Executive Meeting Notes: 6/24/2010

Members Present:  Jonah Rabinowitz, Bob Willie, Whitney Jo, Susan Robinson, Stephanie Conner, Rich Boyd, Molly Pratt, Sameera Lowe

I. Call to Order  - 11:06 am, Stephanie Conner – President

II. Approval of Minutes,  Tari Hughes – Secretary

The minutes were moved for approval as presented by Whitney Jo and seconded by Bob Willie.

III. Financial Report, Jonah Rabinowitz – Treasurer

Review of financial reports for current fiscal year:  Year ending up in pretty good shape because memberships are strong this year.

Review of proposed budget for upcoming year:  The new budget assumes retention of the new members this year and a similar number of new members next year.  The $71,000 for the Awareness Campaign is already in the bank.  A TAC grant of $5900 for salary support, and a grant of $15,000 for Arts Advocacy Day will be awarded.  Jonah will adjust the budget prior to the full board meeting to reflect these amounts. 

IV. Board Development Report - Tari Hughes for Liza Zenni

1. The Committee nominated the following candidates for three-year terms (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2013) on the Board of Directors:

• Roland Carter - Chattanooga.  Because we had already voted via email, he just needed to be ratified.
• Kim McClamroch – Knoxville. She has just rolled off as Chairman of the Tennessee Arts Commission and has agreed to serve.

Discussion followed about the requirement to reflect the community, particularly in light of an individual classified as disabled.  Rich said that the TAC looks at programming in addition to board membership.  When we look for members, we need to be cognizant of diverse backgrounds, as we look for new members.  Tari Hughes shared that she is term-limited out after three terms and is rolling off the board. 

2.  Discussion of officers for 2010-2011: Tari presented the following slate of officers for 2010-2011:

Bob Kucher                                     President

Susan Robinson                              Vice President, East Tennessee

Debby Koch                                    Vice President, Middle Tennessee

Whitney Jo                                      Vice President, West Tennessee

Jane Alvis                                       Secretary

Jonah Rabinowitz                            Treasurer

V.  President’s Report - Stephanie Conner

By-Law Review:  II. Purposes and Objectives: The by-laws had not been reviewed or revised for a number of years.  It adds TAC to the purpose and objectives.  III. Membership: Now allows the board to add a category of membership if needed.  IV. Meeting of members: Changed from annual meeting to special meeting in order to allow flexibility of membership meetings.  The meeting is allowed but not required.  It was pointed out that there must be an annual corporate meeting to handle corporate business.  It could be a board meeting.  A suggestion was made to table the discussion for now until the by-laws are completely revised. 

Proposed Personnel Changes for 2010-2011:     The proposal is to have Sameera move to a contract position with the public awareness campaign, Arts Advocacy Day and a few other tasks for $20K.  Dereama will do the bookkeeping and administrative work for $5K.  Molly will add several responsibilities to her plate for the same fee that she is currently receiving.  The personnel policy needs to be changed to allow authority of the various staff and board members to get the work of TFTA accomplished.  Proposed changes to policy change: 

Add language to legitimize authority designated to others should the Executive Director position be vacant –

“ In the event of the absence of an Executive Director, the President and Executive Committee may delegate the Executive Director duties and responsibilities for the time being as necessary.”

• Rich suggested amending the last sentence to “In the event of the absence of an Executive Director, the President, with the approval of the Executive Committee, may delegate the Executive Director duties and responsibilities for the time being to the appropriate individuals.”
• Bob Willie moved to approve the policy change with Rich’s amendment.  Whitney Jo seconded.  The motion approved unanimously.
• The committee suggested a one year time limit and reassess.  Susan Robinson so moved and Bob Willie seconded.  The board passed it unanimously.

VIII. Adjournment   12:10 p.m.