Present: Megan, Anna, Garth, Stephen, Eryn, Pleasure, Annie,\nDusty<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Absent: None<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Staff: Charity, April, Amie<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start: 5:58pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rules of Meeting: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Introduction of Board & Staff: Garth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Board Motions: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amendment to Article VII, Executions of instruments, deposits\nand funds. When the rainy day or surplus fund is re-established, in order for\nthe board to distribute those funds would require approval from membership via\nvote at a public meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dusty motions. Bruce seconds. All in favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reports & Plans for the coming year: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n President\u2019s Report: Megan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you for being here and believing in us, we wouldn\u2019t be\nhere without you. This time last year, looking at a steep debt, not sure if\nwe\u2019d be here this year. Uncertainty about SAMF and ROTR. Here we are with a\nmuch reduced staff but still moving forward. What we\u2019re looking at right now\nmoving forward is finding a way to make everybody happy. We don\u2019t want to\ndeclare bankruptcy or lose the hall – but we may have to take out a loan. We\u2019re\nexploring our options at this point. We have every intention of doing Summer\nArts next year. What would our community do without it? Integral to our\ncommunity. This board is committed to seeing the Mateel continue- what does\nthat look like? We\u2019re flexible in what we look like and how we shape ourselves\nlooking forward. So grateful to those who have helped up staying this place.\nEvery day is a new challenge and a new struggle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Treasurer\u2019s Report: Eryn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Working on projections for 2019, some hope of obtaining a low\ninterest loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we\u2019re to keep\nthe hall open for events – one of our few income streams are the concerts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part-time,\nemploying 4-5 people to stay operational, which is where we\u2019ve been for a while\n– part time caretaker, rented the cabin, currently rent the kitchen to Codi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saddled with mandated audits. Had to do 3 audits in the span of 5\nmonths. December, March and May, and that was to keep our charitable\norganization standing. Could not continue without doing it. $10K each to\ncomplete those audits\u2014as we were on the brink of producing SAMF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Had to decide as a board if we could afford to put it on. Decided\nunanimously to plunge in with both feet. A big part of this was sponsorship\nmoney, so thank you to our many business sponsors, and our former sponsorship\ncoordinator, Tanya Malley. That made it possible. Vendor booth money as well.\nAdvance sales for tickets, deep discount especially to members. And then we\nwere short about 40k because we were also paying down debt with vendors so that\nwe could produce the festival. No one wanted to get more in debt. Had to work\nout deals with folks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also were working on the ROTR deal with High Times, personally\nput in a lot of time. Signed the deal with High Times, I believe in May, part\nof that signing was $75K, were able to re-work our deal with the Arthur family\n– thank you – still left us owing $45K to\nthem. Spent the HT money instantly. We were wired the money, and we immediately\npaid the Arthurs, and used the rest to produce the SAMF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SAMF is the shining star in all of this. Our goal was to cut the\nbudget but still try to produce the same event. We were able to do that. As you\nknow, the economy is down, so attendance was down. We made, on paper, $150K.\nThat brave decision by the board for us to go all in, really kept us afloat. We\nwere also able to take care of a lot of debt at the same time. Really proud of\nthat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of paying down debt, we have paid down $190K in debt,\nwhich is amazing. Very proud of that too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next audit is due January 15th, cutting us a deal – $9K. But\nthen, we\u2019re done. No longer over that level of income that triggers the audits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paying down the debt doesn\u2019t take the sting out of still owing\nthe staggering $620K of debt. Finance committee primarily Stephen myself and\nAmie, have been working out our projections to see if we can secure a loan to\ntake care of some of the more pressing debt – we owe $63K plus penalties to the\nIRS. Have not been able to address that so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes they government comes knocking – State of CA EDD levied\nour account twice for $23K. They hit us for $8K, were working on a payment\nplan, they hit us again for $15K more. The up side is, they\u2019re almost paid off.\nWould have rather seen that money go to a local company, but the state took it.\nThe IRS is maybe not as aggressive, but if they hit us with a lien, we\u2019re in\ndeep trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously the board has some big decisions to make, if we can\nsecure a loan, it will be put to a quorum\nof the members to decide if we will encumber the building – that is in our\nbylaws; we will not encumber this building without a vote from a membership\nquorum: 5% of the membership must be present. If that day comes, we need folks\nto vote. We\u2019d like the majority, if we could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gallows humor: we\u2019re the Titanic, and the debt is the iceberg. As\nwe go on, the Chief Engineer informs the Captain, it is a mathematical\ncertainty that we will sink. I feel like we\u2019re kind of on the brink of that\ncertainty. It\u2019s becoming untenable to be able to generate enough money to come\nup with our monthly nut. No one wants us to sink, of course, but even in the\ndebt-deferred situation that we\u2019re in – I want to acknowledge the loans that\nprivate people have given us – the bridge loans – approximately $150K. Thank\nyou to those folks. People do take mercy on us, and local companies have been\nvery patient and understanding but that doesn\u2019t change the fact that we do owe\nthem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With the board ever-tightening our belt, we still need to come up\nwith $13K per month. This is with skeleton staff, insurance – those are our two\nbiggest expenses. To be a functional hall, we are a community center after all,\nand to be able to rent the hall for local events and concerts, we need to come\nup with that monthly amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is difficult, as most of our income is for-profit music\nproductions, most if not all have been co-promotes. We had 5 in September. None\ncurrently on the books, some dates held in February and beyond. We average $5K\ngross for a good show with the bar and some of the door. Could be more than\nthat, a big artist could be $15K, depending on the situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion it\u2019s been an honor to serve with this board and\nstaff. Know in your heart of hearts that we\u2019re doing all we can to keep the\ncenter from closing and I would just like to remind you all the board serves in\na volunteer position, we do this out of care, and we\u2019re keeping the hope alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Building Report: Bruce<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pretty laid back as far as doing projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fixed the cabin up for cheap. Rented it out. Took a lot of my\ntime the last month. There\u2019s a few things around the hall but we don\u2019t have\nmoney to spend. Would be great if people would come and volunteer. Need\nsweeping outside. Leaves, acorns, etc. Every few days. Hole in the wall over\nthere we\u2019re going to fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One project at the Arthur\u2019s. Some winterizing\/organizing that\nneeds to be done. Volunteerism has been low. This week, Thursday, down to\nMark\u2019s, 1:30pm, after lunch. Bring food if you want. Meet for 4 hours and clean\nthe place up before dark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Latrine keeps plugging up but I figured out how to fix that.\nThings are doing okay, but we\u2019re getting by. We’ve made a big investment in\nthis hall. It\u2019s not too bad of shape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll be doing more regular asks for support on the radio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Membership & Fundraising: Megan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ~400 members. Last year we were in the 475 range. Winter Arts is\ncoming up, we catch a lot of renewals there. \n66 family members. Lifetime members: ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s been difficult to find the right motivation and right\nmessage when doing a fundraising or membership event. It\u2019s something that we\u2019re\nworking toward and we want to see more of our focus spent on. Steveux has\noffered to fund a fundraising\/PR person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaks volumes that our membership didn\u2019t run away – thank you\nfor your continued support this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Election: Garth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nominations for Board seats:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Note: office will need to confirm that nominees are or have been\nMateel members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Community Input\/Public Comment:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Debt\/IRS problem: advertisements that help you negotiate with\nthe IRS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seen them, but you have to pay them. Is it a scam? Who knows.\nMay not apply to us, as a non-profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonia: last year at this time I was at this meeting. I suggested\nwe take a loan out. Patrick Cleary of the HAF approached the Mateel and\narranged to get somebody to look over the finances. Suggested something through\nRREDC? Interest rates have risen since then. We have to do it, there really\nisn\u2019t any choice. $13K\/mo, from SAMF and WAF, you get a couple hundred K, would\ncover your nut and interest payments. That might be a plan that can be used as\nyour business plan for the loan application. Amie is well-versed in all of the\nthings you need. I sincerely mean I would like to be on the finance committee\nto really help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Board response: Stephen has been working a lot on the loan\ndocuments. That is our intention to explore that option further. Going through\nthe process that they\u2019re recommending. If it doesn’t work out, we\u2019ll possibly\ntake that application to other institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bob: Can non-profits declare bankruptcy? Have you considered\nthat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Board response: They make us levy our only asset. Our debtors\nwould only get a fraction of what we owe them. They\u2019re local businesses, and\nwe\u2019d hate to do that to them. They\u2019ve been so find in working with us, we\u2019d\nhate for them to get a fraction of the money we owe, and lose the\nbuilding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Would be better to: The property would be sold, and the money\nwould be used to pay off the debtors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kelley: There are many chapters of bankruptcy. Is the Mateel\neligible for reorganization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dusty: If we do, we will lose the building. Hinges on the\nappraisal. Will we get the value that we think it\u2019s worth? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Could perhaps buy it back after filing bankruptcy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you sure in Chapter 11 that that is true? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chapter 8 – go in front of a judge. Most people throw you into\nChapter 8 which is liquidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot would depend on the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you dealing with an institution that would not want to\nforeclose on the building. <\/p>\n\n\n\n RRDC packages loans – acts as the servicer. Combination of loans\nfrom different entities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The hoops that you need to jump through for HAF or RRDC are much\nhigher than for a bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re trying first to work with these local organizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonia: Headwaters Fund isn\u2019t very risk-adverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bruce: Darryl has another alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Darryl: Always look for the obvious. Tend to agree with Eryn on\nthe Titanic scenario. If you had to bet, you\u2019d bet against this place\nsurviving. Not saying miracles can\u2019t happen. This community is a miracle. The\ncounty is looking to buy a campus down here and a Veteran\u2019s hall. I know what\nthey did\/didn\u2019t do\/neglect at the Veterans\u2019 Hall in Garberville. They bid and\nlost to the Healthcare District for 1.1 million for the old Osprey buildling. If\nwe sold it to the County, and turned it into a Veterna\u2019s hall, you\u2019d maintain\nthe ability to have concerts here, you\u2019d have the opportunity to have some deep\npickets that is actively looking for a location or two in this area. Want to\npropose to the board as something to strongly consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talked to Estelle Fennell about this in person twice. She was\nopen to the idea. This is an opportunity to keep the hall in local hands –\ntheoretically the county is we the people. That said, to approach Estelle and\nalso possibly see if we can get a volunteer appraiser? Start a very light\nconversation with the supervisors to see if there\u2019s interest in this. Tend to\nagree with Dusty about the surmised value of the building (~800K). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Take out a loan, $650K to pay all the debts. 50\/50 chance you\u2019ll\nbe able to pay off the loan. Then whoever seizes the building. If you sell it\nto the county, you\u2019ll have leftover money to start again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stephen: we need people to help us out! What needs to be done to\nmake this a possibility? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Darryl would be willing to talk to Estelle more with the board\u2019s\napproval to talk to her further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Would be nice to be able to present several options to the\nmembership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qualified broker\u2019s opinion – might be enough. Appraisals are\nexpensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the building was sold – partnership with the park? Take\nwhat\u2019s leftover and build a new building down there? Retain ownership of ROTR\nand SAMF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How much is owed to IRS: 63K. EDD: 3K. Sales tax: 15K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Has the board looked at a loan that\u2019s much less – $120-150K?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve considered that. Like to see some of the local community\nmembers paid. $300K would really get us out from under the yoke of the most\npressing debt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you looked at what your annual payment on that would be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you made $150K off of SAMF\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spent that on debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using a festival income as an income stream isn\u2019t what they\nwant? They\u2019re a \u201cCrapshoot.\u201d They like tangible monthly income. Renting the\ncabin, kitchen, maybe office, parking lot, etc. Solid income. THat\u2019s what we\u2019re\nbanking on. If we can kick this down the road a few years, when the price of\ncannabis becomes stable. If we can make it a few years, and the county can\nfigure things out, and canna tourism becomes a thing, we can do it. The hope is\nto stay relevant and be what the community wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, you can get income, and then yes we do make money on SAMF,\nand we can pay down a large chunk without penalties. Don\u2019t want to count on\nthat, however. Need a long, slow loan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The SAMF is a less risky festival than others, yes, but.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also takes a good amount of money to produce that festival.\nIn the state we\u2019re in right now, are we even in a state to do it? We need\npartners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why no concerts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n No rentals. Still some events. Dell\u2019Arte. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nightly rental – if someone wanted to do a rental for a movie or\nsomething? On the website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those events are still possible! We just had a wedding recently.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n About two months ago, there was a call for ideas for different\nkinds of things. It\u2019s been about 2 or 3 months now. Looking at renting the\ncabin, renting all the other things. In two months, these are the ideas? Or\nhave you come up with other programs or concepts? <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re still researching grants for after-school programs and\nthings like that. Summer Young wants to do the Summer program next summer\nagain. Looking at doing other things for youth in this space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Phase II – music rooms, more rooms to rent, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n High Times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n At our last meeting, we mentioned that HT hadn’t reimbursed us.\nThey\u2019ve now paid: $17K. They have not yet paid the Arthurs. We are still in\ncommunication with them and won\u2019t let it go. School District has also not yet\nbeen paid. We have full confidence they will pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Burner: Do you feel confident in them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have some trepidation, and yes, I do feel they have devalued\nthe Festival a bit. I wish they\u2019d paid us some more attention. We warned them.\nThey lost a lot of money. They\u2019ve assured us they want to change the\ntrajectory. Maybe cannabis sales. Don’t have 100% confidence or faith in them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Darryl: Is there a set of circumstances where they can end their\npartnership. They can let us know by December 31st if they don\u2019t want to\nproduce it the following year, if it was underperforming. Asked them several\ndays ago if they plan on producing in 2019. Need to pay debt. Need to produce a\nwrap up report for the county. Said they would pay and work on a wrap up\nreport. Taking that as a yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if they don’t pay the debts? They would be in breach. They\nare in breach right now. We could end the contract right now. We have a\nseparate agreement with the Arthurs, supersedes them. Probably would be a\nlawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there a consequence for them to not produce it, of ending the\ncontract. Ex: paying the Arthurs another year, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there a backup plan? If they don\u2019t produce? Yes. Can\u2019t\ncomment on that yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our contract with HT says we don\u2019t pay for anything. We fronted\nthem certain costs for this year, and that\u2019s what the 17K was for. They were\nbehind on the production timeline. It was in our best interest to pay at that\ntime. But our contract outlines zero risk. We supply the infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark: Does HT still know that they owe me for PG&E? ~$200.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eryn: That may have slipped through the cracks. We\u2019ll pay you\ntomorrow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dusty: If Reggae is successful, what do we get? We get a\npercentage of net. The turn in the tide is legalization. We\u2019re looking for them\nto develop the legal cannabis aspect of the event. Northern Nights will now be\nthe Emerald Cup. HT is competitive when it comes to cannabis cups. Piercy is\nstaged to become a major fight in cannabis income. HT loves the word Humboldt.\nIt\u2019s marketing gold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Over and above net profit, there is income possibilities – not\nhuge, but. We ran the general store, and made money in several locations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Board is in a difficult position when dealing with capitalists\nand promoters. Sometimes things have to stay confidential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Has anyone looked into potential donors that might be out there\nlike foundations and individuals? That might be worth investigating if anyone\nhas the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Steveux: Talked to Steve Dazey – fundraising was a full-time job\nand had a daily goal of 5K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kelley: Word slowly got back to me about how abysmally someone\nhandled my job for performer check-in. Find someone to meet the dancers and the\nprayer\/morning circle people. I wonder if anyone has called them and\napologized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The other thing is I\u2019m surprised to see that there\u2019s no report\nout from the board about your two generational meetings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What are the results from the Generational Gathering and Heal\nthe Mateel meetings?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anna will ask Goran to post notes from those meetings on the\nwebsite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Question from Lauren Schmitt. Has anyone approached the Mateel?\nYes, we were the only org. still willing to do it. Peg is going to keep us\ninformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last Sunday, there was a memorial for Sue Crellin here. Justin\u2019s\nwife passed away. There were memorial donations made, ~$6K to the Mateel. Thank\nyou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you for coming and showing your support and showing us our\nblind spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vendor app deadline is in two days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Radio show tomorrow 7-8pm on KMUD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n December 13th candidate forum 5-6pm on KMUD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n End 7:57pm. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Present: Megan, Anna, Garth, Stephen, Eryn, Pleasure, Annie, Dusty Absent: None Staff: Charity, April, Amie Start: 5:58pm. Rules of Meeting: Reports Election outline Nominations Public comment at the end Introduction of Board & Staff: Garth Board Motions: Amendment to Article VII, Executions of instruments, deposits and funds. When the rainy[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4520,"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4519\/revisions\/4520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mateel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}