Laurelhurst Community Club
Serving 2800 Households in Seattle's Laurelhurst Neighborhood
Laurelhurst Community Club Board of Trustees
Trustee Responsibilities
Although it is an honor to serve on the Laurelhurst Community Club board of trustees, there are
no honorary positions! Each trustee shares in responsibilities to ensure that the community club
is an effective, vital organization. Here is a listing of trustee expectations and responsibilities to
help you decide whether you would like to take on the challenge of serving on the board of
trustees.
- ATTEND ALL TRUSTEE MEETINGS coming on time and staying until the end. All
trustees take part in decision making--you are needed! Meetings take place the second
Monday evening of each month at St. Stephen's.
- PREPARE FOR TRUSTEE MEETINGS: As a trustee, you will participate in policy
decisions and you will need to develop an understanding of neighborhood issues and projects.
Prior to each meeting, you must read your agenda and the enclosures and any other reports
forwarded to you during the interim between board meetings. This will allow for more
efficient meetings and more intelligent, informed decision making.
- ASSIST WITH ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES: The nuts and bolts of keeping
the community club running involve participation of all trustees.
- Agenda Requests and Trustee Packet Distribution: Each month, trustees share in the
responsibility of submitting agenda requests and in distributing trustee packets. The
trustee packets insure that members of the board of trustees have the information
necessary to make informed decisions about issues confronting our community and are
kept abreast of all community club activities.
- Flyer Distribution: The community club sponsors several events and activities
throughout the year and occasionally issues arise that require notification to neighbors.
Flyers are prepared and trustees are expected to assist in flyer distribution.
- Administrative Committees: Issues such as bylaw review and revision, policy
development and insurance are important to management of the organization and
committees are regularly formed to address these issues. Trustees are needed to volunteer
to work on or chair these activities.
- Other: Assistance is often needed with data base management or maintenance of the
community club home page. These responsibilities are critical to insure we are able to
contact our neighbors and get the word out about community club activities and events.
- CARRY OUT YOUR PORTFOLIO ASSIGNMENT: The community club is a working
board and trustees volunteer for one or more of the following activities:
- Represent the community club and the positions it has taken in other organizations (such
as Northeast District Council, Seattle Community Council Federation, City-University
Citizen Advisory Committee, the Sand Point Citizens Liaison Committee and the
Laurelhurst Advisory Council). This means attending meetings of those organizations at
least once a month in addition to trustee meetings and reporting back to the Laurelhurst
board of trustees either verbally or through written reports.
- Chair or serve on a Laurelhurst committee: As chair, your role is to develop a committee
including trustees and interested neighbors to nurture participation and leadership. You
will be responsible for following issues of importance to the neighborhood, scheduling
meetings as necessary, coordinating with your committee and reporting to the board on
any positions adopted or plans developed by your committee and writing letters on
behalf of the community club. As a committee member, your role is to follow the issues
and provide necessary assistance.
- Follow an Issue: The community club is confronted with many issues that affect our
neighborhood--libraries, school levies, park policies, traffic and transportation issues, and
neighborhood street funds--just to name a few. Following an issue entails gathering the
necessary information to learn about the issue, attending public meetings, coordinating
with public officials, reporting to the board and writing letters of behalf of the community
club.
- Chair or Co-Chair a Project: The annual Crime Prevention Meeting, Neighborhood
Appreciation Day festivities, the Annual Meeting and other community-wide meetings
and activities are just a few examples of projects and events you may volunteer to chair or
co-chair. This responsibility generally involves organizing the event or project, recruiting
volunteers; coordinating with speakers, public officials and others and letter-writing.
- Serve as an Officer: Officers (president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer) of the
community club take on added responsibilities for management of the organization.
These responsibilities vary, but include: preparing meeting agendas, minutes of the
meetings, financial reports, following issues, writing letters, attending numerous public
meetings and coordinating with public officials.
- Represent the Community Club at Public Events and Public Hearings: As a member of
the board of trustees, you will receive many invitations to attend public events.
Attending these events is important because they provide an opportunity to network
with neighbors, representatives from other community organizations, public officials and
city and county staff. You may also be called upon to testify at public hearings on issues
of interest to the community.
- Safeguard the Community Club's Reputation for Nonpartisanship: Because of the
organization's tax exempt status, the community club is prohibited from supporting or
opposing candidates for public office.
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