May 4, 2015
SPJ/LA Board of Directors Meeting MinutesMonday, May 4, 2015, 7 p.m.Louise’s Trattoria10645 W. Pico Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90064 In attendance: Tammy Audi, Joel Bellman, Christina Cocca, Khalil Garriott, Elizabeth Marcellino, Navid Nonahal, Lori Streifler, Natalie Windsor, Richard Saxton, Roberta Wax, Jeff Wald, Alice Walton, David Zahniser.
MINUTES:
Board members requested two revisions to the April 13, 2005 board minutes: one acknowledging the presence of Julia Seifer at the meeting, the other reflecting the motion to adjourn was made by Natalie Windsor, with Alice Walton seconding. Wald moved to approve the minutes as amended, with Windsor seconding. The motion carried.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
Annual report – Nonahal reported that the SPJ/LA annual report was completed and submitted to national by the April 30 deadline. She thanked Zahniser and Hendrickson for helping with the preparation.
Special Needs Network donation request – Nonahal informed the board of a request for a contribution from the Special Needs Network, which scheduled a fundraising gala for May 17 honoring TV news personality Patt Harvey.
Bellman said the chapter should not be in the business of donating to other nonprofit groups, no matter how worthy. He also noted that SPJ/LA does not have the resources. Wax concurred. Nonahal said she would respectfully decline and wish the organization well.
Reporting concern – Nonahal said the chapter had received an email from a journalist concerned about the practices of a newspaper in Thousand Oaks. The issue surrounded coverage of the massage industry. The journalist was asking the board to sign on to a complaint letter.
Bellman said SPJ/LA should not be put in the position of passing judgment on other news organizations. Other board members agreed. No action was taken on the request but Nonahal said she would draft a response letter.
Press Club – Nonahal said Diana Ljungaeus, executive director of the L.A. Press Club, reached out to SPJ/LA and suggested the two organizations do some events together. She asked the board for input. Board members said they thought that sounded like a good idea.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Hendrickson provided several updates. He noted that the board’s three outside financial observers looked at SPJ/LA’s books as part of the process for submitting the chapter’s annual report. During that review, they found things that needed fixing in our financial reports. Hendrickson passed around the ledgers for board members to review. He said SPJ/LA started the month with $16,340 and ended the month with $25,152. The Morgan Stanley account went down a tiny bit from April to May, he said. Hendrickson recommended that in the future, SPJ/LA should consider transferring extra money in checking to the Morgan Stanley account, since it’s earning little interest. Bellman said the only issue is maintaining enough liquidity. Nonahal said the board should wait and see how much money the roast makes before pursuing such a transfer. Also, Hendrickson noted that the debit card arrived. Windsor moved to accept the report, Zahniser seconded. Motion carried.
STANDING COMMITTEES:
Awards – No report.
Banquet – No report.
Courts – Following up on the complaints from Claudia Peschuitta on access to the federal courts, Marcellino said she would try to schedule a meeting with whoever is responsible for press concerns at the federal courts.
Diversity – No report.
Ethics – April 16 event update. Cocca thanked board members for helping with the April Ethics event asked for feedback. She said it turned out the forum space could have accommodated more people than initially indicated. Also, a recent graduate from Pepperdine University went to the event and prepared a write-up that will be posted on the SPJ/LA site.
FOI – No report.
Generation J – No report.
Membership – No report.
Nominations – No report.
Scholarships – Board members discussed ways of getting this year’s scholarship winners to the annual banquet as well as the upcoming roast. Some board members who bought tickets to the roast said they could provide them to the scholarship winners.
OLD BUSINESS:
SPJ Region 11 conference – Saxton said the conference in San Francisco was very interesting, with panels on such topics as how to use data and how to create charts and graphs. The event was focused heavily on technology and health, which the Bay Area is known for. Saxton also said national SPJ officials were thinking of getting rid of their grant program, since it is not being heavily used. Nonahal said there will be a conference call on that topic next week. She also pointed out that 2018 might be SPJ/LA’s turn to host the conference.
NEW BUSINESS:
“Booze and Board Games.” The next mixer will be May 6 at the Redwood.
Linda Deutsch Roast – Wax noted that the roast now essentially feels like a full-time job. She reported there are 80 legitimate RSVPs so far. Organizers are shooting for 100. The board discussed some of the event’s particulars — who purchased tickets, how to get the word out, what gifts to provide the roasters, outstanding Elvis impersonator issues.
Home for SPJ/LA Update – Marcellino reported Associated Press had second thoughts about turning over office space at the Criminal Courts building to the SPJ/LA for office use. That brings things back to square one. The board will now look into the possibility of gaining access to KNX’s vacant offices.
Mega-mixer – Saxton reported on plans for the July mega mixer, triggering a board discussion of the virtues of Molly Malone’s Irish Pub versus Tom Bergin’s.
NEXT MEETING: June 1 at Louise’s, 7 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT: Wald moved and Windsor seconded. Meeting was adjourned.