VLPNO Annual General Membership Meeting Minutes (AGMM) - December 4, 2022
Vista Las Palmas Neighborhood Organization (VLPNO)
Annual General Membership Meeting (AGMM) Minutes
December 4, 2022
10:00AM
Virtual Call via MS Teams
Vista Las Palmas Neighborhood Organization Board Meeting
Meeting Objective: VLPNO Board Updates to the VLPNO General Membership & Board Election
The following 2022 board members were present: Kermit Ferrer, Patsy Marino, Gustav Swanson, Kevin Comer, Joe Vassallo. Not present: Steve Orr was on vacation
Guest Speakers: Councilmember Geoff Kors, Councilmember Ron DeHarte, Palm Springs Acting City Manager Teresa Gallavan, Palm Springs Police Department Chief Andrew Mills and PSPD Lt. Frank Browning
Agenda
Introductions: Board of Directors
Guests Speakers:
Councilmembers: Geoff Kors & Ron DeHarte
Palm Springs Acting City Manager Teresa Gallavan
PSPD: Chief Andrew Mills & Lt Frank Browning
2022 Accomplishments
ONE-PS
Financial Report
Membership Drive
2023 Initiatives
2024 Modernism Week VLPNO Home Tour
Candidate Introductions
Election of Members to the Board of Directors
Election Results / Closing Remarks
Recap/Notes
Kermit Ferrer, Board Chairperson, kicked off the call and called the meeting to order @ 10:00am
He welcomed all the participating Neighbors & guest speakers.
VLPNO General (voting) Membership: 24 Voting Households Present
Kermit confirmed 25% of our Voting Membership was present, and the meeting attendance quorum was met. (24 households of 96 members)
NOTE: Per the By-Laws, One-fifth (20%) of the Members shall constitute a quorum at the Annual or any Special General Membership Meetings.
The 2022 board members introduced themselves:
Kermit Ferrer – Chairperson
Patsy Marino – Vice-Chairperson
Kevin Comer – Treasurer
Joe Vassallo – Secretary
Gustav Swanson - Member at Large and One-PS Representative
Steve Orr – Member at Large & Alternate One-PS Representative (on vacation, was introduced by Kermit)
Kermit asked that any participants who had questions for our guest speakers to enter the questions using the chat feature of the call and the Board would relay those to each speaker Kevin Comer introduced each guest speaker. The highlights follow:
Geoff Kors
Proud to be a strong advocate for Vista Las Palmas
Spoke about the lack of funding that Palm Springs receives vs the "big 13" cities with populations over 300K.
Gave an update on the hotel projects underway in town - the Thompson seems to be happening and targeting a completion in Q1 2023 although he feels that will push back a bit due to supply chain issues. The Dream hotel was to have a City Council hearing on Monday, and the Orchid Tree hotel still needs progress.
City Council can decide to extend the hotel developer's timeframes or if they don't see progress, they can take measures to revoke tax status or ultimately place into receivership if a real problem arises, although this is very hard to do.
He will be rolling off of Council but remains engaged in the community and always available to us as a resource.
No immediate plans for any further public office!
PSPD Chief Andy Mills
Chief Mills was happy to report that the city council has provided additional funding so that the PD can recruit more officers.
Reported that recruiting officers is a nationwide issue right now
PSPD is only down 4 officers from where they want to be
Several officers have rolled off active duty but there is a new class in training right now to replace
Prefers to look at crime stats on a rolling five-year timeframe to account for anomalies in any given year
Jail crowding continues to be an issue, leading to catch and release in many cases. This is because of new CA regs on jails.
PD using drones at large community events like the Festival of Lights and Pride Parades
LGBT Community attacks across the country are a big concern
Our community does a good job with large-scale events. There were no arrests during all of pride weekend. Compare this to a San Diego football game where there may be 200 arrests.
His wife is one of our neighborhood’s biggest advocates. She walks VLP frequently.
He shared his cell phone number with us and said he is always available - 831-212-9801
PSPD Lieutenant Frank Browning
Lieutenant Browning shared some stats on crime in our neighborhood, citing most all of them related to burglary/theft.
Strongly advised working with our neighbors to keep the streets looking occupied. For example, ask a neighbor to put your trash cans out and pull them in, even if you are away and they are empty. Criminals case the neighborhood looking for changes in patterns like this and if your home looks vacant it is more likely they may try to gain entry.
Always lock your car doors and all of your home doors. Vandals and thieves will come into your yard and try your doors. If a slider opens, they will come in and grab what they can. Make sure everything is always locked.
Lights on timers are another excellent deterrent as well as porch lights, motion lights, and cameras.
Many calls that the PD receives are false alarms from security systems.
If you have video cameras and see something happening, call and report that you are seeing something on a video feed. That may mean a faster response.
Newly Elected City Council Member Ron deHarte
Council Member and neighbor deHarte loves our neighborhood.
He looks very forward to taking his new position on the council, thanked Geoff Kors for all his service, and told us that his door is always open to us with any issues or concerns we may have in the future
Acting City Manager Teresa Gallavan
Another advocate of Vista Las Palmas, she was very pleased to be asked to speak with us.
Spoke at length about the growth in Palm Springs in general, and the recovery from the Covid period.
Spoke at length about the new services at PSP - new flights from existing carriers, expansion of carriers including Southwest and Avelo, a new airline offering non-stops from PSP to places like Bend and Eugene Oregon and Santa Rosa CA. We now have a non-stop flight to wine country!
Said that the search for a new City Manager is still underway and hopefully there will be updates to report soon.
Patsy Marino highlighted several key accomplishments of the VLPNO in 2022.
Modernism Week 2022 Home Tour
Patsy thanked the 6 tour participants for offering their beautiful homes for the tour which was, by far, one of the most successful neighborhood-organized home tours of the year. The sold-out event (535 tickets were purchased) raised $55,896. This funds our social/community building events and creates an opportunity for us to give back to the greater Palm Springs community through philanthropy.
AIDS Memorial Fundraiser
And a perfect example of how the VLPNO wants to expand and maximize our philanthropy, Patsy reviewed how we teamed with world renown artist Phillip K Smith to create a neighborhood fundraiser at the elegant home of Jeff Stanley, Alain Peracca and Pablo Beladrich. It was a memorable evening in support of the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial Sculpture to be installed in the new Downtown Park. Phil Smith has donated his talented effort to develop a stunning and important sculpture and the $62,320 we raised at the event will go a long way to ensure that the memorial comes to fruition. $10,000 came from the VLPNO and the remainder was matched several times over by our generous neighborhood attendees.
In-Person Year-end Social @Sol y Sombra (at the Paloma Resort)
We had a wonderful neighborhood turnout at Sol y Sombra. The acclaimed new restaurant by Chad Gardner at the Paloma Resort, which is a historic property that has recently been beautifully re-created by neighbors Tim and Amy Brinkman. It was wonderful way to meet new and old friends in an elegant and festive atmosphere.
Holiday Pet Parade
The popular and festive 3rd annual VLPNO Holiday Pet Parade will take place on Saturday December 17th at 10:30am. This event is the brainchild of neighbors Scott Turner and David White. This year we have partnered with the Palm Springs Animal Shelter. We will contribute to the Palm Springs Animal Shelter and help organize a VLPNO day of service at the shelter. Pets will be available for adoption at the awards ceremony and holiday social to be held at 616 N High Rd at 11:30am.
ONE-PS
Gustav spoke of the VLPNO’s participation in One-PS
ONE-PS is ‘Organized NEighborhoods of Palm Springs’. A local city sponsored organization comprised of representatives from all recognized neighborhoods
Steve Orr was our rep this year and Gustav Swanson was our alternate, and both often attend the regular ONE-PS meetings.
Each month ONE-PS meets to discuss issues that affect citizens and other neighborhood interests. The goal is to inform and exchange ideas to improve process, communications, and outcomes or to encourage new programs or services.
This is a great opportunity to have a voice in the city and present/support issues that are important to our community.
Gustav and Steve’s monthly participation is summarized and sent via email to VLPNO members and published to the VLPNO website.
Gustav commented that if there were any items that VLPNO members would like to be presented to ONE- PS to please submit these via ‘contact us’ feature of the VLPNO website
Financial Update
Kevin presented a financial summary for VLPNO for the past 3 years. Historically, the Modernism Home Tour was the primary source of revenue for the organization, generating $35,130 in 2020 and $55,896 in 2022. 2022 was such a success because we scaled up the event (selling more tickets) and we created an innovative Sponsorship program. The major expenses in 2022, were charitable contributions ($15,000), Social Events ($13,337), and Modernism Week expenses ($10,048). Kevin then presented 2022 actuals against a forecasted budget for 2023. 2023, like 2021, will not have income from a Modernism Tour, however, unlike in 2021, we are planning a major fundraising event for the Spring timeframe, allowing us to continue to fund memorable social events and another leveraged philanthropic event. Kevin is particularly enthused about a new project to create VLPNO Oral Histories to capture stories by residents. Please contact him with ideas regarding this.
Mission Expansion
Like most all Palm Springs neighborhood organizations, the VLPNO is organized as a 501c4 not-for-profit organization. This was done many years ago under the advice of the City of Palm Springs. This allows the organization to involve itself in political advocacy, however, this is a role that most neighborhood organizations have wisely avoided. Since our board desires to steer our organization toward more charitable activities, we have taken the unique step to create a sister organization called the Vista Las Palmas Foundation which will be classified as a 501c3. This will ultimately allow your contributions to be tax-deductible.
Kevin detailed the great success we had raising sponsorships for the 2022 Modernism Week home tour:
$5,000 Presenting Sponsor:
TTK Represents
$2,500 Event Sponsors:
H3K Home + Design
Rick Distel and Kevin Comer
Patsy and David Marino
$1,000 Patron Sponsors:
Hot Purple Energy
Studio AR&D
The Twist
The Creekstone in Idyllwild
In Kind Event Sponsors:
$3,000: GBQ Partners
$2,500: Bruce Frasier and Richard Nielsen
$2,000: Caroline Greyshock Photography
$2,000: Steve Orr & Malcolm McKay
$1,000: One Las Palmas
And also for the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial Sculpture:
Level Donors
$10,000
VLPNO
John Criscuolo & Kermit Ferrer
$ 5,000
Roberta Conroy
Kevin Comer & Rick Distel
Joe Vassallo & Doug Paxton
Jeff Schoenfeld & Matt Holbein
Mark Hamilton & Juan Francisco
Patsy & David Marino
$ 2,500
Jim Maloney & Andrew Nance
Marc Ware
Alain Peracca, Jeff Stanley & Pablo Beladrich
$ 1,000
Henry Jung & Mark DeAngelis
Randall George
$ 500
Scott Cullens
Richard Morris
Brian Dubow
Bill Lieber
Tate Varela
$ 250
Sandra Kiss
Mary Wexler
Stephen King
Membership/Fundraising Drive
Every dollar of every donation goes either to charity or to efforts to improve our neighborhood or towards social events for our neighbors.
Past donations have been made to The Palm Springs Animal Shelter, PS Modcom, PS AIDS Memorial Sculpture (via fiscal sponsor DAP Health), AAP Food Samaritans and The Community Food Bank at The LGBT Center. Looking towards 2023 we are aiming to continue our charitable contributions to more organizations in our community.
The VLPNO would like to continue to support our community organizations.
Suggested Donation Levels:
New Level: Swiss Miss. $500
Krisel. $250
Dubois. $100
Alexander $50
Note:
VLPNO Membership is open to All property owners, All individuals claiming primary or secondary residence (including business occupants).
Membership is good for one year and must be renewed each subsequent year.
Donations are suggested, but not required.
Donors at all levels were recognized on the donor boards at the Sol y Sombra Social event. Two tiers were recognized at the AGMM:
Swiss Miss Sponsorships
David Lee
Doug Paxton & Joe Vassallo
Kevin Comer & Rick Distel
Patsy & David Marino
Vincent & Coni Tavani
Krisel Sponsorships
Antony Wright, Bryan Hewitt-Wright & Gabriel Hewitt-Wright
Bill and Tiiu Jacobson
Brenda & Mike Mathews
Brenden Martin & Allan Moore
Bruce Frasier & Richard Nielsen
Charles Nauen
Darci Congrove & Patti Orzano
Don Zuidema, Mike McGinley & Alfredo Izaguirre
Erik, Maria & Anna Verhoef
James & Maggi Van De Voorde
Jonathan Deason
Kermit Ferrer & John Criscuolo
Malcolm McKay & Stephen Orr
Mark DeAngelis & Henry Jung
Mary Jo & Tom Ohlin
Paul Anderson & Mark Webster
Sally Hightower & Dick Lippin
Sameer Gopalani & Michael Millie
Tim & Amy Brinkman
Kermit pointed out that we have 445 households in the neighborhood. 294 of these are on NextDoor, yet only 96 are members of VLPNO. We need to get the word out and dramatically increase membership and participation. He suggested a stretch goal of 130 for next year. Neighbor Byron Hancock offered to help with the Membership Drive.
2023 Initiatives
Patsy reviewed our planned Fiscal Year 2023 Initiatives:
More SOCIAL events like Birba (2021), V Wine Lounge and Sol Y Sombra (2022)
Annual Holiday Pet Parade - Dec 17, 2022
Major Fundraiser – Q1 2023. More exciting info to come.
Volunteer Day: PS Animal Shelter
Volunteer Day: LGBT Center – Community Food Bank
Membership Drive
Prepare for 2024 Modernism Week Tour
Kermit
Stay tuned for more fun projects
2024 Modernism Week VLPNO Home Tour
Kermit reviewed our plans for having a great 2024 Modernism Week Home Tour. We need to have 7 homes (6 plus 1 as backup). We need tour homes and committee volunteers. Please submit your interest in potentially having your home on the 2024 tour and/or your intent to volunteer for the committee that plans our Modernism Week 2024 activities. Planning needs to begin soon!
Election of Directors of the Organization
Joe took us through the Board Candidate Elections.
Per the VLPNO By-Laws:
The Board shall consist of seven (7) members “Directors”
Terms shall be staggered
Terms for three (3) Directors shall expire at at the AGMM next year (Kevin, Joe, open seat)
Terms for four (4) Directors shall expire at the meeting this year (Kermit, Patsy, Steve, and Gustav)
So far, four (4) candidates have offered to run for the open seats. Joe introduced the 4 candidates, and each said a few words about themselves:
Bruce Fraiser
Patsy Marino
Christy McMillan
Vince Tavani
Kermit agreed to run for the second year of the open board seat.
Joe asked if anyone else on the AGMM call wishes to volunteer to run? There were none.
Gustav called for a motion to accept all five (5) candidates as presented. A second was offered by Howard Hawkes
Everyone was unmuted for voting. All 24 Voting Members verbally voted in favor, there were no dissenting votes.
Joe congratulated all the winners and welcomed the new VLPNO board members. Here’s the new board roster, listed by term:
2022 AGMM – 2023 AGMM
Kermit Ferrer
Kevin Comer
Joe Vassallo
2022 AGMM – 2024 AGMM
Bruce Fraiser
Patsy Marino
Christy McMillan
Vince Tavani
Kermit thanked everyone for their participation and closed the meeting by wishing everyone a Happy Holiday.
Kermit called the meeting to a close at 11:35AM.