Board of Directors

Regular Meeting -- December 6, 2008

The Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 1:30 pm. The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the meeting: President Kathy Lee, Treasurer Pam Chambers. and Robert Gardner. The following director was absent: Vice President and Secretary Leslie Harvey. Robert McGarey (Executive Director) was also present at the meeting.

Reading of Mission Statement and Approval of Minutes

The Mission Statement was read aloud at the beginning of the meeting. Minutes from the previous meeting were read aloud and approved.

President's Report

Works in progress. Kathy is still planning on calling Andrew at Habibi's Hutch about parking and the Tumblebus. Progress is still being made on GoodwheelChairs. And Kathy was pleased that Bob had sent out the email blast about the February conference.

Treasurer's Report

Garage Apartment. Chris Martin has moved out of the garage apartment due to nonpayment of rent. However, he hasn't yet cleared out his belongings. The Board discussed taking him to small claims court for the $1100 he owes. Robert will call and talk with him. There are some new prospects to rent the space, and Robert and Bob are interviewing them.

Grants. Pam discussed the grant-writing organization. Robert will call the Hogg Foundation to assess that as an option for us.

Executive Assistant's Report

Achievements. Robert reported that he has arranged a gardening event this month, with Dylan in charge, and that he is teaching a Thai Massage class this month too. He and Sterling repaired the roof in front of the Imaginary Room, and Bill Edelbrock removed some limbs that were blocking the view of the GoodwheelChairs sign on Medical Parkway. Robert will continue to post ads for the Tumblebus on Craigslist.

Executive Director's Report

Office Move. Bob reported that the move, as well as his recent trips, have caused him to fall behind on a number of things, and fortunately that backlog is now abating, especially since Robert is now back in town.

Finances. Bob has hired Dylan Burress to do 40 hours of gardening work here at the Center for $400 in December. Bingo is doing well, having produced $7,000 this month. He will be attending the AHP board meeting in January in Cancun and possibly the polyamory conference in Philadelphia in February, both of which will hopefully indirectly result in some additional income for the Center. He is also continuing to work on refinancing the mortgage.

Tagline. The Center needs a short statement about our mission, both for use when talking with people informally and for submission to the federations of charities that we are planning to apply to. Building on a tagline suggested by Bob, the board came up with the following: "Creating sustainable community through workshops and other exciting services that tap the Creativity, the Love and the Playfulness of the Human Spirit." We will review and update this at the next meeting if necessary.

Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at around 3 pm.

Minutes submitted by Kathy Lee, President, December 6, 2008.