by Elizabeth Trudell, Regional Councilor, Subud Palo Alto
The Subud California Regional Councilors met on February 20-22 at the Sonoma Subud Center. Here is a brief overview of some of the areas of discussion.
Each councilor provided an update on the activities and finances for their center. (NOTE: Copies of all center reports submitted are available in the “Updates from Centers/Groups” section of this newsletter.)
The Sonoma Center received a loan from the Region’s housing fund which enabled it to make major upgrades including replacing all flooring and windows, improving drainage and doing mold abatement – all in less than 2 months! The refurbished hall is impressive. They have secured a dance studio as their primary tenant and have a paid (non- Subud) rental coordinator and new rental website to promote their space and generate funds to sustain additional repairs and pay back the loan. There is a feeling of energy and renewal among the Sonoma members, and they are very appreciative of the support provided by Farah Hesse and other members of the Region’s Housing Committee to assist them through this process.
The 2015 CA Congress team led by Harlan Gleeson is at work planning the May Congress, to be held at the Airtel Plaza, in Van Nuys near the Bubank airport. Registration will open in March.
Regional finances continue to be a key issue. Councilors have been communicating with their members and encouraging members to pledge to their centers, to the best of their ability. This will help centers to have more sustainable funding and ultimately increase their pledges to the Region. Other forms of funding were also discussed. for example, the Los Angeles Center is looking at leasing space on its roof for advertising, which could be an important new revenue source.
A couple of centers with low membership are exploring the possibility of selling their buildings, which would return the value of the building to the Region’s property fund to support maintenance or purchase of other buildings. Obviously, these are major decisions that would require significant thought and planning by those centers and the Region.
The Region has established a new tenant insurance policy to replace the one that was cancelled in December 2014 (NOTE: see related article on the new TULIP policy).
The Communications Committee met to work on priorities for 2015. One potential project is to refresh the Region’s website and provide more points of connection with center websites, the newsletter and social media. Henry Couden is also looking into ways to better align the region’s mailing lists.
The Property Committee met to discuss long term planning for centers, and how best to support changing needs as the demographics of the Subud member population changes.
Overall, there is a lot of activity across the Region and a great deal of information was shared. The Council will meet again at the Regional Congress in Van Nuys, and all members are welcomed as observers to learn more about the concerns and opportunities for our Region.