Meeting minutes, Board of Trustees, Reform Congregation of Las Vegas, June 5, 2007

Reform Congregation of Las Vegas Board of Trustees Meeting June 5, 2007 Trustees Present: Archie Deitman, Larry Copeland, Lucille Farrlow, Lon Jaffe, Meera Kamegai, Seymour Kaplan, Mark Ohriner, Donald Schoengold, Lee Schreiber, Scott Schreiber, Stuart Stein, Lester Yesnick Staff Present: Les Jacobs, Andy Saylor The meeting was called to order by Larry Copeland at 7:07 PM. He also gave the invocation. Consolidation o f Board: Larry Copeland had everyone introduce themselves to the group. He then passed out the Covenant o f Service agreement prepared by the Union for Reform Judaism. He instructed us to take them home, read them through, and then return them signed to acknowledge consent to what is involved in being a board member. Then Larry made the following appointments to fill vacancies on the board: Meera Kamegai to be Second Vice-President, Lon Jaffe to be Corresponding Secretary, and Stewart Stein to be a General Board Member. In addition he appointed Susan Rhodes, who was unable to attend, to be Recording Secretary. He also committed himself to filling vacancies which may occur between now and the next election with former Beth Am members. Controller Report: Les Jacobs delivered the report. All the bills are paid current. The business enterprises have so far generated sufficient revenue to cover 3/4 of the June 15th payroll. He was asked about doing an audit on the status of Temple Beth Am. He explained that it would be an expensive undertaking with questionable results. From July 2003 to July 2005 there are no records in the office. In July 2006 Lynda Keeton-Cardno, a CPA specializing in non-profits, was hired for the Herculean task. By obtaining bank records and then contacting the vendors paid, she was able to recreate 90% of fiscal year 2006. One of her first recommendations was hiring Les. He does have the records from his tenure. At this point Larry voiced his opinion that there would be little to gain from an audit. Les offered to go into greater detail with anyone who was concerned and gave his cell number. Larry stated the first thing to address in refinancing the 11% mortgage on the Hillpointe property. He expects this to be accomplished within 60 days. Treasurer Report: Don Schoengold delivered the report. The temple spent a huge amount in June. $111,000 was paid to bring the mortgage out of foreclosure. There also were $27,000 in penalties that would have been $50,000 had Andy Saylor not negotiated with the bank. In addition all the past due TBA bills were brought current and Rabbi Hecht?s retirement stipend was paid. Statements were sent out on both AAE and TBA outstanding accounts. Andy mentioned that TBA offered a 15% discount for paying the dues upfront and asked whether the new organization would be doing the same. No decision was Page 1 of 3 made. When informed that board meetings were held on the second Tuesday of the month, Les said he will be able to provide complete June financials at the July meeting. Leid: Jeff Klein is back as the director. The previous two co-directors are no longer there. The rest of the staff is glad to have his hand on the helm. The Division of Aging is supportive. Jeff is renewing contacts with donors like Ameristar who have done things for the seniors in the past. He is also meeting with doctors to reestablish an advisory council. In July we will receive a $30,000 grant from the city for infrastructure improvements. On Thursday there will be two air-conditioning units installed. 40% of them will have to be replaced in the next 4-6 months. Fortunately it will be paid for with grant money so it will not be an expense for the temple. The current occupancy is 53-54 persons a day. During Jeffs previous tenure it was in the mid-sixties. Nine out of the ten rental apartments are occupied. The other two are used as offices. The plan is to convert one of the bedrooms from a two-bedroom unit into a therapy room. On June 13th, Microsoft will be at the facility planting flowers and painting. In response to a question, we were told that 60% of the clients are ?indigent?; they pay $0-20 per day with the rest coming from the state. Rabbi Transition: Rabbi Hecht has partially moved out. Max Spilka asked if we wanted to send him a letter saying he will have five days to finish. (The agreement called for his being out by the 1st.) The consensus was the letter should be sent. Rabbi Siegel has bought a house near the temple. He is writing sermons and getting ready to start on July 1st. Schenker: Diane Wright has returned as co-director of the school. Kindergarten graduation is Wednesday. Currently we have 155 students enrolled. We already had 140 signed-up for the fall. There are 20-25 toddlers now. We are considering reallocating space in the future. Services: On June 8th, joint services will be held at Hillpointe conduced by Dave Sanderstein. On June 15th, joint services will be held at Hillpointe conducted by Jeff Klein. On June 22nd, separate services; A bar mitzvah by Rabbi Cohn at Flamingo and a bat mitzvah by Rabbi Hecht at Hillpointe. On June 29th, joint service; who will conduct it is to be determined. On July 6th, Rabbi Siegel?s first service to be held at Hillpointe. Calendar: Rabbi Siegel?s first service will be held July 6th. On August 17th will be his formal installation as Rabbi. On August 18th, we will have a celebration dinner that will be a small fund raiser. The meal will be prepared by the Hillpointe chefs. This year the High Holidays fall in mid-September (Erev Rosh Hashanah is September 12th, Kol Nidre is September 21st.) Membership: As the fiscal year starts July 1st, it was necessary to set the due schedule. Don recommended that we need to attract younger people and we should have a special category for families under 30. Scott Schreiber moved that Page 2 of 3 the dues be increased 10% above the proposed 2007/2008 Temple Beth Am schedule (Single Membership being increased from $795.00 to $875.00; Single Parent being increased from $495.00 to $550.00; Couple or Family being increased from $1,195.00 to $1,300.00; Senior Single being increased from $650.00 to $725.00; and Senior Couple being increased from $725.00 to $800.00) with a new category for singles or families headed by a person under thirty at $500. Lester Tesnick seconded. During the discussion a consensus developed that a dues increase at this time would be counterproductive to our goal of unifying the two congregations. Scott withdrew his motion. Meera Kamegai moved that the Temple Beth Am proposed rates be adopted as written (Single Membership $795.00; Single Parent $495.00; Couple or Family 1,195.00; Senior Single $650.00; and Senior Couple $725.00) with the addition of the $500.00 members under thirty category. Seymour Kaplan seconded. It passed unanimously. (I neglected to note who moved and seconded the building fund rate.) A building fund assessment o f $2,500.00, payable over up to five years passed unanimously. Religious School: Will be administered by Lola and Rabbi Siegel. The tuition will be $450.00 for the first child enrolled in a family and $375.00 for each additional child. There will be three hour sessions. Sisterhood: Lee Schreiber reported that there will be a Sisterhood get together on June 10th 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM at Hillpointe. Men?s Club: Archie Deitman reported that the Men?s Club will have a breakfast meeting Sunday, July 22nd at 10:00 AM at Hillpointe. Fund Raising: The ?Denim and Diamonds? major fundraiser is scheduled for November 10th. Advertising: Meera, Larry, and Kap will meet with the publicity agent to assure that the entire community is aware of Rabbi Siegel?s initial service. Newsletter: The newsletter will be called The Shofar. It will be out in time to announce the July 6th service with Rabbi Siegal. Bylaws: Sue Rhodes, Scott Schreiber, and Seymour Kaplan will meet to work on the new bylaws. The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 19th in the Hillpointe Events Center. The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 pm. Submitted by Lon Jaffe Corresponding Secretary Page 3 of 3