Board of Trustees

Oakland Museum Of California Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes
March 22, 2007
JAMES MOORE THEATER
4:00 P. M. – 7:00 P.M.

ROLL CALL

Trustees

Dale Block, John Bowe, Christopher Curtis, Richard DeAtley, Rich Edwards, Lori Fogarty, Lance Gyorfi, Marianne Robison, Deborah Roessler, Katherine McKenney Shea, Bruce Westphal, and Sheryl Wong.

Trustees Excused:

Susan Chamberlin, Matthew Cox, Steven Douglas, Anthony Harris, Jacqueline Kane, John McDonald, Christopher McLain, Darren Oliver, Margaret Russell, Sandra Wolf, and Penelope Wong.

Staff Present:

Steve Briscoe, Jerry Daviee, Lindsay Dixon, Dorothy Hood, Drew Johnson, Phil Linhares, Susana Macarron, Mark Medeiros, Bernadette Powell, Carolyn Rissanen, David Ruddell, and Joy Tahan.

Volunteers Present:

Barbara Bream, Carol Carman, Michael Coleman, Ruth Hussey, Yvonne McCredie, and Susan Schroeder.

1. CALL TO ORDER/INTRODUCTIONS – Sheryl Wong
Chair Wong called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. and welcomed new trustee John Bowe of APL Limited.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Sheryl Wong
On a motion duly made and seconded (Gyorfi/Curtis), the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the January 27, 2007 Board of Trustees meeting are approved as mailed.

3. CHAIR'S REPORT – Sheryl Wong
Chair Wong introduced a resolution on behalf of Grant Writer Jerry Daviee who will retire at the end March.

WHEREAS, The Oakland Museum of California is a renowned institution combining dedication to the care, stewardship and interpretation of its collections with dynamic service to the community; and

WHEREAS, The Oakland Museum of California possesses a collection of close to two million objects, presents an active special exhibition program, and offers a great range of educational programming; and

WHEREAS, Jerry Daviee has served the Oakland Museum of California for more than 18 years, raising significant funds to support the Museum’s collections, exhibitions, and programs; and

WHEREAS, in his position as grants officer at the Museum, Jerry Daviee has secured millions of dollars in funding and prestigious awards from agencies including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment of the Arts, and the Institution for Museum and Library Services; and

WHEREAS, Jerry Daviee has not only excelled as a development officer, but has been a highly valued advocate for the Museum’s programming, an extraordinary reposity of institutional history, and a deeply appreciated colleague; and

WHEREAS, Jerry Daviee has encouraged the Museum to achieve excellence, advance diversity, and pursue innovation and has secured resources for the Museum to undertake these initiatives;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Trustees of the Oakland Museum of California Foundation gratefully acknowledge Jerry Daviee for his many years of dedication and service on behalf of the Museum and its collections and programs; and

RESOLVED FURTHER, the Board of Trustees extends its deepest thanks and fond wishes to Jerry Daviee and wishes him all the best upon his retirement.
On a motion duly made and seconded (Edwards/Gyorfi), the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

RESOLVED, that the resolution acknowledging the outstanding services of Jerry Daviee is approved as read.

Three times in the last few years, Mr. Daviee wrote proposals that were awarded the largest National Endowment of the Humanities grant for the year of the grant.

Chair Wong also introduced a resolution on behalf of the team of staff members who were responsible for completing the move of the museum collections from the Oakland Army Base to the California Collections and Research Center in record time.

WHEREAS, The Oakland Museum of California is a major museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California; and

WHEREAS, The Oakland Museum of California’s collection encompasses close to 2 million objects and has for many decades been housed in unsatisfactory conditions at the Oakland Army Base; and

WHEREAS, through the extraordinary efforts of the Museum’s staff, this collection was prepared, secured and moved safely and efficiently to the Museum’s new California Collections and Research Center; and

WHEREAS, the move of the collection was required to take place in under four months, and was accomplished within this time period due to the intelligence and hard work of the staff; and

WHEREAS, the “move team” included the following extraordinary individuals:

Steve Briscoe
John Burke
Lindsay Dixon
Susana Macarron
Arthur Monroe
Dana Neitzel
Carolyn Rissanen
David Ruddell
Joy Tahan
Andrew Wood

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Trustees of the Oakland Museum of California Foundation gratefully acknowledge this team for their care of the Museum’s collection and their service in making possible the move under both time and budgetary pressure; and

RESOLVED FURTHER, the Board of Trustees offers its thanks and commendations for a job most well done.

On a motion duly made and seconded (Gyorfi/DeAtley), the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

RESOLVED, that the resolution acknowledging the extraordinary job performed by the “move team” is approved as read.

Each team member was presented with a pair of white gloves.

Chair Wong announced there will not be a mini retreat in April. The Annual and Regular Board meetings are scheduled for May 24, 2007. The Regular business meeting will run from 4:00 to 5:30 and the Annual meeting from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Incoming new trustees will be invited to attend these meetings. Also, the 2007/2008 budget will be reviewed at the Regular meeting.

4. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – Lori Fogarty
Executive Director Fogarty reported that Development Director Catherine Millar is out on a six week medical leave and Associate Development Directors Linda Larkin and Bernadette Powell will assume Ms. Millar’s responsibilities.

Two finalists have been interviewed for the Store Manager position and a decision as to who will be offered the job will be made shortly. Budget & Financial Analyst Ambrus Reese has resigned and will be leaving at the end of March and Mark Medeiros will look for someone to fill the position. In the next few months the Art Department will be looking to fill the Senior Curator of Art and Associate Curator of Decorate Arts positions. Ms. Fogarty has met with City personnel regarding the Chief Curator of Natural Sciences position and eventually hopes to recruit for the Chief Curator of History position.

The reinstallation plans are actively moving forward. The Art Department has been doing prototyping and testing in the gallery and the Natural Sciences Department will also do prototyping. The History Department has been meeting with consultant Kathy McLean who has been working with a core team of staff on linking the artifacts and major themes of the gallery to dynamic visitor experiences. The Art and History galleries will close tentatively December 30, 2007 and reopen in October 2009.

The Lunar New Year’s Celebration was very successful with several thousand visitors in attendance and the 100 Families Celebration was also successful with several hundred visitors for the opening. The upcoming Yosemite exhibition was organized by the Autry Museum with the assistance of former Senior Curator of Art Harvey Jones and Curator of Photography Drew Johnson. The exhibition covers about a 150 year time span and some critical loans to the exhibition came from the Oakland Museum’s collection. The exhibition will open May 19th and close August 26th with plans being made for Donor Forum and General Membership receptions. Mr. Johnson was thanked for his work in organizing this exhibition.

Director Fogarty reviewed the previously distributed the Museum’s Strategic Plan for 2007-2012 and explained the Plan was required for the American Association of Museums accreditation process. A Strategic Steering Committee, which included representatives of the Board, staff, guild, docents, and advisory councils, met three times to review the Plan. Each section of the Plan was chaired by a department staff person and the governance section was reviewed by the Executive Committee.

Some of the highlights discussed were:

o The Governance section primarily relates to trustees and maintaining a relationship with the City.
o The Facilities objectives was put together by Chief Engineer Greg Johnson, Chief of Security/Operations Rah Saladdin, Chief Conservator John Burke and other staff with expertise in this area.
o One of the Collections goals is to review and revise museum collection management policies.
o A goal in the Exhibition section is to develop exhibitions and collections-based programs that are relevant and accessible to increasingly diverse audiences and learning styles.
o Establishing and implementing technology plans are goals in the Audience Development, Human Resources and the Education and Community sections.
o The Financial Sustainability section focuses on the improvement of financial control and development.

Ms. Fogarty said that the focus of most of our educational programs is on the school audience and there is a need to reach out to families and to focus on intergenerational learning. There are many areas in the East Bay with people who do not attend the museum. The first step is to develop and build an audience from within the East Bay and then look at other areas such as San Francisco and statewide.

The Strategic Plan will be reviewed by heads of departments and also trustees at the annual retreat to determine what has been accomplished. The guilds and councils will be included in this review process as much as possible and there will be a dialog with general staff members within the next month. Rich Edwards reported on some of the suggestions made regarding the Strategic Plan by John McDonald who could not to attend the meeting.

On a motion duly made and seconded (Gyorfi/DeAtley), the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

RESOLVED, that the Oakland Museum of California’s Mission Statement and Strategic Plan 2007-2012 be approved as written.

The previously distributed Oakland Museum of California’s Code of Ethics was reviewed. The Code of Ethics defines the legal and ethical guidelines for staff, trustees, and other volunteers. The Code is in alignment with the City Of Oakland policies.

On a motion duly made and seconded (Shea/Roessler), the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

RESOLVED, that the Code of Ethics of the Oakland Museum of California be approved as written.

The previously distributed Oakland Museum of California Whistleblower Policy was reviewed. This policy outlines the responsibility of trustees and employees to report any wrongful conduct.

On a motion duly made and seconded (Curtis/Roessler), the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

RESOLVED, that the Oakland Museum of California Whistleblower Policy be approved as written.

Executive Director Lori Fogarty said the Code of Ethics and the Whistleblower policy will eventually be posted on the museum’s web page. It was suggested that these policies should be signed every year by all appropriate parties.

5. WOMEN’S BOARD REPORT – Deborah Roessler
Trustee Roessler reported that the Women’s Board granted $22,800 to be used for advertising the Yosemite exhibition. Traditionally, retiring museum staff members are given gifts that come from the White Elephant Sale and Tom Steller was given a piece of petrified wood and Jerry Daviee was given a magnifying glass. Ms. Roessler thanked the Foundation for sponsoring the reception for the White Elephant Sale celebration and for the flowers. The sale grossed $1,388,787.74, which is $152,000 better that last year. The museum staff was also thanked for helping at the sale.

The Women’s Board will select a slate of officers at the April meeting and will also work on their budget. Ms. Roessler recommended that, should the Board hold its annual retreat in the February/March timeframe, it take place after the first week of March so that it doesn’t conflict with the White Elephant sale.

Chair Wong thanked Ms. Roessler for her leadership and said Ms. Roessler will participate in one of the board committees after completing her term on the board.

6. CAMPAIGN CABINET REPORT– Sheryl Wong
Through the efforts of trustee Matt Cox, Matson Navigation Co. has contributed $25,000 towards the Capital Campaign. Trustee John McDonald is working on soliciting corporate donors and also with trustees who work for corporations. Virginia Furth and trustees Rich Edwards, Lance Gyorfi, and Dale Block are working on soliciting individual gifts.

Executive Director Lori Fogarty said a proposal will be sent to the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation next week. The Osher Foundation was sent a proposal and several other foundations were sent letters of intent. Chair Wong thanked Linda Larkin for her work on the Capital Campaign and also Catherine Millar and Bernadette Powell.

7. DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT – Sandra Wolfe
Bernadette Powell distributed stationery to trustees and asked that they write personal notes to Donor Forum members thanking them for being members and encouraging them to renew.

8.RENOVATION OVERSIGHT REPORT – Lance Gyorfi
Trustee Gyorfi said there were a few items to clean up at the CCRC around the continued need for security guards which we plan to resolve soon. Also, there will be a Decision Review meeting on March 29, 2007 and ProPM, a project management company, has been hired as the construction consultants for the renovation project, particularly to assist with the contractor selection. The consultant, David Zanier, from ProPM is working with the museum and the City on developing a CM-At Risk process that will allow early selection of the contractor in order to assist with planning during the construction document phase of the project. Mark Cavagnero will attend the meeting on May 24 to present the current plans as his team completes the design development phase.

9. COMMITTEE ON TRUSTEES REPORT – Dale Block
There about twelve potential board candidates now under consideration and the committee will follow up on anther ten potential candidates next year. The slate of officers will be presented at the Mary 24, 2007 Annual Meeting. The slate of new trustees will be emailed to trustees because there will not be a board meeting in April.

Ms. Wong will contact current board officers and committee chairs to determine if they would like to stay on as an officer or committee chair. Trustees can also make suggestions as to who should go on the slate of officers

10. FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT – Rich Edwards
Total revenues for the museum are approximately $13 million. The City contributed $6 million for overhead, guards, and curators, the Foundation contributed $6 million, and about $1 million came from profits of the trips sponsored by the guilds. The mid-year budget review showed that things are just about on plan. The only disappointing area was the projected shortfall in contributed revenues raised.

Each department head has given a report and reviewed their budgets with the Finance Committee. The last review held was with Special Events Manager Angela Wilbourn and her supervisor, Rah Saladdin, and both were commended for a job well done. Prior to their taking over the Events Department, the department lost $75,000 and now it is breaking even. Mr. Edwards said Ms. Wilbourn is a very good entrepreneur who gave an excellent presentation.

The Armanino McKenna’s auditor management letter indicated that some business basics in terms of reporting need to be put in place by staff. Deputy Director Mark Medeiros will supervise staff in making improvements in this area. The Finance Committee has been working on policies for reporting and allowing endowment funds and also working on a gift acceptance policy. A budget has been submitted to the City requesting $800,000 for capital improvements, i.e. replacing the freight and passenger elevators and addressing the waterproofing and roof repairs. Chair Wong asked trustees to let her know if they have a working relationship with any of the City council members.

11. ADJOURNEMENT – Sheryl Wong
There being no further business Chair Wong adjourned the meeting at 6:25 p.m.

Christopher McLain
Secretary