Chicago Market Board of Directors meeting, Oct. 28 2015
At Cafe le Chien, 4749 N. Spaulding Ave.
Present: Kelly, Dan M., Mark, Karen, Mike, Heather, Emily, Grant
Notes: Heather

Grant congratulated the Board on a successful first Owners meeting.

He announced that voting on bylaws was nearly complete. It was agreed that the Board Secretary should announce that the votes have been reviewed and tallied. 

Grant, acting as interim finance liaison, entered the month's profit-and-loss sheet into the record. 

Kelly asked that teams meet with the finance group to re-assess our budgets that were drafted six months ago. 

Grant and the Board agreed we need to find a Treasurer. He said Malcolm has agreed to act as interim finance liaison. 

Grant reminded the group that we all need to BCC ourselves on emails -- even when using our Chicago Market email accounts. That way, all correspondence is logged in Nationbuilder. He also said we should be noting in Nationbuilder when we have phone conversations with volunteers, etc. 

There was a discussion about how to more-effectively use Basecamp to discuss and manage projects. It was agreed that the group would cut down on needless discussion and Basecamp. Mike said we should trust our committees and groups to do their assigned work and not question their activities so much.

The group agreed we would start putting QUESTION FOR ALL or EVERYONE RESPOND in subject lines of topics that require full Board input. Everyone can be attentive about choosing whether to "email all" when they post, versus selecting specific people. We also agreed to keep purely tactical discussions off BC - e.g. scheduling group meetings times.

Mike talked about our open Board seats. Grant said that he is having coffee with Liat next week to discuss her continuing involvement on the Board. 

Mike said that after the email goes out seeking new Board candidates, a group will meet in-person or talk via phone with interested candidates. He hopes that candidates who are eventually selected to fill the open seats will be present at our December Board meeting.

The Board entered into executive session to discuss a human-resources issue.

Grant told the Board that he, along with Karen, Mark and Malcolm, have formed a new committee. The On-Track Committee (OTC) replaces the Long-Term Strategic Planning group. It will work to clear roadblocks that are keeping the team from accomplishing goals on our timeline. The group will also work to develop critical pathways that will help us accomplish goals. The OTC group meets each Monday at 8:30 a .m. and will make minutes of their meetings available to the Board. 

Karen encouraged the Board to attend our Co-op Pop-Up event on Nov. 21. She said it looks to be a great event -- but she's unsure how many new Owners it will get us. 

Grant reported that Lance organized a meeting with National Cooperative Bank to begin developing a relationship with them. Meg is being asked about whether we can use NCB for some of our current banking needs, while keeping them in mind as a possible funding source in the future. 

Kelly surveyed the group about whether we would want to start and Owner scholarship fund in time for the holidays. The group agreed this is a terrific idea, but due to our limited time resources, decided to hold off on this project for now.

The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m.