Attendees

Serena Watters
Kelleigh Eastman
Edith Gilliard-Canty
Howard Hughes
Jose’ Resendiz
Sonia Eaddy (N/A)
Paulette Carroll
Francis “Fran” Rahl
Laura Dykes
Abigail Breiseth
Scott Kashnow
Heather Kangas
JR Lee
Donnell Nance
Richard Parker
Kris Hoellen
George Kleb
Jane Shaab
Chuck Callahan
Gregg Herlong
Brian Sturdivant
Rebecca Altman

 

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes 

June 21, 2022

7:09 – JR Call to order – Richard joined late

Serena Watters Present
Kelleigh Eastman Present
Edith Gilliard-Canty Present
Howard Hughes Present
Jose’ Resendiz Present
Sonia Eaddy N/A
Paulette Carroll Present
Francis “Fran” Rahl Present
Laura Dykes Present
Abigail Breiseth Present
Scott Kashnow Present
Heather Kangas Present
JR Lee Present
Donnell Nance Present
Richard Parker Present
Kris Hoellen Present
George Kleb Present
Jane Shaab Present
Chuck Callahan Present
Gregg Herlong Present
Brian Sturdivant Present
Rebecca Altman Present

 

    • Minutes Approval
      • Scott clarified with Abigail the comments she made about the Education committee regarding the Common Health Action Report and corrected those notes in the May minutes to reflect that the request was generally what is the timeline for sharing the report.
  • Motion to approve by Edith, seconded by Serena → approved unanimously

 

Community Updates (2 minutes each)

  1. Barre Circle – Dumpster Day is coming up – she will send the date
  2. Franklin Square – no updates
  3. Hollins Roundhouse
    1. SOWEBO fest was lots of fun
    2. Saturday morning there is chess
    3. and there is basketball in Carroll Park
  4. Mount Clare – Jose not here?
  5. Pigtown – no updates
  6. Poppleton – Paulette – is hosting an event on Saturday for Juneteenth. 2-8pm
  7. Union Square – 
    1. Movies at 28 S Carey St
    2. Last sunday of the month music in the park 4-6 or so
    3. The SOWEBO Festival was very well done – give thanks to the organizing team from Hollins Roundhouse for making it happen.

Program Committee Updates (2 minutes each)

    1. Commercial
      • Thanks for all the help with SOWEBO
      • Continuing to work to address distrust and rebuild trust with the businesses – especially minority businesses – as reported in the Baltimore Sun 
      • Innovation Works
      • Take the Survey for the retail study.
  • https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JQLFBNN
    1. Education
      • July meeting is canceled
      • The small fund for schools is open for Donations – Lou’s Packett
  • https://www.aplos.com/aws/give/SouthwestPartnership/PackettSchools
  1. Historic Preservation
    • CHAP district – Black Homeownership in Old Poppleton | Context 
    • SOWEBO – Lord Baltimore Stage success. Video being added to the SWP website.
    • Website – Storytelling – We continue to work on the website in our spare time.
    • Ceremonial Street Sign for Reverend Ernest King – Baltimore Christian Warriors
      • Corner of Poppleton and Fairmount – was installed June 16th.
    • Discussing housing displays for community leaders at multiple locations in the neighborhood. Do you have any ideas?
    • Reminders: Review the Deconstruction Bill to be introduced by Councilwoman Ramos – Energy Justice Network
    • We lost four more houses this month on the 100 block of N. Carrollton Ave. Again there was a fire and it damaged the buildings and emergency demolition.
      • A bit of conversation was had regarding better securing properties that are vacant vs. tearing them down – and getting the City to take action on them quicker. More conversation will be held in the appropriate committees – Preservation, Housing, & Safety
    • Our next meeting is July 11 at 6PM
  2. Housing
    • Councilwoman Ramos – Presented – Tax Sale Reform – reducing the time it takes to acquire properties through the tax sale process – cut the time from 2 years to 6 months. in rem tax sale foreclosure. Here is a news story about it.
    • Housing Plan RFP – 2 applicants
  3. Public Safety
    • JR – discussed the fires again – They need to be addressed
      • One curious question – at the needle exchange truck – they get a candle with the needle.
    • Dirt bikes – there seem to be no consequences
      • need to figure this out
    • High grass @ Carrollton, Lexington, Saratoga – we need a plan for that.
    • Kris – on the dirt bike issue explore the work of Brittney Young – teaching STEM using dirt bikes.
  4. Vibrant Streets
    • Grants will be announced July 1
    • Instead of the meeting – encouraging committee members and everyone to attend the meeting on the East West Corridor study
    • BUILD & Union Square walked Lombard Street with Chris Shorter especially looking at the safety of Stricker and Lombard.
  5. Workforce
    • July 15 meeting – Joint meeting with Workforce Roundtable

 

Standing Committee Updates 

Governance Committee

  • Chuck – Add 3 at large directors to the board. We have previously voted on this at a special board meeting but we need to make changes to the bylaws and establish the procedure that this will follow.According to the Bylaws amendments must be presented at one meeting and voted on at the next. In order for these directors to be seated in time for the next officer election in November we need to implement these changes soon.
  • Governance discussed and voted on whether the at large members could be employees of an anchor institution. The vote was split but the majority felt that the members should not be employees of an anchor institution.
    • Paulette thinks it’s not fair that they can’t be employees of the anchors.
      • The discussion needs to include renters too, not just homeowners.
    • Edith – doesn’t think it’s fair either. “They live in the community”
    • Abigail – There is no homeownership requirement for the position so to Paulette’s point residency does not imply homeownership – these reps could be renters.

  • Richard Motion: To rescind the previous vote where the board decided to add 3 at large directors to the board.
  • 2nd JR

 

Serena Watters
Kelleigh Eastman No
Edith Gilliard-Canty Abstain
Howard Hughes Abstain
Jose’ Resendiz
Sonia Eaddy
Paulette Carroll
Francis “Fran” Rahl Yes
Laura Dykes No
Abigail Breiseth No
Scott Kashnow No
Heather Kangas No
JR Lee Yes
Donnell Nance Yes
Richard Parker Yes
Kris Hoellen Yes
George Kleb
Brian Sturdivant No
Jane Shaab No
Chuck Callahan No
Gregg Herlong No
Rebecca Altman No

 

The motion fails ( 5- yes, 9-no, 2-abstain)

 

  • Scott Motion: To establish the preference of the board on the question whether the representatives can be employees of the anchor institutions or not. 
  • yes = they can, no = they cannot.
  • 2nd Edith

 

Serena Watters No
Kelleigh Eastman Yes
Edith Gilliard-Canty Yes
Howard Hughes
Jose’ Resendiz
Sonia Eaddy
Paulette Carroll Yes
Francis “Fran” Rahl Yes
Laura Dykes Yes
Abigail Breiseth Yes
Scott Kashnow Yes
Heather Kangas Abstain
JR Lee No
Donnell Nance No
Richard Parker No
Kris Hoellen No
George Kleb Yes
Brian Sturdivant No
Jane Shaab No
Chuck Callahan Abstain
Gregg Herlong Yes
Rebecca Altman Abstain

 

The motion passes (9- yes, 7-no, 3-abstain) = The representatives can be employees of the anchor institutions.

 

  • Chuck Motion: To approve the procedure to select the at large members directors.
  • members requested that procedure and position description be revised and emailed again so we can vote on this at the next meeting.
  • Chuck presented the Bylaws changes that will be required in order to be able to vote on them at the July meeting.
  • Paulette has something very important to discuss – she had her grant money taken away.
    • Dottie suggested that Richard call Paulette after the meeting to discuss.

 

Anchor Updates (2 minutes each)

  • skipped due to time

President’s Remarks 

  • skipped due to time

Executive Director’s Report

  • skipped due to time

Open Forum

  • Scott – Tony has a leadership opportunity open to him. he will miss the July meeting
    • Richard and Chuck said it’s fine. No vote taken, no opposition voiced.

 

9:22pm – Meeting Adjourned

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