DRAFT FOR APPROVAL
Minutes of the Board Meeting on June 16, 2010, Rockridge Branch Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland.
Board members present: Tom Ayres (chair), Leo Dubose, Morgan Kanninen, Sylvia Paull, Bill Pinkham, Rick Rickard, Ole Ohlsson, Susan Stewart
Staff: Carrie Harvilla
Tom Ayres convened the meeting, and the board approved the April minutes. He also handed out a list of EBBC Advocacy activities and contacts. Rick Rickard, treasurer, reported we have a $17,000 deficit in our projected budget, mainly because the membership renewals seems to be lower than what was projected, the map sales are well below projected, and also because it took extra time to convert our newsletter to digital (and to move from montly to quarterly for the printed newsletter), which resulted in an extra $4,000 expense. As of now, Bike to Work Day will result in a $5,000 profit.
We have borrowed $20,000 from our map fund, but we have an inventory of six years worth of maps.
The Berkeley Bike Station, where we will relocate our office, opens July 1 but we are still at the Fruitvale location until we sign a contract for the new location. The rent will be a little less than it is now and we will have more space.
Rick, who is also acting executive director, said the services we had secured with Alliance Strategic Planning are on hold until the coalition determines the status of the executive director position. We have several options to an executive director, including a restructured board, changes in staff structure, and merging with other organizations. For the near future, there are no plans to fill the executive director vacancy.
The Staff Relations Committee chair, Morgan Kanninen, made a report and said that ideally, it would require over $60,000 per year to secure a professional executive director. An ad hoc Fundraising Committee – Bill Pinkham, Sylvia Paull, Susan Stewart, Dave Campbell, and Morgan — was formed and will meet to investigate ways to raise these funds. Carrie Harvilla said she has heard from several possible grant writers and she was encouraged to have them talk to us further. Leo Dubose suggested we poll members for those with grant writing skills.
Negotiations with Richmond Spokes for a valet bike parking contract were tabled for the next board meeting. It was voted and unanimously agreed to set the next board meeting for July 21.
Minutes of the General Meeting on June 16, 2010.
After introductions were made, Carrie Harvilla asked for volunteers to table several bicycle events this month, including Oaklavia, the first Sunday streets event in California, on June 27. Bill Pinkham reported on an interactive map produced by the Richmond BPAC (www.richmondbpac.org) and progress on a Richmond bike plan.
Leo Dubose asked for a general vote on when the EBBC would like to participate in the opening of the new bike lane on the east span of Bay Bridge: when it’s first opened although the bike lane will not be completed, or in 2014, when the bike lane is completed. We voted to participate in both launches.
Isaac Rodriguez, member of Cycles of Change and the EBBC education coordinator, spoke about the collaborative power of grassroots and community bicycle groups, such as Spokeland, which promotes cycling in East Oakland, and ColectiVelo, which breaks down barriers to bike repair by offering Spanish-language repair services to East Oakland. Stefanie from Spokeland said a recent fundraiser helped raise enough money to apply for nonprofit status. Isaac also cited various other bike support and repair nonprofits, including Richmond Spokes, Rock Paper Scissors, the Crucible, the Bikery, and Moving Bike in what he calls a growing movement to get bicycles accepted as a way of life. Morgan said that, as a coalition, the EBBC needs to reach out and include these grassroots groups in our activities.
Leo, who chairs the Membership Committee, said that in order to double our membership to 5,000 members, we need to increase our efforts. Tabling local farmers’ markets has been successful, he reported, and Carrie said that she has a kit for signing up new members and setting up tables to anyone who would like to help us recruit new members.