PCC Board of Trustees report, January 2013

This article was originally published in January 2013

PCC board meeting report

The November 27, 2012 board meeting agenda included review and approval of the 2013 operating budget and business plan. The board development, finance and member relations committees reported.

The board discussed the agenda for the February retreat, heard an update on the campaign to get I-522 on the state ballot next year, and reviewed the upcoming member survey. Calls to members randomly selected to participate in the survey will begin early this month. Gilmore Research of Seattle has been engaged by the board to conduct the survey.

The May 2013 board tour of Jubilee Farm in Carnation was confirmed. The board will learn more about farming challenges in our region.

The October 17 board outreach event at our Redmond store was reviewed. Board members who attended reported that it was a positive experience. Completed evaluations indicated that the event met or exceeded the attendees’ expectations. The board agreed to continue this new format with the next event to be planned for the early to mid-summer timeframe.

The board approved the agenda for the 2013 annual member meeting, to be held on April 23. In addition to reports from the CEO and the board, members will meet the board candidates. The meeting’s education segment will feature John Reganold, Ph.D., Regents Professor of Soil Science and Agroecology at Washington State University (WSU). Reganold was instrumental in the establishment of the organic major program at WSU, the first in the nation.

The nominating committee reported on the slate for next year’s election (see 2013 board slate), and the board set the dates for governance activities in 2013. The eligibility date for voting in the 2013 election will be March 31. April 23 through May 16 were approved as the election dates. The 2013 ballot count meeting was set for May 20.

Next board meeting

The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be January 29, 2013. Member comment period is at 7 p.m. Comments are limited to three minutes unless approved in advance by the chair.

2013 board slate

board candidates & nominating committee

The slate for the 2013 election includes (standing, l-r): John Sheller, Karen May and Taso Lagos. Other candidates are Art Scheunemann and Carlos Herrera. The three candidates are shown here at the November board meeting with nominating committee members (seated, l-r) Julie Tempest, Tom Monahan and Julianne Lamsek. Other committee members are Janet Hietter and Mary Simon.

This year’s nominating committee interviewed six applicants for board candidacy. The committee is nominating the following PCC members for consideration in the 2013 election:

  • John Sheller (managing librarian), incumbent
  • Carlos Hererra (environmental engineer, university professor)
  • Taso Lagos (university professor)
  • Karen May (retired engineering manager)
  • Art Scheunemann (business executive)

We’ll post candidate bios and photos on our election Web page by April 3, including video interviews.

The nominating committee encourages all members to check out the candidates on our website in early April.

Also in this issue

Letters to the editor, January 2013

Thankful for PCC, PCC kids in 4-H, Non-organic is not "conventional", and more

News bites, January 2013

Report: organic benefits, Judge halts GE on wildlife refuges, USDA to require organic tests, and more

In defense of whole-milk dairy

From 2009 to 2012, whole milk sales at PCC increased from 18 percent of total milk sales to 26 percent. Meanwhile, sales of nonfat milk dropped from 27 percent to 21 percent. Shoppers are catching on to the health advantages of whole-milk dairy.