BELLTOWN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEETING OF 05/19/10

MINUTES

Date/Time: Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 8:00 AM ­ 9:30 AM

Place: Dahlia Lounge Meetig Room, 4th & Virginia

Attendance: Tom English, Elliott Waldron, Chuck Stempler,
                   Pamela Hinckley, Tim Gaydos, Richard Nordstrom,
                   Tom Graff, Barbara Hartley, Marc Wills,
                   Brian Zaugg, Pam Anderson, Greg Schuler

Excused Absence: Mike Nicosia, John Powers

Absent: Kerry Wade, Robert Eickhof, Michael Lee, Jim Miller,
               Andrea Schaloum

Guests: Ron Turner, BHLUS; Justin Ashurst, Mars Hill Church

1. President Tom English called the meeting to order at 8:08 AM

2. Ron Turner, chairman of the Belltown Housing and Land Use
    Subcommittee (BHLUS) spoke about the proposed development of a
    Post-Disaster Emergency Plan for Belltown. This is something that
    other Seattle communities have pursued and developed. Belltown is
    different from a lot of neighborhoods because of the many high
    rises, lack of public schools, and little open space. The objective is to
    develop a plan that would get the community through the first
    3-5 days of a major disaster, such as a major seismic event.
    Ron was at the meeting to solicit 2-3 volunteers from the business
    community because there are already many volunteers from
    the residential side.

3. Minutes of the Meeting of April 21, 2010 were approved.

4. TREASURER'S REPORT:

• Treasurer Pam Anderson submitted the Treasurer's Report showing a current bank balance of $22,324.10. Significant revenue since the last report included new and renewal memberships (12 = $1,188). There were relatively few expenses, primarily in printing and membership communications.

5. BOARD DEVELOPMENT:

• Greg Schuler reported. Greg has met and spoken with Dave Meinert, proprietor of the 5-Spot Café and part owner of The Crocodile. Dave has expressed interest in becoming a member of the board. Greg said that Dave needs to firm this up, at which time his name will be submitted for approval.

6. MARKETING:

• Mike Nicosia had emergency personal business and could not attend today's board meeting. It was pointed out that the BBA was currently operating without a budget for 2010. Tom English said that the presumption is that we are operating the same way as we did last year. Richard Nordstrom said that much of the budget development will depend on what we decide to do about the strategic plan (see No. 9 below).

7. BOARD DEVELOPMENT:

• Tom English brought the request for $1,000 to support this event back to the Board for consideration. Tom Graff spoke in favor of this sponsorship noting that the committee seems to be very well organized. They have lined up City approval and matching funds for the event and have a big security program in place. At their last meeting, there were 40 people in attendance - about half of whom were business people. Tom Graff offered to serve as liaison between the Founders Day Committee and the BBA. A motion was made by Chuck Stempler and seconded by Richard Nordstrom that $1,000 be provided for sponsorship of Founders Day with the understanding that the BBA's support be prominently displayed on the Founders Day promotional materials. This motion was passed by voice vote.

8. CLEAN AND GREEN:

• Last year, the BBA supported a large, well organized cleanup event of the Belltown neighborhood. Tim Gaydos announced that a similar event will be held on June 19 and requested financial support from the BBA. It was moved by Greg Schuler and seconded by Barbara Hartley that $250 be provided for the Clean and Green. Passed by voice vote.

9. STRATEGIC PLANNING:

• Richard Nordstrom reported and referenced the committee report that he has sent to the board to which he has received some feedback from the board members. His plan from this point is to "distill" and prioritize the list and then identify timelines and budgets for the prioritized items. He would like to have this information ready to present to the board by its next meeting. Richard said he welcomed board members who wished to volunteer to serve on the committee. There was some discussion of a couple of elements of the report.


• It was noted that it has been difficult in the past to stick to a schedule of setting up quarterly events. However, the thinking is that occasionally the BBA could piggy back on other community events to use for this purpose. Also, there were questions of what would be entailed to have a premier annual event for members.

10. DOWNTOWN DISTRICT COUNCIL: Tom English Reported.

• Councilmember Mike O'Brien attended the recent meeting and spoke about the need to make Seattle carbon neutral. Tom noted that he didn't include affordable housing and transportation in his presentation. Richard Nordstrom also attended the meeting and said C/m O'Brien said nothing about public safety and when asked about this said he had "nothing at mind at the moment." Additional business: the issue of mobile vending is not resolved. The City is writing an ordinance but nobody has been able to get a hold of a draft. Ron Turner said that DPD Director, Diane Sugimura, who attended the BHLUS meeting last week indicated that the draft ordinance would be released soon and the BHLUS would be sent a copy.

11. MEMBERSHIP: Tom Graff Reported.

• There are now 112 paid members. He still wants to get it up to 150. Tom will send the updated membership list around. There is still a question as to when we want the directory to be updated and published. We still have around 3,000 copies. It was noted that the "rack contract" runs out in June.

12. WPAC: Barbara Hartley Reported.

• The choice of the new Seattle Police Chief was high on the WPAC agenda. The budget is a high profile issue now too. Barbara said that the Community Police Teams "may go away" because of budget cuts. However, the WPAC staffing is the highest it has ever been. Observation of bike patrols was discussed. The question is whether the staffing level is high enough to do all of the policing activities effectively: autos, bikes, and foot patrols.

13. WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT:

• There was a lengthy discussion on possible changes to the BBA website. The two major concerns are (1) content and (2) administration of the site. There was some difference of opinion as to the uses of the website. Some feel that it should be used to promote Belltown businesses to prospective customers by way of maps and website links. Others felt that the emphasis should be on providing information or a collection of resources that would assist businesses in getting things done, e.g., contacts within City government who can assist in various aspects of running the business. On the issue of administration, there is a need for a designated, enthusiastic volunteer to take on the task of updating the website. A couple of commercial website operations were presented; some felt these were too expensive and that it was fairly easy to do the mechanics of a website. It was agreed to form a committee of Tim Gaydos, Richard Nordstrom, Marc Wills, Greg Schuler, and Brian Zaugg to discuss this further. Tim will organize the scheduling of a meeting. Pam Hinckley offered to provide lunch for the committee members once they have scheduled a meeting.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:33 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

Greg Schuler
Secretary

The Belltown Business Association is a registered 501-c6 non profit corporation.