The Civic Council has proposed a series of additions to our bylaws, and has nominated several new trustees and a new treasurer for the upcoming year.
Trustees will vote on these items at the next Trustees Meeting, on Thursday, May 7. The general membership can vote at the Civic Council’s 2011 General Meeting, which will be held on Thursday, June 2.
Nominees
Treasurer
After spending more than 20 years working on Wall Street, Bob Gilbert recently launched Brooklyn Green Home Solutions, a company that retrofits homes for greater energy efficiency. Gilbert has been a Civic Council member since 2000, and last year became a trustee, co-chair of the Sustainability Committee, and Historic Districts Committee member — roles he will keep in addition to the task of overseeing finances.
Trustees
S.J. Avery is retired from the health and nonprofit social service sectors. She has lived in Park Slope for almost 35 years, and currently works with Civic Council’s FORTHonFourth subcommittee and with the Butler/Baltic Street organization as part of the community task force focusing on the new construction of P.S. 133.
Darryl Cook is a professor of architecture for the City University of New York and a senior partner in the Brooklyn-based design firm Cook + Keating. For 10 years, Cook has made Park Slope his home. He is an avid cyclist and a supporter of Prospect Park events and activities, and is involved in several Brooklyn civic projects.
Carole Gould has been infatuated with Park Slope since arriving in 1980. She was an involved parent during the 28 years that her three sons attended the Berkeley-Carroll School. A former tax lawyer and columnist for The New York Times Sunday Business Section, Gould will be ordained as a rabbi on May 8. She leads a Shabbat minyan (service) at Congregation Beth Elohim, is a member of the Park Slope Jewish Center, and serves as student rabbi/educator at Union Temple.
Lyn Hill is vice president for communication and external affairs at New York Methodist Hospital, where she has been employed for 24 years. Hill is active in many organizations both as a Park Slope resident and as a hospital representative, including the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the Human Services Committee of Community Board 6, the Park Slope Child Care Center, and the Greater Brooklyn Healthcare Coalition. She previously served as a Civic Council trustee for about 20 years, and is currently co-chair of the Council’s Committee on Trustees.
Josh Levin is a recent transplant to Park Slope, locating to the Fourth Avenue corridor after graduating from the University of Colorado with a master’s degree in urban and regional planning in 2008. He volunteers for the Civic Council’s Livable Streets and Outreach Committees, and serves as a public member for Community Board 6’s Transportation Committee and the Municipal Art Society’s Urbanist Advisory Committee.
Proposed Changes to Bylaws
1. Changes Approved at July 2010 Board Meeting
a. Change “Nominating Committee” to “Committee on Trustees” in every instance.
i. Proposal. Change “Nominating Committee” to “Committee on Trustees” as follows: in Article V, Section VII (two instances); in Article VI, Section I (four instances); in Article VII, Section V (one instance); Article XII, Section I (one instance); and Article XIII, Section II (one instance).
b. Announcement of Members of the Committee on Trustees.
i. Background. The activity of the Committee on Trustees will be ongoing, not limited to election season.
ii. Proposal. In Article VI, Section I, change the following sentence: “The members of the Nominating Committee shall be announced in the March issue of the Civic News” to read “The members of the Committee on Trustees shall be announced in writing to the membership.”
c. Communications.
i. Proposal. In Article IX, Section IV, change “An annual budget for the Civic News shall be included in the proposed budget” to read “An annual budget for communications, including the Civic News, shall be included in the proposed budget.”
2. Additional Proposed Changes
a. Number of Board Meetings
i. Background. The amount of business before the Civic Council requires that a regular meeting be held in March in addition to the annual forum.
ii. Proposal. In Article V, Section III, change “at least 9 meetings” to “at least 10 meetings.”
b. First Terms for Trustees
i. Background. The Committee on Trustees has introduced a mentor-protégé program for new trustees. In order to strengthen this program and provide a way for the Board to review the progress of new trustees, it is proposed to divide the first three-year term into two: a first year during which the new trustee will be in the mentor-protégé program, coached by the mentor, and evaluated by the Committee on Trustees, and two succeeding years, together comprising three years.
ii. Proposal.
1. In Article VII, Section V, Paragraph A is hereby restated as follows: The term of each class of trustees shall commence with their election and continue for one year until the next annual meeting or the election or appointment of their successors. Unless the trustees in their first year resign or are removed in accordance with these Bylaws, they shall be on the ballot for re-nomination on the advice of the Committee on Trustees.
Those trustees who are re-elected at the end of their first year shall have a term commencing with their election and continuing for two years until the second next annual meeting or the election or appointment of their successors.
Those trustees who have completed three years on the board shall be eligible to serve for an additional two consecutive three-year terms.
At a regular or special membership meeting, only full members in good standing, in person, shall be allowed to vote. The use of proxies is expressly prohibited.
Voting at the annual meeting for the election of officers and trustees shall be done by voice vote unless a majority of those members present request a written ballot.
2. In Article VII, Section V, Paragraph B, delete “three consecutive terms” and in its place insert “nine consecutive years.”
[Note: Complete bylaws can be found on our website, www.parkslopeciviccouncil.org/bylaws.]
from the Spring 2011 Civic News