Tonight's ANC 8C Meeting: New day or more of the same?
Good Morning Neighbors!
Tonight is supposed to the first meeting of the new 2011 - 2012 term of Advisory Neighorhood Commission 8C. The meeting is scheduled (I hope but haven't seen a flier/email) to take place tonight at 6:30pm at the UPO Petey Greene Center located at 2907 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave, SE (next to the King gas station). You may recall this meeting was scheduled for last Wed but was rescheduled at the behest of the current Chair, Commissioner Mary Cuthbert. Unfortunately, The Advoc8te and community were unaware of the change (again) because of the lack of community notice (again). Speaking for my neighborhood I didn't see a sign, a flier, or even get an email about the orginal or rescheduled meeting. Sometimes I feel like I have spent more time outside waiting for a meeting than attending a meeting. In all honestly, because of the ANC rules, anything that is voted on in tonight's meeting could be ruled null and void because of the lack of required community notice.
This meeting should be important because that is when the Commissioners are supposed to elect officer positions for the year, although to be honest I never quite understood that. Electing Commissioners in January in the first meeting before the community has a time to meet the new commissioners seems odd, but oh well.
Anyhow, the January meeting is supposed to set the tone for the upcoming year. The officers’ positions are supposed to be elected (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer) and the yearly budget is supposed to be presented to the community, voted on, and adopted. Other administrative actions are supposed to take place such as reviewing, approving, and submitting the financial reports, participating in the security fund (the bond that is supposed to reimburse the ANC in the event of theft and/or mismanagement of ANC funds), and presenting in the public meeting the plans for the yearly budget.
FYI- soliciting comments and feedback from the community is MANDATORY before adopting the budget by a majority vote of the commission. Without an approved budget, the ANC is not allowed to spend any money -- or is not supposed to anyway---according to the DC Auditor. In the past, for many years in fact, ANC 8C has not had an approved budget and therefore according to the DC Auditor did not have the right to spend any ANC money, unfortunately the ANC under the direction of the current Chair (Commissioner Cuthbert) continued to pay $900/month in rent for an "office" (without a phone line or working equipment) in a barbershop on MLK Jr. Ave. According to at least one commissioner, William Ellis, the treasurer, it is unclear who owns the office and who is receiving the monthly payments. There is no lease for the office, something that has been of grave concern to the Auditor’s Office as well as CM Yvette Alexander, who was the Chair of the Committee on Aging and Community Affairs.
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| My agenda: A productive ANC 8C |
Tonight is supposed to the first meeting of the new 2011 - 2012 term of Advisory Neighorhood Commission 8C. The meeting is scheduled (I hope but haven't seen a flier/email) to take place tonight at 6:30pm at the UPO Petey Greene Center located at 2907 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave, SE (next to the King gas station). You may recall this meeting was scheduled for last Wed but was rescheduled at the behest of the current Chair, Commissioner Mary Cuthbert. Unfortunately, The Advoc8te and community were unaware of the change (again) because of the lack of community notice (again). Speaking for my neighborhood I didn't see a sign, a flier, or even get an email about the orginal or rescheduled meeting. Sometimes I feel like I have spent more time outside waiting for a meeting than attending a meeting. In all honestly, because of the ANC rules, anything that is voted on in tonight's meeting could be ruled null and void because of the lack of required community notice.
This meeting should be important because that is when the Commissioners are supposed to elect officer positions for the year, although to be honest I never quite understood that. Electing Commissioners in January in the first meeting before the community has a time to meet the new commissioners seems odd, but oh well.
FYI- soliciting comments and feedback from the community is MANDATORY before adopting the budget by a majority vote of the commission. Without an approved budget, the ANC is not allowed to spend any money -- or is not supposed to anyway---according to the DC Auditor. In the past, for many years in fact, ANC 8C has not had an approved budget and therefore according to the DC Auditor did not have the right to spend any ANC money, unfortunately the ANC under the direction of the current Chair (Commissioner Cuthbert) continued to pay $900/month in rent for an "office" (without a phone line or working equipment) in a barbershop on MLK Jr. Ave. According to at least one commissioner, William Ellis, the treasurer, it is unclear who owns the office and who is receiving the monthly payments. There is no lease for the office, something that has been of grave concern to the Auditor’s Office as well as CM Yvette Alexander, who was the Chair of the Committee on Aging and Community Affairs.