Meeting Minutes, November 20, 2008
Sustainable Glasgow
Minutes from November 20, 2008, Regular Meeting The regular meeting of Sustainable Glasgow, Inc. was held at 7:00 A.M., November 20, 2008, at 110 East Public Square, Glasgow, Kentucky. The meeting was called to order by Acting Chairperson William Ray presiding, and, recorded by Acting Secretary William Ray. Present were William Ray, William Travis, Vivian Garrett, Rhonda Trautman, Lisa Simpson Strange, Daniel Iacconi, Carl Dickerson, James P. Haynes, and Jerry Ralston. The Acting Chairperson then declared that the first item of business would be a review of the Sustainable Glasgow activities, to date, and a summary of the underlying reasoning behind the creation of the group. Vigorous discussion ensued with all attendees participating with ideas and agreement with the principles behind the creation of the Sustainable Glasgow movement. The Acting Chairperson stated that the next item of business would be a review of the Articles of Incorporation drafted by John Rogers. The Acting Chairperson shared copies of the document with the attendees and asked for volunteers to become the initial directors and incorporators. Eventually William Ray, William Travis, and Jerry Ralston were appointed initial directors and Joseph Trigg (though absent he had already agreed) and Rhonda Trautman agreed to be incorporators. The documents were then executed and William Ray agreed to deliver them to John Rogers for filing. At the call of the Acting Chairperson for the next item of business, the press release proposed to inform the community of the formation of Sustainable Glasgow was shared with the group. After lengthy discussion there was a consensus to release the information to the media immediately and that the initial documents are incorporated into these minutes as follows: PRESS RELEASE - For Immediate Release - November 20, 2008 Sustainable Glasgow is the name adopted by a group of locals who have been meeting informally to develop local solutions to some recent negative national, state, and local issues mainly focusing on energy, security, food, and the economy. The idea was born in conversations over dinners and breakfasts in local eateries and came to life in the living rooms of a few of its initial members. Sustainable Glasgow’s mission statement is elegantly simple, and broad enough to allow it to accomplish many things as the future unfolds: Sustainable Glasgow is dedicated to contributing to the development of the theory and practice of sustainable living in the Barren County area. We seek to provide the ideas, information, education, infrastructure, and political will, that inspires and facilitates community members to bring about systemic changes in all of our institutions that are necessary to create a sustainable economy for the region surrounding Glasgow, Kentucky. “Simply put, we want to actively promote the happiness of local citizens and create security for our community against the sort of frightening events that have recently rocked our nation,” stated one of the original members, Barren County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jerry Ralston. “We believe that our community should have as a goal a more sustainable, stable local economy, and that our efforts should start with the creation of a local food economy,” stated another founding member, Dr. William Travis. “We have a great opportunity to develop local food production which will result in improved quality and security of our food choices,” added Travis. “This could drive entrepreneurial opportunities for those interested in careers in agriculture, food processing and retail. We are, of course, the top agricultural county in the state.” While Sustainable Glasgow started off with only five or six folks sitting around a member’s dining room table, the group was recently incorporated and now consists of more than fifty local members, with membership expected to grow exponentially. The members strongly believe that since Glasgow is surrounded by productive farm land, the establishment of a food system of local producers and local consumers exchanging goods for currency in a sustainable fashion is achievable. The local dollar multipliers – dollars spent with locally owned businesses are then spent locally again, and again – make this a win-win for all involved. The members feel that encouraging a sustainable food economy (local food production and distribution) will generate local employment and business opportunities which will be more resilient than Glasgow’s historic reliance on heavy industry as the focus of its economic development efforts. Though the group is new, the movement they are promoting is not. “Sustainable community groups are popping up all over the country,” said founding member and EPB Superintendent William Ray. “Like them, our principles are evolving as new members join our movement, but some of our core principles are already known and they include: exposing the true costs and benefits of public and private sector decisions, educating decision makers, voters, and students about the real state of our economy and society, and establishing Glasgow as our place in the world and digging in, and taking responsibility for what happens here. Ultimately, our goal is to promote a community where citizens can achieve greater security and satisfaction.” Sustainable Glasgow plans to form powerful partnerships. They see themselves as one part of the local puzzle, not experts prepared to dictate solutions. They plan to lead by example and say what they are for, not what they are against. Jerry Ralston summarized by saying “We believe in continuous learning and open minds. We hope our efforts will create a ripple effect by proposing new ideas for our community which will spread quickly across Glasgow’s economy.” “Good ideas spread fast, we look forward to adding many more interested citizens to our group over the next few months.” Anyone interested in learning more about Sustainable Glasgow can visit their website at www.sustainableglasgow.blogspot.com or contact William Ray at wray@glasgow-ky.com to request membership in the email group communications being utilized to pull the group together. The Acting Chairperson stated that the next item of business would be a discussion of funding sources. William Ray reported that Glasgow EPB might provide some level of initial funding under its overall local economic development mission. Further discussion ensued relative to what it means to be a member of Sustainable Glasgow instead of just a member of the sustainable@glasgow-ky.com listserv. Eventually Jim Haynes moved that membership applications be prepared and that a membership fee of $20 is collected to fund some initial minimal expenses and establish some level of commitment by members. This motion was seconded by Vivian Garrett and unanimously voted in the affirmative. Additionally, there was discussion and a suggestion that a local CPA firm might be interested in handling the accounting work for Sustainable Glasgow and that they should be approached as soon as possible. William Ray agreed to handle this initial contact. At the call of the Acting Chairperson for the next item of business, discussion was held on the meeting format, and regular meeting dates. Lively discussion ensued, resulting in a consensus that the regular business meetings should continue to occur on the third Thursday of the month at 7:00 A.M. at 110 East Public Square, Glasgow, Kentucky, but further that educational meetings be scheduled at other times so that longer format informational sessions could be offered as necessary to accomplish one of the central goals of Sustainable Glasgow; that of educating the general populace about the localism and local food economy issues and local environmental and infrastructure issues that impact the people of Glasgow and Barren County. There being no further business to come before the meeting, a motion was made by Jerry Ralston that this November meeting adjourn to meet again on December 18 at 7:00 A.M. This motion was seconded by William Travis and unanimously voted in the affirmative.