reported that we have 4 approved applications, 1 that is ready for approval, and 2 that have requested information.
Treasurer’s Report Jeanette presented her spreadsheet of accounts. She does not have all the final receipts for April, and she will submit a corrected report when all the totals are received. She told us that the market has been good for the Endowment funds and Money Market funds. Leslie made a motion, 2nd by Don that we accept the report. The motion carried.
New Business
Education/Seminar Leslie has found two possible locations for the Fall Seminar. (1) Milwaukie Elks: $800 rent, $10 per person for lunch. (2) Tabor Heights Methodist Church: $100 rent, we would provide our own lunch menu and our own sound system.
It was decided that we would choose the Elks location even though it was more expensive because most of the people attending the Spring seminar at the Beaverton Elks were pleased with the buffet lunch, and the hot meal would be a selling point to get more persons to attend. The Milwaukie Elks is a very large facility, and we discussed having a Genealogy Fair with other genealogy societies in the Tri-county area, with a maximum of 10 display tables on a 1st come, 1st served basis. Kena will be chairman of a committee to work out the details. Jan offered to be on the committee with Kena. We also discussed having a donation jar on the break tables for cookies, coffee, and other snack items. Heritage Creations is available for book and other miscellaneous sales. A member rate and a non-member rate was suggested for the seminar reservation. Further discussion will be held during the summer to finalize the plans.
Reading Room Photo Copier Sandi reported that there has been a problem with the toner for the copier. The problem doesn’t appear to be with the cartridge. Jeanette will see if her husband can look at the copier.
GFO Budget for 2007-2008 Jeanette presented a proposed budget and we discussed which numbers worked and which ones needed to be revised. She will submit the revisions to the Board. The need for budgeting for technology and software is important to consider in order to be a more viable research library. Don suggested that we write up a 3-year plan for technology and software and present it to the membership informing them what we would like to do. He would like to form a committee of 4 persons to determine what we need to do to reach our goals.
Volunteers Recognition We entertained a few ideas of how to thank our volunteers at the June membership meeting. Lyleth suggested giving a 10% discount for Forum publications to any member who has volunteered in the past year.
Bylaws To be continued next month.
Extraction Projects Bruce reported that there has been some talk about some extraction projects that are not being cleared with the Extraction committee. The Board is not aware of any projects that are being discussed. Bruce will follow up with Loretta to see what she is referring to.
Marketing Deferred until June.
Election of Officers Ballot No change in the By-Laws
Public Service Announcement Bruce will report later when he is able to contact the person. He has submitted the following outline that explains the procedure to produce an item for the media.
Getting on the Air
Portland Community Media is dedicated to promoting broad participation in civic and cultural life by encouraging effective use and understanding of community media. As a nonprofit corporation, PCM receives primary funding through a contract for services with the City of Portland. These funds allow PCM to provide training, equipment and airtime to members of the general public and nonprofit groups who would like to utilize television media to share their message with the community.
There are three different ways to reach our audience:
Leslie also told us about another source for Public Service announcements for websites. She is working with Michelle and will give us more details.
Reading Room Hours It has become evident that there is a shortage of volunteers to fill all the required time slots. We discussed having summer hours, but the consensus was that this would be too confusing to the patrons because new brochures advertising our hours have just recently been distributed. We need to try harder to get volunteers to cover the desk. Lyleth reported that there may be a “possible” new coordinator.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Submitted by:
Cathy Lauer
Secretary
The meeting was call to order at 5:45 by President Jan Robinson following an early planning session to rewrite the By-Laws.
Present were: Jan Robinson, Leslie Lawson, Larry Sullivan, Don Holznagel, Sandy Sterling, Jeanette Hopkins, Cathy Lauer, Loretta Welsh, Sandi Whiteman, CR Hanna, Sue Lydic, Gerry Lenzen, Kena Jacobs, William Smith and Marj Enneking.
The minutes were presented and there were no corrections. Don moved that we accept the minutes as written, 2nd by Leslie. Motion passed.
Old Business:
Spending policy Jan presented the April 11, 2007 draft of the spending policy. Leslie made a motion that we accept the policy as written, 2nd by Sue. Discussion was called for and after clarification of wording regarding the approval of certain expenditures, the motion passed.
Door Keys Jan and Don discussed the need to return all outside door keys from individuals who are no longer on the Board, or who have no major responsibility for access to the building during closed hours. There should be a written criteria detailing who may have keys. Members who feel they have a need for keyed access to the outside front door can request one according to the criteria. Jim Morrow's key assignment list should be located. The membership should be queried for those who have keys. Keys can be collected or kept by the assigned member according to the criteria. Then Don and Jan can reallocate the keys to those new members who meet the published criteria for need.
Sandi Whiteman led a short discussion about changing the library door code each year. Leslie said that her husband, Lew Lawson, knows how to dismantle and change the code. [Just for information, that coded door access box that has to be dismantled to be recoded costs over a hundred dollars. [The version that allows for easy external recoding costs several hundred dollars more.]
New Business:
Software for Treasurer A vote by email of the GFO Board approved a motion to purchase new software for the Treasurer. Jeanette will search for the best price for new software... She has a budget of $150, but hopes to get it at a reduced price. Jan reported that she went to the safe deposit box to view it’s contents and she was able to find the original 501(c)(3) documents that Jeanette needs to get the non-profit price. Jan suggested that there needs to be a written procedure determining what items are important to be in the safe deposit box. There are lots of old items that should be removed and placed with the Historian. (Currently Sandi Whiteman has several boxes of historical materials in the library workroom awaiting a Historian to compile and organize the materials). Jan also recommended changing the location of the safe deposit box to a location on the east side of Portland where it is more accessible and where there is free parking. Sandy S. and Jeanette will work with Don to find a better location and Sandy Sterling and Jeanette will draft a list of recommended items to have in the safe deposit box along with a set of retention schedules for the materials in the safe deposit box.
Technology Don will appoint a committee to oversee all technology issues. He has named Rex, William, Marty, and Larry to this task.
Non-GFO Groups Don has been approached by two separate groups who are showing an interest in using the Higgins Room for their meetings.
We don’t have a written policy about allowing outside groups to use our facilities, however the Board discussed this in March 2007 and a draft was written at that time. We first have to vote whether or not we want to allow non-GFO groups. Our two current non-GFO groups, Portland Chapter DAR and Roots TMG, will be “grandfathered in” because of the length of time they have been allowed to meet at GFO and because the leaders of both groups are active GFO members.
Sue made a motion, 2nd by Don that we should consider allowing outside groups to meet in the Higgins Room. Motion passed.
Don moved that we accept the March 2007 Draft as the policy, and it was 2nd by Sandy. Motion passed. The policy reads, “The Forum may choose to provide other groups and organizations with meeting space in the Higgins Room or the library research area on a one-time or recurring basis, based on a written request to the Forum President. The Board may choose to offer such access either free or for a usage fee. Approval of a request will depend on the degree to which the request satisfies Board concerns regarding criteria listed in the procedures.” Sandy S., Marj, and Sandi W. will work on developing a procedure for use of the Higgins Room by outside groups.
Budget Jeanette presented her spreadsheets for the fiscal year. Sue made a motion to accept the reports, and it was 2nd by Leslie. Approved. Gerry reported that the Milwaukie Elks have confirmed our reservation to hold the Fall Seminar on October 6, 2007 at their building. The menu will include 2 hot dishes and 3 salads. Kena will work with Jan to arrange a “Mini Family History Faire” with about 10 display tables.
Dues and Free Mondays Discussions have been postponed to a later time. Don would like us to work on the “Strategy for moving forward” before we make any changes. Our Vision Statement is “to be a premier genealogy society” and we must plan how we are to get there. He believes the most effective timetable would be a 3-year plan. Over the next 3 months we will form committees to talk about implementing the ideas.
Ancestry A previous discussion from the Board by email determined that GFO should consider subscribing to Ancestry for one year as an incentive to bring more patrons into the library. A motion was made by Jeanette and 2nd by Sandy S. that we subscribe before June 30th. Motion passed.
ISBN Numbers Loretta said she has begun to assign numbers to items.
Survey/Questionaire Sue is working on a list of questions to present to the membership. She is using a previous paper as a guide and reported that it seems to be sufficient to use again.
Information Tables Sandy S. has made contact with the Scottish Highland Games event planners to see about having a table to advertise our society.
Hall of Fame Award Loretta will present to Julie Kidd her award as our Hall of Fame recipient next Friday at lunch.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
Submitted by
Cathy Lauer
Secretary GFO