Reminder – the March Greenwood Community Council meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday) with former Mayor McGinn.
(See the meeting notice in previous post.) Our former community council president will reflect on how his perspectives have evolved over his time as mayor. Whatever your views of his administration, he’s had a unique view of Seattle and its government that will be interesting to hear.
We will also have community council elections.
I hope some of you reading this will think about running for our board or getting involved in some other way that fits your interests and availability. This year the community council has expanded its activities and members, and there’s a lot to be done. We now have three active committees – land use, transportation and outreach – and we’re working on a fourth to address health and public safety. Change seems to be accelerating in Seattle, and district city council elections next fall will change neighborhoods’ relations with the city. It’s an interesting and important time to be active in the neighborhood.
We’re recruiting for eight elected board positions as described in our bylaws. The board positions are defined, but are also flexible. Board members are expected to attend membership meetings when possible and a board meeting every so often (probably every other month) that is usually over beer or coffee. The ideal board member will make it a priority to answer emails when meetings need to be set up or decisions need to be made. Any balance or diversity you bring will be valued. While these positions are for two years, a one-year commitment is requested. There will be a sign-in when you arrive at the meeting where you can indicate your interest in a position, then after former Mayor McGinn is done we will begin the election and you will have another chance to nominate or to shift to a different position. The board will meet soon after selected to figure out how to organize itself.
The President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary roles are all indicators of roles, but details can be negotiated.
- The president has been setting up and running the membership meetings, but would probably be happy to let others do some of that; former presidents spent more time representing the council outside the neighborhood.
- The VP is a totally definable role; the current VP attends district council meetings among other things and fills in for the president as needed.
- The secretary is responsible for getting meeting minutes written and onto the website, but could also take on other meeting logistics or website duties for example.
- The treasurer is like the Maytag repairman of old; we have no money, but he or she could be managing grants like the one we just received to improve our website, finding other grants, and/or maintaining our membership list.
- And the four committee chairs are just that – we have a land use, transportation, outreach and (soon) a health and safety committee. Committee chairs are board members, and responsible for organizing and leading a committee and making sure someone keeps the committee’s section of the website up to date.
Board positions are not the only way to be involved! If you don’t want to commit to a board position, we also need volunteers to help maintain the website, research land use and transportation activities, and monitor or organize specific projects. At Tuesday’s meeting there will be a sign-in list where you can indicate your interest in either a board position or another volunteer activity that would fit your interests and availability.
If you have any questions about any of this please don’t hesitate to contact me by clicking here.
Rob Fellows
Greenwood Community Council President
