Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg
Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg
Minutes of the Board of Trustees
June 8, 2017
Board members present: Paul Burnore, president; Laurie Clement, co-v-pres; Reggie Craig; Lori Price; Morgan Gresham; Rev. Jack Donovan, ex officio
Absent, excused: Jane Fanning; Linda Paul
Guests: Sally Carville, Treasurer; Andy Bragg, Treasurer elect; Howard Taylor, B & G; Rev. Karen Day, Community Minister
Paul called the meeting to order at 7:06pm. The group joined in reading the BOT Mission Statement.
Opening
Agenda approval – Reggie moved to approve, Lori seconded, agenda accepted.
Minister’s Report – see below
- A Pride Interfaith worship service at Eckerd College will be on 6/22.
- American Promise – first reading of the ordinance will be at the City Council on Thursday, 6/22 at 8:00am.
Treasurer’s Report – see below
- Sally noted a correction to the first line: after paying more bills, surplus is now just under $10,000 (not $17,000).
- Sally will post a request on Infonet for all 2016-17 bills to be in by July 30th.
- When the budget for 2016-17 was written, we were very optimistic but actually we have even more income than anticipated from new members, in-kind donations and RE.
- Some concerns of note: Board discretionary spending was extremely over budget for last year; need to find better categories for projects. B & G should be paying more bills from the Maintenance Reserve rather than the B & G budget. Security is a big question – so far have spent over $3,000 this year but only allocated $1400 for next year. Reggie said it’s from testing the fire alarm, Howard pointed out some false alarm responses, Laurie noted that we pay Ft. Knox to monitor alarm and fire even though we don’t use the alarm. Howard will review the contract and previous bills with Ft. Knox.
- The UUSP sales tax exemption expires in September. Sally will renew it.
- Sally asked Jack to leave so his bonus could be discussed. The exact amount of the surplus won’t be known until August but the bonus needs to be paid in this fiscal year. Jack’s contract calls for the bonus to be 50% of the surplus but not to exceed $5,000. Reggie moved that Paul and Sally will determine the expected surplus after paying the next round of bills and any minor adjustment can be made later. Laurie seconded this, motion accepted. Jack returned to the meeting.
Consent Agenda - see below for all reports
Minutes – Cannot be approved since they are not completed because the requested feedback on specific questions was only received from two members. Members now agreed that they preferred the version with more detail. Reggie moved to accept that version, Morgan seconded, Minutes approved. The Clerk urged the members to respond to initial drafts to approve them as well as to make changes.
Communications – Lori noted that there were items in Janeya’s report that needed discussion and, therefore, it shouldn’t be on the Consent Agenda. Morgan and Lori pointed out that the issues cannot be addressed without Janeya’s presence and involvement.
- It was decided to put the website issue on hold until Janeya could attend a meeting.
- The other issues raised by Janeya concern her responsibilities (see report). She wants to be responsible for the two primary areas and delete all the other detailed activities. Paul will send the original contract via email for BOT decision on re-focusing the Communication Coordinator’s duties.
The Minutes and remaining committee reports were approved and accepted.
Old Business
1- Paul would like to plan to hold an installation ceremony every year to introduce the new BOT members, elected leaders and committee chairs. It would also be a Thank You to outgoing BOT members, elected leaders and committee chairs. The BOT agreed to hold the ceremony on June 18th. (Note: In the days following the BOT meeting, the ceremony was re-scheduled for July 2nd.)
2- Parking lot offer
Wannemacher-Jensen had withdrawn their offer to buy Lot 1 but presented a new Letter of Intent just this morning: they will pay for paving the whole parking lot and offer the same price for Lot 1 but only if a decision can be made in 3 months (60 days for acceptance of LOI (vote) plus 30 days for close). If the BOT cannot give them a timely response, they will rescind the offer and move their business to a new location.
Laurie: we would be very remiss and fiscally irresponsible not to let the congregation know about this offer immediately. We can’t wait forever to get everyone’s approval on some decision. Paul: by not putting this to a vote we’re in effect making a decision to not accept the offer. The Bylaws call for a “voice vote”; why can’t that include telephone and Skype or other internet modalities. Paul will talk with Chuck Hinton as to whether the Bylaws could be interpreted to allow us to have a GoTo meeting set up for the whole congregation to participate in via computer or phone.
Morgan moved to present this latest offer to the congregation as soon as possible, including outlining the W-J timeline and the date by which we need the vote. Paul added that we plan to have Town Halls and then a Special Meeting to vote on this. Laurie: encourage people to email in their questions. After some discussion, it was decided to add to the motion that Paul will write a summary to preface the Letter of Intent which will be publicized on Infonet, Sunday bulletins, handouts, and possibly direct mailings. Morgan will set up an online Discussion Board Google Group. Laurie seconded the amended motion and it was approved.
3. 3-Year Plan update
Paul related that Courtney wishes to continue the effort with the 4-member core group but believes it should be expanded to include members to represent all interests. The team is planning a survey to learn what direction people want the church to go in and what’s important to them. Once the results are compiled, the team envisions having a listening period and then putting together the “Big Blocks”, the big sections of the plan (not the details). One of the Big Blocks would be a budget on how to pay for all the wonderful, new ideas. Courtney also wants to have a leadership retreat for all church leaders. The BOT agreed to have Courtney and the team continue moving ahead with their plans.
New Business
1- Paul will write a letter to Jane, on behalf on the BOT, thanking her for 6 years’ service. He also wished to thank Tee for her work. He extended a personal thank you to Sally for her years as “acting, temporary” Treasurer and the BOT gave her a round of applause.
2- BOT authorization to vote at GA
Jack is eligible to vote, as is Karen Day and Wes Stevens. Lori and Heather Jones will attend GA. Morgan made a motion that Lori and Heather be delegates, Reggie seconded, motion approved.
3- FAST Update
SJ Committee feels it is important for the BOT to voice approval for UUSP’s commitment to FAST. Lori made a motion of approval, Reggie seconded, motion approved.
4- Election of BOT president and v-president for 2017-18
After some discussion, Laurie made a motion to elect Paul as president and Morgan as vice-president, Reggie seconded, motion approved.
5- Follow up on past actions
At Paul’s request, Morgan had a list of actions from previous BOT meetings that had not been followed-up on.
- Get rid of debit card and get a credit card – Laurie has an application for Andy to fill out for Iberia Bank. This led into a discussion of appointing new signatories for checks. Andrew Bragg will be added, Jane Fanning and Lori Price removed, Paul Burnore, Lawrason Clement, and Michael Pohl will be kept on.
-Trespassing signs were to be reviewed monthly but that hasn’t been done. Reggie will call the Police Department for a report on their activities involving trespassing in our parking lot.
- Due to the time, Morgan did not continue presenting the list.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15pm
Respectfully submitted,
Dani Skrzypek
Clerk to the BOT
Action Items
1. Howard will review the contract and previous bills with Ft. Knox and present his findings to B & G for inclusion in their monthly report to the BOT.
2. Sally will renew the UUSP sales tax exemption.
3. Paul and Sally will determine the financial surplus and write the check for Jack’s bonus.
4. Paul will again invite Janeya to attend a BOT meeting.
5. Paul will email Janeya’s contract to the BOT for their decision on narrowing her duties.
6. Jack and Paul will work with the Worship Committee to hold an installation ceremony at the June 18th service.
7. Paul will talk to Chuck Hinton about interpretations of “voice vote” in the Bylaws.
8. Paul will write a summary as preface to the W-J Letter of Intent and will publish both in Infonet and the Sunday OOS.
9. Morgan will set up an online Discussion Board Google Group to handle discussions and questions about the latest parking lot offer.
10. Paul will write Thank You letters to Jane and Tee.
11. Andy will complete the credit card application process.
12. Reggie will contact the police department to obtain incidence reports for our parking lot.
Minister’s Monthly Report to the Board of Trustees
– June 8, 2017 -
ACTIVITIES - 5/11/17-6/8/17
1. Worship Services-Attendance: 5/14-84 (JD); 5/21- 82 (JD); 5/28- 72 (JD); 6/4- 85?(JD).
2. Other Ministerial Activities
a. Pastoral visits and consultations – 12
b. Tuesdays Meditation & Brown Bag Lunch– 7-10 attending.
c. Wednesdays Comparing Beliefs (Pinkola Estes Myths 6/7) ? attending
d. Finalized affiliation agreement with UU Community Minister Rev. Karen Day.
e. Meeting with ministerial inquirer Heather Jones (5/23).
f. Covenant Group leaders review and planning meeting (5/24).
g. Paul’s and Tim’s Chiapas presentation (5/18).
h. Meeting with Wannamacher Jensen (5/19).
i. UU’s Helping People pig roast fundraiser (5/20).
j. Met with Heather Jones and Sarah Craig to start new covenant group (5/30).
3. Church Business
a. Board meeting – 6/8.
b. All-Staff Meeting (Lisa, Jeri, Nic, Janeya) – 5/25.
c. President meeting – 5/18, 6/1.
d. Worship Committee – 6/6.
e. Membership Team – 6/1.
f. RE Committee – 5/16, 6/8.
g. RE coordinator meeting re 2017-2018 plans (6/6).
h. Caring Committee meeting (6/8).
g. Office Administrator meeting Tuesdays weekly.
4. Wider Community Activities
a. Women of Color Speak-Out – Quaker Meeting House, 5/19
b. Pride Interfaith Worship Service planning committee, 5/17, 6/8.
UP-COMING
a. Minister’s Study Leave week: 6/19-25.
b. UUA General Assembly, 6/21-6/25.
d. St Pete City Council 1st reading, regulation of dark money in elections – 6/22, 9:00am
e. Pride Week:
- Interfaith service at Eckerd College chapel, 6/22, 7:00pm;
- Parade, 6/24, dusk;
- Festival and booth, 6/25.
f. UUSP Quarterly Meditation Retreat, 7/15, 9:00-noon (tentative).
g. Minister’s Vacation 8/7-9/3.
Treasurer’s Report
At this point in our fiscal year, we have a healthy operating surplus of over $17,000.
Balance Sheet. Our checking account has a balance of over $32,000. Our designated funds represent $16,000 in liabilities and we have $21,250 in the Endowment trust fund which is being invested for us until we need it for operating expenses. We have over $9,000 that has been paid already toward next year’s pledges. We are in good financial health.
Income/Expenses. We are still bringing in income beyond our budget projections. Although we saw a deficit of over $2,000 for May, we can expect a surplus at year end.
With one month left in our fiscal year, here are some observations.
We have brought in more pledge income between July and May than we had budgeted for the entire year.
We have brought in over $1000 in in-kind donations (which were budgeted as zero), and that includes only those donations that were reported to us. We know that many of our members make donations that are not reported.
Although our religious education income is $7,000 less than budgeted, our religious education expense is $10,000 less than budgeted.
Our Board discretionary expense ($2500) is way over budget ($130). That represents several projects that were unanticipated at the time we prepared the budget, such as the lawyer for the parking lot project and the community outreach initiatives. Due to our unanticipated overpayment of pledges, we have been able to pay those expenses.
Our Building and Grounds repairs and maintenance expenses are nearly double what we budgeted for the year. On the other hand, our security expenses are nearly four times what we budgeted. Both of these are areas to keep watch on as we begin a new fiscal year.
SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE REPORT – JUNE 2017
Purpose: To coordinate the various events and activities of each social justice ministry and communicate our strategies with each other. Each ministry also meets separately to plan the details of their plans and actions. We use this time together to understand all that we are doing under the Social Justice umbrella and to ensure that we have no conflicting projects -- resource or date wise.
NEW BUSINESS
• FAST See separate attachment
UPDATES FROM SUBCOMMITTEES
AMERICAN PROMISE
A city ordinance to limit campaign donations to $5,000 and ban foreign donations to local campaigns will be discussed by City Council on June 22nd. Twenty other cities in Florida are exploring similar ordinances. Come observe the process on June 22nd. Learn how the officials we elected make decisions.
FARMWORKER/IMMIGRANT FAMILIES: Karen Coale chairs this subcommittee
Rucia, Mahoro and Gilbert check-in once a week from Dayton via WhatsApp. They seem to be adjusting well.
Twizere and his family have begun the process of appying for green cards. A former member of our subcommittee is an immigattion lawyer and is helping out pro-bono. They have their passport photos and the medical process is scheudled for next week in Tampa. Must be done by Homeland Security approved facilities and doctors. The cost is around $750 and will be charged to the SJ Operational Budget. Also expect government fees for the paperwork. These charges are late in the year because they could not apply until they had been here a year – which occured in December 2016. Then we had to look for a pro-bono lawyer to process their paperwork.
We are now spend more time supporting Santa and her daughter. We think that her three other children who are in France with her mother will be arriving this summer. The same immigration lawyer agreed to help with this situation. Last week Santa received an email from the US Embassy in France with three pages of instruction and a five page form to fill out. Incredible!
ADVOCACY — At the federal level – ICE raids and deportations have increased.
COFFEE AND CHOCOLATE: Karen Frank chairs this subcommittee
What exciting news! Profits from Karen’s work led us to fair trade coffee and chocolate – are being used to provide more ecological lights fixtures and LED bulbs at the Church. Installation has already begun. THANKS!!!
UUs HELPING PEOPLE (Unitarian Universalists Helping People): Reggie Craig chairs this subcommittee.
Family Promise: Nancy Clark leads this effort. We continue to need more volunteers/bodies from UUSP. We have three weeks remaining in 2017: July 2nd, Aug. 27th and Oct. 29th. If you are around sign up – it will be a memorable experience. Family Promise provides weekly lodging, food and assistance for homeless families. Get involved. Help out.
Friday Night Picnic: continues with volunteers from the community as well as our congregation. Serving around 90 people a nourishing meal weekly.
Pig Roast Fundraiser: Was a success with about 70 people attending, many new to our church
May 28th Sunday Service: Went well but long
Faith and Action for Strength Together (F.A.S.T.) Recommendation for Board Approval
Introduction: FAST is a congregational-based community organizing advocacy group in Pinellas County that includes over forty congregations who are racially and economically diverse. While most are Christian, other religious groups such as Muslims, Jews and Unitarian Universalists are represented. Each year through a participatory grassroots process, the group chooses three issues, researches and presents questions to elected officials. Last year’s issues were education, affordable housing and juvenile justice.
Past successes from 2005-2015 include influencing county officials to:
-support an affordable housing trust fund with over $19 million, creating 1469 new units.
-secure Penny for Pinellas dollars to continue to fund affordable housing each year.
-provide funding for full day Pre-K for any child whose parents are working and making less than 200% of poverty level. This has enabled over 7000 children to attend these programs.
-implement Positive Behavior Supports in 29 target schools to use positive interventions instead of punitive measures, which has reduced suspensions and arrests.
-provide mandatory training for school resource officers in alternatives to arrest.