Meeting Minutes 11/2010 – 1/2011
Minutes Approved:
Jill
Travis
1/31/11
Present: Travis as facilitator, Jill our Treasurer, Karen=minutes and Reverend Reese
Treasurer’s Report: $47
Water Group update: Water group will attend JBWD Board meeting(s?)
members now include Gregory, Tim DeLorey, Deb Bollinger, Kerri Tuttle, Doug(?)
Karen has spoked to Deb RE: assuming JBWD liaison in future
*Gregory will follow thru with Ramon to get field trip date*
Food Group update: Jill posted the latest to FB including the following:
She will step down from food group as of May 30 to become food group liaison
Timeline in place for composter and potato stacks @ Ricochet, launch date 2/13
Julia typing up minutes. Jill and Janet will contact the 4 restaurants
Jill will “own” compiling composter needs and broadcasting widely for donations
Donation day 2/12 11:00-4:00
Planting potato stacks by 3/15. Maintenance schedule in place.
Doug “owns” being in charge of building composter at Methodist Church. Methodist church then owns and maintains that composter.
Build-day 3/13 @ Methodist Church
Future of Ricochet composter could be stand-alone business, decision by 5/31
Hand off of Ricochet composter by 9/1
Rev. Reese report: her parishioners want to create Goodyear gardens
collecting tires from the desert prior to retailers
she reports lots of good and positive energy has been generated
test the group with small projects first
other pastors are intrigued and inquiring. that’s exciting!
Debrief “Seeds in the Sand” from Rev. Reese
venue too small-room is code compliant for 109 people
at least 15 of Rev. Reese’s parishioners are keenly interested
compost is the next step for them to be followed by water harvest?
Rev. Reese and parishioners like being a gathering place and witness to
appropriate land stewardship
Action Items Update:
Aerators and Green Biz program (NPCA) We have 30, Travis “owns” walking
them to the 3 businesses already signed up and following thru with others
including connection, fitting issues.
We will be in receipt of 100 aerators and low-flow shower heads for next public
meeting-movie night-*Person at the door will be responsible for handing out and
minding the donation jar*
*Karen to connect with Marie @JBWD to determine level of accountability i.e.
names of all recipients? and contacting AWAC for info on 1. how much water
saved 2. what are they for/what do they do 3. how to install*
(Alliance for Water Awareness and Conservation)
Venue updates: Community Center is future venue of choice.
Katie Shaw offered all or part of insurance. Yearly ins. less expensive.
*Travis to connect with Katie RE: ins.*
Travis gave report on JTRC, Friendship Hall $25+$1/person, chairs available-
room is carpeted and tables may be problematic
Requested donation at the door to cover rental/ Jill will front payment
*Karen to connect with Frank Haggard for ?set-up time and fee?* then hand off
to Jill
I am not attached to publishing these numbers. They are for Stacy and Gregory:
Yearly ins.
$117.50
serving food
$40
3hr.@$20/hr
$60
Deposit
$100
total
317.50
deposit return minus cleaning fee
-$75
first meeting
$242.50
after ins. pmt
-$117.50
total per meeting
$134.00
Misc. Update: Greg on Film night
Gregory likes having a pot luck on film night. Requests film suggestions:
11th Hour-Leonardo diCaprio- 1st choice– uplifting and beautiful
Food Inc.-Michael Pollen why hamburger costs less than bag of carrots
King Corn- cerebral, witty, story of subsidized corn, in all our food.
Jill will secure projector and back-up, Julia will secure from RCC
*Gregory responsible for:
movie night press release
movie night flyer
talk on aerators and low flow shower heads
1. how much water saved 2. what are they for/what do they do 3. how to install
also-Gregory will complete the loop with Ramon to obtain field trip date*
Charter Meeting-Format and Structure, Coordinating with other groups, what are our Goals /Objectives
How to write a charter-see Stacy’s docs as well as Transitions US site
*Travis has navigation path to TransUS “How to Write a Charter*
Goals/Objectives-Core Values and Guiding Principles most important
for solid appropriate Mission Statement and Vision Statement
Begin with already written example. “don’t reinvent wheel”-Rev Reese
Jill suggests Tucson or another desert Trans.Town-check online
Consensus: Steering Committee Members will get up-to-speed on
1) various means “How to Write a Charter 2) what are our core values
guiding principles/belief systems for formulating into Mission/Vision stmnt.
Feb. 6 meeting cancelled in favor of informal gathering to discuss these issues.
*Date tba*
Individual Intentions for 2011
Travis: NPCA Green Business on behalf of TJT
move FB info to WordPress
post Rhonda’s talk completely
3/11 Powerpoint to senior group
TransitionsJT and JTMF connection (Doug’s Involvement?)
ramp up for Festival season-aim for “green award” like LIB
gather all the paper that TJT has generated in one place
Jill: Treasurer till 6/11
Permaculture workshop. 3/27
Food group until May 31, liaison after that
Methodist church projects up and running
Write charter
Help with movie nights
Karen: didn’t get the memo
Rev. Reese requests a hand-out from Jill: simple explanation of composting
what is the value, why is some garbage more helpful that other garbage?
Rev. Reese spawns discussion of the differing communities, how much they overlap or not. How to re-target to a different social groups
.
Movie night, independent from our big public events, Greg’s idea, additional to our monthly meeting-Travis not in consensus.
Item tabled for later discussion.
Karen
Approved:
I made corrections and approve – Jill
1-24-2010
Attendees: Karen Tracy, Travis Puglisi, Stacy Doolittle, Greg Glenn
Absent: Jill Giegerich
Facilitator: Dr. Karen Tracy/Greg Glenn
Minutes: Stacy Doolittle
No Treasurer’s Report.
Old Business
Feb Event – Steering team agreed the focus of the February event is to be a movie night.
Movie Nights
Leader: Greg Glenn of Feb 2011 event and movie nights going forward
Projector
Location:
Date: 20 Feb 2010
Topic
PA/Speakers
Maximum duration of movie(s): 1.5. Schedule potluck to be at 5:30.
ACTION: Travis will assist in pinning down location and finding PA/Speakers but he will not be available on day of event (out of the state on personal business)
Steering Committee agreed the specific movie choices to be determined by the Committee. This decision will be made at the regular meeting 31st January.
Stacy proposed, based upon the subject of potlucks, that the steering team consider shifting potlucks from being part of the“typical” Transition major topical events to newly-conceived movie nights. Upcoming movie night and March event (non-food) to be good opportunities to
Requested Donations from Local Building Supplies (for compost)
ACTION: Travis to follow up with Doug on ownership.
Compost @ Ricochet
Steering Committtee requests Food Group share guidelines governing creation and distribution of compost as community. ACTION: Travis to request.
New Business
Formation of Working Groups – (Stacy notes the previous minutes noted questions to discuss about the “size” of the groups – which was not discussed at this meeting).
Steeering team discussed online video of working groups.
Takeaway:
Classical Model & Neo Model – steering identified the difference between these two models as a discussion item to be discussed at upcoming strategic planning day.
Local Business Visit – Action Pumping (Dave Mahaffey’s business in Yucca Valley, CA)
These Steering team requested the Water Group visit the team and report out. Action: Water Group leader Greg Glenn accepted this action to visit the operation and its leaders and report back by 21st Feb.
Aerators
Karen Tracy reported that AWAC (Alliance for Water Awareness and Conversation) donated aerators and low flow shower heads which are free to the public.
Proposed that the opportunity to distribute aerators be combined with the National Park Conservation Association- Joshua Tree Green Business Program. Steering committee requests Karen Tracy obtain aerators and low-flow shower heads for distribution.
Morongo Basic Conservation Association (MBCA)
(Note this is different from the MBAC – Morongo Basin Arts Council)
501c3 Group (corrected later to 501c4-not a good fit for us)
Thirty+ year track record of activism in Morongo Basin
Contact: Catherine Svhela
Saturday Annual Meeting of MBCA – Robin Kobaly presented. Deb Bollinger presented about the current state of water issues in Morongo Basin.
National Park Conservation Association- Joshua Tree Green Business Program owned by Seth
Three businesses have signed up. Travis proposes assisting these businesses with determining the goals of each business, facilitating local support to implement. Familiarize himself with business owners’ experience Suggestion to consider partnering with Barn Raisers.
Community Center as Potential Location for Transition Events
Travis reported on his investigation of contracting with the Community Center. Offer from local business owner to cover insurance (concern that we may not have projected correct cost of this; we’re investigating further.)
Room we’re considering using is Chellette Room which seats 215.
$15 per hour, per room – during business hours; non-business hours, $20 per hour.
$10 flat rate if food brought in.
$100 deposit with these caveats: $75 returns to us; $25 kept for a cleaning fee.
Frank Haggard is the contact.
Travis also reported that a local business owner to cover insurance (concern that we may not have projected correct cost of this; we’re investigating further).
Current estimate is $195 for one room. Question as to whether we’d have to rent two rooms due to 80 headcount limit when food served.
Action: Karen Tracy to follow up with Frank to confirm understandings and to strategize on the most economical solution related to insurance.
Upcoming Agenda Topics: Seeds in the Sand Benefit Realization
Travis Puglisi
Jill Giegerich
Karen Tracy
1/17/11
Present: Jill G., Gregory Glen, Karen Tracy, Stacy Doolittle, Travis Puglisi, Seth Shtier (NPCA)
Treasury Report: $37
Old Biz:
Rotary Club Presentation:
Went well. Travis will show his presentation to the group on Feb 6 to refine for future presentations.
End Result: March 11th presentation to YV Senior Group
H2O Group
Greg attempting to get a meeting together with interested parties
Greg will enlist Bob Yeager in making contact with group for a meeting
P.S. Douglas Buckley has left the Steering Committee and Water group to focus on food
New Home for Public Meetings
Travis has someone looking into JTRC but is wary of dealing with the carpeted spaces during pot luck meetings and a lack of easily accessible tables and chairs
He has called the JT Community Center and is expecting a quote from them via email
New Business
National Park Conservation Association- Joshua Tree Green Business Program
Started in 2010 by Seth Shteir and Stephanie Kivelin with a grant for climate change
Participation is based on the selection of 5 voluntary measures per year, from three categories
Free
Low Cost
Capital Improvement
Incentives include:
A window sticker indicating the biz is working towards sustainable practices
Announcement of biz in the Sun Runner Magazine
Free consultation from an authorized energy auditor
Current Participants: Natural Sisters. Ricochet Gourmet, The Arrow Gallery, The MBCAC
Help Needed: Outreach to business owners
Travis offers to own the coordination of TJT and NPCA’s partnership on this project. This might include contacting business’, making lists of “easy fixes”, and then facilitating the changes taking place if the biz needs help to make it happen
Stacy suggests we set a numerical goal for converting biz’s in 2011.
After a little more discussion at next weeks meeting Travis will contact Seth with outline of proposal to assist.
The Church Project
Jill proposes that a design team take shape to begin this project
Jill suggests Janet Tucker and/or Bob Yeager as possible leads for this “special-ops” team
Someone must own the church
What is currently promised to the church
Water catchment
Compost bins
drawings/plans for permaculture installation
Doug has or plans to write letters to Home Depot and Walmart in an effort to get free materials for this project. (Clarify, since Doug has vacated some of his previous responsibilities, if he still owns this.)
We move to clarify that the church project is for our demonstration purposes only and will not be maintained by TJT
This then begs the question of whether we have been clear w/ Rev. Reese.
We suggest checking in with Rev. Reese post Seeds in the Sand meeting to see what here feelings are
Stacy suggests that we implement a Sustainment Plan that will help insure the long term success of the project
Travis raises the question of whether this project is serving our goals of spreading awareness. He believes that establishing a special group to run this project seems well outside of what we can handle at this time and not aligned with the model.
A re-evaluation over this project is taking place and will begin by touching base with Rev. Reese before we proceed. Jill will contact her and invite her to a meeting.
Recap of Seeds in the Sand
We acknowledge the need for a larger venue
Will seek to stream line for future events, curtailing subject matter to few items, i.e. we would have been fine with only Rhonda’s talk. More focused subject matter
Presentations must be carefully prepared and ideally be accompanied by slide shows. During Doug’s talk his visual aid was incomprehensible by a majority of the crowd. Travis has offered to help with the next slide show prep, as Stacy has pulled double time on TJT presentations so far….Thanks Stacy
We will reach out to Dave Mahaffey and Ramon in an effort to effect a more positive outcome.
We must be more explicit about “Suggested Donations” Placing it on the flier and actually having someone at the door with the donation bucket (or actually hand the bucket around during the meeting, church style
Agenda Items for Next Meeting
How to partner with the NPCA
Update on JT Community Center from Travis
Model Event: Now or Later?
Size of Working Groups
Honorarium
Minutes Approved:
Karen
Jill
1/10/11
Present: Karen, JIll, Greg, Travis
Minutes: Travis
Facilitator: Karen
Time Keeper: Greg
Agenda:
- Communications Update-Deb Bollinger, Al Rasmussen, Deniel Francis, Google, Calendar,
- Ricochet Compost
- Minute Review
- NPCA
- Church Space for Events
- Charter Meeting
- Treasury Report
Treasury Report: $29
Tabled: Size of subgroups
Permaculture: Daniel Francis would like to do permaculture workshop March 27th (Sunday). Does not mind large group, but requests comfortable space. He will bring computer, projector. requests mic if we cannot provide one. Jill will “own” the project of the permaculture workshop. He also requests $30. DF is a consultant and would be happy to do a permaculture layout for your property for $100 for 2 hours (minimum)
Travis will include this info in the newsletter
Consensus met on march 27th pending any major changes.
Tabled for next meeting: Transition Model Event in Feb.
Compost
Built by Doug and Jason Winters at Ricochet
Pilot composting project
Next step: person from food group will contact local restaurants about waste
Nat. Sisters, CrossRoads, Ricochet, Pi 4 People, The Arrow
Not Pickup based, owners must dropoff food waste
Food group committed to maintaining- Turning and watering
Debug for a month
Attempt to go public
Possible uses of compost: Selling as fund raiser and used for garden
Potato Tire Stacks
Tire stacks for growing potatos will begin in march.
Minute Issue:
Be more careful next time in making minutes public. Not a big issue at all, just a brief review prior to publishing.
NPCA
Seth will come to meeting next to discuss the NCPA Green Biz Program
Agenda Entry Next week: Seth from NPCA
Using Church Space:
Travis will check into Hanna’s nursery for public meetings, will also look into community center again.
Date for Charter Meetings
Feb 6 consensus for charter meetings
Add to agenda for next week.
Urgency:
Emphasis on economic crisis as the system will collapse very soon. Jill has been reading a great deal and things are pointing towards a nasty fall.
present best info available when it is available.
Transition Speaker for the Charter Meeting? To address urgency.
Transition Model meeting to go to agenda for next week. we must choose an owner for that public meeting in February.
Greg will look into requirements for getting a certified transition speaker for Feb. model meeting.
Stacy’s press piece could be part of a larger article. Tabled for next week.
Gregg will facilitate next weeks meeting, Monday, jan.17
760-401-0809
Minutes approval:
Jill
Karen
Travis
Douglas
1/6/2011
Present: Gregory Glenn, Travis Puglisi, Karen Tracy, Stacy Doolittle and Douglas Buckley.
Minutes – Stacy
Time keeper – n/a
Facilitator – Karen
Announcements/Sharing
Steering team members shared they’d heard positive feedback from the strategic planning workshop on 1/2/2011, led by Travis Puglisi and Stacy Doolittle. Transition JT, and two other Joshua Tree groups (Transmission and Barn Raisers) participated as well.
Old Biz:
Karen Tracy followed up with her acquaintance Al Rasmussen (Neal Derry’s designate field rep; connects us to county government) about Transmission. He was very positive about Transition and expressed surprise that he’d missed the November event. Karen provided him a flyer about the upcoming event. Follow-up action: Send Rasmussen an email with a personal invite to the event. (This closes her action item from the 12/23 meeting).
Maturity of Transition JT
Stacy Doolittle shared that there are unidentified risks with not following the Transition model – RISKS.
(We haven’t done the Great Unleashing for example).
Charter, guiding principles – to be created by steering team. Then, we present this to the sub group/visitors to the meeting. Action items: Travis will be reaching out to other participants (sub groups) regarding the February team development meeting. Travis will also follow up with Jill on the protocol re the compost bin and other restaurant owners regarding its use.
Doug suggested that we refer to Palm Springs’ Green Scene (website, etc) for models.
http://palmspringsgreenscene.com/
Travis will follow up a second time with the leader of the Palm Spring Transition group. (He didn’t get any follow up from the last one).
Follow up with Deb Bollinger regarding the Joshua Tree Water Wise Demonstration Garden. Karen is acquainted with her.
Tasks – follow up from tasks noted in the 12/23 Minutes
Greg followed up with Stephanie regarding her experience getting Barn Raisers under a Morongo 501c3 umbrella. Greg recommends we approach this group/activity in a very well-organized, well-produced fashion.
Water Group meeting with Rev Reese on the 7th. Doug’s mother Barbara, as well as Food Group member Rhonda Hayes, are to attend.
New Business
Compost
Doug Buckley and Jason Winter (from Ricochet) built a compost bin today 1/6/2011. Doug reports that Jill on behalf of the Food Sub Group requested this compost bin be built at Ricochet Vintage (inside the gate). 18’x6’ with 3 divisions. Used weathered wood to create it. Question: Who owns the compost? Who is going to take care of the bins? What are the other plans at Ricochet? Tire-based potato stacks. Doug believes he may have heard about this potentially being a fundraising mechanism.
H20 Membership
Gregg has a help needed for more members for the water group. Travis offered that Kerry Tuttle of JT is interested in general and steering team agreed to talk to her and other new members at the next public meeting. Decision to invite Deb Hollinger and others. Promote meeting and need for participants in public online forums. Date of the meeting to be determined by Deb’s availability which will be discovered and shared by Karen. Final date to be shared with Travis for promotion.
Review of 6-month Plan
An output of the workshop was a draft 6-month plan. Travis presented the draft work on this and the meeting participants agreed there was more work to be done, in particular on the strategic objectives. Team proposes Jill discuss with Mr. Francis a date in March for the permaculture event.
Burnout
Team feeling energized by the activities/actions. Agreed to monitor their own burnout and to alert team prior to the “drop dead” moment
Status of Outreach Activities
Rotary Club presentation – 12th January 2011/6:30 AM at Copper Mountain Comm College
Travis & Stacy working this action. Stacy notes that this effort will help our local group with the messaging of what we’re about.
Travis will be on Ted Quinn’s radio program the afternoon of the 16th to promote the Seeds in the Sand event.
Discussion of cross-posting our events on the Palm Springs Transition site.
Odds and Ends
- Greg has teed up the idea of hosting Movie Night at Tom O’Key’s location at the Festival grounds (dry lake bed). Steering team was thrilled to hear this as Tom has all of the equipment, it’s a large spot and there is plenty of parking.
- Signage re compost. (Design?)
- Design of logo/letterhead for group will be needed (cards as well) for official communications and grants.
12/23/10
Present: Jill Giegerich, Greggory Glenn, Travis Pugilisi, Karen Tracy and Douglas Buckley.
Minutes – Jill
Time keeper – Douglas
Facilitator – Travis
Opening Statements of Interest;
Everyone wishes everyone else a great holiday.
Old Biz:
1. Daniel Francis update: Jill
Jill sent him a follow up email and has not yet heard back. She’ll thry contacting him again. It was decided that if we don’t hear back by the 2nd week in January that we will move on to an alternate event plan.
2. CERT update: Douglas
Douglas and Julia are signed up. There was a general discussion about CERT training being very relevant to Transition – community preparedness. It takes place in Yucca Valley at Fire Station. We will all keep any handed out information from any training events we attend for future Transition archives. Travis will set up a Transition binder to collect information. Douglas, Travis, Jill and Gregory will all take CERT training.
3. Water Group Status: Gregory
The Water Group has not met yet. It was decided that Gregory and Doug just start meeting to begin planning the water workshop and 1st phase of the Methodist Church demo site. Doug will follow up on Rhonda’s rec for new person for the water group.
New Biz:
1. Transparency of Minutes: Jill
Jill proposes that we increase transparency by publicly posting the minutes . All agree. Travis will look into posting all minutes on our WordPress and Transition fb.
Brief discussion about videotaping the meetings. Tabled for future discussion.
2. Fundraising: Jill
Jill and Doug reported on the Food Group’s decision to put out a donation jar on Jan. 16. No tax consequences that way.
Travis suggests group members give $1.00 donation at each meeting. All agreed to do this for the Steering group. Jill will bring this idea to the Food Group. Jill volunteered to be Treasurer for the Steerting kitty. $5.00 was collected at this meeting.
Discussion on transparency of collection from Events. Amount collected is publicly posted.
Discussion on becoming a 501c3 in the future. Greg said that the paper work for 501 c3 is very daunting. Barnraisers is under the umbrella of Morongo Basin Wide Foundation and can apply for grants through them. Could Transition do this? Greg will gather information on this. Table this until after January workshop with Stacy.
Further Fundraising ideas:
Auctioning off skills
Tire shredding
Recycling center
3. Does the Food Group Need Anything for Jan. 16?
Clive will take care of sound via Travis.
Might need some help with set up on Jan. 16.
We may need more chairs and tables. 60 chairs and 4 or 5 long tables presently at church. Travis will send the word out to all participants to bring own chairs and he borrow some tables from Barnet. Jill will ask Rev. Reese if she can get more. At Jan. 1 meeting with Rev. Reese, we’ll check the situation.
4. Methodist Church Demo Site Update:
Douglas and Greg will meet with her on Jan. 1. To discuss compost bins. Since the Water Group has not met yet no update on water workshop.
What are pros and cons of committing to having all events there? Travis suggests constancy of place is good. But do we want to commit to one venue? Jill voiced interest in different kinds of spaces for different events (ie. Open Space Technology). We all agreed to see how the Jan. 16 event goes.
5. Do we want to meet next week?
All agreed not to meet during the week of Dec. 26. Our next meeting will be the week of Jan. 3. Jill will not be available during that week. Travis will fb all to work out date, place and Facilitator.
6. Communication Update; Travis
Discussion on most effective ways to communicate the Transition model to the community. Are we trying to form working groups too soon.? We may have rushed ahead and have not yet adequately networked and built the foundations. No right or wrong way to do it. Should we wait on the Permaculture event and instead make the next event be just about Transition? All agreed that there needs to be more networking with other community organizations and more focus on building the foundations and raising awareness of Transition. Less focus right now on building working groups. Let that happen more organically. Tabled to next agenda: rethink subject of next event.
Travis is updating WordPress with the Jan. 16 flyer. He is also updating the links. He will create a fb event invitation. He will add all the minutes to fb and wordpress and announce that on fb.
Travis is still working on first newsletter. He will send out Jan. 16 evite to gmail list now and newsletter later.
He asks that we all make sure we all hit “share” on fb postings
Tasks:
Travis:
Newsletter and evite to gmail,
Post minutes to WordPress and fb
Update WordPress
Ask Barnet about borrowing some tables
Jill:
Find person on food group to be co-admin with Travis and post on public fb page. Have that person talk to Travis first.
Follow up with Daniel Francis.
Post these minutes on our group page.
Talk to Jason about wood for compost bins at Ricochet.
Check out chair and table situation on Jan. 1 meeting at Methodist Church.
Karen :
Talk to Al Rasmussen about Transition.
Doug and Greggory:
Have the Water Group meeting and meet Rev. Reese on Jan. 1
Greggory:
Talk to Stephanie Smith about 501 c3 issues.
12-15-10
First meeting carried out utilizing the governance protocol as described by Transition Model.
Opening Statements of Interest
- Gregg: Recently read David Holmgrin’s latest book on going beyond sustainability. said it was very good and contained several resources relevant to our group and how it is taking shape
- Karen: Will be attending Wed. night meetings with the water board which will require reworking our regular meeting time
First Order of Business: Quorum V. Consensus
After discussing the different operating procedures it was decided to use the Consensus model which is a very natural step for us and in keeping with our established method. We added that though we shall use the consensus building process a Quorum is required to make any final decisions-Meaning there must be four Steering Committee Members present to conduct business.
How Consensus Functions
- State the Issue
- Clarify the question the issue poses
- Discussion (one person at a time around the table)
- Proposal is made by the person who raised the issues
- Discuss the proposal
- Modify as necessary
- Test of consensus (Concerns, Objections, or Blocks)
- If not blocks are presented then a Consensus has been achieved, if a block is presented then discussion resumes or the issue is tabled for another time.
Training
It seems nobody is up for heading to Sonoma or laying out cash for the next training. It has been decided that the online training archives would be the best resource for us at this time. http://www.transitionus.org/online_training_archives
For those that are interested in attending the Sonoma Training follow this link: http://www.transitionus.org/event/training-transition-sonoma-ca
Developing the Charter
- Travis suggests early Feb. for the long meeting to develop the charter for the group.
- Gregg Agrees
- It is generally agreed that we choose a date by 2nd week of January
Next Event After Food
- JIll: The speaker from the RCC Permaculture Event, Daniel Frances is definitely interested in coming to speak about arid ecology permaculture. An offer was made to try and pay his gas, get donations at the event, and hopefully put him up for the night.
- Travis reiterated the idea of hosting a talk on the solar issue for a future event
- Gregg brought up the idea of a monthly movie night, which everyone thought was a good idea.
Communications Update
- After incorporating the feedback, Travis would like to get the newsletter out early next week or early the week after Christmas
- Formatting would be great and it was said that Stacy is able to handle that (must check with Stacy directly on this). Will confer on when we can release the newsletter
- Jill has requested that a FB page be created for the food subgroup
- Travis mentions that he will at some point have to delegate some of the communication requirement to other people. Will wait to see how things shape up with the subgroups before proceeding with any final decisions.
Subgroup Update
Food
- The food group is moving along and very positive about progress on the food meeting of Jan. 16th
- Minutes are currently posted on the group fb page
- The next meeting will consist of a potluck, possibly a song from Ted Quinn, and a panel presentation by Rhonda (experience as a desert gardener), Douglas (irrigation), Composting, and 30min. of Q&A
- The are also compiling a book list
- Travis will send some materials for the list to Spider Fauke
Water
- The Water Group is still coming together for their first meeting
- Working on the draft of the plan for the church and formatting the workshop.
Proposed Subgroups
- It is proposed by Travis that a waste group take shape. What to do with the things that don’t have obvious uses and recycling as a last resort are important parts of dealing with waste…..trash for artists and building materials
- Gregg says it should be considered that a communications subgroup take shape, referring to a need to have dependable communications during emergency situations, which generated discussion on emergency response training.
- Doug has made himself available to research the emergency response classes and will report back to the group next week
Misc.
We decided that a consensus must be arrived at in order to extend invitation to new member of the steering committee.
It was mentioned that we might invite subgroups to the charter meeting to establish as broad and diverse perspective as possible.
Travis was going to contact clive about handling the pa for the 16th.
12-8-10
Jan.16 Food Event
- Jill is getting the Food Subgroup together to begin tackling gardening in the Desert. She will approach Rhonda about being the primary presenter. We all recognized Rhonda as a great candidate since she herself has a thriving desert garden in addition to being an articulate speaker.
- Stacy suggested that we have out of town speakers in order to keep things fresh and engaging. Perhaps alternating from local speaker to out of towner. On this particular note, it was decided that the speaker from the Riverside Permaculture class would be asked to come give a talk in JT. (This has been done with positive results)
- Stacy also wants a clear communication of Transitions goals to the community that our initiative would serve
- The next public meeting should consist of:
- More attention to core values of the Transition Movement
- Trials and Errors of current gardeners
- Composting
- Q&A intensive so people feel engaged and more info gets drawn out through dialog
The Mulling Conversation was transferred to a future meeting
Transition Training
- There is interest amongst core group members but it is largely dependent upon timing and finances.
- Travis said he would research the Santa Fe training (did so and found no such training, but reported on a three day class in Sonoma and a Teleconference. jill suggests start with the audio Training Archives? http://www.transitionus.org/online_training_archives.
Subgroup Formation
- Gregg is making headway in forming the water group, which tentatively includes
- Douglas Buckley (now a core group member)
- Bob Yeager
- Thomas Fjallstam
- Jeff West
- and Gregg
Stacy/Jill insist that it must be clearly communicated to all potential subgroup members tha subgroups “have a future” and are not to be one off gatherings, while most agree that some wiggle room is necessary in the beginning to maker sure the fit is right and the group dynamics are appropriate.
Meeting with Rev. Reese
Went very well. The energy of Rev. Reese, as perceived by the group is very positive. Things discussed include:
- Liability
- Property Lines
- Phase Planning
- Congregation Demographics/Feeling toward the group
- Finances available
The reverend will now take the issues discussed to her board for a formal presentation.
As of right now we are moving towards using the site to create an integrated system that utilizes many of the techniques of sustainable living.
The Rev. stated that composting is a top priority as they are now generating a great deal of organic waste.
The idea has been presented that it might not be appropriate for a community garden to take place there and it has been put forth that the garden that will be put up serve as a demonstration garden that might then be in the long term stewardship of her congregation. This idea seemed to have great appeal amongst core group members. Some of the reasons for the this “change” include:
- space
- limited community exposure
- tamarisk tree
- and the complications of creating a community garden that functions
Travis asked about outreach to the congregation, both 29 and JT, resulting in a discussion about the geographic reach of our group and if we could handle and influx of more people. Travis stated that he believes Transition JT should cover the whole valley and not be limited by the name Transition JT. He asked that the matter be addressed to the reverend.
On the matter of Outreach:
Travis and Stacy both made themselves available to doing presentations about the Transition model in an effort to build awareness. Travis said he would call the Rotary club (has done so and is waiting for a response)
Jill suggested that people write letters to the editor to local publications.
Communications update from Travis
He would like to get a newletter out to keep people engaged and also let them know that work is still being done even when public meetings are not imminent. He took ideas from the group on what they would like to see in the newsletter. They are as follows:
- Naming all of the current core group members (another name is desired, Initiating Team was suggested)
- An update on Subgroups taking shape
- An announcement of the Jan 16 public meeting
- An update on the relationship being established with the Methodist church
- Tips and facts of interestes
- A suggestion for people to start monitoring their water usage to establish a community baseline
- A “Ways to get involved” message
- A request for feed back on the work already done
- Ask a specific question or perhaps create a survey through “Survey Monkey”
Travis said he would begin crafting this newsletter prior to the next meeting and bring something to the table next wed for the group to overlook, edit, add to, etc.
Misc.
JIll has suggested that public meetings begin to incorporate performance art as a means to draw more people and create more interactivity. Perhaps the living school kids could get involved as a project based on food. Shari Elf was also mentioned as a possible performer.
Stacy offered to research what was done in the past to survive in the desert geography to lend historical context to what we as a group are striving. Its agreed by all that we must bring in seniors who have knowledge and practical backgrounds with less grid oriented living. Douglas offered to “rent” out his mother.
The idea of speak with John and Clea about fixing leaks and checking out ways to make thier buildings less wasteful (primarily with water saving measures at this time).
12-1-2010
Transition Joshua Tree Core Team Meeting
Karen Tracy, Gregory Glenn, Travis Puglisi, Stacy Doolittle, Jill G. and Doug were in attendance.
Lessons Learned from last public meeting
Good general feedback; overall positive experience
sthought it had gone too long.
Transition site suggests films be shown first and then allowing for Q&A. She thinks it was well produced but it was too much information.
Dinner theatre; showing the film during the meal?
Should we do a potluck every time or is it adding too much production to the event. Of course more people come with food.
Lots of new people (70 or so); average age it appeared to be late 40s – this is an indicator of outreach
How people heard about the event?
There wasn’t enough information about the workshop.
People weren’t listening to Karen when she talked about the workshop wasn’t heard
Greg’s presentation: did it have to do with the workshop, depth and scope. Was it what we wanted?
How good of a job did we do communicating the vision of Transition at this?
Let’s look at long term versus short term — what people can do now. (brought plumbing supplies).
Maybe we could do a goodie bag
Ask for an Evaluation ….
Upshot: when we give this presentations we need to satisfy the short term and the long term. Change order of movies.[Consider having more than one session. ]
Doug brought a goodie bag of solutlions:
Water Aerator – free from the water district. Otherwise, 6 gallons a minute. With the aerator, only 1.5 gallons.
Set back thermostat.
CFLs – rapid start.
Do we need to see the plan for the workshop? Does the core team care about this? Is the workshop supposed to occur without a sub group.
Next Agenda Item
Strategies for the next session (food)
Comm Update
Facebook page is up and running. 40 likes in nothing flat. Jill shared she was really impressed with the rational (step by step) way Travis shared educational content from the Transistion. The word press blog site is a non-Facebook place for people to get information. Travis will update the blog site in a week. He plans to send out a follow up from the last presentation meeting. We have 100 email contacts on our list.
Determining how to manage push marketing and sub group “groups” on FB. Don’t want to contribute to information fatigue.
Travis has been checking out how other transition groups manage their comm (Ning for instance).
Food group is scheduled to meet 12-12. We need to talk about how those groups and how they communicate.
Core Membership Discussion
Add invitees to agenda
Why would you come to this meeting? We want people with expertise. People who may be good leaders of sub groups.
Set the expectation that visitors to the core team meeting are visited with by the invited member to be sure they understand Transition.
Doug shares that Palm Springs has Transition activities in their local government re carbon footprint, water, etc. He attends meetings and is willing to have someone join him. They do something every other week. 350.org
Formation of Sub Groups
Water
Food
Shelter
Transportation
How do we approach the design and feeding of these sub groups?
Question regarding the “starting small” and planning for a small win.
Jill is on the food group and core.
Greg is on the core and water.
Goal of any of these events is to also communicate what Transition is.
Request to create a maturity survey of where we are so we can see how we’re tracking to how Transition defines the steps.
Water Workshop
Decision: Not going to be held on the 16th of January. Core team has requested Greg create the sub group on water and establish it prior to going forward in discussions with church leaders or scheduling/promoting workshops. Members of the water sub group are to create the PLAN.
Water Notes:
Jill wants to be sure that whatever we do that it be very high quality and collaborative. Wants there to be phasing and requirements defined; confirmation that we can meet expectations. She wants the water group to be up and running.
Greg has all the equipment and he has a vendor ready to donate containers for the cachement.
Jill wants an all over plan for this workshop/church project.
Is there a water sub group? Wouldn’t the water sub group run the workshop?
Who is making the decisions for the workshop, etc if there isn’t a water group?
What is the function of a workshop?
Social Event/Potluck for Transition, Transmission and Barn Raisers – passed on this.
Next meeting set for Wed. Nov. 8, 2010