First Organizational Meeting Minutes are Posted

Organizational Planning Meeting
11.19.2008
MEETING MINUTES

1. In Attendance (based on sign-in sheet): Candace Klein, Clara Rice, Tom Hodges, Joe Levi, Chris Seelbach, Shawn Baker, Darren Tolliver, Andy Holzhauser, Amy Goodwin, Aryl Hait-Todd, Jacquelyn Sommer, Kris Sommer, Tammy Riddle, Jessica Baron, Clifford Charles, Laurence Jones, Mose Cartier, Fleumingue Jean-Mary

2. Mission: Candace first explained that the mission of CincyPAC for 2009 is to provide a voice for those Greater Cincinnati residents who want to attract new talent and keep young talent in the City of Cincinnati. She explained that CincyPAC will not only make endorsements of candidates this year, as we have done in the past, but we will also plan to endorse issues and advocate those issues actively with all candidates elected to city council in 2009. At this point, she reviewed what CincyPAC accomplished in 2007 (attachment), and highlighted that all CincyPAC members were polled, and that those results were used to form the CincyPAC agenda in 2007 (survey attached).

3. Goals for 2009: Candace, along with the Executive Team (consisting of Darren Tolliver and Elizabeth Edwards), then outlined the goals of CincyPAC for the 2009 year. These goals will likely form the basis for committees that board members will lead in the coming year: 1) Marketing/Online Presence (survey, social networks); 2) Issue Advocacy; 3) Events; 4) Membership/Fundraising; 5) Endorsements; 6) Campaigns; 7)Voter Registration. This list is not exhaustive, and Candace has asked each board member to help in forming what committees should be formed to meet these goals.

4. Our Legacy: The Executive Team has been putting together a set of draft Bylaws, in an effort to provide the CincyPAC organization with structure for sustainability. Incoming board members will be provided with a copy of these bylaws for approval/amendment at the December organizational meeting. In addition to structure, effective outreach will be critical to the ongoing success of CincyPAC and our agenda. Anyone interested in a board position should address how they are able to reach diverse segments of the Greater Cincinnati market for effective outreach purposes.

5. Footprint: Many members have asked what the footprint of CincyPAC will be in 2009. In terms of geography, CincyPAC will only make endorsements on City of Cincinnati specific races and issues, but will use issue forums to educate members on state and federal issues where appropriate. Marketing efforts, however, will focus on the Greater Cincinnati region, in hopes that other communities at some point will also form similar organizations for their young citizens. Who are members? While our target issues will focus on attracting young professionals, we have no particular age cut-off, and welcome any forward thinking citizen who is also interested in retaining and attracting young talent.

6. Technology: Andy Holzhauser explained that CincyPAC is undergoing a change to our website in order to become more user friendly and technologically sound. The updated website should be available for review at the December organizational meeting. In addition, we currently use Constant Contact as our email list-serve, and will assess its effectiveness in December. We have surveyed our members in the past, and will do so again this year to help determine our agenda, and we will add action alerts to inform our members of when important issues are being discussed in council, in order to increase participation in the advocacy of our issues. Finally, CincyPAC is considering putting together a report card to balance candidate promises against actual votes, and will discuss this further at the December meeting.

7. Finances: Darren Tolliver reported that we will continue to use Pledge Connect when fundraising, and offered http://www.cincypac.com/ for any members who would like to set up automatic withdrawal from paychecks. He did state that all board members will be asked to contribute whatever amount is feasible to CincyPAC, in order to set the standard for all other existing and incoming members. He also reported that CincyPAC is pursuing tax-exempt status, and will update the board at the December organizational meeting.

8. 2009 Timeline: Candace reported that CincyPAC will likely host a number (not less than four) of events focused on candidates and issues this year, and also stated that the Board will meet monthly, in addition to monthly committee meetings. She asked each person in attendance to consider whether they are willing to commit this time to CincyPAC in 2009 and to take this into consideration when communicating interest in a leadership role.

9. 2009 Board of Directors: Finally, the Executive Team reported that the incoming Board of Directors will be limited to eight (8) members, and asked attendees to express whether they are interested in being considered for a board position. Please see the accompanying email from Candace if you are interested and would like more information.

10. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 7:04 pm.