Quick Guide to House Reports - Madison Community...

MCC Board of Directors MeetingWednesday, December 16th, 2015 at 6pmLowell Center, 610 Langdon St. Madison

AgendaEstimated Meeting Length: 3 hrs.

Item Pages Type Time Sponsor Facilitator1) Preliminary Items

Check-in + Announcements Minutes Agenda Review

3-5Decision 15 min --

2) Reports Houses (see quick guide below) Committees (Maintenance, Membership,

Finance, Coordinating, Personnel, TUPOCC, Grievance, Food)

Staff

6-13Discussion 15 min --

3) George Rothdrake Type B membership 14 Decision 20 min George4) Committee Tuesdays 15 Decision 20 min Steve

5) Call for nominations for SJC board rep 16 Info 20 min Glyphia

6) Mid-Meeting Items: Feelings & Dynamics Check Short Break

--- Discussion 15 min--

7) Place Audre Lorde on Mgmt Concerns Phase II 17 Discussion 30 min Leo

8) Halt minor maintenance on rent striking houses 18 Discussion 30 min Leo

9) Final Items Recap for House Meetings + Check Out

Discussion 15 min

Quick Guide to House ReportsAM AU AV FR HY IN LO OF PH SO SYCurrent and Future Vacancies?Any Major Problems?• High Turnover• 25% Vacancy• Maintenance Projects Stalled• Treasurer’s Reports Incomplete• House Payments Missed• Board Meetings Missed• No Membership Process• No Annual Budget• Other

Upcoming Meetings for MCC Members1/5 – Maintenance Committee, 7:301/6 – Coordinating Committee, MCC Office, 1202 Williamson St, 7:301/12 – Finance Committee, 7:30

Stay tuned, as the Tuesday meeting schedule may change after this board meeting, which would change the date of the 1/12 meeting.

Miniature Toolkit for Shorter and More Focused Board Meetings(Policy Adopted 2/19/92)

A. This policy will be printed on the back side of every Board meeting agenda.

B. All agenda items shall have an individual sponsor, noted on the agenda, and shall be denoted as Informational (no discussion required), Discussion (no vote), or Decision (vote at this meeting).

C. Items shall not be discussed unless that sponsor (or a designated proxy) is present to introduce the item. A written proposal for all agenda items requiring a vote must be included in the Board packet in standard proposal format unless items come up which require emergency action.

D. The Board must vote to approve inclusion of emergency items before they are discussed.

E. The Facilitator will ask the sponsor of each item to briefly introduce it in 3 parts:1) A summary of the proposal.2) A brief background statement—why is it important, what events led up to

this?3) What action is requested of the Board at this meeting?

F. During discussion of the item, the suggested role of the facilitator is to:1) keep a speaker’s list and call on members in turn,2) limit unfocused discussion; bring discussion back to the issue at hand if it

strays off track,3) ask for a motion on decision items if there is none,4) help the group move toward a decision; restate areas of agreement to the

group and clarify issues needing further work,5) watch for the moment when you can ask for a vote,6) watch the emotional vibes in the meeting—if bad vibes are getting in the

way, ask the group to stop and address emotional issues first, and7) keep items within pre-set time limits; when the timekeeper announces we’ve

hit the limit for an item, ask the group to vote on a definite time extension (i.e. “Should we table, vote, or discuss for another 10 minutes?”)

G. Board members are urged to read the Self-Facilitation Guide in the Board Guide.

MCC Board Meeting

Wednesday, December 2, 2015, 6 pm

Lowell Center

Present: Eliza, Giovanni, Michael, Haven, Brijesh, Steve, Glyphia, Cameron, Sam, Kalin, Phil, Eli, Mark, Sara, Leo, Nathan, Moira, Lily, Thomas, AnnElise

Staff: Alex, Beth, Brel

Announcements:

Facilitated by PhilPassing around Communities Magazine ICH Party cancelled due to bed bugs.Phil birthday party Phoenix, 10 pm, Saturday, Dec 5. Alcohol for 21+ & cake for all

Minutes – Approved – 7, Opposed – 0, Abstaining – 8

Agenda Review Facilitated by PhilAdd Decision from Food Committee as part of Committee Reports1) House ReportsAmbrosia, Brijesh, 2 openings in January. Line of people so expect not to have trouble filling.Audre – Thomas – 3 vacant rooms, amping up efforts , no cupboardsAvalon – Just joined the strikeFriends – no report. AnnElise came later. Hypatia – one opening for 1/1/16ICH – may or may not have one opening. Full. Found bedbugs but other than that ok. Some maintenance issues.Loth – doing well on maintenance. House meeting on Sunday is planned. Two rooms may be open and may be having a membership dinner in the next two weeks.Ofek – all rooms full for next semester, no one in house on bank account yet, bathroom progress being madePhoenix – two new members have recently moved in. Still have one vacant room, but it is contracted for. Vote on rent strike has been extended until next weekSofia – Haven – just filled an opening with a father/son. Another opening in Jan 1 or 15th. Started process.Syntropy – no rep

2) Committee Reports

Maintenance: Cameron: Loth has been taking up most time. Maintenance having two staff people as of Brel starting on 12/1. Going smoothly so far. Working on comprehensive list that houses need to pay for and MCC needs to pay for. Discussed pest control $2000 investment for a heater to deal with our bedbugs internally. Looking into the liability of running one ourselves.Finance: Steve Vig - Meeting next week. No new info.Membership: Eli – Referred to report in packet. Discussed collections and billing sheet fines at the past meeting. Will be discussing house policies for demembershipping at next meeting. Looking at house policies.Grievance – no repEducation – no repCo-Co – Mark referred people to packetPersonnel – Glyphia - meeting tomorrow at ICHMCC Food Issues Committee – Nick introduced nominee Sara Vega from Ambrosia for coordinator – 3rd year horticulture major & longtime Growing Power volunteer. Has many contacts in the food system locally. Long relationship with dumpster diving, wants to embed MCC with local food producers.

In favor – 14 Opposed – 0 Abstaining – 3 Objecting – 0

3) Staff ReportsBeth – refer to reportAlex – dealing with Loth – plumbing, drywall, fire doors, sewer lateral, asks patience from other houses. Now that there are two coordinators hopes that wait time will be shortened. Conducting routine maintenance with boilers, etc and Brel – started yesterday. Offered contact info as [email protected] which reaches Brel, Cameron or Alex. 617-901-4149 – Brel’s cell phone. Dealing with code officers in the city, and there have been communication problems between city offices and between MCC and city. Those are being worked on. A stove is on order. ABC has done a final inspection with building inspection and two final inspections are scheduled. We are doing last minute drywalling and plumbing. We are looking at the middle of next week all the checked off things that the city required should be done.Q: How much extra is this costing MCC? Brel answered – mostly our time. The sewer may cost us an extra $2500 if not the city’s line.A from finance officer: The only Loth payment that has been unexpected has been the first half of the sewer rotorooting. Alex M, finance person, are working together to create a final finance report on the whole Loth project that will be available in the next few weeks.

4) Revising Staff Grievance - DecisionCameorn facilitatingEli talked through the issue. This was driven by the fact that II, which is being disbanded, had a role in staff grievance so needed to organize it without II’s role. Eli went through the new process. Q: why was Grievance left out of the process?A: Eli – I thought Grievance was for member conflicts, not staff.

Discussion:

Sense vote – mostly thumbs up; 3 mediums

Another change was suggested, discussed and accepted. Wording to change to:

6) Conflicts between officer and staff will first be discussed by Coordinating Committee. If a conflict cannot be resolved, and a staff members has a complaint about the conduct of an officer the staff member may bring the issue to ONEC, who will evaluate the complaint and take action as appropriate. If a conflict cannot be resolved, and an officer has a complaint about the conduct of a staff member, the officer may bring the issue to Personnel Committee who will evaluate the complaint and take action as appropriate.”

Number 9 – replace last sentence – was discussed and rationale for not changing was offered so change was withdrawn.

Move to vote Nick

Second Phil

Vote

Favor – 14 Opposed – 0 Abstaining – 3 Objecting – 0

Meetings and Dynamics Check

5) Delegating II Committee Responsibilities - Decision

Eli introduced their proposed changes.An amendment was suggested but failed to receive a second. Party suggesting amendment agreed to take a new look at proposed changes and perhaps bring them forward again, revised, to a future board meeting.

Vote:

In favor 10 Opposed – 1 – Abstaining – 3 Objecting - 0

6) Committee Tuesdays - Discussion

Michael facilitating

Steve introduced and gave rationale for wanting to change around the Tuesdays assigned to certain committees for 2016. Mainly it would allow FinCo’s meetings to more closely precede Board for timely financial reporting, and also to open a Tuesday for another committee, perhaps eduation, to meet.After some q&a, there was a move and second to close the discussion. The item did not seem to be contentious.

Check-Outs

Meeting adjourned 7:15 pm

MCC Personnel Committee12/3/15, ICH, 8:30Mark, Glyphia, George, Gabrille, Julie

Alex M review-Wait 3 mo. til middle of his contract-Do goal setting form now

Maintenance coordinator job description-We don’t really have a description, policy and contract reference each other but don’t independently tell much-Ask Cameron for involvement-Perco should make a description, maybe one page or less

Alex H review-Send out surveys, et al. (give a week for them to be filled out)-Ask Cameron to have his review by next meeting (1/7)

HR audit-Is audit cost hourly? We have very little policy on paper-See if we can get materials for things for which we have nothing-Ask more questions to see if we should do it now or later

Perco + Coco meeting-Talk about disciplinary processes, record keeping-Clarify roles, invite Leo-After 12/9 Coco (8:30 ish)

Next training-Are evenings a scheduling problem for Lori? Weekends?-Delay a month just worry about audits this month

CommitmentsGlyphia-Put audit items in Perco folder-Contact Lori

Gabrielle-Create document for staff review timeline-Outline for Perco and coco meeting

Mark-Talk to Steve/Cameron about reviews/goal setting-Send George Maintenance Coordinator documents

George-Create Maintenance Coordinator job description (use interviews, old docs)

Julie-Send out surveys for Alex H to membership once they’re ready

Coordinating Committee 12/9/15, 7:30 pm SJC

CoCo Present: Mark, Glyphia, - Co-coordinating officers, Steve, Cameron, Eli, PerCo Committee, Mark (chair), Glyphia, Julie Goodrich, Leo Roth, George Rothdrake, Gabrielle Hinahara Staff – Beth

CoCo Payment Plan - none

Positions to fill – Webmaster – advertisement to go out with eSparkleNotetaker – December and on-going, perhaps split the hours between two peopleHouse treasurer assistant – not a full position but a stipend paid when help is requested and givenMembership office – up the hours 5 hours each for office intern and membership coordinator until the education coordinator is hired. Much work to justify the change.

Steve Strong & Grievance Committee – waiting to hear back from the TRC mediator position.

Rosebud offer to help mediate rent strike – Putting Rosebud in a position where he may become controversial himself is not worth the

risk Mediation committee status update request – not too much is known but want to let them

have a chance to get their work going Would rather have the GMM-proposed questions being answered be the next step then to

start a new initiative at this time

Avalon Rent Strike Has CoCo responded to the other houses on strike? No. Should CoCo? Discussion seemed to

be that it may be useful for CoCo to respond but now timing would be better after the January Board meeting where houses make their statements.

DWD complaintOfficers responded as requested. Their letter was ok’d by the lawyer within the timeframe legally required. A copy of the letter was passed around. ACTION: It will be sent by office staff with copies to be put in CoCo Officers mailbox.

Management concerns Management concerns used to be a standing item for CoCo and was suggested that it ought

to be again. There are some house actions or inactions that were meant to make management concerns automatically kick in.

Procedural refreshers at Board may be a good idea to make people aware of how management concerns policy works, including listing the things that trigger management concerns automatically.

How do people feel about, at next CoCo, meeting, we start to move forward on Management Concerns? May be better practice to have officers talk to houses before we start committees. ACTION: Glyphia to write a management concerns procedural refresher for the next Board

In response to a question from Finance officer: CoCo would like FinCo officer to start to follow the procedures for discussing management concerns. Until now, officer has been informing FinCo and following directions there that the rent strike may be better handled with forbearance to see if other actions produce results.

Loth update Brel is working on getting all inspections for Friday 12/10/15. The list of things that were

required from the code inspector have been accomplished. Hosting Loth refugees – is MCC going to foot some expenses to houses hosting Loth crashers

from the Loth budget? FinCo will discuss at next meeting. CoCo indicated willingness to have MCC pay. ACTION: Steve will follow up with Syntropy who made the request through FinCo

PerCo8:30 pmPresent: Glyphia, Julie, ?, Noah?, LeoA document, “PerCo/CoCo Roles and Responsibilities” was circulated. It was written as a draft by PerCo for CoCo consideration. Changes were suggested:

Add Exceptional performance to Supervisor Record Keeping Change the name for bullet point 1 under Supervisor Record Keeping to make reflect the

informal nature of the notes For Paid Time Off Procedure – save the emails as proof of approval and as spreadsheet back

up. Add to Hiring that the supervising officers input is sought in job description, questions for

applicants. Firing may be better handled by PerCo for legal reasons. Fewer people to have up to speed

with legal ramifications of firing. Is going through PerCo – who has authority to ask PerCo to look into firing someone?

Supervisor can go directly to PerCo Is discipline action short of firing – whose responsibility is that? Mostly up to supervisors,

with PerCo’s being made aware of significant troubles. Not every bump, but if there is a pattern. Suspension is ok, but document it with PerCo. There are not as many laws surrounding disciplinary actions

Written warnings, verbal warnings, cutting hours, suspensions without pay are disciplinary actions under control of supervising officers

PerCo can make the dismissal decision with employee having a chance to appeal to the Board through a member/supervisor sponsor

There may be different procedures between at-will and contracted employees ACTION: PerCo offered at some time write up guidelines about disciplinary steps that can be

taken up until a firing The notetaker dismissal ought to be voted upon by CoCo tonight

PerCo portion ended at 9:24 pm

CoCo discuss notetaker dismissal. Notes taken by an officer present and submitted here:We used executive session to discuss and vote on the termination of Kyle Jacobs as MCC Note Taker. CoCo voted 4-0-0 to terminate..

12/16/15 BoardPacket: CoordinatingChair: CoordinatingLocation: LowellTime Friday, 9 am

Agenda 12/16 Board

20 mins – Decision - George Type B – George20 mins – Decision – Committee Tuesdays - Steve20 mins - Info - Elect SJC rep call for nominations– Glyphia 20 mins – Info - Management Concerns procedural refresher – GlyphiaBreak30 mins - Discussion - Place Audre Lorde on Phase II Management Concerns – Leo30 mins - Discussion - Halt Minor Maintenance for Rent Striking Houses – Leo

Meeting adjourned 9:53 pm

Maintco Meeting Notes 12/1/15

Present: Maint-Officer Cameron Bren (Ambrosia), Maint-Coordinators Alex Huntrods and Brel Hutton-Okpalaeke, Keith (Audre Lorde), Finn (Avalon), Proxies: Andrew (Syntropy)

Check-in: Cameron- Ambrosia doing good, recent sewer back-up good reminder to be careful what goes down drains, no hygiene products other than toilet paper should be flushed. Bed-bugs in one room, working on getting in-house heat treatment.

Keith- Audre still needs cabinets re-hung or replaced. Water seems to be collecting in basement during heavy rain. Front porch door broken off.

Finn- Avalon still waiting on new toilet and new stove.

Alex- Almost all time being spent at Loth. Fire doors up at, still need to schedule inspections. Sewer line being dug up and replace this week.

Brel- should have Loth inspections lined up in next day or two, looking into stove repair as temp solution to otherwise costly replacement. Would like to have a larger pool of ad hoc Loth workers.

Andrew- Things have been running pretty smoothly. Alex came over and helped us fix a leaky radiator. We still do not have a good solution for the fire escape door that children are unable to open.

Agenda:1) Introducing Brel on his first day: establishing contact and determining roles of coordinators and divvying tasks

Keith - asked coordinators if they feel they can start addressing other houses’ needs besides Loth.

Alex- Loth has been a huge project and been taking most of my time. There are supposed to be two people in this position and it’s only been me for the last few months so there is a lot to get to. Having two people and Loth wrapping up should bring major changes and help address other needs.

Brel- I intend to follow the direction of this committee. Please inform me immediately of any egregious maintenance concerns and I will address them asap. You can call, text, or email me anytime and I will get back to you as soon as I can. The next major project after getting Loth open is going to be Friends foundation. Not in critical condition but needs to be dealt with in timely fashion.

2) House and MCC maintenance funds

Cameron - detailed breakdown of the list of what is covered by houses and what is covered by MCC.

Brel- We should consider having a matching fund worked into the language for projects that are not necessary but something that a house wants. If it can be viewed as a capital or lifestyle improvement that the house is willing to match half the cost it should be matched with MCC funds.

Finn- the language should clarify who has the final say if there is a dispute or for some costs that are unclear or not in the policy.

Cameron- to Finn, how about by default will be covered by MCC and if Officer or Coordinators think it should be otherwise it will be brought to maintco for a vote?

Finn- that sounds adequate

Andrew- I fully support having a more comprehensive list of things that MCC pays for vs. houses.

3) Pest Control

Brel - I will look into other pest control services to see what else is out there that may cover more in a monthly subscription.

Finn- education is important, instead of trying to create a deterrent for houses to take careful pest control measures we should focus more on educating HMCs on how to avoid or inspect for pests. I have concerns about having a matching cost for dealing with pest control because I feel house already pays a lot into MCC and maintenance and pest control should be covered. Avalon uses live traps and does not have monthly inspection.

Keith- At Audre we have discussed in depth preventative measures and acted on them when infested. We were able to avoid further spread. I don’t think this should be a house cost because most of the time it is not a person’s fault. They could go to someone’s house they don’t know has bedbugs and bring them back unknowingly.

4) Rent strikes effects on Maintenance budget

Cameron- unfortunately do not have the information I wanted to for this meeting but I think it is good to at least have on our radar and have some discussion about since I have heard concerns at my house and other non-rent striking houses. I want to be aware of how srike could affect staff and projects. Asked maintco for sense vote if they would like to continue discussion at next meeting with more info available. Maintco in favor.

Brel: With a quick look over the budget I think we will probably be fine for about a year, because of the money saved by not having staff for almost a year.

Finn: feels like there isn’t much happening in terms of MCC maintenance so it’s difficult to talk about possible cuts, Avalon has had things waiting to be addressed for months.

Andrew: I am confused about the wording concerning striking houses "receiving maintenance". MCC owns the houses and members hold no equity, so it doesn't make sense to me that MCC as an entity would want to cease maintaining the properties. It is for this reason that, as the Syntropy MC, I have done my best to inform MCC about issues with the house while we are on strike, and provide access for maintenance issues. We have not been asking for any improvements. I am curious as to how MCC will be able to ensure that houses that hold striking members are being properly maintained if houses are "cut off" from receiving maintenance from MCC.

MCC Finance Committee Meeting12-8-15, 7:30 pm

Social Justice Center, Conference Room

Meeting started 7:39 pm

PresentSteve – Finance OfficerJosephine – International Carl - HypatiaStephen – AvalonChris – PhoenixMatt – AmbrosiaLaura – OfekBeth – staff

1. Finance Officer ReportA. UWCU signers progress – all MCC signers have signed, all forms faxed as per credit union’s

instructions. All balls are in UWCU’s court for finalizing access. We should have word within 48 hours, according to UWCU.

B. Loth Final expenses report coming in January – ACTION ITEM: Alex M and Steve are attempting to keep track of all expenses so that there can be a comparison of the budget and actuals. Steve predicts 10% overbudget or near that. Report will also include an intermediary report and will show the losses from not getting done on time.

C. Designated donation – Mark & Gabrielle Hinahara brought this forward via Steve. See notes under item 6.

2. House Budgets – Review, discuss and approveA. Phoenix – Chris walked through the Phoenix annual budget that he brought. Questions raised: Are supplies like laundry soap listed? A: In maintenance Why food stamps? A: That is an error and should come off Is ratio where you want it? A: Yes

Vote to pass Phoenix Budget yea – 5, oppose 0, abstaining - 2

3. Review of MCC financial reports (approximately 10 minutes)A. A question was raised about the current effect of the rent strike on MCC Financials. Steve

explained that the houses are not separate entities and are not under separate mortgages. MCC pays one mortgage. Reserves have been affected and if the rent strike continues, Steve reported the progression of cuts would follow this likely course: First to be cut would be services provided to houses. Next maintenance, membership and finance staff would be laid off. Then we would stop paying bills for services rendered. Finally we’d default on the mortgage.

ACTION: FinCo will reassess MCC’s finances at the FinCo meeting after the January board meeting to see if the rent strike questions have brought about any kind of change in the strike statusACTION: Steve V has not proposed management concerns to FinCo or CoCo,, but has continued to make officers and Finance Committee aware of the rent strike situation and will continue to do so, as per his duty as Finance Officer. ACTION: Finance Officer to bring one paper copy of the financial report to FinCo meeting.

4. Rotating Facilitation – members chose not to re-discuss at this meeting.

5. Eviction Prevention Program Fund – chose not to re-discuss at this meeting.

6. MCC Designated Donation Receipt

A. Growing Food and Sustainability, a 501c3, is shutting down, and is considering giving its funds to MCC to be held in fiscal agency, until a number of MCC members who are working on creating a new independent co-op specifically for families, are ready to form a 501c3. Thoughts expressed:

Fits our mission, but potentially things could go wrong There are changes to the proposal that have been requested because of forseeable problems –

contingency arrangements if the group doesn’t get a new co-op launched Wonder if another co-op would be a better fit for holding the money? MCC was the chosen organization. MCC may be considered more stable than independent co-ops.

Shall we proceed if we have our retained lawyer look over the contract before anything is signed? Sense vote is 6 up, one medium

Sense vote for the same question with the addition of trying to take action by the end of the year – 7 up

ACTION: Steve will contact lawyer to run the proposal by him as soon as possible.

7. Finance Committee Next Steps Discussion Suggestions:A. Doing our books differently so that treasurers do not have come to the office to do the routine

workMembers were enthusiastic about the concept, but which new program to use is the hang up. Quickbooks on- line is considered vastly inferior to QuickBooks. Thoughts expressed included:

Finding some other software or shareware should be explored. MCC could have a dedicated server that would allow treasurers to do work from home

Houses could get a finance-dedicated laptop for each house A house thought it would be useful to have a house computer, especially for the

population we serve that don’t have their own computers. When it was pointed out that the office option would still be available for anyone who’d like to take on the treasurer role who doesn’t have their own computer, the house felt that need would serve to mitigate that disparity.

Some felt that it is better to not have added technology and increase maintenance costs. Also, hard to keep track of a house computer over time. Hard to keep the computers serviced, especially since public computers seem to get the hardest wear. Also, protecting MCC if a member does illegal downloads.

A check out agreement, with or without a deposit, would be a good thing.

Tablet? Likely that would be Microsoft.

ACTION: Stephen will do some research on problems with “checking out” computersACTION: Steve V will look into VPN option.

Check outs - Meeting ended at 9:05 pm

Item: Type B Membership for George Rothdrake

Sponsor: George

Date Submitted: December 9, 2015

Type: Decision

Actual Text:

George Rothdrake is approved as a Type B member of MCC effective January 1 of 2016.

Background:

At the end of 2015 I will be moving out of MCC, and would like to be able to stay involved. I

have been working with our Personnel Committee to develop better relations between the

organization and staff, and hope to continue that work into next year. My experience living in

Sofia Co-op for three years and being involved with co-ops for many more years may be helpful

to the organization.

The bylaws under Section 3.01 provide that

Type B: Any individual person may become a Type B member of MCC upon affirmation of the

principles of MCC, approval of the MCC Board, and payment of annual dues as set by the MCC

Board. The number of Type B members shall not exceed 10% of the number of Type A members.

Each Type B member shall be entitled to one (1) vote at membership meetings and may attend

MCC committee meetings and cooperative functions.

TITLE: Committee Tuesdays

DATE: 12/02/2015SUBMITTED BY: Steve VigTYPE: Decision

PROPOSED:Summary of ProposalGive Education Committee a regular meeting time, and arrange the four Tuesday meetings each month to best serve the needs of each committee.

Actual Text of ProposalNew meeting days will begin in January 2016.

Replace this wording (changes underlined):MCC standing committees meet on Tuesdays, with the following schedule:First Tuesday of the month: Maintenance CommitteeSecond Tuesday of the month: Finance CommitteeThird Tuesday of the month: Membership CommitteeFourth Tuesday of the month: Individual Issues Committee

With this:MCC standing committees meet on Tuesdays, with the following schedule:First Tuesday of the month: Maintenance CommitteeSecond Tuesday of the month: Education CommitteeThird Tuesday of the month: Membership CommitteeFourth Tuesday of the month: Finance Committee

BACKGROUNDIndividual Issues Committee no longer exists, and Education Committee will start meeting soon, so swapping those meeting days is a simple necessity.

Finance Committee currently meets on the 2nd Tuesday, which is between the 7-14th day of each month. By meeting this early in the month, the previous month’s bookkeeping hasn’t been closed, as MCC is still waiting for checks to be cashed or deposited, statements to arrive and be reconciled, and reports to be generated. Also, this is before the monthly deadline for treasurer’s reports and house payments. By moving Finance Committee to the 4th Tuesday, they will meet on the 22-28th day of each month, after the books have been closed, reports generated, and MCC internal deadlines made or missed.

PROS: Gives Education Committee a Tuesday to meet on. Allows Finance Committee to work on MCC’s most recent financial information.

CONS: Doesn’t give a regular meeting date to Personnel Committee. “Committee Tuesday” still inferior to “Taco Tuesday”.

ALTERNATIVES: Move Maintenance or Membership committees as needed.

MCC is accepting nominations for SJC representative!MCC needs a second SJC representative, and will be electing one at the January 13th board meeting.

The Social Justice Center is the building that houses MCC’s office and several other non-profit organizations. MCC has two representatives on the SJC board of directors. One of the representatives is MCC’s coordinating officer and the other can be any other MCC member. The SJC reps are each paid a monthly stipend of $25. Their duties include:

attending the monthly SJC board meeting reporting back to MCC’s board about the decisions and happenings at the

SJC helping maintain the common areas of the building some other related tasks

For a full description check the MCC website: http://madisoncommunity.coop/book/social-justice-center-partnership

Nominations can be made at the December 16th board meeting or any other time by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Anyone can nominate any MCC member or oneself. Nominees should attend the January 13th board meeting to tell us why they would be a good SJC rep. and answer any questions people may have. If unable to attend that meeting please send a written statement either with someone who is attending, or e-mail to the above address.

mailto:[email protected]

TITLE: Place Audre Lorde on Phase II Management ConcernsDATE: 12/08/2015SUBMITTED BY: Leo RothTYPE: DiscussionPROPOSED:Summary of ProposalAddress financial transparency concerns by placing Audre Lorde Coop on Phase II Management Concerns (Phase II).Actual Text of ProposalThe board will discuss placing Audre Lorde Coop on Phase II, as defined under the policy manual section “Policy Manual: Management Concerns” (http://madisoncommunity.coop/policy-manual-management-concerns),Phase II consists of:“the Coordinating Committee shall create an ad hoc committee consisting of the appropriate officers, at least one other member from the appropriate committee, and other members of the affected house particularly to sit on the ad hoc committee”In addition to:“MCC assists house with advice and possibly helps perform vital functions”.BACKGROUNDAudre Lorde has been on rent strike for about a year without submitting a rent strike statement, demands, or similar documents. Audre Lorde has also not submitted proof that house payments have been collected during the rent strike period. In order to ensure uniform systems of financial accountability across all MCC coops, the board should discuss whether MCC needs to formally begin Phase II with regards to verifying Audre Lorde’s past present and future house payment collections.

PROS:· Begins the process of guaranteeing that all MCC houses continue to collect house payments in a uniform fashion.CONS:· May impose mandatory formalized dialogue upon a single house that other houses are not also forced to undergo.

http://madisoncommunity.coop/policy-manual-management-concerns

http://madisoncommunity.coop/policy-manual-management-concerns

TITLE: Halt Minor Maintenance for Rent Striking HousesDATE: 12/08/2015SUBMITTED BY: Leo RothTYPE: DiscussionPROPOSED:Summary of ProposalIn order to better align income with expenses, the Board should direct MaintCo and the Maintenance Staff to only conduct maintenance on rent striking homes that preserves the long-term asset value of individual rent striking houses and to maintain Madison tenant law standards. For example, MaintCo and the Maintenance Staff would respond to requests to repair a damaged roof or foundation, but would not respond to requests to replace a damaged refrigerator, as long as another operational refrigerator exists as maintaining two refrigerators simultaneously does not impact the long term value of the house and does not impact the long-term asset value of the house.

Actual Text of ProposalThe Board directs Maintco and the Maintenance Staff to only conduct maintenance on rent striking houses that preserves the long-term asset value of the house, or maintains minimum Madison tenant law standards.

BACKGROUNDWith five of the eleven MCC houses now on rent strike, MCC should scale back the maintenance conducted to houses that make their MCC payments. Doing so will realign MCC’s income with its maintenance expenditures, and will additionally create greater impetus for disputing parties to resolve the rent strike.

PROS:· Brings MCC’s expenses in line with MCC’s income.

CONS:· Potentially temporarily leads to lower living standards in rent striking houses.

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