PCC Board of Trustees report, April 2015

This article was originally published in April 2015

Notice of annual member meeting

Tuesday, April 28, 5:30 P.M.
St. Demetrios Hall, 2100 boyer Ave. E., Seattle

The member meeting will feature annual reports from the board and management on the state of our co-op. The board will introduce you to our new CEO, Cate Hardy. Hired in late January, Hardy will deliver her first co-op status report and include an update on the new Columbia City store. Construction is underway and opening is scheduled for mid-2015.

We will celebrate our amazing cooking education program, PCC Cooks. We’ll start with a great meal that will include PCC Cooks recipes. Our team of chefs will be led by long-time PCC Chef and PCC Cooks instructor, Birgitte Antonsen. We will thank retiring program manager Marilyn McCormick, who led the program for 20 years. New program manager Alicia Guy will take us through the program’s history.

You also will hear from our four board candidates (see 2015 election). They each will have a few minutes to tell you about themselves and why they want to serve on the board. Following the meeting, you’ll be able to chat with candidates in the lobby.

RSVP by April 21 »

2015 election

board candidates

Get ready to cast your vote! All board candidate photos, bios and brief Q&As are posted on our website. Also posted are brief video presentations from each candidate. The information will remain posted through the end of the election period on May 18.

Your ballot, along with printed information, can be found in the election insert inside your home delivered May Sound Consumer.

Our candidates are:

  • Maggie Lucas (parent, attorney) incumbent, current board chair
  • Sandy Voit (divorce financial planner) incumbent
  • Jason Filippini (senior director of finance at The Seattle Times)
  • Michael Hutchings (business and social purpose attorney, partner at DLA Piper, LLC)

Board report

The March board meeting agenda, which occurred after this paper went to press, was slated to include a report on the 2014 financial audit, as well as management’s report on actions taken in 2014 to comply with PCC’s Ends policies. We will publish excerpts of that report in future issues.

The next scheduled board meeting is May 26, 5 p.m., at the co-op business office. Member comment period is at 6 p.m. Comments are limited to three minutes, unless a longer presentation is approved by the board chair.

Also in this issue

Whole foods with umami

There are several whole-foods sources of the delicious fifth taste, umami. (See "Undertanding umami" to learn more about this flavor sensation.) At PCC, our selection of umami-rich foods — from kombu to fish sauce to Parmesan cheese — meets the high standards for sustainability and taste you expect.

PCC quality standards

PCC doesn't shy from taking on complicated and often uncomfortable but necessary product issues and consumer concerns. It has become part of our co-operative culture to embrace the challenges as a gatekeeper for food standards.

Tiny plastics in products and our food chain

There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean — 269,000 tons that float on the surface, plus some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer deep down in the seas. In honor of Earth Day April 22, take some simple steps to curb plastic pollution every day.