I am back from vacation. Here are a few notes from the EFCL meeting in August that I missed.
Download the original August 4 board package for the EFCL Board Meeting on August 4, 2010
Here are some notes from the draft minutes:
4.0 Urgent Matters
4.1 EFCL/Area Council Relationship - Draft MOU Coming
There have been two meetings between Area Council and EFCL representatives. Eight Area Council Presidents attended the first meeting in order to discuss the merits of creating an administrative position to support both Area Councils and the EFCL Districts with meeting logistics.
At the first meeting the idea of the position was discussed and participants also discussed the relationship between the EFCL and Area Councils and City Council. The EFCL has a government affairs policy that says it should deal with issues that affect 51% or more of its members. Districts can work on more regional issues.
Allan and Ian of the EFCL have since drafted a job description for the proposed position. The main purpose would be the coordinate meeting logistics, and facilitate communication between the EFCL, the Area Councils and the City.
At the second meeting, representatives of eight Area Councils discussed the details of the draft MOU. Items discussed included the facilitation of EFCL district elections at their meetings, in addition to the regular EFCL process. Representatives would also attend Area Council meetings to collect feedback from community leagues. It was also agreed that Allan would supervise the coordinator position if we are successful in hiring one.
The spirit of the meetings was positive and it was agreed to take the proposed draft Memorandum of Understanding to the next meeting of the EFCL membership.
It seems pretty clear that there is a logical division of responsibilities when it comes to issues with Area Councils being appropriate to handle local and regional issues and the EFCL dealing with issues that affect a majority of leagues.
7.0 Decision Items
7.1 MOU between EFCL and Area Councils
It was noted that Area Council presidents will be invited to the upcoming Community League Presidents appreciation banquet.
Some concern was noted by EFCL Board Members about how the elections might work, especially in some districts where there is a split of leagues between several Area Councils.
Allan reminded board members that the EFCL elections would still be held according to the bylaws of the EFCL and that the EFCL would run the elections in each case. And the election part of any meeting would be open to any of the districts of the district.
It would mean there is a third option for district elections, outside of the opportunities at the EFCL RGM and AGM.
This is a very good step forward and has the potential to strengthen community leagues by strengthening the links between the various structures that community leagues organize themselves in.
7.2 2011 Budget Request
The EFCL is already making a significant budget ask of the City as a result of the Tripartite negotiations. The proposal is to cover the significant infrastructure deficits in leagues across the city and to provide a an increase in the annual operating grants to leagues. This proposal is being made with support from Community Services.
As a result the EFCL will be cautious about increasing its budget request to the City, except to support the creation of an EFCL/Area Council coordinator position.
In view of the long history of the EFCL and Area Councils a request to fund a coordinator position will surely be considered a very positive thing. Right Ed? Right Kim? Right Ron? Right Tony?
Other Items
The EFCL has also endorsed the idea of Community Leagues being able to allow advertising on the insides of their rinks. An inquiry has been made to city staff by Councillor Linda Sloan to find out what it would take to allow this to happen.
That's all for now! The September Board package will be out soon, so watch for more news soon.
