PCC Board of Trustees report, February 2013

This article was originally published in February 2013

Pre-election activity update

The 2013 board election dates are April 23 through May 16 with five PCC members vying for three open seats:

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

Who’s on the board now?

You may want to remind yourself of who the new trustees will be joining on the board.

  • Carol Binder: Retired executive director at Pike Place Market. Eligible for renomination in 2014.
  • Julianne Lamsek: Director of Information Technology at KCTS 9 Public Television.Eligible for renomination in 2014.
  • Maggie Lucas: Parent, community advocate, attorney. Eligible for renomination in 2015.
  • Sandy Voit: Owner, Tangible Solutions (personal finances counseling). Eligible for renomination in 2015.
  • Stephen Tan: Managering Partner at Cascadia Law Group, specializing in environmental and natural resources law. Eligible for renomination in 2015.
  • Bruce Williams: Retired CEO of Home Street Bank, serves on the boards of Cascadia Land Conservancy and Home Street Bank. Eligible for renomination in 2014.

Learn more »

Our members have told us they take very seriously their votes in board elections and appreciate extra time to consider the candidates. To that end, our candidates will videotape interviews in early March. The interviews are designed to give our members an early chance to think about what candidates should get their votes.

The video interviews will be posted on PCC’s website no later than March 30.

We encourage members to spend some time getting familiar with the candidates.

Our annual meeting on April 23 will be your first chance to meet and talk with them in person. We’ll also help members get to know the candidates by hosting informal store visits by the candidates in April and May at two of our stores — one on the east side and another on the west. All of the candidates will participate, along with several current board members. We’ll announce the dates and times of the visits in the March Sound Consumer so members may make plans to attend.

Actually seeing and hearing the candidates really does help members feel more connected to the process and confident about voting. So, do try to attend the annual meeting or the candidate store visits and check out the election materials on our website after March 30. Then VOTE! All members who are active as of March 31, 2013 will be eligible to vote in the 2013 board election.

Board report

There was no board meeting in December and the January 29 meeting report will be published in March. The next regularly scheduled board meeting will be Tuesday, March 26 at 5 p.m. at the co-op office. Members are welcome at all public sessions of the board meeting. Member comment period is at 7 p.m.

The board will meet in retreat on February 9-10. The retreat agenda includes a review of our Ends policies and a preliminary report from Gilmore Research on the results of the member survey.

Also in this issue

Soil & Sea: reports from our producers

An $18 million maple syrup theft, rising prices for popcorn and tofu, and crisis in the American catfish industry have the food and agriculture world buzzing.

Honey laundering: fraud on the shelves?

The benign memory of Winnie the Pooh shoving his paw into the honey jar has just about faded as federal investigators and the Department of Justice continue to crack down on smuggled, mislabeled and adulterated honey into the United States.

Americans waste 40% of food

PCC shoppers are a conscientious bunch. We care about food and its impact on the environment. When we worry, it's about the pesticides used to grow apples, or whether hormones or antibiotics were used. We're concerned about how food is produced, and don't often give much thought to what happens once it is.