Transition Humboldt Council Meeting

May 10, 2015, 4-6 pm

IN ATTENDANCE: Jane Woodward, Rich Lentz, Janette Heartwood, Richard Kreis, Erin Rowe, Larry Goldberg, Karen Isa,
Bethany Staffieri and Willow Rain.
Facilitator: Jane Woodward
Time Keeper: Richard Kreis
Minutes: Karen Isa
Location: Janette Heartwoods Home
ACTION AND POLICY ITEMS: Are underlined.
We met, snacked and sang Happy Birthday to Bethany Staffieri and noted that this was likely the last meeting that Rich
would attend as he is moving to Sacramento soon. And we congratulated him on his second grandchild.
The meeting was convened at 4:20 pm with a tribute to Rich for his many contributions to society and to us here in
Transition Humboldt. He has been a leader and a peacemaker in a very gentle way. He has taken on the responsibility
of being a communicator and friend of all of us. We send our best wishes with him.
The minutes of the 4/ 10/2015 meeting were approved.
REPORTS:

Education Working Group, Richard Kreis: The May 23rd potluck, a Saturday, will be held at Kathy Lees home where
she is making a sustainable ark for her children. Larry will receive all reservations and inquiries for information
and the map to her home. The announcement has gone into the North Coast Journal and will be sent to our mailing
list. Subsequent to selecting Abrupt Climate change for the June potluck, Tim Howard is confirming that the
presentation on Disaster Preparedness will be made in June. The other program will be presented at a later date.

Inner Transition Working Group: This is a vital part of Transition. At any time this group may request to be placed
back on the agenda to make reports of committee work. They have been on pause but will present a special
communicating program on Sunday, July 19th at Erins home. Those on our mailing list will be invited.

Zero Waste Working Group, Jane Woodward: Nothing to report now.

Publicity, Larry Goldberg is getting the May Potluck publicity out to the media.

Transition Streets: These are the things happening:

o 5/14/15 teleseminar, Larry is participating
o Curriculum updates are being made to the curriculum by TransitionUS.org.
o Transition.org is creating an exclusive Transition Streets website
o Locally neighborhood leaders may start their program either now or in the fall after the
vacation season.
o We need to set up a meeting to plan next steps
o Larrys Trinidad neighborhood is starting with emergency preparedness

Bee Fest Tabling: It was a great success with 25 new sign-ups and about $50 in donations (donations will be split
with Plan It Green as the donation was made to them as they have the non-profit organization legal paperwork).
Thanks to tablers: Larry Goldberg, Jane Woodward, Bethany Staffieri, Karen Isa, Tim Howard.

AGENDA ITEMS:
1. A motion by Jane Woodward was considered and approved to create a plan to evaluate Transition Humboldt
achievements in six months. This came out of the last Education Working Group meeting.
Some topics are incremental, some are on-going and a few need committee work.
Concerns: A bigger vision is required. We need a means of achieving greater participation as well as additional
help with the administrative jobs. Current programs/lectures are not appealing to those who are not active
this is all that is available now, and a list of accomplishments will not inspire greater attendance. Individual,
small ideas and activities, not community-wide programs, are all that are being pursued.
Another retreat was suggested by Larry Goldberg. It was suggested that we ask people what they would like to
do. But who would come to be asked What do you want to do? Those in leadership are responsible for
providing programs/activities that move us toward our goals and appeal to people.
Jane Woodward will list Transition Humboldt accomplishments to display at May 23 meeting.
This is a concept of tracking and is needed twice a year. These items are a way of letting us know what is
happening and how we are doing. The key is to collect data. That data, and someone to compile it, needs to be
quantified. Jane Woodward will work with a committee to define measurements of success, how to record it
and compile data to evaluate the following 12 areas and provide a report in November, 2015:
1) Implementation of Transition Streets
2) Conduct of educational potlucks on topics relevant to Transition goals
3) Creation of a Transition Humboldt presentation(s) to use at workshops and on-line that reflects and
furthers Transition Humboldt goals
4) Participation in educational workshops and tabling at pertinent events
5) Continued participation in monthly Salons as a part of community building.
6) Continuing participation in Resilience Challenge activities (e.g., as part of monthly potlucks, on-line,
and with special projects such as tree plantings)
7) Adoption of effective Transition Humboldt organizational structure with
a. Clear role definitions
b. Clear decision-making process
c. Clear set of goals
d. Transparent fund management
8) Increase in active membership and broader base of participants at events and on projects
9) Increase in participation of/with relevant external groups
10) Effective website management
11) Engage ourselves in inner-transition workshop more than once a year.
12) Fundraising to establish an operating funding base
2. This item was continued from the last Council Meeting: Rework Council structure, Richard Kreis
The reference material and comments from the previous meeting were reviewed and discussion ensued. It was
clarified that roles and responsibilities are not well defined now, only implicit. It would be helpful to have bylaws and formalized responsibilities with the authority to act.
Whether or not we remain under Plan It Green, more formal, well defined administrative roles would help
Transition Humboldt move forward.

To establish our bone fides, we need to think about who will be looking at us and how dependable we appear to
be. We dont need this now, but in the future we want to move in the direction of needing large grants to do
large projects. As explained and demonstrated by Daily Acts at their February workshop, we need to be
explicitly defined, transparent and have a credible history to compete against other organizations for grant
monies. This will also help with the health of the organization. The 375 people on our mailing list need to be
able to trust and know who the decision makers are. Right now even guests feel they can vote at Council
Meetings, so there is no recognizable leadership. Formalization would empower us to move forward.
Those who work on this question should compare advantages and disadvantages of the current structure versus
a more formal version. The Daily Acts workshop demonstrated the need to spend time doing substantive
activities rather than getting stuck in triviality and continually discussing the same things over and over. During
the Transition Towns training Scott McKeon talked about and showed a slide of three different types of
administration being used by other Transition Towns. Lots of help is available through TransitionUS.org.
A motion was considered and approved to appoint a committee to evaluate Council structure and operating
procedures. Richard Kreis and Jane Woodward will work on this with a committee and use as many resources
as possible for their work then report back to Council June 14.

3. A motion was considered and approved to appoint a committee to develop a workshop/presentation to tell the
public about Transition Humboldt. Jane Woodward will chair this committee. This would be prepared in time
for the September Climate Change Conference and the October Inter-Cultural Skills Fair. The workshop
curriculum could then contribute to training for more effective tabling.
4. The Transition US Community Resilience Challenge occurs during the month of May and will be presented at the
May potluck. Larry Goldberg suggests that we ask people to register actions now and do them within 6 months.
This could go onto our web site.
5. Website Management will be resumed by Richard Kreis. Jane Woodward will pay the fee and work with Richard
to accomplish this.
6. The request for bills to be paid was made. None were submitted.
7. Budget Report Committee Follow-up, Richard Kreis: Larry Goldberg spoke about his understanding of the insurance
and bookkeeping fees due to Plan It Green.
Transition Humboldt started out as an autonomous group. Then Plan it Green offered their services as an umbrella
organization. Later Larry Goldberg asked to be reimbursed and with no data to consider, Council approved the
expense.
The budget committee met and considered fundraising and a budget. Later Larry Goldberg distributed his own
version of a pro forma budget which was then approved at $92.50 per month.
Now questions are being raised regarding what actual expenses have been incurred. It was noted that insurance
coverage is not something that you can get on the spur of the moment. All of the venues we have used do carry
their own insurance. We do not feel a bookkeeper is needed as we are under $5000 in income and pay no tax. We
are not a legal non-profit. We do need a treasurer and reports on our financial status. We need to do research and
be more knowledgeable. We do not begrudge paying our bills but we want to understand our obligations.
We need to define the relationship between Plan It Green and Transition Humboldt.

Transition Humboldt needs a funded operational base and fund raisers.

Richard Kreis will work with a committee to study these issues and report next month.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Thank you and best wishes to Rich Lentz as he moves to Sacramento
Happy Birthday to Bethany
Conscience Living Expo May 16, Crescent City
Climate Change Conference, September 11 and 12, sponsored by three groups
May Salon at Andy Sehics house
Special Event at Erin Rowes house, mailing list only invitation, July 19th -- Constructive Conflict
July Camping/Day trip to Liz Harwoods will be handled by Education Working Group
ASSIGNMENTS FOR NEXT MEETING:

ADJOURNMENT: 6:22 PM

Date: June 14, 2015

Facilitator: Erin Rowe
Timekeeper: Jane Woodward
Minutes: Karen Isa
Meeting Location/Phone: Janette Heartwoods Home