Members present:
Lucie Searle, Robert O. Jones, Steve Dubois, Bob Arellano, A. J. Crenca, Keith Munslow, Gerry Heroux, Steve Durkee, David Newton, John Kelly, Jay Coogan, Norma Anderson, Erminio Pinque

Members absent:
Laura Travis, Sean Daly, Jim Pfeiffer, Manny Vales

Staff present:
Bert Crenca, Sheri van Antwerp

Guests present:
Eric Suggs

(1) Call to Order

(2) Secretary's Business

VOTED to approve the minutes of the meeting of 1997/03/11.

(3) Election of new board members

VOTED to elect Alan Addison and Eric Suggs to the Board of Directors.

(4) Staff Report

Sheri reported that around $7000 had been raised through membership dues.

(B) Fools Ball

Sheri reported on final arrangements for the banquet. The Chair thanked the staff for all their work.

(5) Director's Report

Bert then reported that Convergence had denied the grant request for funds for the Bonner installation at AS220. He reminded the board that we still had some Building Boxes left, and he suggested starting a campaign to sell them off, and proposed that the proceeds from the sale of five Boxes be applied to the cost of the Bonner installation. Robert O. noted that this did not conform with a motion previously passed by the Board, which approved the project with the provision that it be done at no cost to AS220. He also questioned what had been done to determine and secure the authorizations needed to attach something to the exterior of the building. Steve Dubois spoke in favor of the Building Box proposal, stating it would be like operating our own internal "Percent for the Arts" project, and several members agreed. John Kelly observed that, considering our resources and our needs & desires, we might better utilize proceeds from Building Box sales for other purposes, and several members agreed. After some discussion, Lucie summarized three points, which the Board affirmed by consensus: (1) the cost of the installation project should be ascertained; (2) other possible funding sources should be identified; and (3) Building Box sales should not be linked to the installation project.

Bert reintroduced two items of old business (i.e., a proposal to make Richard Goulis a full-time employee, and a proposal to hire a cleaning person for the building), and reported on the estimated cost of these proposals, as the Board had requested. Bert said that making Richard full-time would cost an additional $4,300 a year in addition to his commissions, and that a cleaning person would cost $500-600 a month. He proposed that the cleaning position be paid with income from the Cafe.

This launched a discussion of the status of the Cafe, which at this point is breaking even. Bert reported that AS220 habitué Mark Marinella had made a proposal to lease the Cafe and invest some of his own money to make it a more profitable operation. Steve Durkee remarked that a policy decision about the Cafe had to be made. Noting that our mission is to operate an arts center, not a restaurant, he stated that if the Board, notwithstanding our primary mission, decides that it wants the Cafe to generate significant income, it must take the steps necessary to achieve that aim, including allocating more space (which would probably require taking over one of our commercial spaces) and installing a decent kitchen. Bert observed that there had been a rise in Cafe business and it was reasonable to assume the trend would continue. The Board by consensus agreed that while it was generally satisfied with current Cafe operations, it was willing to entertain suggestions for changes.

Returning to the matters initially raised, Lucie noted that the monthly cost for paying Richard a full-time salary amounted to about $320 a month, and stated that we should have some idea where that was going to come from. After more discussion, on a motion by John Kelly, seconded by Norma Anderson, the Board unanimously

VOTED to pay Richard Goulis for the hours he works in addition to his regularly scheduled part-time hours, up to but not to exceed the equivalent of a full-time salary as defined for full-time staff positions at AS220, for the last three months of the current fiscal year, with the stipulation that the status of Richard's position be reevaluated when the budget for the next fiscal year is prepared.

Bert reported that Susan Murray was very effectively helping to sell Fools Ball tickets, and that Faye Saunders had indicated that any substantial gifts of property for our proposed building expansion were not forthcoming from Citizens Bank.

(6) On a motion by Steve Durkee, seconded by John Kelly, the Board unanimously

Recorded and submitted by

Robert Owen Jones
Secretary

AS220 Board of Directors Meeting -- 1997/04/08 page 3