GULP CC Notes
From CFI
Notes from the 1/10/07 CC meeting
Present: Orion, Scott, Sean, Leah, Cliff, Christine, Hal
Next Meeting – Redwood Valley, 1/16/06, will focus on three areas – grants and outreach, local business, and food. This will be a working group meeting.
City Repair – Wagonseller neighborhood is interested in doing a city repair project. Scott gave them a copy of the DVD that Cat Steele used at our meeting. Scott will track this project. Main Street Program is talking about doing city repair at Alex Thomas Plaza to make it more appealing. Leah will follow this. The Redwood Valley group is considering doing something at the ‘downtown’ corner in Redwood Valley owned by Skip Gibbs. They will get together at the Grange breakfast on 1/14 to discuss it further.
Orion suggested GULP cards containing basic information that we could pass out. There may be a possibility that Lindsay Daily can produce them. This led to a discussion of the logo. Orion says that Calvin (?) is willing to donate one hour of time to work on the logo, and will charge half his normal rate ($20) if it takes longer than one hour. Sixty dollars was appropriated to finish the logo. Possible enhancements include: color, some icon in each of the boxes to indicate or areas of activity. Orion will discuss these with Calvin and get back to us.
The first February meeting in Ukiah – The theme is alternative health care. The focus of the panel discussion will be that our current health care process is heavily dependent on outside resources – medicine, specialists, etc., is energy dependent on fossil fuel, electricity, etc., and treats maladies rather than maintaining health. How can we focus more on preventative health care and on locally produced medicines to meet our needs? Panelists include: Dr. Kristin Bradford, Tony Morris, acupuncture and Chinese medicine (they also started with what was local), and, hopefully, someone from Snow Mountain Botanicals or another medicinal herb supplier.
Themes for future meetings – March – (RV) Green building for commercial, government, and residential buildings April – (Ukiah) Local energy May – (RV) Water issues, storage and conservation June – (Ukiah) Gardening and local produce July and August may be DVD presentations (perhaps like ones that WELL is doing)
We are constantly in need of someone to write articles for our monthly UDJ column on GULP related topics. Any volunteers?
We added to the list of possible places to post GULP flyers and each of us agreed to post some of them. The revised list needs to be shown at the general meetings and other people solicited.
We would like more GULP people involved in the UVAP process. Cliff will ask Maureen to send the CC the latest mailing list so we can do some personal outreach. On January 16 there will be a day long meeting examining “Form Based Zoning” in downtown and along the Perkins Street Coridor. Scott, Cliff, and Orion will attend. This meeting will be followed up by a 5 day charette in March.
There is the first “Citizen’s U” on January 18. GULP is co-sponsoring and will help set up and have material available for distribution.
Other possible activities for GULP involvement include hosting the founder of Ameba around the 20-22 of February. Scott has his contact info. Ernesto Sirolli, author of “Ripples from the Zambezi”, will be speaking at New College in May. His work focuses on starting and maintaining local economic activity throughout the world. Orion will look into contacting him.
The Anderson Valley Group is presenting a Farm Bill Forum and there will be a tabling opportunity for GULP. It will held at the Saturday Afternoon Club from 3 to 5 on Sunday January 21.
Grant opportunities – The T. R. Erickson Foundation grant cycle ends soon and the Community Foundation applications must be in by March. Heather Siegel at Mendocino Book Co. is interested in helping us with grant writing. Themes that we thought we could apply for are: (1) Facilitating City Repair projects. (2) Developing neighborhood community gardens, (3) Developing a marketing strategy for locally developed food, possibly a local script redeemable at the COOP.
There is a beautiful community garden at Autumn Leaves Senior Complex
A Ukiah Farmer’s Market planning meeting is coming up. Scott asked that we find someone to attend. Could something be done in conjunction with our June gardening theme?
Other items that were postponed to next meeting: KMEC radio request, neighborhood gardens in Hispanic neighborhoods.
Notes from the 11/14/2006 CC meeting
Present: Cliff, Hal, Scott, Holly, Christine
Nov 28 general meeting Redwood Valley. Guest Mitch Stogner will give a short presentation and lead a discussion. Expect to learn about the history, present condition, and future plans for the railroad. Hal, Lindsey, and Estelle have created a flier for distribution. Hal will call Ike re: wine for guest speaker
Future meetings 19 December meeting: Kat Steele, City Repair, Cliff will write article for UDJ, Hal will create a flier. After Kat’s presentation, group will brainstorm on a city repair project to do in Ukiah. Cliff will contact Diane (?) to try to generate interest in the Wagonseller neighborhood. City Repair DVD-Christine will look for possible open dates in NCO conference room to show movie in Dec. 2 January meeting: Lisa Hussman of Hong Kong gardens. Hal will create poster to distribute before the holidays.
Future Events 4 January, showing of “Indies Under Fire” with filmmaker. Scott will check the Saturday Afternoon Club and Center for Positive Living for open dates. Unanimously agreed to hold event as a benefit for the GULP local business campaign.
Economic Development Plan Agreed that GULP should support the principles discussed in the drafted section. GULP will work towards getting local businesses to support the plan (Frey’s, Fetzers, Barra, Cooperriders, Thomas’s). Cliff will talk with Pam on how to submit the economic plan.
Business Group receipt flier Flier developed by Scott for local businesses to give to customers as they check out, outlining why it is important to shop locally. Would be GULP’s contribution to the “Home for the Holidays” campaign. After some edits, it was agreed to produce 2000 fliers at a cost of $60.
Funding situation Current funds in bank >$1200, some cash and checks not yet deposited. Hal comments that a notice about the winner of the bike raffle should be submitted to the UDJ to provide closure for all those who bought tickets. Scott has receipts to be submitted to Jenny. GULP is underwriting “So Many Roads” with Jeff Taylor on KMEC. Tune in Thursdays, 7-9PM.
Grants TR Erikson Foundation- Feb deadline Community Foundation- March deadline Progressive Tech.org Hal and Christine will research granters to find how to best fit the objectives of foundations, and will put together applications where appropriate. Possible projects to ask funding for: Mendocino agriculture/farming/gardening DVD; Creation of a CSA depot; feasibility study for a Mercado in Ukiah; GULP staff support.
Business Group posters Will be translated into Spanish at High School. Scott surveyed shopowners and found that many would like a personalized poster, at general meeting, business group decided to go forward with printing posters in small batches. Scott has purchased the paper, and printing will take place at SLI.
Growing the CC? To be discussed at next general meeting.
Notes from the 10/10/06 CC Meeting
Present: Cliff, Holly, Scott, Leah, Sean, Christine, Hal (notes prepared by Hal)
Pumpkin Fest – There are still unfilled booth volunteer time slots. Each of us will make calls to phone numbers on the master? list to recruit volunteers for booth volunteer duty and will update the website if we get commitments. Books for sale will be coming from Dave at Mulligan’s, Re-Build Store will provide assorted stuff, and chairs will be supplied by the Saturday Afternoon Club. There will be an attempt to facilitate community discussion of GULP related topics at the booth. Raffle prizes include ‘the bike’, a basket from COOP, and a basket from Jini Reynolds. Richard Moore was not invited to speak.
GULP meeting topics and process – Hal raised the point that the speaker at last meeting brought in about 20 people, many who were new and looking to see what the group was about. When the meeting broke into work groups for the events, almost half the people left. If we are to grow as a group, it will be important to have presentations (not just speakers) at regular intervals that provide a focus for new people and that they would find interesting.
We had discussed having monthly themes in the past. These need to be planned in advance so that publicity can be gotten out in a timely fashion. The group brainstormed a list of possible themes as follows: Food and food production Mobility Local Business Health and local health care Civic Connections Outreach Shelter Water issues Alternative Energy Community and Neighborhood focus Green Building Co-housing Eco-Villages It was decided to alternate the presentations between the first and second meeting to attract people from both Ukiah and the valleys. For the next six months, the agreed themes will be: November – Trail building in RV (Note: that meeting is on Nov. 28 because of Thanksgiving) December – City Repair in Ukiah January – Urban Gardening in RV February – Natural Health in Ukiah (Mrs. Bradford?) March – Shelter in RV April – Energy in Ukiah The next two meetings will focus on reactivating our working groups. Each meeting will begin with a reading of the GULP Mission, a voluntary check-in, and will include working group meeting time and working group reports at the end.
Website – Scott and Jenny have worked to clean up the website and get events and notices on the home page. Check it out! Cliff suggested changing the URL to GULP instead of Greater Ukiah Localization Project. He will work on that.
The Flour Mill – The Flour Mill is closing in November and the water wheel and mill stone need to be removed. Cliff suggested that they are community resources that should not be destroyed, and that saving them would be a worthy GULP project. The Committee agreed. Hal will contract Luke Frey regarding storing these things and several folks will look into possible haulers. Christine suggested that firemen love to break walls.
Local Business – There is a good possibility of getting the Local Business Directory both online and into print with support from allied groups. Now we need to get business names to put into the directory; there are currently about 30. Scott suggested convening a local business forum, to discuss topics of interest including ‘local money’.
Notes from the 9/26/2006 Meeting
In attendance: Cliff, Hal, Holly, Scott & Sean
Potluck Status: It seems to be OK and getting a good level of interest. Mimi & Julie are coordinating regarding music and various issues. Holly will provide more copies of the flier for Mimi tomorrow & shipped an announcement to the UDJ today. Hal will get a press release out to KZYX.
Co-op 30th Anniversary: Cliff, Julie and others will attend and staff a GULP table. Cliff will coordinate getting material from Scott.
Pumpkin Festival planning seems to be on track. But, we need people for the booth. Anne O. suggested some of the PlaceMeant Project folks might attend. Hal agreed to check with outreach for volunteers.
The group discussed the UVAP process. Multiple CC members relayed concerns that the consultants do not seem particularly sensitive to localization, sustainability or smart growth issues and that we will need to keep paying attention to the process.
Cliff has a poster board that can be used to mount Holly & Scott’s copy of the peal oil poster for use at events. Need to coordinate exchange of the material.
Plan for the 10/3 Meeting. Hal noted the need for working group representation and status reports at the start of meetings. Hal suggested that we get a speaker on the food theme. After discussion Scott agreed to invite Julia C, who is on the GoMendo Board and is a leader in the Slow Food movement , to check with Don S about a possible Co-op speaker on local organic and non-organic food sources & to see if Gloria would be interested in a return visit. Cliff will check with the Anderson valley Group about sharing information about their prior food events and forum and local food producer directory.
After a food presentation, we will have breakout working groups. Scott noted that the Business group have several interesting possible collaborative opportunities including having the independent local business directory hosted on the GoMendo Internet site, collaboration with WELL’s local business campaign, partnering with the Main Street Program (and possibly even the Chamber of Commerce) and the opportunity to work with HomeTown Shopper for a free print directory (thanks to Joy B.) BUT, we will need to get to work to have significant content ready. Hal reported that the Outreach group is enthused about continuing to develop a long format symposium on local food production, storage, etc for later in the year or early next year and is looking for possible sources for “seed money” Hal will touch base with WELL and possibly AV for ideas.
Hal explained that, in his experience, the GULP moniker did not always get the best reception and that the Outreach Group was working on possible alternate or secondary names such as SafeTnet (with multiple possible decodings and NEAT (Neighborhoods Ensuring Abundant Tomorrows).
The group discussed options for KMEC sponsorship and agreed to go with a $35 per month pledge for 3 months so that the announcement will include some information about when GULP meets & ask for new members to mention if they heard it on KMEC. Cliff will draft the sponsor text and pick a show (Likely Jeff’s, which seems to have a fair number of listeners.)
The group agreed that earthquakes suck.
Hal shared some pretty cool information about his own local food production (and brought some fine grapes to share as well).
Notes from the 8/22/2006 Meeting
GULP Steering Committee Meeting 8/22/06
280 N. Oak Street, 6:30 PM
Christine, Leah, Scott, Holly, Hal, Sean, Cliff in attendance
Note taker Cliff
Agenda
-September 5 meeting
-Forum
-Moratorium
-City Events
-Steering Committee Issues
-Recruiting for Main Street
-Inconvenient Truth
-Outreach efforts
-GULP equipment role-call
- September 5 meeting
-Discussion started around the success of our last meeting, and whether the single theme style was effective. While some people enjoyed the single theme, some individuals felt it was too focused on one topic, to the detriment of others. It was agreed though that while the attendance at meetings is low over the summer, having a meeting format that doesn’t include working group breakouts is appropriate. However, as we’re moving into fall and we have multiple projects that need attention we will need to make time for working group breakouts.
Our September 5 meeting will focus on preparing for upcoming events that GULP will participate in. These include:
GULP Sponsored Events: Organized by Cliff Forum on industrial land, tentatively scheduled for September 12
City Sponsored Events: Organized by Leah Movies in the Plaza, 9/15/06 Ukiah Car Show, 9/16/06 Pumpkin Fest 10/14-15/06
GULP and Ukiah Farmers Market Events: Organized by Christine Eat Local Potluck, Some Saturday in October
- Future of Industrial Lands Forum
We are looking to host this forum on September 12. Ukiah City Council Chambers are the preferred location. We are pursuing a fee waiver from the city. Cliff is working on this Speakers will include, Chris Stone, Sam Golberger, and possibly someone from NUDG (Hal working on this contact) The forum could also feed into the UVAP update process, and Cliff is investigating the interface with the MIG consulting group
- Moratorium
GULP is not currently supporting the moratorium initiative. Depending on the outcome of the signature gathering effort we will consider future actions.
- Steering Committee Issues
Hal recommends changing the name of the Steering Committee to the Coordinating Committee to more accurate reflect our role. A vote was taken and it was unanimous to make the change.
Website layout was discussed. As the site grows it becomes somewhat complex and less user friendly. Hal pointed out that there were several places that required updating to stay current and suggested consolidation of this information. It was agreed that we should attempt to find a webmaster and a request will go out in an upcoming e-mail update.
There was discussion about the format of our individual check in. Some members felt that the current method of making people commit to individual actions is making some people uncomfortable and singled out. A suggestion was made to do group check-ins as an alternative. This item was tabled until the next meeting.
Scott mentioned that it would be useful to have a list of businesses that GULP supports to pass out at outreach events.
- Recruiting for Main Street
Scott has recently been invited to become a member of the Main Street Board of Directors and was requesting GULP participation in some upcoming events, including a downtown clean up on 8/31/06 at 5:00 PM in front of the Ukiah Conference Center. It is hoped that by having some connection between our organizations we can further the goals of each organization in making Ukiah a more livable community.
- Inconvenient Truth
Thanks in large part to a phone in campaign organized by GULP the Ukiah Theater will be showing “An Inconvenient Truth” in September. Cliff is going to call the theater to see if GULP can give a brief presentation at the beginning of the film.
- Outreach efforts
The GULP monthly column will be running again in September and we are hoping to have Orion Walker draft an article on Green Building. The committee agreed to go with the Green Building article. Cliff will contact him to reiterate this request. For October there was discussion about using Jenny’s food article, which was not run in June.
- GULP Equipment Roll Call
After all the different events of the summer some of the equipment we purchased is scattered around. Here is the most recent accounting of who has what.
Bike – Maurine Cooler – Most likely Leah Raffle Tickets – Maurine Long Table – Leah Dry Erase Board – Leah Tent – Maurine Tarp – Leah Banner – Maurine Donation Box - Maurine
Notes from the 7/25/2006 Meeting
GULP Steering Committee Notes for the 7/25/06 Meeting
280 N. Oak Street, 6:30 PM
Cliff, Hal, Holly and Scott in attendance
Note Taker: Scott
Scott transferred the Spanish translation of the GULP petition that Ruth started to Cliff to get completed.
Next Regular Meeting Plan: WAMU. Start meeting with individual check ins. Annoucements. Complete outreach presentation. Possibly start with Weller video on organization development. If not, Hal will cover idea propagation curve. Cover Hal’s suggested questions/mode for opening the converation with others in the community and internally. Try to use case studies from specific GULP group efforts. Ask for volunteers to develop 100-mile potluck in early October.
UDJ Article: Orion will go a column on the Ukiah green building effort, but would like to save it for September. October would be a good time to get Jenny’s food column run. So, Holly & Scott will try to get something together on the formula store ordinance for August.
GULP contact list. After discussion, the group agreed to ask people to confirm that they are OK being included. We will keep a simple list to share and add people as they show up at working meetings.
Possible Events: The group agreed to explore the proposal by KUS to develop a joint event with Michael Shuman.
- We agreed to drop the notion of having a party 8/5
- We agreed to start focusing on a 100-mile meal and other food related events for October
- We agree to start working toward a possible 9/18ish event with a panel discussion about big ideas related to localizing Ukiah’s future.
Cliff to contact possible panelists Chris Stone, Tim Owen Kennedy, Madelin Holtkamp, and Sam Goldberg.
Cliff will get the word to Maureen and amy other GULPers whi may be working at the RV Market that they can get lemonade from Scott if they wish. Instead of trying to move the banner back and forth between Ukiah & RV on weekends, Holly proposed to print a simple, paper label for the Ukiah table.
Promoting the bike raffle: we need to make more of an effort including getting a PSA to the radio stations and selling tickets at each GULP meeting. Now we just need a volunteer to do the PSA. The SC agree to extend the raffle to the end of the RV market. Cliff will inform the few existing ticket holders.
Inreach – Hal suggested making an effort to focus on helping get the community enguaged in working on issues alligned with their existing interests/enthusiasms. Cliff suggested that the SC make phone contact with members who have not been able to make meetings recently. The SC agree to work with the membership list at the next meeting to look for better ways to work with member interests and to divide up contacts to find out what members are up to/interested in
Notes from the 7/11/2006 Meeting
GULP Steering Committee Notes for the 7/11/06 Meeting
280 N. Oak Street, 6:30 PM
Scott, Holly, Sean, Jenny, and Cliff in attendance
Note Taker: Cliff
Next Regular Meeting, When and Where? -Eagle Peak Middle School is not an option for the summer time. -NCO conference room is available and we will use it -First half of the meeting will be spent on a report from the Outreach group on their work and process issues. -Second half of the meeting will depend on the number of people we have show up. More than 15 we break out into working groups, less than that we have a large group discussion on Outreach and how we can attract more members and interest
Redwood Valley Community Market -GULP will have a booth at the markets -Jenny will be staffing it on the 23rd of July, looking for other volunteers -Cliff will call Leah to coordinate between she and Jenny the pick up of the booth materials -We will be selling lemonade and raffle tickets at the Markets -Scott will provide Jen some materials to distribute at the booth -Jen will ask Adam Gaska for copies of his newsletter to attract new customers to his poultry business - Scott asked Jenny to mention that he would like to coordinate with AV so that their listing can go into the food section of our independent business directory.
Come on Home to Eat Month -Anderson Valley Foodshed Group is sponsoring “Come on Home to Eat” month to promote local agriculture -Jenny is in contact with Sarah from the AV to see how we can be involved here in Ukiah
Ukiah Farmers Market -Scott and Ruth attended the one last week and felt it was a worthwhile endeavor. -We are looking for volunteers to be out there again this next week. -In discussing the local business directory with farmers Scott learned that most were familiar with the food directory that the AV group is compiling
Concerts in the Park -Given the large time commitment, lack of volunteer support, and generally poor performance of our outreach efforts there we are not going to have a booth at the July 23 concert -Cliff will call Sal to discuss
Ukiah Daily Journal -Jen’s article should run today -Need to decide what to run in next month. -First choice would be for Orion to write an article on Green Building -Another possibility is an article on the proposed formula store ordinance.
Spanish Translation of GULP documents -Ruth Sanders worked with someone who has translated many of the GULP documents into Spanish, but they are stuck on her computer -Scott is going to attempt to get them off in electronic or hard copy and send some to Cliff to review. -We are looking for another Spanish speaker to review and clarify several points; possible candidates are Sal, Linda Helland, and Barry Vogel
Insurance -CFI pays $1000 a year for liability insurance. -GULP benefits from this in that we used it on two occasions at the Concerts in the Park and have the opportunity to use it in the future -Other groups that benefit from the insurance coverage are the Redwood Valley Com Mrkt and the Cleveland Lane Community Garden. Both of these groups are each contributing $200 to CFI for use of the insurance. -The SC voted to contribute $100 to CFI for use of the insurance. 4 votes for, 1 abstention.
What to spend our $ on and how to decide -Possible upcoming expenses include; making T-Shirts, hiring someone to do graphic design for our window decals and logo, copies for future events, a UDJ advertisement, and making bumper stickers. -Money will be authorized to be spent by a SC member only after consultation with entire SC either in person or via e-mail. Rest of SC has 24 hrs to object. This process will be in place for any expenditure over $100. [COMMENT: I thought the try to check by email first, if possible, was for under $100 & that over would go to the SC. But, perhaps I heard wrong & I am fine with this] NOTE: There is a lack of clarity as to what we decided on this policy, we will revisit at the next SC meeting -The SC voted to authorize the expenditure of up to $200 for graphic design work. -The SC voted to underwrite a show on KMEC for $20/month
Cleveland Lane Community Garden -Jenny went to view the GULP Medicine Chest Garden plot at the garden. -Plot is currently heavily weeded and needs some serious mulching. -Jenny looking to recruit volunteers to help in this process, hopefully in the fall -Running workshops was discussed as a way to bring people into the garden and to continue our outreach efforts. -Possible outlets for the food group currently include the Ford Street Project where Molly McCalla is volunteering and is planning on putting in several straw bale benches.
Communication with the Working Groups -More in depth communication with the working groups is viewed as critical. -Currently the SC is comprised of someone from each working group minus Outreach. -We need to recruit someone from Outreach to sit on SC; -A need is perceived for the whole group to gather in a non-meeting format, something social. -GULP will host a social event on August 5, possibly at Low Gap Park -We will invite all the local groups who are working on similar efforts, using King’s Circle Poster as a starting point.
Regular UDJ Press -Now that NCO is selected for next meeting Jenny will submit a PSA to the UDJ
Notes from the 6/13/2006 Meeting
GULP SC Notes 6/13, 6:30 pm 280N. Oak Street, Ukiah
Note-takers: Holly & Scott
The SC agreed to the following elements for the 6/20 Agenda:
- Start with individual check-ins. (The group seemed to miss this ritual when it did not happen.) Remind everyone that this intention is to provide a brief report. Hopefully, well under one minute. Jenny will bring an egg timer and Sean will signal the minute limit.
- Poll the group about meeting on 7/4. Is there interest in having an on site community garden creation/work effort at Cleveland Lane followed by a party/potluck at the Sun House park? Perhaps GULP could provide the beer. Should we have regular celebration/party events every other month? [Afterthought: Perhaps whenever there is a 5th Tuesday?]
- Scott will kick-off a group discussion on event and project staffing and the need to get more people committed to projects and up-coming events. We will try to get specific sign-ups and suggestions for growing the active membership.
- Remind the group that it is OK to sample various working groups/move around the room. Then break out into working groups as makes sense based on the crowd.
- 5 minute report outs by working groups (with outreach invited to be last to describe it project as a possible prelude to a longer presentation next meeting). It would help to get the Ukiah community garden work moving if we can get Miles G. to attend. Cliff will try to make that happen.
- Individual action items (again very brief)
GULP has the opportunity to participate in the following events and needs confirmed staff to be able to do so:
- Ukiah Sunday in the Park. We need people to be at the park and set-up (get the tent & tables up, literature out, assist Sal with orders & $, get the bike out and manage the raffle, etc. & also people to coordinate the bike event). Leah has volunteered to coordinate the set-up. We should ask Ike if he will lead the bike ride.
- Redwood Valley Community Market. This will kick in the 3rd week in July and will need some staffing support.
- GULP was invited to the Ukiah farmers markets. Scott will inquire if it would be OK for GULP to put out a table when it can based on available volunteers.
The SC agreed on the following as desirable targets for future GULP events:
- A forum bringing together local groups and persons interested in local paths and trails. Cliff will make initial contacts.
- A forum on possible future uses of the Masonite property.
- A forum on how to transition financial resources in anticipation of peak oil/climate change, etc.
Sean had circulated a note about civic improvement actions taken by local groups in Portland that is interesting and might serve as a model for action here as well. He will provide copies of a related video for consideration as a the seed of a possible future event (either using the video or with Ann Hancock presenting material). The SC agreed that GULP could partner with the Alliance for Democracy if they decide to re-show the Power of Community. But, GULP will not work on a film series at this time. Moreover, GULP should steer away from events that are not specifically GULP/localization-themed and should not become overly associated with Cuba & such issues. E.g., it would be better to mix in other examples of self-reliant food such as Findhorn and Australian permaculture.
Cliff reported on developments relative to a few civic projects. GULP will be participating in the review of potential UVAP consultants this week. GULP is also involved in a County-wide effort to create a task force to develop an energy element for the county plan and to have the County join/adopt ICCLES. Point Arena and Fort Brag have already signed onto ICCLES. If Ukiah and Willits do as well, it would be free for the County. Cliff will work with members of the City Counsel to obtain support. If needed, the SC agreed that GULP could cover the initial fee to Ukiah ($300).
SC members exchanged status reports on the working groups. Scott noted that he will begin to try to expand the Business Directory/Survey outreach by creating some radio PSAs. Sumo will bring medicine chest garden information from the Willits event to the next meeting.
Jenny Volunteered to draft the next GULP article for the UDJ, which will focus on the food group efforts with some inspiration from the Cuba film regarding how it is possible to become food self-sufficient. The draft must be to the UDJ by the 1st Wednesday of the month.
Given that the designated outreach group is engaged in its own specific projects, notice to the UDJ and PSAs about regular GULP meetings may not be covered. Jenny agreed to tackle getting these out.
The SC agreed that we need to grow the SC. Members offered a few suggestions for additional members. Invitations will be extended.
Cliff will work with Christine on the final logo and will perhaps also enlist a graphic designed from the Ranch. Jenny and Sumo will contact Martin about developing the little fish logo for T-shirt backs. Scott will check on the cost of T-shirts (organic & union) from local vendors.
The SC agreed that it would be good to support the Ukiah Community Center Re-Build business project if possible. We will try to feature it on a flyer that also recommends other local businesses that have supported GULP to be distributed at the Concerts in the park, etc.
Notes from the 5/30/2006 Meeting
GULP Steering Committee Meeting 5/30, 6:30PM, office of Cliff Paulin
Present: Cliff Paulin (C), Orion Walker (O), Scott Cratty (S), Holly Cratty (H), Sumo Burnstad (Su), Christine Dektor (Ch)
Agenda for next weeks general meeting C-should we add business group to general meeting agenda? S- not necessary H-should mention canvassing at concerts in the park S- should publicize website at concerts in the park to get traffic onto the webpage
GULP calendar of events C- should we not do some events if we know in advance that no one is available? General agreement S- should have a calendar of events on the website and will look into making one
C- 3rd Tuesday meetings this summer General thought- continue the meetings because they attract a different group of people C- WAMU not available Sept. 5 S- will reserve NCO conference room for Sept. 5
H- June 8 film screening is a go at the Center for Positive Living, H will tour building 5/31 and look into the possibility of having Sal cook for the event. C- Sal cooking at concerts in the park? S- Sal is up for it, but doesn’t have a place to cook or the equipment necessary. Su- Jenny Reynolds (biodynamic farmer in Redwood Valley) may be a contact to find equipment for Sal C- who will man booth at June 11 concert in the park – Sc, C, H, and Ch can attend, will bring it up at general meeting to see if others want to help
C- RVCM? Su- Jenny intends on attending RCVM
H- T-shirts to wear at events or sell? Who are local vendors All: Seems good to have. Perkowskis and Creative Workshop are options. Will need to develop design.
C- how to get newsletter out in a timely fashion? S- have the coordinator of each group draft their portion within 5 days of general meeting, then one person can collate and edit to have the letter out be the following Tuesday S- note to add time of meetings on publications
S-passes out radio and film flyers for distribution and copies of the revised GULP petition
How to contact people not on the web? Phone calls? Lots of menial tasks to do (newsletter, announcements, phone calls) but no one to do them
Cleaning up logo- Ike reccomends pushing hexagons together, Ch will make several new versions, hopefully someone has canvas.
Mission statement- Jenny’s new version to replace old if no objections
S going to meet with Diane Patterson at WestCompany, who he hopes will be willing to distribute business group stuff. S will also set-up meetings with the Main Street Program and the Chamber, C and O are interested in attending
C, Leah and Ike meet with Sage tomorrow to develop plans for GULP participation at the Ukiah Conters in the Park. S- suggests plugging in with Don Ballek from the city
O-green building meeting on Thursday, O and C will represent GULP
Su- potential of hiring a paid observer at public meetings to act as a lobbyist for localization and sustainability O- Smart Growth sees the worth of an observer, but thinks one person cannot represent many different organizations with many different focuses, would not commit to pooling money for an “advocate” S- (as discussed at the Community Fund) mentions that it would be wise to coordinate with the other groups so as not to step on each others toes when looking for funding, etc.
O- meeting with Chris Stone – local developer who is looking into buying the Masonite plant and using it to create electricity, local jobs, industry, and cloth C- How can GULP support this effort? O- perhaps GULP can coordinate meetings between Stone and people from the county to convince the county not to re-zone the site, discouraging WalMart from coming in. O- will look into making a business/marketing presentation to put together to show the cost/benefit of local vs non-local company using the site Su-contamination on site will cost billions to clean up, does not think the issue is that urgent O- further research needed regarding contamination and cost of clean-up O- should Stone make his case at a GULP meeting and see if people are into it? Su- should also bring in other local developers, Richard Jeurgenson, Hal Wagenet. O- Palace Hotel is also an important building that is waiting for a buyer. C- should GULP create a monthly panel discussion about Valley development? Masonite, Palace Hotels, valley trails… Su and O agree that a monthly panel would be a good idea.
Notes from the 5/10/2006 Meeting
Scott, Holly, Sean, Cliff, and Jenny in attendance
The first item on the agenda was setting the agenda for the 5.16.06 general meeting. It was decided that the meeting would begin with individual check in. Due to time concerns Sean will act as time keeper and politely cut people off after 1 minute. We will next pass around a sign up sheet for upcoming GULP events. Next we will inquire about whether the group is interested in having speakers come to the meetings to present short (20-30 min) presentations on different topics relevant to GULP. We will then ask for short presentations from some of the working groups on developments, namely the Green Building City Council vote, the UVAP bidder’s conference, the Peddle to the Park events, and the Redwood Valley Community Market. We will then proceed into working group breakouts, and conclude with brief individual action (Sean will again act as time keeper, giving everyone 30 seconds).
The next item on the agenda was the APPLE filming on May 21. The details of this are still unclear, so Cliff will be contacting Leeya to learn more. Holly has contacted Anne Oliver who is willing to be filmed. Adam Gaska is also available, and Sumo has attempted to contact Ron Cole.
The next point of discussion was how we should select new SC members. With the departure of Leeya our SC is down to 6 members and the gender balance is skewed toward males. After some discussion Christine was settled on as our number one choice. We will ask her at a convenient time.
Upcoming events in which GULP may participate was the next agenda item. Possible events include; the Human Race, Diversity Day, Concerts in the Park, and the Redwood Valley Community Market (RVCM). It was decided that due to tight time constraints GULP will not be involved with the Human Race. Scott is going to contact Diversity Day to find out if there is space available, and if so sign us up. Concerts in the Park are not completely confirmed, but it appears that we will be sponsoring the Peddle to the Park events and hosting a booth at the Concerts. We are hoping to sell produce donated by people selling at the RVCM and other farmers markets. We are also hoping to run a raffle of two bikes being purchased by Ike Heinz from Dave’s Bike shop as a fundraiser. Cloud Forest Institute and GULP are co-sponsoring the RVCM and will have a booth there. Jenny is researching a banner for the group and a sun-shade structure. A possible film screening of “The Power of Community” was also discussed, and it was decided that GULP will host a screening sometime in the next few months.
Tracking information was again a topic of discussion. Scott is still holding onto the petitions and has not processed them. He and Holly are meeting with Maurine Taylor on May 11 to discuss her role as outreach coordinator and she may handle the petitions after that point. Creating an abbreviated petition was also discussed. It would be advantageous to have a simple petition similar to voter drive petitions in which a one paragraph explanation is given at the top with lines for people’s names and signatures below. We could then give them the information in the longer petition as take home material. This abbreviated version could be useful when we are hosting booths at events.
Holly presented the KMEC flyer and received suggestions and edits from other SC members. It looks fantastic and we will be distributing them to GULP members to post around town.
The ongoing sagas of the logo and mission statement were the next items addressed. The SC has been soliciting help from the general membership and we have received some wonderful submissions. Going off of a suggestion from Ike, Christine created a logo incorporating the hexagon theme. The SC voted unanimously to select the logo. The mission statement was discussed at some length. After considerable debate, it was decided to use the “meta-statement” from the web-site, which incorporated many of the ideas put forth at past meetings. While it was conceded that it is not perfect, the SC felt that this process has gone on long enough and that we can always amend the statement in the future as the need arises. With four members giving approval and one sideways thumb the mission statement was selected. It is, “The mission of GULP is to co-create a healthy, just, local economy which encourages all residents of the Upper Russian River Watershed to become active participants in giving rise to a vibrant, self-reliant community which can provide for our basic physical, spiritual, and emotional needs.” Whew!
The update of the UVAP and the proposed voter inititive county-wide moratorium were next on the agenda. GULP has been invited to participate in the pre-bidders conference on May 11. Cliff will attend and provide a report to the general membership. Richard Johnson is attempting to place a ballot measure on the November ballot that would provide for a county wide building moratorium. GULP is not supporting this project.
Finally, the SC next discussed the senior gardens project proposed by Leeya Thompson. The SC is in full support and looks forward to future updates.
Notes from the 4/25/2006 Meeting
Jenny, Sumo, Cliff, Leeya, Holly, and Scott in attendance
Scott presented the web form version of the petition for SC review. It looks good and we are going to tell members about it at the next general meeting as well as posting a link on the GULP website.
The next item of discussion was the agenda for the 5.2.06 general meeting. Leeya suggested showing a movie. Jenny suggested we pick up where we left off at the last meeting, checking in on project development namely the community gardens. Cliff suggested that the working groups breakout and then check in collectively. He also suggested that the entire group pick one project, namely the community gardens, to focus on. Jenny pointed to the Cleveland Lane Community Garden as a project in need of attention.
Several outreach issues were next for discussion. Leeya stated that the outreach group was in need of some energy. She inquired about which working group would present an article to the UDJ for the May column. Scott suggested that if at the next Business WG meeting there was significant energy for the business directory that he would like the column, otherwise he was fine giving it to mobility to promote the Peddle to the Park events. Leeya then gave a summary of other Outreach projects in the works including the UDJ articles, the High-School interface, the virtual library, the Peak-Moment video taping, peer spirit circles, and maintenance of the GULP e-mail list. See the April 25 Outreach report for full details.
Next on the agenda was tracking of information. As online and paper petitions come in a system needs to be developed to process them. This task was considered for Outreach if they have the time and energy. At this point Scott is collecting the petitions but nothing has been done with them yet. Another future need for information processing will come in the form a database to handle information gathered in the business survey. Sumo is looking into this prospect. The final informational item is a treasurer’s report. Jenny will provide the SC and membership with a monthly accounting of what our financial situation is.
GULP's SC voted unanimously to endorse the effort to enact a County of Mendocino ordinance regulating formula stores.
GULP’s endorsement of the Mendocino Precautionary Principle was discussed next. A unanimous vote was cast in favor and Cliff volunteered to contact them to let them know.
The final point of discussion centered on which upcoming events GULP should be involved in. Diversity Day, the Human Race, and SolFest were all considered. DD seemed a likely candidate, and the Human Race a possibility. SolFest was ruled out because it does not serve a local audience and the cost and time could be better spent else where.
Notes from the 3/28/2006 Meeting:
Attendees: Leeya, Ruth, Star, Jenny, Sumo, Chris, Cliff, Sean (who arrived late), Holly C., Scott
Steering Committee Decisions -The SC determined to use a thumbs-up, thumbs-down, or sideways-thumb to signify if the group officially endorses a particular action (from WELL, as suggested by Sumo) We will use a consensus minus one process as suggested by Chris meaning that only one no vote cannot block approval of any proposal . Only SC members can vote but all members present are encouraged to join the discussion. -The Outreach Group should pursue obtaining a monthly column in the UDJ -Documents representing GULP to the public and uses of GULP funds should be approved by the SC for now. -Newspaper article drafts should be available for five days prior to any publishing deadline for editing and are then subject to a SC vote before being published. -GULP will be a co-sponsor of the 4-17 6:30 P.M. showing of Independent America at the UPT.
Meeting Logistics -Holly and Scott agreed to take notes. -Cliff requested that the speaking party be identified in the notes.
Planning for upcoming working group meetings -Food group is meeting Thursday at 6:00, MEC. -Adam G. is spearheading effort to collect data on local germ-plasm, e.g., he is attempting to collection info about what is grown and raised in the area and where in a systematic manner so that people could, e.g., find local seed and rootstock sources. - Cliff pointed out that in doing this survey we have an opportunity to learn a great deal about what food sources are available, how we can expand opportunities for farmers and buyers alike. - Scott asked that the data collection also be collected in a format that will fit into a possible business directory, that the group consider Madelin H.’s suggestion about land trust opportunities, and that it consider working with the business group to source investment for any promising agricultural projects.
Mobility Group is meeting Thursday at 1:30, Ukiah Airport -Ike has arranged a viewing of Ron Cole’s Magne-gas machine - Leeya suggested a camera be brought to document this meeting and Cliff agreed. -Sumo expressed that he had been impressed with his initial view of Magne-gas but would bring questions. -Scott requested that the group explore how it could be used to meet Mendocino fuel requirements in a practical manner.
Business Group is meeting Saturday at 3:30 at Leeya’s. -Followed by taco feed/co-op meeting at the SAC -An agenda for the Business Group was previously distributed so it will not be discussed.
Outreach Group -Leeya provided a presentation on a number of projects that the Outreach Group had been working on: -First, she made contact with Brad Mc., an Ukiah HS teacher who oversees the Progressive Club and they are exploring the possibility of a GULP presentation to that club. Other possible HS club connections include the Environmental Club and the Conservative Club. Leeya noted that should the students be interested in our issues, she had a number of ideas for continuing involvement including, e.g., short videos by Kunstler and an essay contest on a GULP topic. She suggested that perhaps the Business Group could consider working with the Conservative Club. Cliff agreed that he would be happy to meet with the Progressive Club. -Leeya proposed developing a pool of people including Laura H. to write a monthly column for the UDJ perhaps pooling from each working group for different columns. Photos should be included if possible. Someone suggested that any articles should be forwarded to Richard Johnson, as well. Cliff will mention the feature article project at the next group meeting and invite group volunteers to help work on articles. Leeya circulated a draft of a first article and invited group feedback. The group agreed it would be okay to run an initial article prior to developing a logo or mission statement. -Leeya purchased a spiral binding machine and demonstrated a format for a presentation package that could be used in the outreach process to assemble strategy, talking points, etc. Jenny pointed out that this is a nice compliment to the website. -Leeya has been working with Kate M. and Erica C. regarding the story-catching project. They are planning an initial get together next week to brainstorm about how GULP can work with this process to capture stories relevant to GULP’s issues and present them to the larger community. Sumo suggested reviewing the Fox Fire books. -Chris noted that KMEC has space available Wed. A.M. and at the moment on Tues. that could be used to deliver GULP-related programming. He also noted that KMEC can post articles that can be picked up by Pacific Network. It was suggested that Charlene Light might be interested in making radio announcements regarding GULP events.
Planning for April 4 general meeting at WAMU -Theme “It’s planting time” -Cliff proposed that groups begin by reviewing the possible projects from the meeting at Ukiah Players Theater and pick one project to work on that evening. Groups would next focus on developing specific tasks, deadlines, and personal responsibility for that one project. Groups would next report back to the whole and finally, people would have an opportunity to announce individual action items for the next meeting. Holly and Scott agreed to bring print-outs of the information from the Ukiah Players Theater meeting. -Working groups will be facilitated as follows: Food (Adam G.), Outreach (Leeya),. Mobility (Cliff), Health (Sumo), Civic Action (Cliff will ask Anne O. to cover). The Business Group will not meet so that its members can join other groups. -Cliff noted that GULP is almost out of money and that we have forgotten to ask for money at the last two meetings. He mentioned that WELL is proposing a membership fee. After discussion, the SC determined not to impose a membership fee or solicit donations at this time but to instead emphasize at the group meeting and future group meetings that some of the exciting projects being developed will require basic financing and request that people provide what donations they can.
Increasing the utility of our CFI web presence - The SC agreed to not keep membership information on the Web, but that Leeya should maintain the one complete/master list but send a back-up to at least Cliff monthly. -Jenny and Sumo agreed to work with Alida and Leif to determine how the group can create surveys and forms for GULP to use in such things as the food survey. They will also investigate what reporting is available as to GULP users and usage on the CFI site. They will explore the possibility of having Leif provide training on the greater capabilities of Wiki. Possible locations include the MEC once its wireless system is fixed or the College. -Cliff will ask the group about their experience using Wiki and for any suggestions about what additional training would be most helpful.
Logo/Tagline Contest – Mission Statement resolution -To honor the agreement to focus on action as opposed to process at the next meeting, we will not work on the mission statement but we should propose a deadline for additional edits and suggestions on the CFI page. The SC will then draft one or a couple alternates including the one already developed by Ruth, Leeya, and Star to bring back to the group at the first meeting in May. Ruth agreed to take on the task of “mapping” the draft statements to the full set of input that the group provided at the Redwood Valley meeting so that we can make sure all of the input received is reflected in some manner if possible. Cliff noted that the mission statement is flexible and can be revisited, e.g., one year down the road. -We should announce a deadline for the logo contest as well (but forgot to pick a date). There is a page on the CFI site where people can load their logos. The group is still interested in having a contest selection happen in a large UDJ ad.
Fundraising -See above regarding membership fees. -Jenny reminded the group about the planned Earth Day (4-22) benefit which is likely to be at the Saturday Afternoon Club instead of at the Brewery. She suggested a possible silent auction as an additional means of raising funds. Cliff will mention this at the next meeting and solicit people interested in helping and additional ideas for fundraising at the event. Leeya suggested that Charlene Light might help with this event. -Scott asked about grant writing and how CFI sponsorship would work with specific GULP projects. Jenny provided a general explanation and agreed that she would provide existing documentation about the process. Sumo noted that CFI would get a 10 percent overhead fee in any incoming grant money. -Scott noted that the Business Group would likely be applying for a grant from Ben and Jerry’s in the near future. .
GULP co-sponsor a film -Holly provided an overview of the film Independent America and noted that GULP had been invited to be a co-sponsor at a screening to occur on 4-17 at 6:30 at the UPT. AfD and the Smart Growth Coalition would also be invited as co-sponsors by KUS (Keep Ukiah Special). GULP would get a five minute slot after the film to promote its activities.
In addition: Sumo agreed that he would attend the 4-17 WELL meeting and report back on developments.
Scott noted that he would like to get a final version of the petition/endorsement/statement of support for GULP that people could use to collect signatures from businesses, organizations, and individuals. Scott will circulate a version of his existing draft by e-mail and the group should provide feedback over the next week. Sumo will provide a copy of the WELL statement for consideration when drafting our statement. After that, a consolidated version will be circulated for vote by the SC.
Chris reminded the group that he has all the work developed by Dale Glasser toward developing a local Ukiah currency, which can be passed on to anyone working on this project in the Business Group.
Jenny provided information about a Dragon Dreaming Workshop. Cliff stated that he would circulate information about this event to the GULP list.
Holly briefly shared about Richard Heinichen’s DVD Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged.
Notes from the 3/14/2006 Meeting:
Each group will be asked to concentrate on listing the talking points that are pertinent to their group and identifying potential collaborators in the community. Holly will print out the short term goals that were brainstormed in each focus group at the first group meeting. Each group will report their results before we end the evenings work. The outreach committee will compile the talking points that each group comes up with into one complete talking points list.
At the last steering committee meeting Scott submitted a list of reasons to Support Taking Action to Strengthen the Local Mendocino County Economy and Cliff’s suggestion for a GULP logo contest that would be announced in a full page ad in the UDJ with a coupon encouraging donations and asking about interest in the working groups was again mentioned. Sumo would like to see carpooling encouraged and grow into a car co-op, a suggested goal for the Mobility group. Sumo also suggested that those who deserve it should be drenched in appreciation at every meeting.
At the last steering committee meeting Scott submitted a list of reasons to Support Taking Action to Strengthen the Local Mendocino County Economy and Cliff’s suggestion for a GULP logo contest that would be announced in a full page ad in the UDJ with a coupon encouraging donations and asking about interest in the working groups was again mentioned. Sumo would like to see carpooling encouraged and grow into a car co-op, a suggested goal for the Mobility group. Sumo also suggested that those who deserve it should be drenched in appreciation at every meeting.
