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News at a Glanceby
Nancy Ellegate Note:
News
at a Glance is a summary of the
meetings of the HWFC Board of Directors. The HWFC
Board of Directors met on Wednesday, June 22 and Wednesday, July 20. June
Meeting Board
Business Board
officers for next year have been elected: President, Lynne Lekakis,
Vice- President,
Howard Brent; Treasurer, David Seaman; Secretary, Jim Monsonis. Board
liaisons
to Coop committees are as follows: Personnel, Lenore Gensburg; Finance,
David
Seaman and John Godfrey; Governance, Ray Ratte; Membership, Susan
Weinrich;
Nutrition, George Broeckx; Communications, Lynne Lekakis; Special
Events (including
planning for the Coop’s 30th anniversary), Howard Brent; Strategic
Planning,
Lynne Lekakis; Alternative Supply, Jim Monsonis. The Coop
now has insurance for Board members. Board
members will receive training on finances, and on conflict and
consensus. Starting
in September, the Board will move its regular meeting day to Tuesday.
Scheduled
dates through the end of the year are below. 2006 meeting dates have
not yet
been scheduled. Community
Room The
Community Room is being cleaned up. The Collective Management Team is
drafting
a policy for the use of the room. A proposal will be presented soon. Front-of-Store
Display There was a
discussion of the display of Board members’ pictures at the entrance to
the
Coop. It was suggested and agreed that the display be changed. By using
smaller
photos, we could also post the cooperative principles in this space. Summer
Issues The problem
of lack of cashiers during the summer was noted. Personnel The
employee grievance process was discussed. The Collective Management
Team was asked
for feedback on the various tools used in staff evaluations. Some
results were
considered counterintuitive and are being adjusted. Governance A meeting
between several Board members and the Governance committee had been
held to
delineate areas of responsibility. While a number of issues were
clarified, the
Board and the committee have agreed to disagree on how autonomous the
Governance committee should be regarding bylaws revision. The
Governance committee
does not see itself as a bylaws revision committee, but does see itself
as particularly
responsible for such revisions and sees itself as having the right to
propose changes
independent of the Board. There will be further discussions on this. Executive
Session The Board
met in executive session at the end of the meeting. July
Meeting Governance No one
seems to have a copy of the rules regarding referenda that were used in
the past.
The Governance committee offered to draft a new set and the Board
agreed, asking
them to base these on past practice. These will be forwarded to
Membership committee
for review and then to the Board. The Governance committee will also
check
further for a copy of the previous rules. Meat/Fish
Referendum Given the
need to draft a new referendum procedure, such rules may not be in
place by
September for the upcoming meat/fish vote. It was decided to ask the
Food and
Products Policy committee to develop a procedure and timeline
specifically for
this occasion. The overall referendum policy being drafted by the
Governance committee
and reviewed by the Membership committee and the Board can be
considered at
greater length. Hours The method
Board members should use to report their work hours was reviewed and
fine
tuned. One Coop
member has asked about work hours for time spent organizing opposition
to
selling meat and fish. The Board noted that as a matter of policy, work
hours
should not be awarded retroactively for activity done on a member’s own
initiative. If the member wishes to work on these issues for credit,
this person
can see about opportunities with the Food and Product Manual
subcommittee of
the Strategic Planning committee. Strategic
Planning It was
agreed that it is time to reconvene the full Strategic Planning
committee,
review and reassess past goals, and plan a direction for the future
that can be
presented to the membership. Benefits Tuition
reimbursement is being discussed by several committees and by the
Collective Management
Team. The Team and the Personnel committee will come up with a proposal
to
discuss with the Finance committee, which will look at the financial
implications of such a benefit. Finance Coupons do
turn a profit, so any consideration of whether or not to accept coupons
is not
a financial issue, although other issues may be involved. Personnel The
Personnel committee will start looking for new members, especially
members who
are neither on the Board or part of the staff. The Operations and
Administrative Coordinator noted that the Coop has a new kind of staff
member:
members who come in to fill a time slot and get paid for doing so —
that is,
per diem workers. Personnel policy will want to reflect this at some
point. Membership The
Membership committee noted that they want to make the November
Membership Dinner
a free event, since this event is intended to express appreciation. Any
contributions to expenses should be on a voluntary basis. The Board
agreed. Executive
Session The Board
met in Executive Session at the end of the meeting. Minutes Minutes of
all meetings are available at the Coop. Minutes of the most recent
meeting are
posted on the bulletin board. Upcoming
Meetings Board
meetings are scheduled for the following Tuesdays: September 20,
October 18,
November 15 and December 20. Meetings are held at 5:30 pm at the Coop.
Date,
time and location can change, so anyone planning to attend should
confirm these
meetings closer to the date. |
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