Minutes of West Garland Neighborhood Association Meeting 4/23/2015
The Meeting was called to order at 7:06 PM by President Ricardo Rocha. Roll call was taken with all officers present except for a permanent secretary, which the organization needs to find.
As the speaker (a member of the Garland Police Department NP did not arrive, the next item on the agenda was brought up. A motion was made by D. McAllister to approve the previous meeting’s minutes, which were available on line for all to read. Robert Vera seconded the motion and the minutes were approved by the membership.
Robert Vera, Treasurer, gave his report. There was $684.97 currently on hand. At the end of the meeting, he totaled the donation can and the amount ended up as $741.97 in funds. A brief discussion during the report mentioned that nothing had been used to buy items, such as T shirts or signs.
Old Business
A major attempt was made to fill vacancies in the officers with permanent (2 year terms) holders. A motion was made by D. McAllister to nominate David Morehead for parliamentarian, Ken Agee seconded it. A brief discussion followed and voice vote confirmed him in the position. Sergeant-At Arms nomination was Ken Agee, motion to nominate was made by Robert Vera, David Morehead seconded it. A brief discussion acknowledged that Ken was basically doing the work already. Voice vote approved his selection. No nominees were available to Secretary so D. McAllister volunteered to fill the position on a temporary basis until a candidate could be found. Ellen Fong will continue as Vice President and Ricardo Rocha volunteered to extend his term for 2 more years.
A few members had some complaints about lack of response from the police/code department and the mayor in general. Ricardo offered them some suggestions to get a better response.
New Business:
Ken Agee mentioned the need to update the membership list so that better contact is possible electronically.
Ricardo Rocha mentioned the robbery that took place in mid-April on Purdue and Princeton. No details were available other than the report on Neighbors Go. Ricardo said he would check into it.
The idea of having a garage sale still is viable; however, the only thing that was decided was that Fall would be a better time to have it. The site is still up in the air. Ken Myers mentioned the possible use of the Tax Office parking lot on a weekend when they weren’t open. The possibility of renting a storage shed to hold the items to be offered until the date of the sale was mentioned as a possibility instead of putting it all in one person’s garage. All were in agreement that there would be NOTHING kept after the sale.
A motion was made by Ken Agee to start revision of the bylaws. Two changes had been made in the Board of Directors meeting earlier. The correct boundary of West Garland was listed and the position of a Spanish speaking coordinator was dropped. As we only meet four times a year, currently a revision or amendment of the bylaws must be specifically mention in the meeting prior to the one it will be voted on. Two revisions were mentioned in this meeting. First one suggested that revisions mentioned in the prior meeting be emailed a week in advance of the next meeting so the members would be familiar with the revision. The second one revised Article XI Dissolution. As we are no longer meeting in the ROC building, if we should vote to dissolve the organization, it can be introduced the same way as amending the bylaws and the disposal of the funds left, providing all debts have been paid, will be made by the Officers and the general membership after discussion.
New Business (Continued)
Upcoming Events were updated by President Ricardo Rocha. A Taste of Garland is scheduled for this Saturday in the Garland Special Events Center, $25 entry fee. Ken Myer mentioned that the money that comes in from this goes to finance Crime Stoppers. Cinco de Mayo is on May 9th. Market Place will start again in the Town Square on May 16th, and that water restrictions may lighten up by June.
The motion to adjourn was made and seconded and the meeting was adjourned by Ricardo Rocha at 8:10 PM.
Respectfully submitted by
Dorothy McAllister
Acting Secretary