HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 22
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Town of Los Altos Hills
Community Relations Committee
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Parks and Recreation Building
1. Roll Call; Committee Membership
The meeting was called to order at exactly 6:59 PM by chairman Roy Woolsey, who thanked members for
arriving so promptly. Present: Members, Lana Einschlag, Karen Emerzian, Roy Woolsey. Associate
members, Ken Brown, Ron Knapp.
2. Introduction of Members of the Public; Public Comment.
Kjell Karlsson, who actively participated in the discussion of various agenda items.
3. Review of Associate Memberships and Reappointment of Active Members
Membership in the Committee was discussed and a general consensus was reached that any member of the
Committee should be an active participant in the Committee. It was moved, seconded and passed unanimously
to renew the appointment of associate members Ken Brown, Barbara Cannon, Ron Knapp, Neal Rayborn, and
Mehda Rishi for a term of one year. It was moved, seconded and passed unanimously that associate members
should take an active role in the Committee or take on some project useful to the Committee.
It was noted that associate members Dennis Duffy and Michael Schoendorf have not been active in the
Committee for quite some time, and it was agreed that Roy Woolsey would e-mail them to inform them of the
just-approved policies and to ask them to either take an active role or their membership will not be renewed,
and that if we did not hear from them their membership would not be renewed.
It was noted that not all associate committee members are invited to the annual Volunteer Appreciation
Dinner, but just those who make a significant contribution to their committee. It is in the interest of assuring
that all associate members of the Community Relations Committee are invited to the Dinner that the above
“active role” motion was approved. Even though Barbara Cannon’s membership was renewed for another year,
it was noted that her contribution is not much more than that of many volunteers from the community who help
with registration and other areas, who are not invited to the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, and Barbara should
take on additional responsibility if she wishes to continue as an associate member. Examples include taking
over handling the newcomer project or coordinating volunteers who serve ice cream at the Town Picnic. Note
that Neal Rayborn organizes the classic car show, and Ron Knapp handles all aspects of both music and
beverages (including purchasing, delivering, coordinating serving volunteers, etc. for refreshments).
4. Review and Approval of Prior Committee Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the last meeting were approved as distributed in draft form.
5. Review of Prior City Council Meetings. No report.
6. Review of Charges and Duties of the Committee
To help perform the charge of assisting other committees, it was agreed that the Committee should try to
coordinate periodic meetings with other committee chairs. Roy Woolsey noted that some mayors in the past
have scheduled a couple of such meetings during their one-year term as mayor, and he said he would
investigate mayors organizing such meetings in the future.
Further discussion of the charges and duties of the Committee will be held in the next Committee meeting.
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7. Possibility of Organizing TEDx Program in Town
Ron Knapp reported finding an amazing number of TED talks on the internet. Ken Brown has recorded
many TED talks. TED is an acronym for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It was agreed that further
discussion of this topic including the possibility of organizing a TEDx program in Town, would be continued to
the next meeting when hopefully Medha Rishi could lead the discussion.
8. Report on Recent Town Activities. No report.
9. Welcoming of Town Newcomers
Roy Woolsey reported that in the last month files for printing of newcomer welcoming letter mailing labels
were sent to Town Hall for mailing the welcoming letter from Council to the 7 newcomers to Town for the
month of September, and for mailing of the follow up welcoming letter from the Committee to the 14
newcomers to Town for the month of June and the 13 for the month of July. It was agreed that in the next
Committee meeting the Committee should inspect the current contents of the newcomer welcoming packet.
10. Los Altos Hills Town Picnic
Ron Knapp has already submitted his report on beverages and music for inclusion in the 2019 Town Picnic
report. Roy asked other subcommittee chairs to submit their reports so an overall report on the picnic could be
compiled.
Roy reported on the status of the Town Picnic questionnaire article for the next issue of Our Town. It was
agreed that Committee members would look at the website mentioned in the article and propose any changes to
the questions in the on-line questionnaire. Sarah Robustelli would be asked to tabulate the results.
The Committee agreed that Sarah Robustelli and Roger Burnell should be asked to report on possibilities
for entertainment for the 2020 Picnic that can be discussed in the next Committee meeting.
11. Nominations for Joint Community Volunteer Service Awards. No nominations were proposed.
12. Additional Items or Contributions from Committee Members
Ron Knapp suggested that some recognition should be given to the Youth Commission, which does an
absolutely wonderful job of helping with the Town Picnic, perhaps a plaque or certificate. It was agreed that
this item would be put on the agenda for further discussion in the next Committee meeting, and that Sarah
Robustelli should be consulted for her recommendation as to appropriate recognition.
Lana Einschlag noted the recent Town Crier magazine with an article about neighbors getting together, that
might be something the Committee could help with. This is related to the neighborhood network program that
the Committee used to support.
13. Date for Next Meeting and Adjournment
Because the regular meeting date for the next Committee meeting falls on the Tuesday that is two days
before the Thanksgiving holiday and some Committee members have other plans and would not be able to
attend that meeting, it was agreed that a special Committee meeting would be held the following week,
Tuesday, December 3 at 7 PM. Roy Woolsey announced that the Parks and Recreation Building will be
unavailable for that meeting, and the meeting will be held in Council Chambers.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:08 PM.
Minutes prepared by Roy Woolsey, October 23, 2019