PCC Board of Trustees report, February 2016
This article was originally published in February 2016
Board report
The January 26 board meeting report will be published in March. All of the board’s committees were scheduled to report at the January meeting. The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be Tuesday, March 29 at 4:30 p.m.
Members are welcome at all public sessions of the board meeting.
Bylaws update
The board has concluded its two-year project of thoroughly reviewing PCC’s Bylaws. As reported to members over the past several months, the project’s scope of work incorporated internal and external expertise, review of the bylaws of many other co-ops, member input, and many hours of discussion and vetting by board members. At the board’s January meeting, approval of the final set of proposed Bylaws was on the agenda. Members will be asked to vote on the proposed Bylaws at this year’s election, which runs from April 23 to May 23, 2016.
“This document represents one of the most intense and comprehensive projects undertaken by the board in the past decade,” notes Maggie Lucas, chair of the Bylaws Task Force. “The Bylaws of any organization serve as its operating manual,” Lucas continued, “and include the rules by which the organization is governed. When I say we have spent ‘many’ hours on this, I mean hundreds of hours, but it has been a real pleasure. It has been rewarding, inspiring and even fun to engage with members on this topic. Who knew Bylaws could be ‘fun’?” The high level of interest, enthusiasm and thoughtful feedback from members has been very impressive.
The proposed Bylaws are intended to better enable our co-op to conduct its business responsibly and successfully. PCC members can look forward to seeing the proposed new Bylaws inside the Voter’s Guide to PCC elections that will be inserted in your home-delivered May issue of the Sound Consumer and on our website.
Taking time to read and understand them, and to vote in the election, are hugely important responsibilities for all members concerned about the future of PCC. Please help us update this important document by voting in this year’s election.
Get to know your trustees
Sandy Voit: Second term (first year). Term ends in 2018. Eligible for re-nomination.
I’ve been fortunate to work and/or volunteer for organizations with great missions; being an active member in my community is essential. Having worked as a community organizer, I know the value of embracing the values of organizations to which I’ve belonged. PCC continues to serve as a beacon in the retail food industry, especially as a co-op. I look forward to continuing to serve PCC and our members to keep that beacon bright and focused.
While we must be successful as a business to continue to thrive as a co-op, it is our cooperative values that distinguish us from our “competition” and make us better. We stress member education, keeping our money in our community, and emphasizing sustainable practices. We actively participate in local and national food policy issues, such as GE labeling.
PCC has been graced with passion, commitment, leadership and loyalty, and we must continue looking out for all of our stakeholders — members, staff, customers, growers and vendors. We’ve created a transformative community and environment where sustainability, doing the right thing, and providing essential education to members, legislators and the community now has impact both locally and nationally.
Voit is currently chair of the board’s finance committee and serves on the Bylaws Task Force. He’s a divorce financial planner, personal finances counselor, former dean of students at Bastyr University, and executive director at Temple Beth Am. He enjoys landscaping, house projects, hiking, cooking and musicals and is a Redmond PCC shopper.