The Cabbagetown Residents Association (CRA) held its 2016 Annual General Meeting on June 8, 2016 at Stout Irish Pub. As always, we had a good turnout and it was great to see many residents (and friends) ready to hear and discuss the past year and our plans for the next. Our thanks to Erin and the Stout staff for keeping us refreshed and organized.
2016 AGM Presentation (.pdf)
Photo courtesy of Eric Morse
President of the CRA, Phil Frei started us off by confirming that we had a quorum. Phil took us through this presentation linked to above, which highlights what we’ve done, what we’re doing and what we hope to achieve in the year ahead. Phil spoke of our areas of focus, the areas which we serve and the board that has been in place for the past year.
Bylaw amendments:
After the financial review, Secretary Kelley Teahen walked the membership through several by-law changes being proposed.
The current by-laws reflected several practices now out of date for the association, including:
– The roles of secretary and treasurer have been separate Director roles for many years but the bylaws specify a combined secretary-treasurer;
– Membership includes business owners and homeowners from a time before the establishment of the Cabbagetown BIA to champion business and retail matters. The amendment changed membership eligibility to be simply “residents”.
– Directors offering to serve a second term wanted the flexibility of standing for one or two years: the bylaws stated it must be two.
– Composition of the board: the by-laws specified 10 elected members and two appointed by the board: “the historian” and a representative from the Cabbagetown Preservation Association. Amendment is to have 11 elected members and the board has the option to appoint one person to represent the community beyond the Residents Association.
The by-law amendments were moved by Dan Eldgridge and seconded by Lindsay Matheson. All present voted in favour and there were no abstentions. A special thank-you to Anne Hudson of Haddad Hudson Professional Corporation, for her pro bono work advising us on these by-law changes.
Board of Directors
Attendees confirmed the proposed slate of candidates for the board. 5 new nominations were received and 6 directors agreed to serve again for 2016 – 2017.
Leaving the board after a number of years of service (and with our grateful thanks):
Trish Finkelstein
Staying on the board for additional terms:
Phil Frei (President), James Wood (Vice President), Marc Simmons (Treasurer), Kelley Teahen (Secretary), Tyler Fleming, Keith Lawrance.
Joining the board for 2016-2017:
Tina Card, Carolyn Jarman, Shawna Pereira, Sam Richardson, Evelyn Sommers
Read the bios of the board of directors
Engagement and Feedback
There was then a lively discussion on how we need residents’ help in engaging others via membership, volunteering and participation. Two residents provided feedback to us on how to improve our membership numbers and on suggestions for improving the neighbourhood (we are currently reviewing those ideas and will be updating everyone on those proposals).
After a surprise gift (courtesy of one of our Forsythia Festival sponsors) to the resident who had lived in Cabbagetown the longest, the meeting was formally adjourned, and attendees participated in a game of “Who or What Am I?” whereby nametags of famous Cabbagetown people or landmarks were hung on the backs of each attendee and yes/no questions were asked of others to try and figure out Who or What Am I? The first 15 winners received gift cards from Stout (thanks Erin!).
Thank you to those who attended and for your interest in our community!