David Dodge, EFCL District B

David Dodge EFCL Past President and past district rep for Lago Lindo, Kilkenny, McLeod, Evansdale, Northmount, Londonderry, Steele Heights, Balwin, Killarney, Delwood, Glengarry, Rosslyn, Belvedere community leagues in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Photo by Rob Agostinis

Monday, May 9, 2011

EFCL Board Package May 2011

Hello District B Communities:
Report in advance of the May12, 2011 EFCL Board Meeting
Download the May12  2011 Board Package
It has been a very busy time with the Tripartite agreement up for renewal and a flurry of meetings. It was good to see the Area 17 communities at the annual Area 17 BBQ in the weekend. It was also good to meet with the executives of Steele Heights, McLeod, Kilkenny, Evansdale, Londonderry, and a few folks from Rosslyn in the last month. It seems everyone is very busy this month!
Reminder:

Tripartite Agreement special general meeting
May 17, 2011 at 7 pm at Lauderdale Hall, 12937 - 107 Street.
Remember we must have quorum at this special general meeting to vote on the Tripartite Agreement. I attended the second meeting hosted by Area Council 17, 1 and 2 on May 5 and just a few leagues showed up. This is probably because by now most leagues have attended one of the many information meetings. IN addition I have also attended half a dozen league meetings to discuss the draft agreement. Please show up on May 17 to vote on the agreement – otherwise we will have to do it all over again!
For more information and downloads, visit the EFCL website's Tripartite page.
Highlights from the EFCL May 12, 2011 Board Package
6.1 –Recommendations for Public School Board - pg 12
After a meeting between the EFCL board and the members of the Edmonton Public School Board the board is considering a series of recommendations to the public school board to help preserve schools and mature neighbourhoods.
Please carefully read the report and feedback from the planning committee on page 13 of the board package and consider the following recommendations:
That the EFCL send a letter to the EPSB that thanks them for meeting with us and recommends the following:
  1. That they send representatives to our Living Local conference on Oct. 28.
  2. That they develop a program to promote neighbourhood schools
  3. That they consider creating catchment areas for all programs of choice so that children living close to these schools are given priority when space is limited. 
  4. That they ask parents to pay the full cost of transporting their children to programs of choice.
  5. That they join us in lobbying the province to open up space for community programming in new schools, as well as creating more opportunities for all communities to have access to the schools after hours, as per the joint use agreement
  6. That they put together a proposal, perhaps in conjunction with the Edmonton Catholic School Board, that asks taxpayers at election time to approve a 3% hike in the school portion of property taxes to help maintain schools in mature neighbourhoods and help the board meet other educational needs of their students.
  7. That they do joint planning with the City to reinvest in mature neighbourhoods and attract more families with children to mature neighbourhoods.
As you will see from the report and feedback on these ideas in the board package there are diverse opinions on some of these ideas. Schools in mature neighbourhoods are often neglected in a budgetary sense which also contributes to their eventual demise. This is where the special levy idea came in to support the maintenance of mature schools. The other recommendation regarding subsidized transportation of children to specialty programs far and wide also attracted some discussion. Please read the report and send your feedback.

6.2 - Retaining Children in Mature Neighbourhoods - pg 15
This is a revised motion to create an EFCL policy regarding the retention of children and families in mature neighbourhoods to ensure the neighbourhoods remain viable and retain the infrastructure critical to strong neighbourhoods, such as schools. This draft policy brings a number of existing positions under one clear policy. It was in last months board package as a motion, but the board wanted it presented as a proposed policy instead of as a motion. This is that motion.
6.3 - On-Line Community League Cards - pg 17
When the EFCL started selling memberships online many leagues wondered whey we did not issue membership cards with the online purchase. Some leagues opposed this at the time, but in my travels to leagues most of the leagues I have heard from in the last few years wondered why we don't issue cards online saving leagues the work of creating and mailing or delivering cards to new members.
This issue is back before the board and membership and the choices are:
  1. Email cards when the purchase is made online
  2. Email a temporary card when the purchase is made online
  3. Mail a hard card to new members who purchase online from the EFCL
Please see the report on page 17 of the board package and let us know how you feel. My sense is that emailing a membership card is the way to go. We have lost members because they can't figure out how to get one in time for sports registrations and the whole hockey fiasco is largely because of how hard it is to purchase and track memberships.
Don't worry we plan to strike a committee to consider this issue further and the recommendation to the board is that we bring the proposed solution to the membership at the fall AGM.
As you might have guessed I think this is a good idea. There is nothing preventing any league from having direct contact with their members anytime they like to welcome them to the league. But by being more responsive and by making it easier to get memberships we will be serving our members better, and we will keep members longer.
Let me know how you feel about this.

6.4 - 90th and 100th Anniversary Projects - pg 18
The EFCL is considering taking on a major park redevelopment project for its 100th Anniversary in 10 years. The idea came up from the committee that is trying to figure out what to do to celebrate our 90th Anniversary. The idea is to take step one this year, in our 90th year and build up to a major, big deal just in time for our 100th Anniversary. 
6.5 - Board Meeting Locations - pg 19
The board is considering a request to hold one of our board meetings at the new Terwillegar Recreation Centre. This raised the question of whether we should hold some board meetings in the regions of the city. The board will consider this idea at the meeting on Thursday. We don't want to make meetings a political football, but my sense is holding some meetings in different areas of the city occasionally would prove we are accessible and open. We will see how the discussion goes.
6.6 – Lobbying PC Leadership Candidates - pg 20
That the EFCL hold meetings with three or four of the key PC Party leadership candidates to discuss our primary concerns and initiatives. It makes sense to me to get out in front of the leadership race and brief would-be new premiers on the issues we care about in leagues.
6.7 – Creation of Rink and Carnival Committee - pg 21
That the EFCL appoint a board member to chair the 2012 Rink and Carnival Weekend Committee and invite leagues to provide representatives. This is your chance – do you want to help create an awesome Winter Rink and Carnival event across the City. Consider joining this committee that will surely be created at the board meeting this week. 
8.1.1 – Community League Memberships Sold through EMHA - pg 23
Reading the report I sense and understand the frustration of EFCL staff who are still trying to sort out the hockey membership fiasco, but I must say the tone of the report seems to suggest that it will be a problem for the NE Zone to carry on with the excellent relationship it was with leagues and with the idea of requiring community league memberships for players in the NE. This has not been a problem for us in the NE. The EMHA will vote on removing the requirement for a community league membership on May 11 (this week) and they will require 75% support to remove the requirement. Hmmmm, we will see what happens. I would prefer to see the way it works in the NE characterized as successful!!! Remember to give a hug to your NE reps next time you see them.
8.2 – Celebration of Neighbourhood Character - pg 24
The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues is launching a project with the Edmonton Arts Council and Edmonton Heritage Council to celebrate the character of individual neighborhoods.
8.3 – Community League Day Examiner Insert - pg 25
We are exploring a number of promotional opportunities for this fall‘s Community League Day. These include radio promotions, social media, sponsorship prizing and a special 12+ page Edmonton Examiner insert.
8.5 – Executive Director‘s Report - pg 28
I know this report is already jam-packed, but see Allan's report for information on: Living Local Conference (Oct. 28), Hall Rental Meeting and Guide, Good Neighbour program and more.
8.6 – Planning Advisor's Report - pg 30
Please see Bev Zubot's report for information on recommendations from us on apartment zones, a new request for feedback on small-scale zones, Transit Oriented Development, and the Community Sustainabilty Task Force charied by Michael Phair. Remember Ron Favell of Killarney Community League is District B's new representative on the Planning Committee. 
That's it, please let me know if you have any feedback, ideas or issue you would like me to raise at the board meeting this week.
Cheers,David Dodge
District B Representative and President, the EFCL
May 9, 2011