January 2025 Meeting Minutes

Minutes – Royal Oak Civic Foundation Board of Trustees Committee Meeting
January 8th, 3 p.m.
City Hall, Room 122, 203 S. Troy Street Royal Oak, MI 48067

1. Chair Tom McGannon called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. Trustees present: Jennifer
   Banovitz-Bastian, Julie Lyons Bricker, Christopher Bower, Howard Collens, Sharlan Douglas,
   Alexander Fike (by phone not voting), David Guest, Darien Neubecker, Trustees absent: Peter
   Provenzano. Trustees present constituted a quorum. Staff present: Jill Martin.
2. There was no public comment
3. Agenda – Motion to approve the agenda, adding a discussion of using gift card left over from
   Shop with a Hero. Motion by Peetz, seconded by Guest; approved unanimously.
4. Consent agenda: Motion to approve the consent agenda: Motion by Douglas, seconded by
   Collens; approved unanimously.
5. Debrief on annual Member meeting: At the 2025 meeting the foundation should invite and
   recognize the Erb Foundation and other noteworthy donors. Martin mentioned a donor who
   gives annually from her trust. McGannon and Collens will meet with her within 30 days. The
   marketing committee needs to create a brochure.
6. Debrief on Shop with a Hero: WDIV TV ran a story about the event. For 2026 the foundation
   should have a table, information and a banner.
7. Finalize strategic plan: No action taken.
8. Annual giving campaign: No action taken.
9. Elections: Motion by Guest to elect Tom McGannon as chair; Julie Lyons Bricker, vice chair;
   Darien Neubecker, treasurer, and Sharlan Douglas, secretary. Motion approved unanimously.
   Fike will conduct governance training at the February meeting. The bylaws say that the vice
   chair chairs the governance committee. Motion to sever the role by Collens, seconded by
   Bricker; approved unanimously. Motion to appoint Fike as governance chair by Peetz, seconded
   by Neubecker; approved unanimously.
10. Committee reports
    Governance: Nothing more
    Fundraising: Collens sent a report after the January 6 committee meeting.
    Finance: As submitted
    Marketing: Bower reported on content development and website results.
    Operations: As submitted
11. Shop with a Hero followup. Motion to give leftover Meijer gift cards to the Royal Oak Police
    Department with eight $100 cards to fund food for the summer youth police academy and 30
    $50 cards for officers to use for humanitarian purposes. Motion by Peetz, seconded by
    Banovitz-Bastian; approved unanimously.
12. Next meeting
    • Standard items 1-5
    • Finalize strategic plan
    • Annual giving campaign
    • Committee reports
    • 2025 Arts, Beats and Eats on Fifth

Motion to adjourn by Neubecker, seconded by Peetz; approved unanimously.