OMVNA General Meeting Minutes (Monday, December 6, 2010)
(1) Call to Order
- Chair Laura Lewis called the meeting to order at 7:10PM.
(2) Approval of minutes
- At Laura Lewis’s request, Robert Cox gave an overview of the minutes from the November 2010 steering committee meeting.
- David Lewis made a motion to approve these minutes. Robert Cox seconded. The minutes were approved by a unanimous vote of those steering committee members present.
(3) Election of steering committee members and CERT subcommittee chair for 2011
- Laura Lewis explained the procedure by which the nominating committee had selected the candidates whose names appeared on the ballot. She noted that anyone submitting an application for a particular position was given the opportunity to have his or her name on the ballot, but that only 7 people had expressed an interest in being on the ballot. Each of these people was listed for a position. The position of newsletter editor remained open, as there were no applicants.
- Laura then asked if anyone else wanted to nominate candidates from the floor. As there were no nominations from the floor. Aaron Grossman made a motion to close nominations. This was seconded by Annette Nielsen. The slate of candidates was then approved from the floor by a unanimous voice vote.
- Here is a list of those elected and their positions:
i. David Lewis, Chair
ii. Robert Cox, Vice Chair
iii. Jack Perkins, Secretary
iv. Manny Ramirez, Treasurer
v. Carter Coleman, Community Liaison
vi. Deb Keller, At-Large #1
vii. Glenda Crespo, At-Large #2
- A request was made from the floor to have the candidates introduce themselves. Laura Lewis mentioned that the candidates had been asked to write 2 minute speeches, to be delivered in case there were alternate candidates for their positions nominated from the floor. At Laura’s suggestion, the candidates then introduced themselves by delivering their 2 minute speeches.
(4) Budget discussion
- Overview. Carter Coleman provided an overview of OMVNA’s accomplishments for 2011. These are summarized at https://www.omvna.org/2010-in-review/.
- Newsletter. Carter Coleman noted that the proposed budget for 2011 planned for a newsletter with a number of pages and frequency equal to that in 2009. This meant that six issues would be published rather than the eight that were published in 2010. Deb Keller stated that a goal was to make the newsletter break-even financially. Aaron Grossman noted with the right proportion of ads to articles, the newsletter would be able to make money as it did in the past. Deb Keller questioned the value of continuing to publish the newsletter. She stated that the OMVNA web site was a more effective way of reaching out to the community.
- Tax status. Tony Intravaia asked what OMVNA’s current tax status was. Carter Coleman discussed how OMVNA’s new tax status as a 501c4 organization simplified the filing of OMVNA’s taxes. Tony then asked about OMVNA’s California tax status. Laura Lewis replied that, for the purpose of filing California state taxes, OMVNA was already considered a non-profit organization.
- Current balance. Laura Lewis noted that with $10,000 in the bank, OMVNA’s reserves are much larger than those of other neighborhood associations. She added that the neighborhood could be really proud of this. She also thanked Kim Copher for guiding those new to the steering committee in 2010.
(5) Reports of steering committee members
- Chair. Laura Lewis noted the unfortunate coincidence of the election date and that of the holiday tree lighting ceremony, and said that she regretted any inconvenience it had caused.
- Vice Chair. Kim Copher, who was stepping down from the steering committee, thanked the community for a great six years. She also thanked Ken Rosenberg for recruiting her.
- Newsletter. Deb Keller noted that the newsletter would be delivered within the next week.
- d. Downtown Liaison.
i. Davis Lewis remarked that the issue with the road between the scheduled Prometheus development on Evelyn Avenue and the Classic Communities development to the east of it was in the process of being resolved.
ii. David Lewis spoke briefly about the co-housing project proposed at 445 Calderon Ave., and said he was favorably impressed with it.
iii. David noted that the Pearson house at 902 Villa St. was likely to be the site of the proposed history museum on the Cuesta Park annex. An office building will be built on the site. Laura Lewis noted that the developer was working closely with Chez TJ, the neighbor to the west to make this work for them. Kim Copher noted that at this point, this was just a development proposal, and that it still needed to go through the full approval process.
- Treasurer. Carter Coleman announced that he was interested in recruiting people to work on a community television show on KMVT, Mountain View’s community access channel. After appropriate training, those producing the show would get access to all of the KMVT equipment. The cost would be only $70 per show. Carter said that to make this happen, he would need to recruit 10 people to operate the set as well as those on the show. Carter encouraged interested people to contact him.
- CERT. Aaron Grossman asked whether OMVNA would be interested in donating $100 to “Save the Bay”. He noted that OMVNA did not make this contribution in 2010, but had done that in previous years. Carter asked Aaron to take the matter up with the newly elected treasurer Manny Ramirez.
(6) Concluding remarks
- Annette Nielsen said she wished to thank everyone for their participation and planning of OMVNA events, especially the ice cream social and dancing at Alberto’s.
- Laura Lewis noted that OMVNA always needs volunteers to be a success, and encouraged new people to get involved.
(7) Adjournment
- The meeting was adjourned at 9:10PM.
— Recorded by Robert Cox, OMVNA Secretary
