Submitted October 2015 by Sylvia des Tombe, Secretary, Palo Alto Subud
The meeting was opened by an expression of happiness that so many were able to attend, and with a special welcome to Francisca Beach and her son Paul Garth, and also to Forest Conlon, new members to our Palo Alto group. Each of them is what Indonesians call “Antik Baru,” in other words, they are new to our group, but not to Subud. Welcome!
We dove right into the matter of the vacant positions, with hope and confidence that this meeting would have results. There were nominations, seconds, discussions, declarations of willingness, and even one speech. Then there was testing, sharing of the results, and finally the modest retiring of the candidates before the members raised their hands to vote. Unanimity was total and absolute, and here are the results:
Positions New Office Holder(s) Comments:
| Chair, | Philip Lindstrom | A 2-year position with option to continue |
| Regional Councilor | Dennis Oliver | A legal 4-year position, involving attending 3 meetings a year and regional congresses. Thru this person, Subud PA can have a voice in use of regional funds and how we can help the region.. |
| Property Committee | Fatijah, Dainuri, Lalia & Dennis (rental coordinator) | Indefinite; as long as willing, no doubt. |
Sylvia des Tombe (yrs truly) said she was content in her role as Secretary, and then we asked Manuel Oliver about his role as Treasurer, as now he has taken on the added responsibility of being Treasurer for Subud California. These were his words: “If someone is super-psyched to jump in as local treasurer, that would be fine, but it is NOT URGENT. If someone wants to help, great.”
Post-election discussion:
Irv said that, in his new position as Chair in his synagogue, he had profited much from his experience as Subud Chair. He put forward a suggestion that we practice “Audacious Hospitality.” He attributes our relative weakness in our ability to socialize to our less-than-wonderful kitchen. He believes that a great “gift to ourselves” would be to, for example, have a movable awning over the porch so that the area would be available, rain or shine. Kenneth then noted that we could cut the wall back dividing the kitchen and the open area, put in a counter, and enjoy a more open plan, have more space. Being more audacious yet, he put forward the L.A. concept of celebrating birthdays on a monthly basis.
We adjourned to socialize after thanking Manuel for his excellent, thorough financial report and promising to discuss it in detail at the next Dewan meeting on November 3rd.