Your co-op, November 2003

Bill Nye at PCC Fremont

Graeme Lowe from PCC’s Fremont deli with Bill Nye “Science Guy.”

Bill Nye the Science Guy taped part of an upcoming show at PCC Fremont. Staff enjoyed hosting the crew and shoppers were delighted to see Nye in their store. The Sound Consumer will announce the air date(s) of Nye’s show when determined.

Talk to the Board

Here’s your opportunity to give one-on-one feedback to board members about anything PCC-related. Board members will be available to talk to members on the following dates and locations:

• Tuesday, November 18, PCC View Ridge, 5 to 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 9, PCC Seward Park, 5 to 7 p.m.

Looking for a few good leaders

by PCC Nominating Committee:
Lori Babcock, Jennifer Gordon, Mark Huppert, Carmelita Logerwell, Stewart Rose (chair), and Reed Schilbach

It’s that time of year when the air gets nippier, the leaves begin to change and — the PCC Nominating Committee gears up its search for candidates for the next board of trustees election!

We are getting started now because it takes time to recruit and get acquainted with potential candidates in order to present the best possible slate to the membership each year.

A nine-person board of trustees elected by the active membership directs PCC. Each trustee serves a three-year term, with three positions open for election each year. A trustee may serve no more than three consecutive terms. The board’s primary responsibilities are to provide wise stewardship of the cooperative’s resources and leadership to maintain the success of a retail grocery co-op with more than $80 million in sales.

The Nominating Committee begins its work by talking to many people about the possibility of serving on the board, providing them with the information they need to decide if board service might be a good fit, and assessing skills to see what is needed. In January, we will be interviewing applicants and offering nomination to those whose experiences, interests and skills indicate they would be successful board members. The election is held in May, and the new board term begins in July 2004.

Please look over Responsibilities of the board of trustees. If this sounds like you or someone you know, we invite you to apply and put your experience and skills to work providing leadership for the largest retail natural food cooperative in the United States. We look forward to meeting you.

Responsibilities of the Board of Trustees

• Serve as trustees for and provide linkage with the member-owners and shoppers of PCC.
• Establish two types of policies to guide management: Ends to provide direction, and Executive Limitations to prevent unacceptable actions.
• Establish two types of policies to guide board actions: Board-CEO Relations to ensure effective communication between the board and management, and Board Process to ensure excellent board performance.
• Ensure that all activities of PCC are carried out within the law, articles and bylaws.
• Provide wise stewardship of the member investment.

What individual board members do

• Prepare for and attend all scheduled board meetings, held at least six to nine times per year, usually on the last Tuesday of the month, plus serve on one or more board task forces. Board meetings may average four hours; task force meetings one-and-a-half to two hours.
• Attend annual meeting, usually a half day in April, and two daylong board retreats, usually one in summer and one in winter.
• Visit stores regularly throughout term of office and attend PCC events when possible.

Compensation

• Annual stipend.
• Unique and valuable hands-on cooperative board experience.

For an application packet and more information, please contact Janice Parker, Board Administrative Assistant, at 206-547-1222 or
janice.parker@pccmarkets.com

Board announces election results

Dear PCC Members,
By an overwhelming majority, members have voted to approve the bylaws proposal presented by the board. We appreciate the importance you placed on this issue as evidenced by the numbers of you who took the time to vote. Here are the results:

YES 2,916 (89.6% of valid votes cast; 7.79% of active members)
NO 339 (10.4% of valid votes cast; .91% of active members)

• Quorum for this election: 1,122 (3% of active members)
• Total number of votes cast: 3,580
• Total number of valid votes cast: 3,255 (8.7% of active members)

The process to develop this proposal was lengthy and meticulous. We believe that the changes give PCC a strong, clear bylaws document that will serve the co-op well. Among the more substantive changes are:

1. Change quorum as now permitted by State law.
2. Strengthen audit committee and obligate it to report to membership.
3. Clarify meeting date procedures and notice.
4. Increase signature requirement to call special membership meetings.
5. Increase signatures required to nominate board candidates by petition.
6. Fill board vacancies from pool screened by nominating committee.
7. Clarify conflict of interest for board and nominating members.

The new bylaws document is available on our Web site at: http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/member/articlesbylaws.html. Printed copies will be available in the stores’ Co-op Information Centers by November 30.

We appreciate your vote of confidence in the board and in the tremendous amount of work done by the Bylaws Task Force. We would like to acknowledge the chairperson, Mary Simon, and task force members Bob Cross, Reed Schilbach and Stewart Rose for the months of tireless effort they devoted to this project.

For the PCC Board of Trustees,
Chantal Stevens, Chair

September board meeting

The Board of Trustees met on September 30. The board heard its semi-annual status report from the Farmland Fund. It also heard reports from all of the Board task forces and approved the charter of the Finance task force that will have financial and audit oversight responsibilities. The board continued work on its education and long-term planning schedules. The next board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 25, at the co-op office. As always, there is time set aside at 7 p.m. for member comments.