CHCA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
2nd Floor Conference Room, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Thursday, April 9, 2009

MINUTES

Executive Committee Members Present: Dina Hitchcock (VP Operations), Mark Keintz (Treasurer),
Anne McNally (At-Large), Ned Mitinger (VP Physical Division), Patrick Moran (At-Large), Marilyn Paucker (At-Large), Ron Recko (Immediate Past President), and Kristina Sullivan (Secretary)

Executive Committee Members Excused: Jane Piotrowski (VP Social Division) and Tolis Vardakis
(President)

Executive Committee Members Absent: Rob Remus (At-Large) and Robert Rossman (At-Large)

Board Member Present: Walter Sullivan

Others Present: Philip LeCalsey (Community Manager), Ann Ward Spaeth, and Noreen Spota (CHCA
Administrative Coordinator)

Dina Hitchcock called the meeting to order at 7:32 PM and asked for a moment of silence to hope for Tolis’s speedy recovery. Noreen Spota conducted the roll call.

Approval of Minutes. Concerns were expressed by Ron Recko and Ann Spaeth regarding the accuracy of the Executive Committee meeting minutes of February 12, 2009, specifically with respect to the paragraph titled “Memorandum to the Editor” and the following attachments: 1) a letter to Editor Pete Mazzaccaro from Dina Hitchcock dated June 26, 2009; and 2) an Action Plan for Pete for the period of June to August 2008. A discussion ensued about the minutes and the attachments. Kristina pointed out that Noreen’s version of the minutes is a draft, that the Secretary is responsible for the minutes, and that all proposed revisions to the minutes should have been put in writing for consideration by the rest of the Executive Committee. Mark Keintz offered a motion to delete the attachments and approve the minutes; this motion was seconded but did not pass, with 2 votes in favor (Mark and Ron) and 3 votes opposed (Dina, Marilyn, and Kristina). There was a motion to approve the minutes as submitted, with the attachments; this motion passed with 3 votes in favor (Mark, Marilyn, and Kristina) and 1 vote opposed (Ron).

Report from Treasurer. Financial statements for the CHCA and Local as of March 31, the end of the fiscal year, were not ready for review. Mark stated that the Local may have to borrow again from the CHCA to meet its payroll and that there should be a policy for this situation. Regarding the hiring of an Associate Publisher (AP), Mark circulated a list of questions with his suggested answers in brackets. This list was reviewed and discussed by the Executive Committee. In addition, the issue of how funds would be available to pay the AP was discussed given the current challenges meeting payroll. Mark pointed out that this person’s job will be to decrease expenses and increase income for the paper, and compensation will be based on meeting benchmarks. A possible start date will be May 1 (or later), therefore compensation will be paid in only 11 of the 12 months of the fiscal year at most. Discussions with the candidate are ongoing.

Report from Vice President of Social Division. Due to the absence of Jane Piotrowski, there was no report from this division.

Report from Vice President of Physical Division. Ned Mitinger reported on an issue discussed at the Traffic, Transportation, and Parking Committee meeting held on April 6, i.e., the plan for major repairs of the Willow Grove Avenue bridge. The Philadelphia Streets Department met with TTP and will meet with the Development Review Committee; the Aesthetics Committee will also provide input. Ned invited members of the Executive Committee to attend these meetings.

Report from Vice President of Operations. Regarding the ongoing CHCA election, Dina Hitchcock inquired about whether the membership list would be available for use by the candidates and whether the office would provide copies of the ballot upon request. The answer to both questions was yes.

Report from Community Manager. Phil LeCalsey distributed copies of his report, which provided a summary of his work on various issues related to the CHCA, Fund, and Local, with special emphasis on arrangements for the Annual Meeting and Dinner to be held on April 22 and arranging for technical support for the CHCA website. Phil reported that the Fund Drive raised a total of $90,000 from 569 donors, which is the most raised since 1973 except for the fiscal year 2002-03, when $104,000 was raised. Dina requested that a maintenance agreement for Baseview software should be purchased immediately.

Announcement. It was announced that the target date for the opening of Weavers Way is September 1.

Old Business. Mark Keintz stated that he will review the 2008 CHCA audit in detail and send a report to the Board prior to its next meeting. The reasons for the delay for this audit include: 1) bookkeeper Sue Kowert was on medical leave from December to March, and then worked fewer hours than usual during her recuperation; 2) Sue had to make many corrections to the work of the temporary bookkeeper; 3) last year’s Fund audit was given a priority over the CHCA audit; 4) the issue of libel risk had to be clarified for the auditors by the Local’s attorney; and 5) efforts to ensure that the Local remain “an ongoing concern” had to be demonstrated to the auditors. The pros and cons of the Local having its own bookkeeper were briefly discussed, as were the final grant allocations for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 PM.

Respectfully submitted on 4/22/09 by:

Kristina Sullivan
CHCA Secretary

Approved by the Executive Committee without amendment on 5/14/09.