 |
 |
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
Meeting Notes Minutes of the Business Meeting of March 16, 2006 1. The meeting began shortly after 7 pm with Paddy Lane serving as facilitator. 2. The minutes of the February Business Meeting were approved. 3. Treasurer's Report: $99.45 in the bank, $600 in sponsorship of the Heinberg lecture still not received from Hartwick College. When received it will go to Ed Lentz, who has temporarily covered this payment to Richard Heinberg. 4. Annual Meeting Review – There was considerable discussion of this February meeting, with a view toward improving the format for the future. Comments on the first half of the program (the panel on Clean Elections) were generally very positive: the organization, the quality of the speakers, the importance of the topic, and the success of the moderator in keeping speakers to their time limit all received high marks. One comment (somewhat critical?) was that the session seemed geared to liberal Democrats rather than to the larger electorate. It was generally agreed that the second half of the program was less successful, primarily because it suffered from too little time. There was much discussion on how better, and more efficiently, to present work group reports at the annual meeting. One suggestion was to do this via posters and handouts, with a table for each work group as in a community fair, rather than verbal reports. It was also suggested that work groups be the sole focus of the second half of the annual meeting, i.e. that breakout discussion groups and discussion topics be dispensed with. We also discussed the difficulty of getting new names on our list if we do not sign people in at the door. However, no decisions for the future were taken – this was just a review and idea session. 5. Outreach discussion – Concerns were expressed about the geographical size of CfD's membership area and the difficulty of many outlying members making it to business meeting and other meetings in Oneonta. Suggestions that a Delaware County subsection of CfD be formed to better serve those in the county were met with statements that even that county alone is so far-flung that it would be difficult to find a convenient place to hold meetings of a county-wide subsection. Those present from Delaware County agreed to do some networking at the upcoming war protest in Delhi on March 18. 6. Paddy Lane noted that both she and Ed Lentz would have difficulty devoting as much time as in the past to leading CfD, and she appealed for others to volunteer as facilitators. 7. Membership and fundraising – There were laments about stagnation in the active membership of CfD (even though attendance at this business meeting was the highest ever), and the lack of involvement by college personnel was discussed with regret. Paddy described an opportunity for CfD at Hartwick College: on Wednesday, April 19 we have been invited to be part of a panel of civic organizations at a Hartwick open house from 4:30 to 5:30 pm. A volunteer is needed to represent CfD at this event. Walter vom Saal offered to set up a CfD website, and his offer was received with enthusiasm. With respect to fundraising needs and possibilities, the following ideas were put forward: a) a musical event that would attract young people; b) voluntary membership fees (rather than dues, which were considered likely to reduce our membership); (c) voluntary admission fees to events such as our annual meetings, perhaps in the form of tickets sold for a 50-50 raffle. No decisions were made; these issues will be revisited. 8. Spring Event – Linda Seifreid's proposal for a forum on the proposed biomass energy plant in Oneonta generated much discussion, and it was eventually decided to focus this event on the question of local vs. outside ownership of energy-generating facilities (both biomass and wind). Linda S. and Leon Kalmus agreed to develop plans for this event. 9. Endorsement of candidates for the upcoming primary elections: The pros and cons of such endorsement were briefly debated, with more discussion deferred until the next meeting. 10. Announcements – a) Gene Marner discussed initial ideas for a regional conference on trying to organize a local sustainable answer to the peak oil problem. b) Joe Richardson invited interested parties to attend the workshop on Clean Elections being sponsored by Citizen Action in Albany on March 25. (Note: two CfD members, Mark and Emily VanLaeys, did attend.) 11. Adjournment of a very full meeting: 9:20 pm Joe Richardson, Recorder
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- updated 8/31/06 |