Board Minutes – April 9, 2009

Minutes submitted by Lisa Mastny

 

Four Corners Green Living Expo

Werner noted that several speakers had been invited to the Green Economy Forum, including: Rob Dietz (Center for Advancment of a Steady-State Society), Randy Udall, and maybe Ellen Roberts. He said there will also be a regional sustainability gathering, which Janna Six is coming for. He noted that Rob hasn’t requested an honorarium, and we are only paying his expenses. The Green Economy Forum will be on Saturday at 11 AM, the, Janna Six roundtable discussion at 1:30 PM (the first of several across Colorado), and then the Randy Udall keynote at 6:30 PM.

Werner assigned board members to contact different local environmental groups. He also said he is hoping that each board member will be able to sell six tickets to the event.
 

Kristen handed out Green Expo posters to distribute and said things are moving forward at full speed. Carol said they have about 65 exhibitors signed up right now, on topics from solar to green building, a clothing swap, etc. She said many people want to do talks, but there is not enough time. In addition to workshops, there will be two forums as well as various programs (TAG community clothing swap; bike recyclery, Discovery Museum kids corner, food vendors, music, Fort Lewis cow drop. She said the entry fee is $2 and they will be advertising via radio promos, posters, cards, website, banners, Maria’s Booksop window, and the Bresnan guide. She said she sees this as an opportunity to get the SASCO name out.
 

Marcus recommended making a handout with the times of all of our committee meetings that we could distribute. He said the exhibit booth will be 10 by 10 feet, with a cloth “wall.”
 

Marcus asked how the Expo is looking financially. Carol said that some exhibitors are nonprofit and couldn’t afford to pay, and some are giving in-kind donations. She said they have raised about $12K in sponsors and $10K in exhibitors. Marcus asked whether they will break even. Carol said they will still see—this is only the first year for this, so next year should be easier. She said the response from exhibitors has been overwhelming, and that they are really trying to make the event diverse, with not too narrow a focus. She said she wants this to be a hub in the future, to “pull in the soccer mom.” She said people have been asking where they can go to find info on green buildings, other resources, etc. She said even the city of Santa Fe has contacted them, since they want to maybe do something like this in their community.
 

Carol said “this is a party, and SASCO is the host.” She said we need people telling everyone what SASCO does, etc. She will be preparing name badges labeled with “SASCO Board.”
 

Kristen said that Heather Gregory is in charge of volunteers, and passed around a schedule for volunteer sign-up. She said that on Saturday, they need people for set-up, registration, and alcohol control, as well as a workshop director and “floaters.” She said they have enough people for evening already. Also, they need help with Friday afternoon set-up between 2 and 6 PM.

Werner suggested that we create a team to discuss tabling for the event. He said we could create a list of activities and also use the local food poster, sustainability books. Dick said he could bring a box of Gunter Pauli books to sell, and Lisa said she could possibly sell Worldwatch materials. Denise said she could bring several SOS signs on sticks. Carolyn offered her office for collecting the materials: 160 East 12th, next to Stonehouse Subs, 2nd floor of Gallant Realty. Dick suggested that we create a three-side poster that we could set up for any booth.

Werner said he will leave tickets at Carolyn’s office, and Carol will bring them by on Friday so people can distribute them next week. Marcus said he can try to sell some at FLC SkyFest, from 1–6 PM at Buckley Park.

Sara provided an update on the regional sustainability gathering. She said they are aiming for Sunday morning at 11 AM, for a minimum of 1.5 hours. She said the event will include local reps from around the region talking about different ways we could collaborate for funding. She said the Governor’s Energy Office is coming to Durango on April 15 to talk about stimulus fund opportunities. Dick said he will be attending. Werner said he will talk to Kristen about arranging a space. 

Werner said he will be the lead person for Expo questions. Sara offered to be the lead for Regional meeting questions. Werner said he will fax a volunteer sign-up sheet to Kristen.

Carolyn reiterated that this needs to be a good event for it to be prosperous in the future.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Sustainable Local Economic Development (SLED)

Marcus said there are two main items for discussion. He said the first is the issue of pro bono legal services from Rabouin/Zeman group. The offer is structured at 5 hours per month for LOCAL, but any time left can go to SASCO, then to members of LOCAL. He said the hours do not roll over—we either use it or lose it. He said we need to line up issues and figure out when we would want them dealt with. He suggested that maybe the Executuve Committee could put together a list of things that SASCO might use that time for. He said the agreement only runs through December and that LOCAL will probably use the hours in April, May, and June but not necessarily later in the year.

Denise asked whether SOS could use the hours if there were extra. Marcus said he was not sure—that this feels like it is stretching the agreement—because the offer really is for SASCO the organization.

Regarding LOCAL, Marcus said he has contracted Juliet Whitfield to work on the coupon book starting this month. They have also hired Whitney Blackstead. He said they have been backlogged on the organizational piece, as they need to get LOCAL on a better administrative footing. He said they are beginning to do research on becoming their own organization, looking into organizational structures, bylaws, a Board, etc. He said they really want a part-time paid director in place in July, when Marcus is gone for a month. He said this raises questions about the relationship between LOCAL and SASCO, and how quickly we would want LOCAL to become its own entity.
 

Werner said he was thinking LOCAL could be a committee within SASCO. Carolyn said they would need a legal structure, since it’s hard to hire someone if it’s not clear what you are a part of. Marcus said there is also the issue of who the employee is answering to—is it the SASCO board? Also, who writes the paychecks?

Dick said LOCAL could remain with us for a while, then eventually file nonprofit papers as a future goal. Dick said it is in the SASCO interest for LOCAL to eventually spin-off so SASCO as an organization can also approach the business community.

Carolyn said that LOCAL is a huge part of our organization, representing maybe 90 percent of the bank account. She asked whether there is anything that Board members can help out with. Marcus said he didn’t think so at this time. Carolyn said she is taking over the LOCAL bookkeeping from Tom.

Marcus said he is sensing a reorganization happening of all the sustainability groups—of who is really doing what and how the pieces connect. He said that LOCAL is a part of this, and they may even change the name. He said the question is: how to define the relationship between LOCAL and SASCO?

Jim asked whether the most likely outcome is a straightforward Independent Business Alliance. Marcus said they are talking to all founding members, and 140 other members, to get a sense of what they want. He said the other options include a home under Region 9, the Chamber, The Community Foundation, or, getting 501(c)6 status and using AMIBA as a pass-through.

Policy

Dick said there are multiple issues coming up. The first is the La Plata Sustainability Dialogue. He said the March 12 event had 50 or so people, and that he sent around a report. He said it wa very successful, and most people said they would attend again. He said that all of the local governments were there. Marcus will organize the next forum, around green jobs.

Dick said Gunter Pauli will be in town on Sunday, May 3. He said this dovetails with Ali Sabedi’s idea about minimizing waste as a way to create sustainable businesses. He proposed that the Sustainability Alliance authorize up to $250 to match other contributions to get an honorarium. Denise asked whether this would take away a whole line item. Carolyn said yes, this, together with Rob Dietz money, would use up funds for speakers. All were in favor.

Marcus suggested that we maybe advertise a “green economy series” at the Expo, since the first related event will be kicking off at the Expo.

Dick said there will also be a SASCO table at the 4CORE Earth Day celebration.

Smart Energy Committee (SEC)

Dick said that LPEA is making it harder for people to get rebates for solar panels—it is not as good a deal this year as last year. He said thay pIeas from the SEC fell on deaf ears.

Dick provided an update on LPEA board member selection. He said there are four candidates, and the incumbent is stepping down. He said Josh Joswick and Tim Wheeler are working on a questionnaire to survey the candidates. He said the SEC wants Board authorization to back a candidate of their choice. Sara asked whether we adding our name to the questionnaire would influence their responses.  Denise said yes, they would likely frame their answers to appeal to that audience. Dick said that we should be upfront with people if we are seeking to make an endorsement. He said we could try to get the Durango Herald to publish a letter from us as well. Dick proposed a resolution. All were in favor. Jim said that to be most transparent, we should say it is the SEC committee seeking endorsement on behalf of SASCO.

Outreach

Rebecca was out sick, so Lisa provided an update of the library event on the local economy. Marcus asked about the status of the SLAP proposal. Sara said there was no money but that there is a possiblity that graduates could help with the County Comp Plan over the next 24 months.

Food, Agriculture & Farm to School

Jim said he just finished attending the Southwest Marketing conference, where they had 200 people and a lot of Native American attendees.He said they were able to showcase things happening in the region. He said there are also two new developments in Farm to School: (1) food service directors from the surrounding counties have me and are looking at pooling orders and learning from Durango’s successes; (2) Jim was in Portland meeting with large districts and food services companies to demonstrate the buying power of big school districts.
 

Executive Committee

Carolyn reviewed around the budget report. Lisa noted that we will need to purchase two new ink cartridges and a ream of paper for the printer. Marcus suggested adding food under a line item.

Jim said that there are embarrassing things on the website—for example, the counter is not working. and the links on the left don’t appear on every page. He suggested a resolution that SASCO spend up to $200 to take care of some quick website fixes within the next two weeks. All were in favor.

Carolyn proposed a resolution that we work within the proposed budget. All were in favor

OTHER BUSINESS

Logo Design

Sara outlined the four bid options for logos. Lisa said she would contact a designer at Worldwatch to find out whether he might be available. Sara said she is leaning toward hiring someone that we would pay, with set terms, so we could engage in professional back and forth. Sara said she will get sample designs from the designers to get a sense of their different styles.

LPEA Grant