Pocket – Greenhaven Community Association

At the October 2017 Board Meeting, the Board recommended for adoption the following bylaw additions, which will be voted on at the November 7, 2017 General Meeting:

Conflict of Interest: Whenever an officer of the Association has a direct financial or personal interest in any contract coming before the Board, the affected person shall: a) fully disclose the nature of the interest; and, b) withdraw from discussion, lobbying and voting on the matter. Any transaction or vote involving a potential conflict of interest shall be approved only when a majority of disinterested officers determine that it is in the best interest of the Association to do so. The minutes of meetings at which such votes are taken shall record such disclosure, abstention and rationale for approval.

Dissolution: In the event of the dissolution of this association, any and all remaining assets shall be used exclusively for an exempt purpose as defined under section 501(c)3 of the internal revenue code.

Candidates: The Association shall not participate in or intervene in any political campaign (including the publishing or distribution of statements) on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office. The Association also shall not endorse any candidate for public office.

We started our meeting by Devin sharing information with us regarding a Pocket/Greenhaven Awards event that would take place next Spring.  Our discussion revolved around where the event should be held, how much we should charge and what should we serve.  In the interim we decided to form a committee to help set up the event.  The committee consists of :

• Devin Lavelle
• Bill Cannady
• Judy Foote
• GariRae Gray
• Jim Houpt
• Mary McCune
• Shawna McKnight
• Pat Ramirez

In the next few weeks the committee will work on setting up a meeting and we will get an update at our next general meeting.

Our Vice-President Mary McCune wanted to work on our group doing more to support local businesses.  Mary proposed drafting a letter of introduction to invite local businesses to our next meeting.  Mary also had a great idea urging our neighbors to shop local especially in light of Delta Shores going in.  A committee was formed to help support the effort.  The committee consists of:

• Mary McCune
• Bill Cannady
• Judy Foote
• GariRae Gray
• Devin Lavelle
• Shawna McKnight

In the next few weeks the committee will work on setting up a meeting and we will get an update at our next general meeting.

GariRae next spoke to us about the upcoming bike safety event that will be held at Robbie Waters Library on Saturday, September 30th starting at 10 am.  The event will be led by one of the city’s transportation analysts and there is still room to sign up and Jim Geary gave us a quick recap of the well attended meeting regarding the runway closure at the Executive Airport.

Tristan Brown got us up to speed with what our group needs to do to become a nonprofit organization.  Tristan went into detail with what it means to be a “501 c3” nonprofit and we decided to form a committee to continue to look into the matter.  The committee consists of :

• Tristan Brown
• Will Cannady
• Jim Geary
• Pat Ramirez

In the next few weeks the committee will work on setting up a meeting and we will get an update at our next general meeting.

Our discussion next turned to the ongoing issue of cluster mailbox break-ins throughout our neighborhood.  Devin filled us in on his efforts to try to find out just exactly how many break-ins there have been.  We concluded with agreeing that Devin and I will write a column regarding the issue in the the Pocket News.

There are some big changes coming to the ways that local voters will be going to the polls.  Devin filled us in on the Voter’s Choice Act and we agreed to host an event to help inform of our neighbors of the very important changes.

Kimberly Bankston-Lee shared with us the important work being done by the local nonprofits Saving Our Legacy Project and African Americans for Smoke-Free Safe Places.  We will be writing a letter in support of Kimberly’s group and hope to work with her more in the future.

We finished our meeting with Judy Foote telling us about an ongoing issue in our community consisting of homes being made into care facilities.  Judy explained that having these facilities in our neighborhood leads to less available housing for families.  This led to a large conversation about what our group can continue to do to attract more young families to our neighborhood.

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out.  It’s great to see our group organizing so many important events for our community.  Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 7th at Robbie Waters Library.  See you then!