DRAFT MINUTES of ACTV Board of Directors Meeting

Date: Thursday, February 8, 2007

 

Call to Order:

The meeting convened at 7:38 PM, Vice-President Ernest Urvater presiding.

 

Board Members present: Ernie Urvater, Josna Rege, Anna Carter, Alan Root, Dennis Steiner, Paulette Brooks, Lacey Johnston

 

Board Members absent: Isaac BenEzra, Jean Haggerty, Vladimir Morales

 

Quorum status: This constitutes a quorum of the Board.

 

Others Present: Jim MacAllister, Mary Carey, Bob Weiner, Christine Stevens, Jaime Alvarez, Harry Brooks

 

Announcements

Vice-President Urvater added three brief agenda items:

—President Isaac BenEzra was taken to Cooley-Dickinson hospital with heart palpitations just one hour before this meeting. The board is awaiting word from his daughter as to his condition.

 

—The Executive Committee approved the $200 holiday bonuses for the staff at its January meeting, but neglected to announce the decision and seek official board approval at the regular January Board meeting.

MOTION

A motion was made and seconded to:

Approve $200 holiday bonuses for the ACTV staff.

The motion passed unanimously.

 

—President BenEzra has reluctantly accepted appointed Board Member Mary Paris’ letter of resignation.

MOTION

A proposal was made and seconded to:

Draft and send a letter of recognition and thanks to Mary Paris from the board, along with a token of our gratitude for her service to ACTV.  In the interests of time, Josna Rege will draft the letter and members of the Executive Committee will sign it on behalf of the Board.

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Public Comment

—James MacAllister asked to speak in his capacity as an ACTV member, rather than as IED. He began to read a lengthy written statement in which he announced his resignation as Interim Executive Director in order to pursue graduate studies and further registered in some detail his frustration with the leadership of the Board of Directors whom  he accused of incompetence, and with the organization’s Bylaws, which he claimed gave undue power to the Board at the expense of the membership. After he had been reading for some time, Alan Root interrupted with a point of order. Mr. Root noted that Mr. MacAllister was not in fact speaking as a member, but with the inside information available to him as IED, and furthermore, that some of his accusations were potentially actionable. Therefore he made the following motion with regard to Mr. MacAllister’s written statement:

MOTION

A motion was made and seconded :

That Mr. MacAllister suspend the public reading of his statement, which the Board would take under advisement, initiating a process for considering it carefully and preparing a response.

The motion was approved, with 5 in favor, 2 opposed. 

 

—ACTV member Christine Stevens said that she had known Mr. MacAllister for 5 years as a person of integrity and creativity. As a new member of ACTV, she said that it was a joy to work with him.

 

Approval of Minutes, January Board Meeting

The Draft Minutes of the January Board Meeting were presented to the board for amendment and approval.

MOTION:

A motion was made and seconded to:

Approve the draft minutes of the January Board Meeting.

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Treasurer’s Report (see budget, July-December 2006)

Treasurer Anna Carter presented the mid-year Budget Report, drawing the Board’s attention to line items for which the annual budget had already been expended, but accounting for each one. Overall, in her view, organizational spending is on track.

MOTION

A motion was made and seconded to:

Accept the Treasurer’s Report, subject to audit.

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Contract Status Report

Contract Negotiating Committee member Paulette Brooks announced that ACTV and Amherst Town Manager Larry Schaffer have finally reached agreement on the 10-year contract. The Committee has faxed a final copy of the document to Mr. Schaffer for his signature, and, with the Board’s approval today, ACTV officers will sign on ACTV’s behalf. Ms. Books circulated and presented a summary document detailing the major changes that had been negotiated since the last board approval of the provisions in the draft contract. She noted that the process had been underway for more than a year, and that the contract had undergone 26 drafts.

MOTION

A motion was made and seconded to:

Approve the final version of the ACTV contract with the Town of Amherst, and, barring any further changes. to permit the Board President and Clerk to sign the document on behalf of ACTV.

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Personnel Committee Report

—The Personnel Committee has completed its review of the IED’s evaluation of staff members Gretchen Saathoff and Sean Kinlin, and is presenting them both for board approval.

MOTION

A motion was made and seconded to

Approve the IED’s evaluation of Gretchen Saathoof and Sean Kinlin as recommended by the Personnel Committee.

The motion passed unanimously.

 

—The Committee’s evaluation of Interim Executive Director Jim MacAllister is still in progress. The Committee has read and summarized all the evaluations it has received, and has given the summary to Mr. MacAllister, requesting that he give the committee his written and/or verbal feedback. The committee will then complete its review for presentation to the Board at the Board’s next meeting. Mr. MacAllister stated that the statement presented at the beginning of the meeting constituted his response.

 

IED’s Report, January 2006 (see attached report)                                                        

—Jim MacAllister reported on his review of the program proposals in response to the Board’s concerns about the large numbers of outstanding program proposals, inadequate tracking of programs-in-process, and long delays in getting programs completed and cablecast. In his view, the Rules of the House and Program Proposals are overly long and complicated, and there is duplication of information in the program proposal and equipment checkout forms. He proposed paring down these rules and procedures, and presented a rough draft of a revised proposal. He suggested that producers be given 90 days to complete their programs, and that there be flexibility in the application of this rule.

—Mr. MacAllister also reported on plans for an art gallery in the station. The hallways have been painted in readiness, and further development awaits a board discussion and decision. (This proposal, along with others that involve possible policy changes, will be discussed at the March board meeting.)

 

Board Executive Session (personnel matter)

On Monday, January 29th, a Special Board meeting in Executive Session was called for Wednesday, January 31st, to discuss a personnel matter confidentially. However, that meeting was not held due to the lack of a quorum, and therefore an Executive Session was scheduled for this regular Board meeting to discuss a process for addressing the matter. Mr. MacAllister was invited to attend this Executive Session (but not the previous one, which was to have been a Board-only meeting), but declined, stating his willingness to discuss the matter only in a public meeting.

 

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 10:10 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Josna Rege

Clerk, ACTV Board of Directors