Draft Minutes of the December 18th Board Meeting

PERC Board Meeting December 18th, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 19:27. Kristin Miller chaired the meeting and Kristina Inrig took minutes.

Present: Steve Gurman, Kristina Inrig, Mike Kaulbars, Randal Marlin, and Kristin Miller.

1. Check-in (was done at member's meeting)

2. Time Keeper: Mike

3. Approval of agenda: MOTION to approve agenda as amended. Moved by Kristina, seconded by Steve. Carried.

4. Approval of Past Minutes. MOTION to approve minutes as amended from November 8th, 2007. Moved by Steve, seconded by Mike. Carried.

5. Business arising from Minutes: -Buiness plan - still developing. Wait until next board meeting before calling meeting with Committee Chairs.

6. PEN Editor Contract Note 2 B: remove "based on available funding." MOTION to accept the PEN Editor Contract as Amended. Moved by Kristina, seconded by Kristin. Carried. ACTION: Steve to provide final version and signatures to be made in January. Margaret noted she would prefer to wait until current contract is paid before signing a new contract (payments for two issues are outstanding)

7. PEN Editorial: Steve presented concerns about a Letter to the Editor in the last issue of the PEN.

Two suggestions were discussed: -All letters should be labeled explicitly as "Letter to the Editor" -A note saying something such as "Letters to the Editor do not necessasrily reflect the views of the PERC or the Board. We are glad to receive any letters and indivuals are encouraged to address issues in a constructive manner that seeks solutions."

Margaret noted that board should decide on the suggestions and she will bring them to the PEN Editorial Committee. Margaret needs a clear understanding of why the issue is being brought to the editorial committee. Kristin clarified that if a letter is not identified as such, it does not distinguish the difference between letters and regular articles. Steve withdrew his second suggestion.

MOTION that the suggestions regarding the labeling of Letters should be discussed by the PEN Editorial committee. Moved by Kristin, seconded by Steve. Carried.

8. Financial Report: Steve provided the Cash Flow document. Membership was low in November, but has picked up in December along with donations. Some events have also been moved around (such as Square Dance). Mike noted that there may be some errors in this Cash Flow. We will need to assign additional time at the next meeting. ACTION - Steve to verify figures and provide an updated version on the Wiki.

MOTION to accept the finanacial report provisionally. Moved by Kristina, seconded by Kristin. Carried.

9. PEN Report: The most recent PEN came out in colour with an excellent map. Margaret noted the exceptional work of the printer. He noted that we must do future issues digitally. We are working on the next issue and hope to do more of it ourselves. A publication quality scanner is needed, but Bill has leant us one for now. There is still room for a few more articles if they can get it in this week (notice of next meeting). The next issue will come out in January. The theme is Climate Change: causes and options (it is the second issue of the Climate Change services).

10. Other Business: -Kristina presented the concept of a new merged issue of COG Organic Food Directory and Green Pages and wondered if PEN could be involved in the distribution. Mike wondered if it is for the mailing or for the bulk distribution. Kristina to follow-up with Mike and Margaret. Kristina noted that it is a 40-page document.

11. Committees/Coordinator: Current highlights: -Three Committee Chairs are not well. Management Committee will restart in January. -Interest in starting a Riot for austerity club (90% reduction in carbon - down to 2.3 tonnes). There are advantages to PERC being connected to it. Kristina requested update on Carbon Calculator. This was proposed last Spring and Mike suggested that there have been many started up and we may not need to launch this. Mike suggests that this be considered as a PERC project. It will not take much of PERC as the Coordinator time. MOTION to support the idea of a Riot for Austerity Club starting up. Moved by Kristina, seconded by Kristina. Carried. - Steve asked about the website homepage being out of date. Mike noted that the immediate concerns were addressed. Mike is concerned that there are not content people to deal with it. ACTION: Steve to e-mail Mike suggested changes. He will copy other Board members if they have anything to add. 12. Next Meeting: Thursday, January 17th at 7pm. Members meeting is Tuesday, February 19th at 7pm.

13. Check-out: Everyone checked out.