May 5, 2026 Board of Directors Meeting
May 5, 2026 Directors Meeting, on Zoom
Board Members present: Maria, Amy, Kalia, Whit, Simon, Gerry
Meeting Began 6:30
Personal Updates from Board Members present. Maria noted that she has resigned from the Washington State Environmental Justice Council, wanting to focus more on Beacon Hill, also noted a reunion with a friend from College.
June 6 In person Meeting
Will be held at El Centro, in room we used for January meeting
Maria has gotten confirmation from Senator Orwell, Rebecca Saldana, Adam Smith or his office will be here for a half an hour,
Maria will update on SEPA and SAMP
RSVPs are good for collecting information, rule of thumb is that ⅔ of people who RSVP will come.
Maria would like to do an Eventbrite for this meeting
Discussion about branding
Maria and Kalia will work together to get a poster out
BHC directors' recruitment
Maria suggesting moving elections to July and if not, maybe September
Whit has some thoughts–thinks we’re not that accessible, would like to get more modern and hopes that would facilitate more engagement. He suggests that we need some structure where people would be able to come in and know that they belong. Kalia and Gerry are up for election. Kalia is considering moving from Seattle, may need to resign, but will continue to work on the Council until then. Whit, Simon, Kalia and Gerry are all up for re-election. Adam was supposed to have been re-elected in 2025, but we didn't do that. Whit will talk with Adam about his involvement.
We discussed meeting attendance and it was noted that Scott had missed 6 meetings, as had Adam, but Adam has responded with reasons for his absence.
Gerry had reached out to Scott and he expressed concerns about his involvement, but in a follow up email to him, he did not reply with a conclusive statement that he wished to resign. Our bylaws indicate that 4 unexplained absences are cause for removal from the Board. With further discussion, it was decided that Maria would write a letter thanking Scott for his service and we would remove him from the email list as of Monday, May 11.
Report Back on CM Lin Public meeting on 4.22.26
Gerry and Simon attended. Simon was surprised at the hostile tone, referring to some of the homeless as zombies. Gerry said the main consensus with anger at the situation on North Beacon. Noted problems were drug use, homelessness and safety.
Safety Committee surveillance camera and sweeps position
Simon is not sure he wants to open that can of worms. As the Beacon Hill Council, we want to respond to the biggest issue in the neighborhood, unsure of our role in the homeless issue. Kalia is not sure what the council can do, stating that through other contacts she has learned that there are really a lot of resources being directed to do this. Maria suggests a statement that “we are appreciative of the conversations happening between our neighbors and government and hope that something will get resolved”.
Surveillance cameras - there is nothing new right now, doesn’t think we need to do anything. Feels like we should post the Services not Sweeps poster, which was shared. Discussed whether to post the poster and we decided not to, as it might jeopardize coordination with CID.
Open format - internal process conversation
Whit - wonders how we are working out, feelings about limited capacity, suggests considering taking a pause, maybe 6 months, would like clarification on positions
Maria - sees some benefits, would support 3 months pause, not 6 months, because life goes on
There is always the difficulty of limited capacity, staying in a community with nuanced interests.
Maria suggests that we figure out how much time we can commit and work within that capacity.
No BHC presence at street fair in May.
Addendum: Kalia created a “Pulse of the Council” survey and distributed it, will collate results.
Meeting adjourned 8:35