In at times a frustrating, exasperating, cantankerous and ultimately gratifying meeting, the new leadership of the Ocean Beach Town Council tried to put its best face forward at Wednesday night’s monthly public get together.
Before a small crowd of 40 at the not-very accessible club house of Park Point Loma, vice-president Shelly Parks opened the meeting by welcoming everyone, including those on zoom, the live stream of the website and “the live audience,” meaning those in attendance.
Over the course of the meeting, Shelly alternately tossed the gavel to other board members to lead on different points in the agenda, and then take it back for deeper explanations.
Here is a very brief basic summary of the high-lights of the meeting.
The New Leadership
Upon prodding by audience members, a slide was shown by Parks of the leadership and current members of the Board of Directors. (The slide provided by OBTC could not be reposted so here is the image from the OBTC website:)
- Shelly Parks – Vice-President (there is no current president)
- Jenny Brengelman – Treasurer
- Mandy Havlik – Recording Secretary
- Gary Gartner – Corresponding Secretary
- Anna Firicano – Member
- Kimberly Harrell- Member
- Stephanie Kane- Member
- Aaron Null- Member
- Greg Winter- Member
Parks mentioned that Kimberly Harrell will probably be resigning from the BOD but will still be active with the OBTC. This means that the Board is at half-strength, an unprecedented situation. There was no real explanation as to why the board still didn’t have a new president. One member — Nate — who had offered to be the role has since resigned.
Audit Won’t Be Released for Months
In an extremely disappointing development, it was announced that the audit by an independent CPA of the Town Council’s finances won’t be completed until perhaps May or June, 3 to 4 months away. There was some concern from the audience that this extension of time may expand the costs of the audit and whether there was a fixed price or cap. Parks responded that the CPA is on retainer for $1400-1500. Although, she would not divulge the identity of the auditor upon questioning.
Parks also announced that the BOD has set up a Finance Committee to oversee the budget with 2 board members and 1 community member and with some prodding divulged the names of the board members: Anna Firicano and Jenny Brengelman, but not the community member.
The complexity of the financial boondoggle was continually stressed; the OBTC has 5 accounts and taxes haven’t been filed for years. The community was asked for patience as the time line on this was frustrating to board members as well.
Current Status of OBTC
The Town Council has paused its elections and fund raising until the restructuring is completed. Their website has also gone wonky despite the tech-heavy meeting. Parks also mentioned that board members still don’t have access to certain 3rd party tech tools the BOD had used in the past.
The board says they are transitioning to a new structure with much fewer committees that will actually get work done and will restructure their public meetings so government reps wouldn’t have to make the same announcements every month.
Recommendations from the audience included making minutes of the monthly private meeting available to the public, in the spirit of transparency, and even to consider not having private meetings at all, but have a business meeting where the public may observe – but not comment or discuss. It would be valuable in allowing the public to observe the decision-making process. Also questions were raised about funds people had donated over the last year(s) and whether they had to be returned and about funds earmarked for certain programs would still be paid.
Audience members kept repeating the need for the OBTC to be transparent in everything and to reach out into the community for help and assistance, that they didn’t do all of this alone.
Also Parks mentioned that the board is considering re-branding and a new logo.
Re-Writing Bylaws
It sounded as if much of the time of board members in the most recent past has been spent re-writing their bylaws, so this situation won’t occur again. Any new proposals have to be approved by the full board. It was recommended from a member of the audience for the board to make the proposals public for feedback.
Dissolving 501(c)4
Currently, the BOD administers the OB Community Foundation, a 501c4 non-profit and the OBTC, a 501c4 non-profit. Now the BOD wants to dissolve the 501c3 and remake the OBTC into the OB Town Council Foundation. As such the OBTC could continue to advocate but not send candidates money. There was some back and forth and confusion on this issue (and this writer is not clear on this at all — but the OBTC slides sent the Rag could not be opened). Board members assured the audience that any new 501c3 would be reviewed by their attorney so “everything is legal,” as Arlene Fink recommended.
Future
The next BOD meeting is March 13 — that’s the private one, and the next public meeting is March 24.
Through all the contention and confusion, board members — especially Parks — kept their composure. By the end of the meeting, it appeared that these volunteers, inexperienced as they are and without a real sense of any collective memory, are trying their best to correct the damage done by the former president. It wasn’t heard or expressed, but there was a general sigh of relief from the audience and by extension, by the community. There was a sense of gratitude from the audience toward board members that they were on a course that could work.
One thing I think is important to remember is that the OBTC is a private organization, not a public one like the planning board. They are under no legal obligation to be fully transparent about any of this. But because the TC is so involved in public events dependent on public support, they rightfully feel they should be as transparent as possible. If they chose to keep some things private, that is their right, so whatever they do provide is a plus.
One thing that caught my ear was the auditor retainer of $1500. Considering the complexity of the audit and that it will take months, that figure made no sense. That might buy maybe 10 hours of work. I felt the answer to that question was a bit evasive, which is the TC’s right too.
I would think the OB Town Council is a California Non-Profit, which is transparent, except they never filed their tax returns in recent years. In that case, they still have the State of California to report to, and their officers are responsible.