Board of Trustees

Oakland Museum Of California Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Regular Meeting
May 26, 2005
Restaurant
4:00 p.m.– 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Trustees

Dale Block, William Chiasson, Matthew Cox, Christopher Curtis, Richard DeAtley, Virginia Furth, Lance Gyorfi, Anthony Harris, Melvin Harrison, John McDonald, Christopher McLain, Missy Nelson, Dennis Power, Marianne Robison, Katherine McKenney Shea, Mary Perry Smith, Brian Washington, and Penelope Wong

Trustees Excused:

Jacqueline Kane, Judith McKee, Maria Ochoa, Phyllis Pfeiffer, Timothy Silva, and Sheryl Wong

Trustees Absent:

Harold Jones, Daryl Lillie, and Margaret Russell

Staff Present:

Joan Collignon, Dorothy Hood, Aimee Klask, Linda Larkin, and Mark Medeiros

Volunteers Present:

Peter Barnett, Michael Coleman, Lois Corrin, Marilyn Couch, Ginny James, Jean Levin, Mary Reynolds, and Elsa Wollenweber

Guest Present:

Linda Crittondon

1. CALL TO ORDER/INTRODUCTIONS – Lance Gyorfi
Chair Gyorfi called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. and welcomed back Dale Block as a board member.

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

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the April 28, 2005 Board of Trustees meeting is approved as mailed.

3. CHAIR’S REPORT – Lance Gyorfi
Chair Gyorfi reported the Mission/Strategies Ad Hoc committee, chaired by Jacqueline Kane, is moving forward with revising the museum’s strategic plan. The Committee will await the arrival of the new Executive Director before developing a final draft.

Chair Gyorfi met with city representatives regarding the executive director search. The City and Foundation will do a joint search and Adrienne Horn of Museum Management Consultants will conduct the search. There will be a panel of seven people – three from the City, three from the Foundation, and one at-large panelist, Michael Heyman. The panel will jointly interview the candidates and make the final selection. On June 2nd, a meeting will be held with Senior Staff to get input on the director’s job description, qualifications, and attributes. The job will be posted from July 1 through mid-August. The panel will meet in mid-September to finalize the selection and hopefully there will be a director by October or November.

Chair Gyorfi said he and other trustees met with Pardee Home trustees to discuss the future of the historic house and its collections. The will of Helen Pardee states the trusteeship for the Pardee Home shall dissolve when the last two original trustees resign or before November of 2006, whichever is later. The house and assets are then to be transferred to the Oakland Museum Foundation. If the museum declines to assume the responsibility of the Pardee Home, the house would go to UC Berkeley and the furnishings to the museum. The family/trustees hope the house can be maintained as a museum. In addition to Mr. Gyorfi, other Foundation representatives meeting with Pardee Home trustees were Katherine Shea, Christiaan Klieger, and Marianne Robison who is also a Pardee Home trustee. Chair Gyorfi asked for volunteers to work on an Ad Hock committee to make a recommendation as to whether the Foundation should accept the Pardee Home Foundation transfer to the OMCA Foundation. Katherine Shea, Missy Nelson, and Marianne Robison volunteered to be on the committee.

4. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – Dennis Power
Director Dennis Power introduced and welcomed Deputy City Attorney Linda Crittondon of the City Auditor’s Office who will be attending board meetings. The OMCA Diversity Statement was briefly reviewed. The statement was put together by a committee with input from staff and advisory committee members. Also reviewed were the schematics for the Art and History galleries which must be approved by the board.

The Campaign Cabinet is now delving into the board-giving phase of the campaign and is also moving ahead with the corporate planning phase. Trustee John McDonald has taken a lead in this and is encouraging his employer, Chevron, to make a sizeable contribution to the Capital Campaign.

Director Power attended the Docent’s annual meeting and reported that there were docents who have served anywhere from fifteen to thirty-five years. There are a total of 503 docents with 329 touring and 174 associates who have put in a total of 34,874 hours this academic year. Docent Coordinator Joan Collignon and Docent President Peter Barnett were introduced and acknowledged.

The museum’s City budget has been delivered to the City Council. The projected budget for the current fiscal year is $5.7 million, the year 2005/06 is $6.2 million, and the year 2006/07 is $6.6 million. The budget increases are due to increases in wages and benefits but will likely not fully cover the current staffing of the museum. The museum’s budget goes before City Council on Tuesday, June 7, 2005 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

It was agreed that the Executive Director would write a letter of condolence to the family of Bruce Howard who was a founding member of the Oakland Museum Association.

5. TREASURER’S REPORT – William Chiasson
Trustee Chiasson reported there is a foundation budget deficit of $311,539 and it is expected that it will finish the fiscal year at the same level. Staff is in the process of completing the 2005/2006 budget. Budget priorities are being established in order to preserve credibility with the board and to maintain staff; these priorities have been discussed with Senior Staff. Chair Gyorfi met with the Executive Director and Mark Medeiros to determine what steps will be taken to prevent the budget being unbalanced.

6. NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT – Daryl Lillie
In the absence of Ms. Lillie, trustee Virginia Furth said the Nominating Committee has recommended that Susan Chamberlin and Sandra Wolfe be elected to the Board of Trustees. Ms. Chamberlin is an architect and was involved in major development projects in Oakland before her retirement. She sits on the Renovation Oversight Committee and has participated in the planning of the CCRC.

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

RESOLVED, that Susan Chamberlin is elected to the Oakland Museum of California Foundation Board of Trustees for a term ending as of the Annual Meeting in October 2008.

Ms. Wolfe has been an Art Docent since 1988 and as Chair of the Art Guild revised the fund raising trips sponsored by the Guild. Ms. Wolfe is also active within her community.

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

RESOLVED, that Sandra Wolfe is elected to the Oakland Museum of California Foundation Board of Trustees for a term ending as of the Annual Meeting in October 2008.

7. WOMEN’S BOARD REPORT – Mary Perry Smith
Trustee Smith said the Women’s Board has budgeted $650,000 for museum exhibitions and programs, $250,000 for the Capital Campaign, and $100,000 for the Acquisition Fund. As of 2005/2006 the Women’s Board will have pledged more than one million dollars to the museum. Ms. Smith will attend her last board meeting in June and will bring and introduce the next Women’s Board President.

8. RENOVATIONS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE REPORT – LANCE GYORFI
There have been two change orders. One was for an approximate $98,000 increase to Vanir Construction Management for project management of the renovation of 450 Lancaster Street (CCRC). The increase was due to changing architectural firms, and a significant increase in the number of “value engineering” meetings to bring cost estimates close to that amount approved by the Foundation. The other change order is a reduction of $180,000 to Gallagher Associates contract owing to a change in the scope of work of Phase I to eliminate the entry way. The City is negotiating a contract with Mark Cavagnero Associates and Michael Willis Architects. Both of these firms will now take on the interior architectural as well as the basic building modification work. The contract for the CCRC is now out for bids with June 23, 2005 as the deadline for bid submittal. The contract will be presented to the board for approval.

The design and administration (D&A) expense funding in Measure G is about to be exhausted. A donation from the Women’s Board and others will allow D&A to continue. Chair Gyorfi and the Executive Director met with representatives of the City’s Treasury Department to work to better define the classification of D&A expenses.

9. GOVERNMENT RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT – Brian Washington
Trustee Washington said the committee has developed a draft agreement with the City and he will deliver it to City representatives tomorrow. The aim is to have it go to City Council before it recesses in August. Mr. Washington said committee members have been talking to and informing Council members as to what the museum is accomplishing. Chair Gyorfi encouraged other members to do the same.

10. AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT – Anthony Harris
Trustee Harris reviewed the Brand Implementation Overview Report distributed at the meeting. He said after receiving the Harvard Business School Community Partners Program’s recommendations the committee sectioned the recommendations into five tiers. There is no budget attached to the actions items. However, as each action item comes up and requires funding it will be brought before the board for approval.

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

RESOLVED, that the action items in the Brand Implementation Overview Report be approved as written.

11. LIAISON’S COMMENTS
Trustee Furth said the plans for History Gallery renovations continue to make progress and was impressed with the work of staff and Gallagher Associates. Trustee Nelson, who attends the Art Gallery renovation meetings, said Gallagher Associates is very open minded and readily accepts suggestions.

12. SCHEMATIC DESIGNS OF ART AND HISTORY GALLERIES – Mark Medeiros
Deputy Director Mark Medeiros said he and staff are willing to visit trustees’ offices or schedule group appointments to give the presentation of the proposed gallery renovations for those who missed last month. Regarding the gallery renovations, Mr. Medeiros said the committee is now working on design development and looking into the kinds of items that will go into the galleries. Renderings of what the galleries will actually look like will be completed and received in a few months.

The Art Gallery will have three main areas: Explore California, Discovering Identity, and Creative California. There will be videos that show various art pieces and will be done in several languages. The community groups expressed a strong desire to see people in the History Gallery so there will be a rotating exhibit of diverse people who made contributions to California. The gallery will cover the subjects of youth culture, California music, Silicon Valley and innovations. Gold panning will take place outside of the gallery. The renovation teams have worked very closely with scholars and people from the community.

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

RESOLVED, that the schematic designs for the Art and History galleries be approved.

Mr. Medeiros said an exhibit on the 50th anniversary of Disneyland has been proposed to come to the museum from March 2006 through August 2006. The contract is being negotiated with the Henry Ford Museum. There are three themes: Walt Disney and who he was; Disneyland and its 50th anniversary; and Imaginers – the art of animations. Representatives from Disney have been asked to give a presentation at the next board meeting. The Ford Museum will put out $300,000 to $400,000 and will bring their marketing people to work with the museum’s marketing staff.

Trustee Chiasson said the Disney exhibit will be very popular which makes it necessary for the museum to start its branding process. Trustee Smith requested the exhibit not open on March 5th or 6th as those are the days of the White Elephant Sale. Trustee Penelope Wong, who is on the San Francisco Film Festival board, suggested the museum work with them also.

Director Power invited all members to attend, at the end of this meeting, the Donor Forum being held in the Natural Sciences Gallery.

13. ADJOURNMENT – Lance Gyorfi
There being no further business Chair Gyorfi adjourned the meeting at 6:05 p.m.

Brian Washington
Secretary