I. Attendees
Kelleigh Eastman
JR Lee
Scott Kashnow
George Kleb
Rich Shores
Nancy McCormick
Sonia Eaddy
Ashley Valis
Jane Shaab
Chuck Callahan
Laura Dykes
Abigail Breiseth
Donnell Nance
Richard Parker
Gregg Herlong
David McGill
Heather Kangas
Jane Buccheri
Lou Packett
Khandra Sears
Michael Seipp
II. Welcome and Introductions – 7:03 Start
• Kelleigh opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.
• Chris took attendance.
III. Approval of the Minutes
● Motion by Nancy to approve the minutes from October – 2nd by Jane B. – All in
Favor – the motion passes.
IV. Seating of New Board Members
• Kelleigh welcomed the new board members and the current board members
introduced themselves to the new board members.
V. Board Orientation
• Scott gave an overview of the history of SWP and quickly oriented the board to
the vision plan. (see attached text)
• Kelleigh reviewed organizational documents. (see power point attached)
• Chris reiterated the importance of signing and submitting the conflict of interest
forms for the board members. They are required.
• George wrapped up the presentation (slides attached)
• Paulette asked why we don’t require Roberts Rules
• George answered that committees could follow them if they want – but we give
the committees flexibility to run their own meetings.
VI. Executive Director Search Committee
• The Search Committee has narrowed the candidates to 2 and will present them
both at a special meeting on Thursday.
VII. SWP Committee Updates –
• Scott – The Preservation Committee has finalized the language for the Franklin
Square sign and will be ordering it soon.
• JR – Public Safety is working with Bill Joyner on a policing plan.
• Heather – Housing had good participation at the last meeting where BIP made a
presentation of their Home Ownership project on McHenry Street. They hope to
have the houses available in 3-6 months and the committee is looking for renters
to convert to homeowners.
• Abigail – Education has created a subcommittee to focus on having more young
people participate in our committees, starting with the education committee.
• Donnell – Vibrant Streets meets on the 30th this month – Everyone is welcome
please come.
• Richard – Workforce Development meets on the first Wednesday of the month –
he is looking to tackle the issue of joblessness during COVID.
• Laura – Commercial is meeting next Tuesday – There is also a West Baltimore
task force meeting on Dec 12
VIII. Community Announcements
• Paulette – Dec 18 is a Xmas Holiday Program
• Gregg – Over the next week they will begin restabilizing 873 West Baltimore Street
creating a surface parking lot and a small park. He expects it to take 5 weeks or so.
• Patty – Union Square has the annual cookie tour coming up – it will be virtual this
year and tickets are on Event Brite. She will be contacting the Anchors for possible
sponsorships.
• Ashley – The community engagement center is complete, but they can’t open due to
COVID. She is looking into if they can do some small programs and move some
programming online if possible.
a. They also have a program that helps families get internet access. Reach out
for assistance or pass this info along as necessary please.
• George – Early Headstart is almost complete – and they have broken ground on the
new center at 31 S. Payson Street
• Chuck – Is working on two collaborative initiatives: Diabetes Prevention and
Behavior Health Crisis Intervention
IX. Election of Officers
• Kelleigh presided over the elections
• Before we began nominations – Chuck thanked Kelleigh for her service and all
agreed. Round of Applause. Thanks Kelleigh!
• President Election
a. Scott nominated JR – JR declined he would prefer to be VP
b. Richard nominated himself and also thanked Kelleigh for her service
i. Donnell 2nd
c. Jane B. asked for clarity if Kelleigh is eligible to run again – Kelleigh clarified
that she is eligible but prefers not to.
d. Richard spoke – He hopes to restore our track on the ten-year plan that we
established years ago and looks forward to bringing our board together with
more fellowship and comradery. Perhaps implementing quarterly gatherings
where we can interact as friends and neighbors not just as colleagues on a
board.
e. Scott – requested Richard answer three questions that have been lingering in
the undercurrent in the hopes that addressing them fully we can put them
behind us.
i. According to court documents found in MD Case Search. Richard
plead guilty to 2 counts of Perjury – Campaign Reports and received 1
yr jail time, suspended and 3 yrs unsupervised probation. Is that
accurate? Yes or no?
1. Richard stated that his treasurer made mistakes on the filings
and that the filings were late which caused a fine. The fine has
now been paid and everything is up to date. He was not the
treasurer but he was the chairman of the committee and so he
was responsible for the mistakes and therefore the charges
were levied against him.
ii. Scott stated: “I found out about this issue by reading articles in the
paper: The Baltimore Sun dated Sept, 10, 2019, & Oct. 30, 2019. And
also a web posting from the Office of the MD State Prosecutor dated
Oct 30, 2019. You were a part of this board at that time and I was a
part of the executive committee of SWP. But you didn’t tell us about it.
You didn’t mention it, you didn’t give us any heads up, you didn’t
explain anything. Why?”
1. Richard explained that it’s all been corrected and the charges
are being reviewed but the review has been delayed due to
the courts shutting down because of COVID.
2. Scott: So just to be clear the charges are still pending and they
will be changing.
3. Richard: Yes
iii. Scott referenced the minutes from SWP Board Meeting – February of
2019 – it is documented that Richard said his address is 901 West
Barre Street. He emailed Richard February 18 of 2018 –
1. Richard interrupted the question and stated that his address is
901 West Barre Street – he may have said at some point that
it was 801 but that was a mistake.
2. Scott thanked him for the clarification and stated that he will
correct the tax filings that he submitted for The Friends of
Carroll Park that have the wrong address on them.
iv. JR suggested moving on.
v. Kelleigh called for the vote:
vi. Opposed: Scott, Kelleigh, Rich Shores
vii. Abstaining: Heather and Gregg
viii. All others for Richard
ix. Richard is elected president
• Vice President Election
a. Scott nominated JR – JR accepted
i. Chuck 2nd
b. Sonia nominated herself as VP
i. Sonia spoke first – She has seen a lot of division in our
neighborhoods and wants to help bring us together.
ii. JR spoke – We need a way to resolve conflict.
iii. Kelleigh called for the vote:
iv. For Sonia: Sonia, Abigail, and Heather
v. All others for JR – except Richard who had stepped away from the call
vi. JR is elected vice president
• Secretary Election
a. Richard nominated Ashley – Ashley accepted
i. Scott 2nd
ii. Kelleigh called for the vote:
iii. Everyone voted for Ashley
iv. Ashley is elected Secretary
• Treasurer Election
a. Jane B. nominated George
i. Sonia 2nd
b. Richard nominated Donnell
i. George 2nd – and declined Jane’s nomination
ii. Donnell spoke – He is about transparency and he looks forward to
creating and following spending plans and making our audits go
smoother.
iii. Jane B. What experience do you have with finances?
1. He has Business Administration degrees and works at the
federal level regularly on contracts of $10M – $100M and even
sometimes over $100M.
iv. Kelleigh called for the vote:
v. Everyone voted for Donnell
vi. Donnell is elected Treasurer
X. Transition
• Richard assumed control of the meeting and announced there will be a special
(Executive Session) meeting of the Board of Directors on Thursday – to meet the
Executive Director final candidates.
XI. Adjourn
• Motion to adjourn by Scott – Chuck 2nd
• Richard adjourned the meeting 9:20PM
