Washington City/County Management Association
Board of Directors Meeting
Jantzen Beach Red Lion
Portland, Oregon
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
4:00 pm
Minutes
1) Call to Order and Self Roll Call – Marilynne Beard called the meeting to order at 4:15. Lynn Nordby, Marilynne Beard, Gwen Voelpel, Dawn Masko, Derek Matheson, Bob Larsen, Bob Harrison, Pete Rose, Ron Bartels, Dick Zais, Anne Pflug, Duane Cole, Doug Schulze, Lloyd Halverson and David Cline were present. Deborah Knight and Luann Hopkins attended by speaker phone.
2) Approval of Minutes
a. February 18, 2015 On motion by Gwen Voelpel, seconded by Dawn Masko the minutes were approved.
3) Report of the Secretary Treasurer
a. Financial Report through February 2015 – On motion by Derek Matheson, seconded by Bob Larsen the report was accepted.
4) Report of the Executive Board
a. Marilynne Beard reported on the West Coast Leadership conference call with Kevin Duggan. ICMA decided not to implement an “agency” dues structure but will have a revised schedule for assistants. The new “Performance Center” participation is going well and the task forces on leadership development and women in the profession have made their reports.
b. Stan McNutt’s letter of resignation from his position as a Senior Advisor has reluctantly been accepted. Stan was to have been here to be recognized by the Board and members in attendance but in his absence Marilynne Beard arranged for everyone present to be able to record a video greeting to Stan following the meeting.
c. Randy Lewis has offered to resign due to his acceptance of another job. The bylaws allow him to continue to the end of his term. Marilynne Beard asked that he stay on the Board, even if he can’t be active until his position can be filled at this year’s elections.
5) Reports of Committees
a. Conference Committee
i. No WCMA 2015 summer conference
ii. 2015 ICMA Annual Conference September 27-30, 2015, Seattle – Doug Schulze reported on the work of the Host Committee and that the main push now is fund raising which is still going slowly. Conference registration opens June 2nd. Marilynne Beard reported that she had found an art piece as a gift from WCMA to ICMA.
iii. 2016 NW Manager’s Spring conference, Skamania Lodge
iv. 2016 Summer Conference, Walla Walla
b. Technology and Communications Committee
i. Newsletter update - Deborah Knight reported on the progress toward producing the first newsletter in the revised format this summer. The “theme” articles will be done by Marilynne Beard for August and Gwen Voelpel in December.
c. International Committee – The Polish Forum of Secretaje and Foundation for Local Democracy will be celebrating 25 years and have asked Lloyd Halverson to present a program on his observations of the transformation of local government in Poland. Lloyd is also looking for participants from Poland to attend the 2016 NW Spring Conference. He also reported on the Housing Authority Conference which will be hosting counterparts from South Africa who should have some very interesting experiences to report on the transformation and reconciliation in that country in the last two decades.
d. NW Next Gen – Gwen Voelpel reported that the scholarship materials were distributed through the various graduate programs and on the WCMA web site. There is high interest. ICMA student chapters are being formed at several campuses.
e. Form of Government Committee – Derek Matheson reported that there have been a couple of unofficial inquires about the council/manager plan but nothing serious yet.
6) Unfinished Business
a. Draft Senior Advisor Policy - David Cline asked for comments on the Draft policy. The Board discussed the number of Senior Advisors and the consensus was that we should try to keep a geographical balance to be effective and although the policy would set a cap at 6, we will appoint 5 for the time being (replacing Stan McNutt) and then see where the need might be. More can be added by the Board at any time we choose.
7) New Business
a. Request from Duane Cole for WCMA support to be a Senior Advisor – On motion by Pete Rose, seconded by Bob Larsen Duane Cole was endorsed as the newest Senior Advisor to serve eastern Washington. The appointment will be forwarded to ICMA for concurrence.
b. Appointment of WCMA Nominating Committee for 2015 Board Elections – Derek Matheson, Pete Rose and Dawn Masko agreed to serve as the Nominating Committee. Bob Gregory will coordinate the nomination process.
c. Nomination for 2016 ICMA Conference Planning Committee – Doug Schulze and Bob Larsen reported that the experience is very interesting and enjoyable. The member is responsible for their own transportation although WCMA has helped out with that in the past. Gwen Voelpel expressed an interest.
d. Washington/Oregon Reception Coordination at ICMA Conference – Todd Cuts and Derek Matheson will take this on.
8) Communications –
a. Lynn Nordby reported that he will be on an eight week sabbatical leave from March 31 to May 25. While on leave he will be attending the ICMA Gettysburg Leadership Institute at the end of April. In the interim Donita Knudsen and Sandra Vong at MRSC will keep in touch with our fundraisers for the ICMA Conference.
b. Anne Pflug reported that Joe Gavinski who has served as City Manager of Moses Lake for 33 years (currently the longest in the state) was abruptly fired by the city council last night on a 4/3 vote. She will be in contact with him and report back on the status, His long service deserves WCMA recognition. AWC also always recognizes public service milestones and Luann Hopkins took note of that and will give the information to the AWC Conference planners.
c. Bob Harrison’s term on the ICMA Board will expire in 2016 and at the 2016 West Coast Summit there will be an opportunity for those who might be interested to apply. ICMA is about to begin the search for a new Executive Director as Bob O’Neill plans to retire.
d. Carnation City Manager Ken Carter has passed away.
e. Dick Zais reported on the completion of another successful municipal management class at the UW and thanked the members who assisted. He also called attention to the voting rights lawsuit in Yakima challenging the city’s election of councilmembers by district. He said that it has been very costly, was uninsured and will have unforeseen ramifications.
f. Dawn Masko asked for volunteers for the membership committee.
g. Bob Larsen announced that Snoqualmie and Issaquah have agreed to jointly hire an ICMA Fellow for at least a year to serve both cities.
h. Marilynne Beard reported that Nicole Neiditz, daughter of WCMA member Andrew Neiditz will be helping coordinate ICMA Conference Host Committee volunteers as she begins her public service career.
9) Upcoming Board Meetings
a. 2015 AWC Annual Conference, June 23-26, Wenatchee, Time and Location TBA
b. 2015 ICMA Annual Conference, Time and Location TBD
10) The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 PM