Board Meeting Minutes
November 17, 2022
Recorded by Sally Bell
5:33 pm Call to Order
October 2022 Board meeting minutes approved.
Treasurer’s Report (Ingrid)
City Club received a quarterly statement from the Oregon Department of Employment indicating that former staff has applied for unemployment. Will process and support as needed.
Ingrid is on-boarding City Club’s new bookkeeper for December 2022 – great news.
Ingrid will have a card to sign for Erin and gifts at 11/18 program. Board requested an opportunity to talk with Erin and hear her thoughts after long tenure with City Club.
Note: Ingrid has shared her upcoming work schedule and is always available by cell.
President’s Report (Kaarin)
Managing Director Job Announcement is now public – very exciting step!
Sally has volunteered to lead the hiring process; has already received positive outreach and had coffee with one potential candidate. Has another call this week with an additional interested candidate. The posted date to begin interviews is December 5, and we hope to have 1st and 2nd round interviews complete by year-end.
Questions: Marilyn asked about the lightning round for fundraising and how that took place. Kaarin explained the two weeks of work that she, Sally, and Andrew undertook. The hope is that this short fundraising effort is a stepping stone to reconnect with outstanding sponsors in late 2022. City Club has several sponsors that we would like to renew and reconnect with before year-end. Given what City Club has recently learned about our reach and success with KLCC, we can better convey the direct benefits that a City Club sponsorship offers to businesses.
Discussion: Board is receiving good feedback on salary range in the job description. The hope was to develop a position that is competitive with local nonprofit leadership and aligned to the level of work and responsibilities described. Previous staffing levels were not competitive and a great deal of work has gone into trying to better position the organization.
Proposed Interview Format:
1st round interviews: Sally/Kaarin/Andrew
2nd round interviews: Sally/Kaarin/Andrew + Ingrid/Joel K as available
Bylaws may constrain the hiring process. The earliest hiring date would be 12/16 following Board meeting currently scheduled on 12/15.
Additional Discussion: It’s been asked if an applicant could also do other work concurrently with the Managing Director role. We are open to seeing what comes forward in the applicants. Agree that this is a great opportunity for the right person. Get a good reputation as a stepping stone, not a bad place for us as an organization. This is that job where you get to work in the local community.
We may need an additional Board meetings, perhaps on December 9 after our forum. Look for calendar invites for those additional board meetings.
Please everyone: Continue helping to recruit for this role. There may be some great candidates who are interested and just now cycling out of other employment or 2022 contract work. Thank you to the Board for their support and work over these past several months. There is enthusiasm among community members and the Program Committee for our trajectory.
December 2022 Venue Update: City Club will stay at First United Methodist Church for December 2 and December 9 programs. Programs will start at 1:30pm to avoid organ practice that conflicts with recording. Board also had extended discussion regarding the location of the “Gifts to the City Program” and reception slated for December 16. In the end, the Board decided to move a “light-frame” version of our typical A/V to The Davis to host this program and reception in one location on December 16 from 12:00-1:30pm.
Background: “Gifting speakers” for this program must be present to give, so encouraging in-person attendance (and hosting a holiday party that doesn’t require relocating to a reception space) makes sense. Staying in one location also makes it easier for the Gifters to attend and stay for a short reception in the middle of the work day. Kaarin wants to see if we can gather together all of City Club’s partners, sponsors, and members.
Ralph agreed that running the program from The Davis would be possible.
Note that “light-frame A/V” would be audio and maybe video, no Zoom and livestream TBD. Could do livestream with a smart phone on a tripod.
Board also discussed the possibility of asking 5th Street about moving earlier in December, but determined it would be trying to do too much too fast. Still several issues to resolve.
Invitations: The Board will be assigned people for personal outreach to invite to the Gift of the City event. Kaarin with work with Marilyn and Ralph to position for e-newsletter and a report for campaign supporters from 2022.
2023 Venue: Proposal to move to 5th Street Market as outlined in Board packet. The Board reviewed a proposal from Brian Obie and staff to relocate City Club to the Maple Room at Inn @ the 5th Street Market in 2023. Kaarin thanked Kitty for bringing City Club’s proposal to Brian Obie; it’s a generous partnership for him to support and also mutually beneficial. We will need to resolve catering plan, parking at Oregon Electric Station lot, and A/V storage and set-up, plus PR.
Lunch: We have many options for catering and lunch. Will need to decide what to provide for lunch and how much to charge. Opportunities to highlight small eateries at the Market is a great opportunity. It could be as easy as contracting with Cafe Yumm, or as diverse as saying that we are going to work with 12 different eateries, and rotate through lunch options as the year progresses. Mary Leighton has been asked to be the “Lunch Champion” and help small businesses put themselves out there. Charge for lunch will likely be $15.
A/V: Finding A/V storage will be important. Obie team will help find a solution on-site. They understand this is necessary.
Scheduling: If there was a conflict, they would give City Club 90-days notice and would help find us another location–very helpful in many ways.
Discussion: Marilyn noted it’s a great opportunity to get us back into a venue that’s Downtown and does City Club justice. One extraordinary outcome is how generous this offer is and that City Club can afford the costs associated with set-up and laundry within our current budget line item. Truly an outstanding outcome to be moving into a more central venue with dedicated support and not have costs change.
Capacity: The Maple Room will only seat 40 people. Kaarin looks forward to the moment when the room is full and we need to work on a different solution. We still have work to do to get City Club back as a habit.
Appreciation of 5th Street: Board recommendation is to mention the location at the start of each program and make recommendations for co-marketing and leverage the existing agreement to add any other sponsorship/benefits to Obie staff. Kaarin will follow-up to learn how 5th Street would like to be acknowledged.
Will need to coordinate PR to broadcast this change and celebrate.
The Venue Committee will need to take this effort forward (Marti, Joel, Ralph, Mary) can help champion the space and Kaarin can bow out.
Motion: Marilyn (1st) and Andrew (2nd) to support motion to move City Club to 5th Street Market per the outlined agreement in 2023. Board approves.
Next steps: Kaarin will update and thank First United Methodist Church, let them know City Club is relocating in 2023.
Committee Reports:
Media: Marilyn shared a written report. We followed up and have two potential backup sound people. She will have some follow ups in the next 4 weeks. She will also make an announcement for Giving Tuesday.
Development: Andrew will coordinate Giving Tuesday verbiage with the Development Committee.
Program: Following up with Governor-elect Tina Kotek and Congresswoman-elect Val Hoyle re: January 2023 programs, before MLK. Lots of interesting program discussions to come. Please let the Program Committee know what kinds of conversations should be on the agenda for Jan/Feb to support our new venue launch.
Close: Kaarin thrilled: It only took 5 months, but we are going to end a meeting on time! Thanked Board for efforts; we have a lot going on and are making some great progress.
Meeting adjourned, 6:53 pm, a full 7 minutes early!
