Stephanie Ricketts, Board Member
Hello everyone! We are officially in the hot, sweltering part of the summer, and I hope y’all are staying cool! For my household (which does not have AC), it looks like a lot of fruit popsicles, watermelon, zoodles and grilling out in the backyard. What are your best ways to stay cool?
New board members seated
It’s August, which means our new Board members have been officially seated, and will join the rest of the Directors for their first meeting later this month! We are excited to welcome the insights, wisdom and knowledge that Ann Hoyt, Gigi Godwin and Sarah Larson bring to the governance team. A huge THANK YOU to Pat Butler, who is stepping down at the end of her three-year Board term. Thank you, too, to Meghan Gauger, who is leaving the Board after two years of leadership, including holding the Vice President position over the past year. And finally, thank you to Daniel Ramos Haaz, who has served as an interim Board member for the past year. Your contributions to the Willy Street Co-op have been invaluable!
Annual Meeting
In July the Board welcomed Owners to the Annual Meeting on Thursday, July 11. At the meeting, Jeannine Bindl, our Board President, along with Anya Firszt, General Manager, Paige Wickline, Finance Director, and Daniel Ramos Haaz, Chair of the Finance Committee and outgoing Board member, provided some big picture updates on the state of Willy Street Co-op. Check out Anya and Paige’s reports, as well as the Annual Report (due out in December), for some of those highlights.
July board meeting
The Board also had its regularly scheduled meeting on July 16, 2019. At that meeting, we reviewed an array of policy reports, including:
- Policy B7: Communication to the Board
- Policy B8: Board Logistical Support
- Policy C7: Board Committee Principles
- Policy D2: Accountability of the General Manager
- Policy D3: Delegation to the General Manager
- Policy D4: Monitoring General Manager Performance
What’s up with these policies?
The Board has policies that govern how it operates, which are our D and C Policies. So, policies C7, D2, D3, and D4 are all reported on by the Board, to the Board. The three D policies this month provide guidance on our relationship with the General Manager. The GM is the Board’s only employee, and much of our role in providing guidance and direction for the organization comes through the policies we set for the GM to follow. Those guiding policies are the B policies. The GM reports regularly (usually annually) on each of the various B policies, which gives the Board opportunities to understand the GM’s take on the policy (otherwise known as an “operation definition” of how the terms of the policy should be met), and discuss any concerns, suggestions, etc.
The Board also officially ratified the incoming Board members at this meeting. Usually at our July meeting we would tally the votes for the annual Board election. However, since this year we opted not to have an election (since there were three candidates for the three open seats), that was not necessary. Were you considering running for the Board? Do you know someone who expressed interest, but ultimately did not run? We would love to hear more about your experience! It is extremely unusual to have an uncontested election at Willy Street Co-op (the last time we did it was in the 1980s), and we would appreciate any thoughts you have on the nomination process. Send us an email at board@willysteet.coop.
As always, thank you for being a part of our Cooperative community!
