College Terrace Residents’ Association

Annual Meeting March 24, 2007

Minutes

Doors to the Escondido School Multi-Purpose Room were opened at 9:30 a.m. for sign-ins and refreshments. Volunteers at information tables fielded questions and encouraged residents to get involved with neighborhood activities including Emergency Preparedness, Traffic Calming Trial Advisory Group, the Parking Issues Task Force and the College Terrace Library Working Group.

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by President Greg Tanaka.

Attendees: 98 residents signed in, as well as two visitors.

Welcome

• Greg Tanaka welcomed everyone to the sixth annual CTRA meeting and began to review the Agenda as outlined on the handout.

• Colin Mick asked to be recognized in order to find out whether the meeting would be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules. Greg clarified that the CTRA Board had not adopted the formal procedures of Robert’s Rules, but noted that the agenda allowed for discussion and consideration of changes.

• Colin made a general motion that the meeting be conducted following Robert’s Rules, which was seconded. The motion was defeated by majority vote.

• Greg returned to the written agenda and thanked all the residents who had volunteered to deliver CTRA newsletters, helped make the picnics happen, or served on the Bylaws Committee, the Nominating Committee or any other CTRA committees or otherwise donated time and energy to the neighborhood in the past year.

CTRA Bylaws Update

• The first topic was a review of the recommended changes to the CTRA Bylaws, which were first adopted in May 2001 to provide for annual election of board members and more structure for our voluntary organization.

• Bylaws review process: Greg Tanaka summarized the process followed by the CTRA Bylaws Committee which was appointed by the Board last May.

o Members of the Bylaws Committee included residents Fred Balin, Brent Barker, Ken Van Vleck, Dan Kaleba, Kathy Durham and himself.

o The committee spent many hours between June and October considering a wide range of inputs and proposals, including the "Key Principles" document proposed by committee member Fred Balin.

o Fred Balin stated that his purpose in participating in the Bylaws Review Committee was to bring forth the four Key Principles for review that he circulated in writing to all households in the neighborhood. He said that the committee’s final document was only a report on what the committee agreed on, not a unanimous recommendation, and that he was hoping to have a motion on the floor that he could move to amend.

• Bylaws Committee and Board Recommendations: Committee member Dan Kaleba summarized the proposed amendments that the Bylaws Committee unanimously agreed upon as well as other recommendations made for the Board to consider.

o Specific amendments included the separation of shared board positions so that all board members would be individually elected and more detailed language to describe the duties of each board member. These amendments were approved by the Board at meetings in November and February, and distributed to all households in the March newsletter.

o In addition, the committee recommended that the Board establish written guidelines for nomination and election procedures and addressing conflicts of interest. Board members accepted these recommendations and are in the process of drafting and implementing them. Further information is on the CTRA website.

• After reviewing the details of the proposed Bylaws changes, a motion was made to approve the recommended amendments in their entirety.

o The vote on this motion was 67 in favor and 8 against, meeting the required two thirds majority for approval of bylaws changes.

• Fred Balin introduced a motion in the form of a resolution that Board members observe and be guided by the "Key Principles" document circulated prior to the meeting.

o Colin Mick seconded the motion. He noted that the Key Principles could be added to the board’s Policies and Procedures rather than to the actual bylaws.

o Dan Kaleba offered an analysis of why the Bylaws Committee had decided not to advance these principles during its review.

• Regarding the first Key Principle, “Representation,” Dan explained the difference between board members representing the broad interests of the neighborhood vs. representing “the majority” on a particular issue.

• Regarding “Conflict of Interest,” Dan explained that the wording in the Key Principles document would require each prospective board member fill out extensive financial disclosure forms, and that on many issues, every homeowner in College Terrace would have a conflict of interest.

• Council Member Bern Beecham confirmed that the wording of the proposed Conflict of Interest principle would require filling out the lengthy Form 700 Financial Disclosure form.

o After a somewhat unruly discussion, Fred stated that he did not believe there was a clear process for making a motion and being able to speak to it, so he withdrew his motion.

Election of Officers for 4/1/07-3/31/08

• All residents received a paper ballot when they signed into the meeting.

• Greg recognized the work of the five members of the Nominating Committee in recruiting willing and able volunteers to serve in the nine positions on the board of directors. Members of the Nominating Committee included Roger Pierno and Margarita Quihuis, Susan Rosenberg, Robyn Duby and Jill Olerich.

• Margarita and Roger presented the list of candidates nominated for the various board positions as announced in the March newsletter and listed on the attached ballot. Candidates were asked to affirm that they reside in College Terrace, are willing to serve on the Board of Directors and pledge to uphold the CTRA Bylaws.

• Greg asked for any nominations from the floor for any of the board positions. No additional nominations were received.

• Residents were asked to mark their ballots, and ballots were collected. Roger and Margarita counted and recorded the ballots outside the Multi-Purpose Room. Alexandra McFarland served as election observer.

• Report of the election results: At the end of the meeting, Roger Pierno announced that a total of 96 ballots had been cast – 67 at the meeting and 28 absentee.

• The following candidates were elected to CTRA Board of Directors for 2007-08:
PRESIDENT Greg Tanaka, Princeton St. (85 votes)
VICE PRESIDENT Kathy Durham, Dartmouth St. (81 votes)
SECRETARY Arun Sastry, College Ave. (91 votes)
TREASURER Larry Kavinoky, Cornell St. (89 votes)
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Susan Rosenberg, Stanford Ave. (91 votes)
RESEARCH PARK OBSERVER John Mark Agosta, California Ave. (89 votes)
CITY OBSERVER Emily Marshall, Princeton St. (92 votes)
STANFORD OBSERVER Steve Woodward, Stanford Ave. (88 votes)
COORDINATOR OF SOCIAL EVENTS Andrea Fleming, Columbia St. (90 votes)

• Ballots will be retained for 30 days, and then destroyed if no one requests a recount or reexamination of the ballots.

Neighborhood Traffic Calming Trial Update

• CTRA Board Member John Mark Agosta presented an update on the traffic calming trial currently underway in the College Terrace neighborhood. These include speed tables on Stanford and California Avenues as well as traffic circles along College Avenue and Yale Street. The City Council will decide in December, based on further measurements and neighborhood feedback, whether they should be made permanent.

• John Mark summarized the process of neighborhood data gathering and input over the last few years that led the City to approve and fund a trial in College Terrace. He noted that background information and links are on the CTRA website ( www.ctra.org ).

• This spring, the City will engage the services of a traffic engineer consultant to review the public feedback and evaluate whether the trial traffic calming measures are functioning properly and achieving the expected objectives.

• Further consultation with neighborhood representatives and additional public meetings will take place in the coming months, prior to next fall's review by the Planning and Transportation Commission and the City Council.

• Colin proposed that a meeting be held in April to discuss the traffic calming issues. Greg expressed support for this idea.

• Bill Ross asked whether the traffic circles were in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and whether emergency response time was affected.

• Other comments from residents:

o The “rules of engagement” at traffic circles are not clear to all users. John Mark noted that the rules are actually the same as at any intersection and are specified in the California Vehicle Code, but many people are not aware of this.

o Increased Stanford vendor traffic seems to be using Stanford Ave.

o Construction on campus is adding to the volume of construction vehicles using College Terrace streets, as well as construction debris.

o The question was asked whether it is possible to limit the number of cars one could park on the streets. In the 1960s, when most households had only one car, no one parked on the streets.

• Residents who had not already done so were encouraged to fill out the survey passed out at the sign-in table, which provided space for comment on the trial measures in specific locations. Additional comments may be submitted to board@ctra.org .

• All feedback from this survey, as well as that collected at the January meeting or via the CTRA website and emails to the board, is being shared with City officials.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Arun Sastry, Secretary

Attachment: 2007 Ballot