Meeting Minutes, June 4, 2014

Preservation Station, Bonnie Anderson, presiding. Start Time: 6:30 PM

Board Member Attendance:

Term ending August 2014		Term ending August 2015
Anderson, Bonnie	x	Karafonda, Mary*	x
Boyd, Joe		Carson, Ann	x
Fink, Zoey	x	Grassel, Kathy	x
Gonzalez, Moisés		McGivern, Elaine	x
Grant, Steve		Neutra, Greg & Joni	x
Spittler, Lee		Thornton, Karla
		Trefethen, Salley	x

*appointed to replace Greg Bloom

April minutes were read and approved.

Bonnie Anderson read a summary of the special meeting on May 7 re the proposed BBQ restaurant. The meeting gave concerned neighbors the opportunity to share their concerns with Bo Barnwell, a businessman who wants to convert the old fire station site to a restaurant.

The board will have two vacancies. Zoey Fink and Greg Bloom are not able to continue as board members. Mary Karafonda has agreed to replace Greg Bloom. Mary introduced herself as an 11-year neighbor, owning her house on High St. She has experience in large-scale business and management, and also has just been awarded a BA in philosophy. A motion was made and seconded to appoint Mary as a board member. Jackie Smee will run for Zoey Fink’s seat in August’s election. Jackie is Ohio-born and residing in New Mexico since 2002. She has been a teacher and mental health therapist.

Albuquerque Police Department officers Siebel and Lafayette were invited guests at the meeting. They reported that neighborhood residents are doing a good job of “displacing crime,” mainly by calling in suspicious crimes (84 calls in May) and disturbances such as loud music and arguments (49 calls in May). They warned of scams, especially targeting the elderly, and advised not letting in strangers knocking at the door.

The annual block party/annual meeting will be August 17. Mary Karafonda volunteered to head the party and coordinate volunteers. Bonnie will handle the ballots and election of new members and also take membership dues. The newsletter will be distributed a month in advance in accordance with the bylaws and to announce the event.

Elaine McGivern has been working on amendments to the HHHDA Bylaws to make them more applicable to reality. Some of the bylaws are over-generalized, archaic, or unnecessarily rule-laden. She distributed her version of potential updates/changes/deletions for discussion. Any changes will go before the entire neighborhood membership for vote at the annual meeting on August 17.

Dan Majewski, the Nextdoor coordinator, gave another presentation on the use and value of the website to meet neighbors and stay current with local goings-on. Nextdoor is one of the fastest growing online tools serving neighborhoods in the country, according to Dan. He encouraged anyone who hasn’t joined to do so. It’s easy and free.

Meeting adjourned at 7:40. Next meeting is Wed., July 2, 2014.