City Club of Eugene
Board meeting 12/15/2023
Attendees: Kaarin Knudson (President), Andrew Kalloch (President Elect), Kitty Piercy (Past President) Ingrid Kessler (Treasurer), Sandy Smalley (Secretary), Sally Bell, Marilyn Milne, Miles Pendleton, Ralph Pledger, Marti Ravits
Meeting called to order at 5:33 pm.
Welcome (Kaarin) and agenda review.
Kaarin confirmed that the Executive Committee meets on the 2nd Thursday of the month.
Minutes from last meeting approved.
Treasurer’s report (Ingrid):
The transfer of our bookkeepers from Erin to Tim Spencer went smoothly. The Columbia Bank website is frequently checked, and we have adequate liquid funds in our account. There will be a full set of financials in January.
Erin used QuickBooks for 25 years, but they have now moved to a cloud-based system. Ingrid requests permission to move to that system for $38.50/month ($462/year). It can be accessed by the President, Treasurer and Bookkeeper. Kaarin offered a suggestion to look at “Tech Soup,” available only to nonprofits, to see if we can access for less. Ingrid will investigate.
President’s report (Kaarin):
This is our last meeting of 2022.
This year has seen major progress on many fronts:
Strategic Planning
Staffing changes
Updated budget presentation
Changes to our AV team and increased AV capacity
New bookkeeper
New Managing Director
New venue
CCE continues to deliver weekly programs, though it is under capacity. We estimate KLCC’s airing of our programs reaches 6,000 listeners, while 100-300 view on YouTube.
Kaarin acknowledged Jim Dotson, Ralph Pledger, Paul Thompson and Marilyn Milne for their work to make this happen. Joel Korin chairs the committee, Mary Leighton takes notes, Ralph Pledger, Kaarin and Andrew Kalloch all coordinate programs, as well as perform their other roles.
In 2023, we need to focus on increasing participation on the Program Committee.
It was brought to our attention that all our committees are understaffed.
There was discussion about a way to thank Joel and the entire Program Committee.
Kaarin gave a hiring update. Thanks to Andrew and Sally’s extra work, they identified four excellent candidates for the new position of Managing Director. They, along with Kaarin, conducted 15-20 minute Zoom interviewees with all four candidates, and narrowed the field to two. Ingrid joined the interview process for these two candidates. Both can perform the work, but also brought vision for the future of CCE. Randi Bowers-Payne had an excellent interview. She brings a great skill set, capacity, vision and focus. Her resume was provided for our review.
The interview committee would like to offer Randi the position at a salary of $50,000, which is reasonable based on her skill set. We advertised the salary as $44,500 – $51,500. At the end of the fiscal year (end of September), we will need to reassess. We will need successful fundraising to provide an increased salary. Randi has not had fundraising experience, but she is comfortable with that role. On her part, Randi wants a 90-day plan from the Board for her work. The starting date for employment is January 4, 2023.
A motion to offer the position of Managing Director of CCE to Randi Bowers-Payne was passed unanimously.
Our meeting venue has moved from FUMC to the Maple Room at the Inn at the 5th. Our first meeting of the year (1/6/2023) will be held there. Brian Obie, owner of the Inn, would like to do a welcome announcement. Kaarin will coordinate. Marti Ravits has volunteered to get a welcoming committee in place. Andrew and Ralph have assured us that there is good storage for our equipment. Set up will be done for us, and can change weekly if needed. Access to the Maple Room is from both the hotel lobby and the outside of 5th Street Market. Sandy has volunteered to get another sandwich board to put outside the second entrance. Parking may be limited, so a permit system may be needed. That will be decided this week.
Thanks to Mary Leighton for coordinating lunches and Gifts to the City.
Discussion of lunches was held. We are obligated to use one of the 17 vendors at the Market District, but a request was made to feature BIPOC businesses.
Committee Reports:
Media Committee (Marilyn):
Marilyn is working with the Eugene Weekly to highlight our upcoming program.
She reports that our podcasts have had 75 downloads in the last 30 days.
She will be out of town for the January 20 meeting, and needs a backup editor. Actually, she needs a backup in general, as does Ralph.
AV Committee (Ralph):
He created a new password for our Boomerang account.
He also went through our old office and found an iPad, a Samsung tablet and a third computer. The office is located on 8th and Pearl St near the Palace Bakery.
Program Committee (Joel):
Roz Stein has volunteered to serve on the Membership Committee.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Sandy Smalley, Secretary