Washington City/County Management Association
Annual Membership Meeting
Washington State Convention Center, Seattle
Monday, September 28, 2015
4:00 p.m.
MINUTES
1) Call to Order and Self Roll Call – Marilynne Beard called the meeting to order. Bob Larson, Luann Hopkins, Mark Hoppen, Lynn Nordby, Deborah Knight, Bob Stowe, Cindy Johnson-Reents, David Cline, Albert Tripp, Derek Matheson, Subir Mukerjee, Tracy Burrows, Dave Scott, Philip Morley, Eron Berg, Bryan Harrison, Greg Prothman, Logan Bahr, Rich Conrad, Duane Cole, Bob Gregory, Ron Bartels, Rob Wyman, Kevin Duggan, Rachel Bianchi, Regan Bolli, Bob Harrison, Anne Pflug, John Caulfield, Doug Schulze, Lloyd Halverson and Bob Jean were present.
2) Approval of Minutes – Minutes of the June 24, 2015 meeting were approved on a motion from Derek Matheson and Seconded by David Cline.
3) Report of the Secretary Treasurer
a. Financial Report - Marilynne Beard reported that the final accounting for the conference will be presented after all the sponsorships have been received and bills paid. Two large sponsorships (Comcast and Microsoft) are still outstanding.
4) Report of the Executive Board
a. Transition of Board President – Marilynne Beard recapped the WCMA accomplishments of 2014-15, including board committee clarification and the new newsletter format. She recommended that the dues structure be examined and that perhaps it was time to consider an update to the President’s trophy to reflect the new WCMA logo. She also complimented the membership for increased involvement in the organization culminating in the support for the ICMA conference here in Seattle.
b. She then turned the meeting over to new President Bob Larson who thanked her for her service as President and presented her with a plaque commemorating her term as President.
c. Board Election Results and Introduction of New Board Members - Newly elected Board members Subir Mukerjee, David Scott and Albert Trip were introduced along with Mike Thomas elected to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Randy Lewis.
d. Announcement of Open Committee Chair Positions – President Larson asked that any interested members contact him about chairing the Communication and Technology Committee.
5) Reports of Committees
a. Presentation of 2015 WCMA Scholarship – Cindy Johnson introduced the recipient of the WCMA scholarship for 2015-2016, Logan Bahr and presented him with a check from WCMA for his scholarship.
b. ICMA Report – Bob Harrison reported that so far he has been receiving a lot of positive comments about the ICMA Conference. ICMA has now surpassed a total of 10,000 members for the first time however the membership of Washington members in ICMA has declined. He urged members to reach out to their colleagues and employees and encourage them to become ICMA members. He also announced that the Cal-ICMA Coaching program will now be available nationwide as a result of a generous sponsorship from the ICMA Retirement Corporation (ICMA-RC). Also here in Washington the State Auditor’s Office has subsidized membership in ICMA Insights for any city or county wanting to join. The more that participate, the better the data collected for comparative analysis, benchmarking, etc. Finally he thanked WCMA for the opportunity to be on the ICMA board and reminded everyone that WCMA will have an opportunity to nominate a board member again next year if anyone is interested.
c. ICMA 2015 Host Committee Report – Kevin Duggan reported that the Seattle conference has the highest number of registered attendees although the total ICMA member registration is slightly below the record. He reminded members that ICMA will be going through a selection process for a new Executive Director during the coming year and encouraged everyone to give input into the process. He also thanked WCMA for adopting the updated Senior Advisor policy. He announced that ICMA-RC was also subsidizing the formation of ICMA student chapters at colleges and universities to make it easier for students interested in local government careers to participate.
d. ICMA Senior Advisor Report – The Past President, Marilynne Beard, will be coordinating the implementation of the newly adopted policy.
e. Legislative Committee – No Report
f. Conference Committee
i. 2016 NW Manager’s Spring Conference, March 29-April 1, 2016, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, WA
ii. 2016 Summer Conference, August 16-19, 2016, Marcus Whitman Hotel and Conference Center, Walla Walla, WA. The State Auditor’s Office has indicated a desire to participate based on the feedback from managers.
g. Communications and Technology Committee – No Report
h. International Committee
i. Report from Lloyd Halverson – Dave O’Leary reported on a very positive experience in China. Lloyd Halverson reported on the celebration in Poland of 25 years of local democracy and that he had also just done a presentation there on American models of local government professional management.
i. NW Next Gen – An updated mentoring brochure in conjunction with OCCMA is now available.
j. Form of Government Committee – The Council/Manager plan is on the November General Election ballot in Granite Falls.
6) Unfinished Business
a. Salary Survey Results - Lynn Nordby reported that in spite of the announcement, a reminder and a link on the WCMA web site we’ve set a record new low response rate so the results have not yet been compiled. This is the final call for participation. The survey will close October 15 with whatever we have.
7) New Business
a. AWC Report – Luann Hopkins reported that the AWC regional meetings will be limited to five at various locations around the state but that AWC will also be attending other events around the state as well. AWC honored several “City Champions” in the legislature as well as “Advocacy All-Stars” who did outstanding work presenting the needs of cities to the legislature. A new Pocket Guide to help with making the cities’ case on issues is out and the Legislative Committee will be meeting again in November and December. AWC expects that the shorter 2016 session will be used to lay groundwork for the 2017 session.
b. Bylaw Amendment – Term of Office for Board Members – Lynn Nordby presented a proposed amendment to the WCMA Constitution as recommended by the Board of Directors to clarify when the terms of office begin.
Article 6 Section 6 of the WCMA Constitution shall be amended to add: The term of office for newly elected officers and board members shall begin with the annual meeting without regard to whether or not an exact calendar year has elapsed since the previous annual meeting.
On a motion by Cindy Johnson, seconded by Deborah Knight the amendment was unanimously approved.
c. Request from Gwen Voelpel for Travel Assistance to ICMA Kansas City Conference Planning Committee – Cindy Johnson moved to approve the request. The motion was seconded by Marilynne Beard and approved unanimously.
d. Designation of Ad Hoc Committee to Review WCMA Dues Structure – David Scott agreed to chair the committee, Subir Mukerjee, Albert Tripp and Bob Larson will serve with support from Lynn Nordby.
e. 2015 Annual Board Retreat Agenda Topics
i. Ad Hoc Committee on Dues Report and Possible Approval
ii. 2016 Budget
iii. Approval of Committee Chair Appointments
iv. ICMA Vice President Process
v. 2015/2016 Board Work Plan
vi. Online Discussion Forum
vii. Membership
8) Communications (information only)
9) Upcoming Board Meetings
a. Annual Board of Directors Retreat, November 2015, Snoqualmie, date and time TBD
b. 2016 NW Managers Conference, March 29-April 1, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, WA day and time TBD
c. 2016 AWC Annual Conference, June 21-24, Everett, WA day and time TBD
10) Adjournment – The meeting adjourned at 5:00 so that retiring City Manager Joe Gavinski of Moses Lake could be honored for his nearly 37 years of service. Dick Zais acted as master of ceremonies, two Moses Lake councilmembers paid tribute to Joe and thanked him for his contributions to the success of the city during his tenure there.