Follow Up On Yesterday's Board Meeting

Yesterday's Board meeting for SLOLA was one of the busiest meetings I've ever seen there. We cut all the reports very short and charged into the twelve measures I proposed before the next election. They all passed with amendments - it is important that all points of view are considered and I consider written in democracy that compromise is the only way we make progress.

The agenda I presented yesterday and outcomes are below. Please note, this might not be a comprehensive list as my memory is not all that good an I can't write legibly enough to read it if I try to write fast enough to get every thing down before we move onto the next point. The original is in brown (default setting in my word processor) and the update is in black (my blog default).

Motions that are included in this paper include:

1. I ask it to be moved and voted: Elections will be held at once and established to be held in January of odd numbered years – each satellite branch will have an elected Representative to the SLOLA Board in Venice and a chair. (This person can also be the chair of the chapter or it may be two different people. Elected officials in any SLOLA branch will serve for two years and can be elected for two terms of two years. The seed librarian is appointed by this person.)  This was amended to April and we'll use April in odd-numbered years as our official election from here on out.
2. I ask it to be moved and voted: That no one is allowed to vote in our general elections without signing the Safe Seed Pledge document as written on our official membership application. Approved. We agreed that everyone who votes, is given a copy of our original Safe Seed Pledge Membership Application to sign every time they vote.
3. I ask it to be moved and voted: Each branch to elect their own “chair” person though we do not care what it is called as long as it is printable. Each SLOLA branch other than Venice, will designate one person to be their representative of that group, allowing that authority can be transferred to another individual if necessary, to insure that branch will be represented. While more than one person may be designated to be the representative, only one can vote for each branch. As this is currently already happening, we all agreed. This codifies our procedures as "official procedure."
4. I ask it to be moved and voted: The current SLOLA elections going forward are held in our tradition, as follows – SLOLA Venice will elect the Chair for Venice and all other officers as Venice has had in the past. This was approved for this year only - that we will thoughtfully try to find a compromise for ongoing elections. 
5. I ask it to be moved and voted: Each individual SLOLA group will elect their office holders, in conjunction with Venice's election schedule - the format and composition is up to that branch, we suggest at minimum a Chair who also serves as the representative to the Venice Board. This again, just codifies current procedure as official procedure.
6. I ask it to be moved and voted: SLOLA Venice creates an ambassador position that will coordinate between all the branches to be appointed by the Venice Chair. Agreed. 
7. I ask it to be moved and voted: Each branch will have it's own inventory – though branches may trade seeds between branches and and they use the SLOLA inventory system. This also codifies what we are doing now - it also drew attention that each seed library should order their own seeds - seeds should not be simply taken from an existing library to create a new inventory - the new inventory should be fitted to the new library by gardeners who know the area and what does well there. 
8. I ask it to be moved and voted: Branches without an inventory should draw a request up and submit it as an expense which SLOLA will pay for (the initial inventory should cost somewhere in the $100 and $150 range – this vote should include the figure agreed upon at the meeting this comes up for approval). This affirms that libraries can get their first working library reasonable and preferred sources rather than depend on donations - although donations might make a portion of the library. 
9. I ask it to be moved and voted: Librarians stocking inventory do diligent work in finding local seed companies and companies that are wholly organic. It is preferred to use companies that do not sell F1 hybrids which should never be in our inventories. It is further suggested that librarians look for OSSI certified seeds (Open Sourced Seed Initiative). I will offer a list of such companies in short order. Just a cry to stay as local as we can!  
10. I ask it to be moved and voted: That each officer of every branch has the phone numbers and email addresses of every other office in every SLOLA branch to facilitate more cooperation and communication. Lack of ability to have contact has caused problems in the past. We did pass this, but no one was appointed to make it happen, so it'll have to start with someone. That will be me, I suppose.

My project for the coming month will be to create a Seed Librarian's Basic Procedures and Policies.  Look for bits and pieces in this blog soon.

david