Joe Montani chaired the meeting and acted as timekeeper; Dan Dorsey. Shelly Dorsey, Kim Howell, Martin Munro, and Fain Rutherford attended from the board, Philip Boatright, Michael Bolton, Evan Casler, Diana Cederquist, Jim D'Elia, Patty Kelley, Oliver Starkey and Bob Wallin attended from the general membership; Pat Hawk was present as Sangha Teacher.
Kim circulated printed copies of the report. The accounting software now showed a checking account balance of $11,424.94, which was very close to the bank's reported balance (online, that morning) of $11,285, particularly with ACH transfers coming out of the account all the time. Kim drew attention to some changes in the report since the previous meeting: the balance sheet now showed a new restricted fund, the Teacher Benefit Fund, housed in a separate money-market savings account. This was the first portion of Pat's sabbatical fund that Seven Thunders had transferred to Tucson. Kim had picked up the remaining balance of $6700 at the post office and would be depositing that also. ZDS could not legally hold that as personally for Pat: it is for the benefit of teachers for travel and other expenses, and Pat happens to be the Sangha Teacher. Pat could draw on it by submitting a request to the ZDS board, for which the Treasurer should write a check (presumably the same arrangement that Seven Thunders had operated).
The other change was under the Wachovia Investment heading; ZDS had suffered another loss and was now below $3,000 in the stock account. Options were to ride it out, or cut our losses and buy something else. The initial amount had been over $4,000 and the loss since the start of 2008 had been $2,611.80. In response to questions from Michael and others, Kim confirmed that ZDS did have a stockbroker, but said that the stocks themselves were donations, and had not been the best; if ZDS sold them and bought something else the loss would be immediate, if we did nothing to the stocks and they again appreciated there was a chance to avoid this. Kim could provide the details of the stocks on request: they were with two health-care companies. Diana asked if there was any benefit to taking the loss and declaring it for tax purposes, but Kim said that this did not apply since ZDS was tax-exempt. Dan observed that these details were properly the concern of the Finance Committee, which should meet and come up with some recommendations. Joe commented on Wachovia managing the stocks: it had itself been in the news for shaky performance. Kim agreed that the Fiance Committee needed to meet to discuss these things.
Kim asked for Board guidance on how to handle the old membership declarations. She had paper forms in envelopes going back several years, and would be transferring them from the box of Treasurer's documents to a file cabinet at ZDS. Did the Board feel they should be kept, and if so, for how long? She had entered all the information into the membership database. Bob thought the standard policy was to remove someone if there had been no communication with them for three years, and Kim wanted to check with the current Board that this was still in effect. She did not erase someone's information: the software could retain it, but reversibly mark them as inactive. Kim formalized this as a motion: that the Board permit the Treasurer to modify the database, marking any members who had not been in communication for at least three years as inactive; Dan seconded, and it carried with no opposition.
This had originally been the third agenda item, after approving the course schedule, but Dan asked that it be treated first (because of the dependencies between the items). Dan mad a motion that the Board re-authorize the series of monthly peer-delivered talks for another six months; he felt they had been successful and well attended. Martin seconded, Joe commented that the talks had been successful and the associated discussion invigorating. Bob commented that he had made a printed handout from the talk he had recently delivered, which was available to anyone who wanted a copy. There was no further discussion, and no dissent, so the motion passed.
Dan proposed treating the class schedules in two parts: the Fall 2008 schedule for all classes, and the Spring 2009 schedule for the Steve Hagen CD classes.
Dan had written the proposed Fall class schedule on a large sheet of paper, and explained more about each of the categories.
The talks would fall on the first Saturday of each month (in the morning
after the regularly scheduled sit), rounding off the current series on
September 6, then running for another six months.
September 6 (Brad Stroup); October 4; November 1 (Shelly Dorsey); December 6;
January 3; February 1 (Martin Munro); March 7.
The group would listen to and discuss the CD recordings of Steve Hagen's
class Precepts of the One Mind (provided through Larry Levine) on
consecutive Thursday evenings, starting in November but taking a break for
Thanksgiving
November 6, 13, 20, 27; December 4, 11, 18.
These talks would fall on a block of consecutive Thursday evenings
October 16, 23, 30.
At some time to be decided (perhaps every other month) Dan proposed showing Zen-related movies at ZDS. Initial suggestions were Erleuchtung garantiert (Enlightenment Guaranteed), and How to Cook Your Life with Ed Espe Brown [both directed by Dorris Dörrie].
Asked by Bob what night these would fall on, Dan had two alternative proposals: either show them at some time distinct from the regular potluck & poetry night, or replace this event every second or third month.
After formally proposing a vote on the Fall schedule, Dan said this could be done either for everything he had just outlined, or for each item individually. One additional class from an earlier proposal, Beth Rigby's Yoga Meets Dance workshop, was not included because nothing specific had come out of her conversations with Dan. Kim seconded the motion. Bob asked if Joe's yoga class needed inclusion in the the schedule, but Joe said he would not be offering it in the Fall, possibly waiting until Spring. He thought the dates of the peer-delivered talks needed no discussion and that the rest of the schedule seemed well-defined, with the exception of the movie nights; but he saw no problem with voting on the entire schedule without trying to tie these to specific dates. Bob hoped the movie nights would be distinct from the regular potluck & poetry evenings. Kim observed that the schedule was heavily weighted towards Thursdays, but because of this there would be free Tuesday evenings for adding extra events. There was no further discussion and no dissent, so the Board approved the entire schedule.
Larry had proposed three different Steve Hagen CD classes, to run consecutively on Thursday evenings through the Spring of 2009.
Dan had not yet replied to Larry, awaiting Board approval for the classes; he had some comments: a different board would be taking over in January, so he wondered if the scheduling for 2009 should be deferred to them. Kim observed that past boards had in the Fall scheduled events for the Spring, so she did not see why the current Board could not do the same. Dan then formally proposed to approve running these Steve Hagen CD classes in the spring of 2009, and Kim seconded. Diana commented that she had been very thankful for the classes (including Dan's classes as well), since they were the only event her husband would attend; she thought they were a way of drawing out people who were not yet comfortable participating in ZDS, a welcoming step for further participation. There was no opposition, and the proposal carried unanimously.
This was a continuation of something Bob had raised at the previous Board meeting. He explained again that there was a distinction between the group and the building. The Diamond Sangha was based at the Palolo zendo in Hawai'i, and had previously been housed at the Koko An zendo, which was the birthplace of the Diamond Sangha. So it is customary to name the zendo itself. ZDS had been in the building for ten years, but had not yet selected a name for the zendo, so Bob had thrown this out as something to consider, to see if there was any interest, possibly forming a committee to come up with some names and get the sangha involved in selecting one; he would be willing to spearhead that effort if there was sufficient interest.
Dan asked for clarification on what Bob was asking from the Board. Bob said he trying to find if there was sufficient interest, and was not yet at the point of making a proposal, although he might propose forming an investigative committee. Diana asked for clarification: was he talking about the whole house? Bob explained that the name would apply to the entire property. Philip asked if this would be a substitute name for Zen Desert Sangha, and Bob explained that ZDS was the name of the organization, and had applied to the sangha since its beginnings 26 years previously. Until purchasing the present property it had a floating zendo (meeting in peoples' back rooms, garages, store fronts). Bob felt it had a home in the current building in a sense that had not existed before, and since it was customary to name the zendo (the building) it would be worth doing this. Kim thought it could be run as a contest. Dan thought that if Bob wanted to put this on the fast track it could be announced at the annual meeting. bob agreed that it could be a way to initiate the process. Kim wondered about making a motion to put it on the agenda for the annual meeting. Martin remembered that something had already been proposed at the previous meeting. Joe thought that if anything was brought up at the annual meeting it should be a clear proposal. Shelly suggested bringing two or three names to the annual meeting and letting the membership decide, but Bob said that as many people as possible should be involved in thinking about the names, not just in making the final selection.
Joe commented that this had been a pet project of his five or six years previously, bringing it to the Board then; the suggestion had been to run it as a competition over six or twelve months, with a box set out to receive suggested names, from which the Board or a committee would make a selection to be submitted to the membership for a vote. Dan said that ideally Bob would head a committee to solicit wide participation from the sangha, coming up with a shortlist of three or four names. The final selection of the name would be a big deal, requiring a special meeting or a special vote at another meeting of the membership. Kim moved that Bob bring up the matter at the annual meeting, asking for a show of hands of those who would be interested in following up on this.
Michael asked if it was traditional to name zendos. Kim and Joe both said it was: Joe said that in Asia they had been named after the mountain or other site (the usual practice for monasteries), and the practice of naming had carried over to the West, although not necessarily tied to a site. Dan thought ZDS was the only Diamond Sangha affiliate that did not have a name for its zendo. Diana asked for examples: Dan mentioned Leonard Marcel's Stones and Clouds zendo in Portland, Koko An in Hawai'i, Bob mentioned Ring of Bone (Nelson Foster). Shelly asked Patty for the name of the Denver zendo: she replied Lotus in the Flame. Bob asked if those groups also had names for the sangha as distinct from the building. Pat said there were various, and recalled that the official name in Denver was just "Zen Center of Denver" with the Lotus in the Flame zendo; Mountain Cloud did not have another name, so the name of the group and the zendo could be the same: it depended what you wanted to do. Pat had found it awkward to say that he was going down to Zen Desert Sangha. Suggesting the name from a local landmark "Nico's Zendo", Kim noted that her motion had died for want of a second.
Dan then suggested a straw poll to evaluate interest: how many of those present (not just the Board) felt that the zendo needed a name? A clear majority favored the idea, so Dan formally proposed that Bob form an exploratory committee to find if people were interested in naming the zendo, and possibly come up with some names. Kim and Martin seconded. Bob said he would go on the record as the contact person for the committee. Shelly said he could bring it up at the October meeting to solicit more participation. Bob said he would also mention it in the closing circle. Joe commented that by the October meeting there might be more of an initiative to announce, not just a question.
Dan made a motion to establish an official Board of Directors folder, to be present at every Board of Directors meeting, within which would be a copy of the current bylaws, and any policy statements that the current Board or past Boards had passed (and would assume to be in effect unless the current Board changed them); in other words it would have a copy of the bylaws and any actual policies that a board has passed, in that way there would be an immediate answer to questions such as "didn't we set policy on that six months ago?" or "didn't the previous board set policy on that?", and it would be handed down from Board to Board.
Martin commented that there was a more serious problem with records than simply not having this folder: many of the paper records had vanished. He felt the folder was necessary, but space in a filing cabinet drawer for supporting documents and correspondence was also necessary. Dan said that this was supposed to exist back in Pat's room, but Martin reported that it was incomplete. Dan asked if Martin would be willing to go back through the minutes for the current board and extract anything that looked like a policy statement, and he agreed.
Kim noted that Bob had found a copy of the ethics statement; Bob said that he had assembled a folder during his time as President, including not only the ethics statement but also the rental policy and a couple of other policies. Dan thought all this should be placed in the proposed folder. Joe asked where the folder would reside when it was not in use at meetings: would it be available for reference? He was concerned that it be kept at the zendo, rather than being taken away by a board member, but secured to prevent it going missing. Martin suggested the front of the filing cabinet. Kim suggested making copies and safeguarding the originals. Bob said there had always been a copy of the bylaws in a folder in the top drawer of the filing cabinet, available for reference. Martin said that there needed to be more copies of this: the bylaws were an extreme case, where people could be encouraged to take away the copies. Kim raised the issue of keeping electronic copies that one board member could email to another if there was a question between meetings. Martin commented that going back to the time of the first Secretary there had been documents on floppy disks, which seemed to have vanished with the other missing records. Kim suggested scanning some of the documents and linking them to the web site. Martin said that documents reconstituted from scanned copies needed careful proofreading to check that no information was being lost; it was better to archive the electronic original if it was still available. However if the originals were lost or damaged the paper copies should be scanned.
There was no further discussion and no opposition to the motion, which passed unanimously.
Dan said that when he had looked through the bylaws, he had noticed that ZDS was not in compliance with one big thing, which could potentially cause massive headaches, and numerous small things that they stipulated, but which we were not doing. While he personally did not care about the little things, he wanted to fix the big thing before it caused a major headache. He was making a motion to put into process a procedure for changing the bylaws. He wanted to be clear that the existing bylaws allowed the Board to change the bylaws, so the Board could simply discuss it amongst themselves and do it. The small administrative details such as how soon to post the agenda for a meeting could perhaps be treated in this way. But there were a couple of big things that Dan thought would need a special meeting of ZDS to discuss. The big issue was that half of the ZDS members were not in compliance with the requirements for membership. If ZDS had to have a vote on something important, anyone who wanted could challenge up to 50% of the members as not meeting the criteria for membership, and have their votes thrown out. That was a potential time bomb waiting to happen, so Dan's suggestion was to go over member requirements and decide to either enforce them, or loosen the requirements for membership.
Bob asked what was the big item that people were not adhering to, and Dan offered to read the entire list of criteria.
Dan said he had made a motion to start the process, but had not yet worked out the details: he repeated that the two options seemed to be enforcing the bylaws, or coming up with new requirements for membership. Fain thought it made most sense for either this Board or a committee to come up with a proposal: it seemed too amorphous to put to the membership at large (that would take up several days hearing ideas of what would be appropriate). The Board had a responsibility to come up with proposed criteria for membership, and then present it it to the members, although it did not have to do this. Michael suggested putting the requirements on the bulletin board so that people would be aware of them, but both Kim and Bob said that they were already included in the membership declaration form. Michael thought a reminder might still be needed, and Dan thought that the brochure did not give the full list of requirements (they should really have appeared verbatim). Michael said it might be worth spelling out the ramifications of the requirements to people. Bob commented that a long time had been spent originally drawing up the membership requirements, and he thought they were reasonable: $20 a month was a minimal financial commitment, and if people could not contribute eight hours of work in a quarter then Bob thought they should not be members. Diana asked what would happen if someone was ill for a quarter. Bob thought there had always been a provision for this, but perhaps it was something that needed insertion:if there were extenuating circumstances, such as students or people on low incomes offsetting their dues by extra work or vice versa. But he thought people could always contribute in some way: even when he was immobilized after back surgery he had been conducting Sangha business from his hospital bed (others though this might be setting too high a standard!). He again said they were minimal requirements, and ZDS was bending over backwards to give people a chance to comply, so he was against loosening them. Fain remarked that we had not yet reached that question: all that was on the floor for discussion so far was whether we wanted to take the first step toward reassessment, and only then could we get into the question of whether they were appropriate standards or not
Dan confirmed that his motion (which Kim seconded) was to start the process of possibly calling a special meeting, and forming a committe to re-examine the member requirements to reach a decision whether they should stand as they were, or needed amendment. He agreed with Fain that calling a special meeting on changing the membership requirements would need some specific recommendations, some thing like "we have looked at what members are actually doing, and this ought to be struck, this ought to be changed: here is our proposal" we neede a place to start at the special meeting. Shelly asked if there could be a special meeting of the Board just to talk about this issue. Martin was averse to giving too much executive power to the Board, particularly when it concerned the membership at large. Diana said that if these standards were set up, it would imply some record-keeping or policing. Perhaps we should be careful what we asked for: who was going to go around making sure these were met? Bob said that it was only an issue when there was a vote. The last big vote had been to approve the expenditure of monies to remodel the zendo, and at that time it was left up to the honor system: a list of names of people the records showed as full voting members was read out, then people were asked if anyone who should have been included was missing, or if anyone wanted to challenge a name, and finally the vote was taken. Bob thought that everyone knew how much they had been doing, and no one would try to vote who hadn't been putting in their eight hours per quarter.
Dan wondered if there should be any membership requirements at all, since they were not being followed and, as Diana had said, there was no one to enforce them. But there were benefits to membership (if there were none it would not be an issue): the right to vote, discount at sesshin, eligibility for a Board position. Shelly pointed out again that the discussion was only on whether to proceed with the next step. Bob said that the voting privilege was important, connected with group decision-making and group ownership, and for that reason membership categories were necessary. Clarity in the decision making process was necessary, even if an issue needing a decision only came up every five years. Patty liked the idea of having the membership requirements because they provided a standard that you could at least try to attain, even if you failed: they were there as a vision of what was possible. Kim said that ZDS was a corporation, which did own property and substantial assets. Having no membership requirements might leave us vulnerable to some group moving in, taking over ZDS, and deciding to sell the house.
Shelly proposed forming a committee to explore the issue of changing the membership requirements, and several people confirmed that this was the current motion. Dan explained that he had made the motion to form the committee, but did not want to serve on it himself. Joe thought that it was a good idea to review the membership requirements from time to time, and it was currently a good time to do this: he also recommended raising the $15 minimum contribution to $30, if only to allow for inflation. Dan asked if anyone would like to be on the committee, and Bob volunteered, saying the committee could meet, then decide who would be the chair (there were a couple of other volunteers). Dan said he was satisfied with this outcome.
Joe was pleased to report that several volunteers for Board positions had come forward in response to the recent requests. He asked if there was any other old business.
Kim explained that she had recently opened two new accounts in ZDS's name: a money-market and a CD. She had been the only signatory on those accounts; the previous weekend Bob accompanied her to the bank and they added his name as well to all three accounts (she had thought that his name was already on the checking account from his time as President, but that had needed renewal also). She thought at least one more person needed to be on the list of signers for the two new accounts, in case some freak accident removed both Bob and herself. There was still an option to bring the bank the ZDS articles of incorporation and the minutes, and they would give access to the accounts in the end, but it would not be an easy process. Joe asked if the signatory had to be a Board member. Kim said that originally the policy had been that both the President and Treasurer had their signatures on the accounts: in actual practice the checking account has a whole string of previous Treasurers: including Harry Iwatsuki and Richard Wahl (that was another issue the Board might want to consider: since he was no longer active in the group, should his name be removed?). Any Board member interested in adding their name would have to go to the bank with Kim: they were no longer using signature cards that could be taken away. Martin had already said that he would be willing to do this but had not been available the previous Saturday.
Kim then made a formal motion to add Martin's signature to all three Chase accounts, retroactively approve adding Bob's signature, and remove Rich Wahl. Joe seconded this. In discussion the Kim suggested removing Harry also. Martin objected that he was still around, but Joe said he could always be added back if he again served on the Board. There was no further discussion and it passed unanimously.
Shelly raised the issue of providing an up-to-date phone list, which had been mentioned in the discussion after Bob's peer delivered talk and in previous Board meetings. Kim said she could generate one quickly if authorized to do so. Bob suggested producing an abbreviated list without the full email and postal addresses, just names and phone numbers; several people had expressed the desire to at least contact other people. Shelly asked what the next step would be:there had already been much talk around the issue. Kim asked for direction on what to print and who to distribute the lists to. Shelly said the board had to make those decisions, then contact the membership to see who wanted to be on the list.
Martin proposed that there be a single hard-copy list with extensive information, which people could opt out of; the information might go beyond email addresses and other things people could read off the list to include portrait photographs. The list would be in the ZDS building so that members could see at a glance what the rest of the membership looked like, but would not be circulated outside, so that if you wanted to find an email address you would have to come to the building and read it off the wall. Shelly asked for clarification: a central membership directory that would remain at ZDS, that could be added to or changed, but would not be for outside circulation? Martin agreed, and said it that it could even be a poster. Kim thought the photographs were a separate issue from the phone list. Shelly thought the most significant issue was whether you distributed the information, or kept a single central copy. In the end the discussion was curtailed when the motion died for a lack of a second.
Kim then proposed that she print up a list of people's names, phone numbers, and email addresses, and give a copy to each board member. Dan seconded this, saying it was a good start, giving a chance to look at the information before deciding to circulate it. Shelly asked if the distribution of a phone list to the general membership could go on the agenda. Joe thought that members should be able to opt out of having specific items listed (phone number, email address etc.), or even out of appearing on the list at all. Dan asked if this would apply to the board copies, and Joe said it could apply to those distributed to the whole sangha. Kim thought the Board should have access to the full contents. Dan then came up with a modified proposal: that Kim should print out five copies for the Board, and that it appear on the agenda of the next meeting for further discussion. Shelly and Bob stresses that the request for the phone list was ultimately coming from the membership. Kim thought that people were implicitly giving approval to reveal their information when they filled out the membership form: several people disagreed, and Shelly recommended postponing the discussion until the next meeting.
Patty was suggesting a change to the tea ceremony: she first asked if there was anyone in charge of ritual, but was told that the ritual committee was no longer active. She proposed that during the last accelerando of the densho sequence, the jisha should look into the zendo, and if anyone was without a cup, take the tray of teacups and bow in front of the people lacking cups. In that way everyone could participate in the tea ceremony: newcomers arriving for the first time would often not know that they were supposed to pick up a cup, and ended up sitting by themselves when everyone else was drinking tea in this very intimate setting.
Dan did not think this change needed a board decision, but could start immediately (by posting a note somewhere if necessary). Martin pointed out that the jisha was not always the tea server, and that it was the tea servers who needed to know the changed arrangement. Pat thought that the change sounded like a good idea. Joe observed that there was already a tray of empty cups next the door, but newcomers might not know what they were there for: perhaps a sign on the tray could also tell people to take a cup. Pat thought that sometimes even the older members forgot. On the question of what to do with people who did not want tea, Shelly thought they could be given a cup anyway, but could simply place it behind their cushions if they did not want to be served. There was some discussion about whether the jisha or tea server could be standing beside the tray and tell people to pick up their cups. Oliver thought that any complete newcomer who did not know to take a cup would not then know what to do with it once they were offered one; perhaps a bigger sign could explain? He felt that any newcomer tho came two or three times soon worked out what was going on, but Patty repeated that they could be made to feel bad before they caught on. Dan repeated that a board decision on this was unnecessary, and a note would suffice.
On an unrelated matter, Kim explained that Ronnie Mestaz had volunteered to cut up the large limb of the mesquite tree that blew off during the storm. She had asked if her gas could be reimbursed, since she would be driving up to haul off the big pieces of wood, and pile up the small pieces. Rental costs for a chain saw would also be needed, and she hoped to work on it the following Thursday or Friday. Martin asked if a previous meeting had not authorized buying an electric chain saw, but Kim thought that Ronnie would need something bigger than that. Kim moved that the board reimburse all necessary expenses for Ronnie to cut up the tree limb. Joe asked about safety, and Kim said that Ronnie would have someone with her. Martin seconded, and there was no opposition.
Joe had an additional item of new business: he wanted to pass on the job of Webmaster to a new person beginning in the year 2009. He would write up a short recruitment blurb to be distributed through the email list. It had been seven or eight years, and he had enjoyed doing it, but he had kept the web site very simple and knew that there were people who could take it further; in other words he would be retiring in December. Kim thanked him for all his work, and noted that at the moment he was donating the Internet service. Joe said that this was just a detail, and could be included in what he would write up; a new webmaster would have to transfer the site to their own service, but it would keep the same address, and Joe would work with the new person to ensure a smooth transition.
Bob brought up planning for the gala dinner: in the past some advance planning had started in August. Joe wondered about mailing the letters announcing the event that month, but Bob explained that in the past these had gone out a month in advance; it did not take long to prepare them, but typically there was a work party to address and stamp the envelopes. Bob asked if it was worth picking a date immediately: it had usually been the last Saturday in October. Kim observed that it had typically been held on the same day as the annual meeting, which did tend to fall at that time: this year the last Saturday would be October 25. Dan pointed out that this was yet another failure to comply with the bylaws: "The annual meeting shall take place on the first Saturday in October, if not a legal holiday." However the general feeling was not to change the customary date because of this. There would be a conflict with the potluck and poetry that month, but not obviously with anything else (Pat was uncertain what was happening at Picture Rocks on that date). Shelly pointed out that there was no requirement to have the annual meeting and gala on the same day, but hoped the gala would not be before the end of October because of the heat; there was also a conflict with a retreat at Picture Rocks at the start of the month. Dan made a motion that both the annual meeting and the gala be on Saturday October 25th; Joe seconded, and there was no opposition. Details would be discussed at the next board meeting.
Finally there was discussion of the date for the next board meeting. September 6 was the peer-delivered talk, so Joe proposed September 13. Dan said he would be unable to attend then, but September 20 was zazenkai, and he was booked for all the Saturdays in September in any case. No one else had any conflicts on the 13th, so the next board meeting was confirmed for that date.
The meeting adjourned after around one hour and eighteen minutes.