The Barron Park Association

BPA Board Meeting Agenda

Date– Tuesday February 19th
Time – 7:15 PM
Place – Barron Park School, Room 2 (former kindergarten room)

Barron Park residents are welcome to attend, but are requested to notify me (art_liberman@yahoo.com) or the BPA president (president@bpapaloalto.org) so that arrangements can be made to accommodate you (seating and possible reordering of the agenda).
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Anticipated absences: Lynnie Melena, Lydia Kou

1. Volunteer (or Assignment) of Secretary to take minutes for this meeting :

Review minutes of January BPA Board meeting
Additions or Changes to Agenda

2. Announcements and brief items : 5 minutes

March 1 deadline for BPA ‘push’ newsletter (Nancy)
March 24 Indian Holi Celebration at Bol Park, from 1 to 3 PM (from Lydia)
May Fete: Scheduled for May 19th (John)

3. Presidential Job Description and Change to Presidential Succession (Markus) – 30 minutes

We will discuss these two issues in sequence. Lynnie has announced that she will resign following the June meeting and no one has come forward to volunteer as successor. Markus has proposed a change to the by-laws.

4. Board policy for BPA funding of non-BPA events and activities. (Art) – 10 minutes

The purpose is to establish a policy for providing funding to non-BPA groups. This includes extending our insurance coverage to groups holding meetings in PAUSD buildings. A request was received from Annette Puskarich to extend our insurance coverage for a movie evening event sponsored by the BP Green Team

5. Board Member Discussion of some issues that arose during the preparation of BPA Board statement to BSA – 30 minutes

6. Proposal for Community Outreach regarding the “BPA-news” policy adopted in November (Doug, Lydia, Nancy) – 20 minutes

A proposal was made to provide background information to the BP community about this policy and solicit their feedback in advance of the March meeting discussion that will review the policy

7. Only if time permits – Business Liaison Job Description. (Markus) – 10 minutes

Future Board Meeting Agenda items

Revision of the BPA-Board policy for BPA-news email (Doug, Lydia, Nancy) – March
Reevaluation of BPA relationship as charter organization of Boy Scout Troop – tbd: sometime following the national BSA May meeting
Review of the Lunar Day Celebration and BPA Board policy for supporting future Diversity Celebration events (Lydia) – March

The Board of the Barron Park Association had already planned a review in the Spring 2013 of its role as a chartering organization of a Boy Scouts of America (BSA) troop when, unexpectedly, we received word on February 1 that the BSA National Executive Board was considering a major change to its policies at a meeting a few days hence. This came through an email from Ken Poulton, Troop 52 Scoutmaster, to BPA Board Member Doug Moran, the chartered organization representative.

For most of its history the BSA allowed individual troops to define their own moral rules on participants and leaders, but this had changed in recent decades. Today, the BSA restricts membership to certain class of individuals depending on their sexual orientation and also places requirements on their religious beliefs. Ken said that the BSA might decide to drop its blanket discriminatory regulations at this upcoming meeting and return to its earlier policy of allowing each troop to define its own rules, and that those with opinions on the subject who want to influence the decision should act quickly and send in an email to the BSA National Executive Board.

To clarify the terminology, a group that sponsors of a Boy Scout troop is a “chartered organization.” The Annual Charter Agreement with the BSA states that we, the BPA, must “Conduct the Scouting program according to its own policies and guidelines as well as those of the Boy Scouts of America.” In effect, this says that in conducting or supervising the scout program, we are bound to the policies of the BSA, including the discriminatory policies, whether we personally approve them or not.

The Board of the BPA worked very quickly and issued the following statement, along with a letter sent to the national BSA leadership group, urging a change in their policies:

“BSA Membership Standards: End Discrimination Based on Sexual Preference

At a meeting on Wednesday, February 6, the Boy Scouts of America will be considering whether to end their national policy of excluding members based on sexual orientation. The Barron Park Association is the chartered organization for a local Boy Scout troop and in that role the Board of the BPA has sent the following email to the national Boy Scout leadership. We believe it accurately reflects neighborhood views as expressed in the many messages that were posted on the Barron Park email lists last fall, almost all of which opposed the national Boy Scout policy.”

The Barron Park Association has been the chartering organization for Boy Scout Troop 52 in Palo Alto, California, for 30 years.

We strongly support removing the national membership restriction regarding sexual orientation. This would mean there would no longer be any national policy regarding sexual orientation. The chartered organizations that oversee and deliver Scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with each organization’s mission, principles, or religious beliefs.

We believe that discrimination in Boy Scouts of America hurts communities, both in excluding boys and in proclaiming that such exclusion is justified. We reject both, as do a great many parents in our community. In fact, the continued sponsorship of the local troop has been called into question by an increasing number of community members. We urge you to change the BSA’s discriminatory policies.

Lynnie Melena, President of the Barron Park Association, the Chartered Organization for Troop 52

Douglas B. Moran, Chartered Organization Representative and an Eagle Scout (1960s)

However, it turned out that the BSA decided not to change its rules at the February meeting after all, instead postponing a decision on this issue until May. As a result, the BPA Board will postpone its review and wait until the BSA clarifies its position before deciding on whether to continue in its role as a chartered organization.

This issue of BSA discriminatory policies created quite a storm of discussion on the email lists in October. Many of those emails questioned whether the BPA should be sponsoring a BSA troop. There were a number emails on the other side as well, describing the merits and benefits to participants of the BSA program.

So we know this is an issue of great interest to many in our community. We want to use the next few months to hear from those in Barron Park community with opinions on all sides. The question is not about the Boy Scouts but about whether the Barron Park Association should charter a Boy Scout troop. You can send in your thoughts in an email using the Contact Us form on this website, or contact any one of the Board members by clicking on the email link next to their pictures on the BPA Board page.

…….From Bob Frost

Here is the scoop on the February BP Senior lunch.

The date is Tuesday, Feb 12, time is 1 pm, and the place is Da Sichuan, a new Chinese style restaurant located at 3781 El Camino Real. To reach the parking behind the restaurant, turn onto Curtner and look for the parking lot immediately to the left.

Da Sichuan has agreed to a special flat price of $12 complete, tax, and tip. To get this price we need to provide an exact count of the number of people coming.

The menu has been pre-selected and includes:

Sweet Corn Chicken Soup,
Chinese Chicken Salad
Sweet and Sour Pork,
Beef with Broccoli,
Prawns with Vegetables,
Cashew Chicken,
Dry Sauteed String Beans (for the vegetarians),
Steamed Rice

Rosemary & Julie will be collecting your money and handing out name tags as you come in.

Please contact Bob Frost at bobfrost34@yahoo.com or 493-8272 if you wish to join with us for this lunch.

Bob needs to know who is attending by Friday, February 8^th . People can cancel as late as 10 a.m. Tuesday morning February 12th, if necessary, by phoning Rosemary Jacobsen at 493-9152.

Since we are pre-ordering, it is important that all people who make reservations show up. So if you change your mind or can’t make it, please let Rosemary know, even up to the last minute. We will have to collect from anyone who makes a reservation but does not attend or cancel.

We hope to see you there to celebrate a Happy Valentines Day….. even though we will be a little early!

Rosemary Jacobsen, Julie Spengler, & Bob Frost

The 17th Annual Juana Run will take place Saturday, March 2, 2013. Race through our beautiful Barron Park neighborhood in a competitive 8K race or enter the 1-mile family fun run.

There are other races for children, from pre-K to the 5th grade, and a Challenge Race for children with special needs.

The 8K starts at 8:30AM. The kids races starting times are varied, beginning at 10 AM. The 1-mile family run starts at 11 AM.

Proceeds benefit Terman and Gunn Sports Boosters and the Barron Park School PTA.

Bring the whole family, participate in the races and enjoy a Pancake breakfast, and other free food and drink.

If you don’t wanna run, but still wanna have fun, come volunteer at the race:

for pre-race help, click here
for monitoring the race click here
for race day help to help monitor: click here

BPA Board Meeting Minutes – provisional until voted on at next Board Meeting : Feb 19, 2013

Attendees: Markus Fromherz, Nancy Hamilton, Christian Kalar, John King, Lydia Kou, Art Liberman, Gwen Luce, Lynnie Melena, Linda Elder

Absent: Doug Moran

Guests: Winter Dellenbach and Gerry Masteller, BP residents (LaPara), Soroor Ebnesajjad, BP resident (Florales), Bob Moss, BP resident (Orme)

Call to order: 7:20 p.m.

1. Agenda Changes: None.

2. Minutes for November 20, 2012: Approved unanimously.

3. Brief Status Update of the Closure process of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park (BVMHP) and Proposed Prometheus Development Project (Lynnie and Art)

The residents of BVMHP have just started to be contacted individually by relocation and appraisal consultants. The closure process is following the schedule announced by the City’s Planning Department in December. The city is preparing the Relocation Impact Report and it is expected out in April. The Prometheus development proposal is on hold and there is no information beyond what was in the BPA newsletter article. (Winter issue 2012-2013). Prometheus has assured us they will participate in a community meeting with Barron Park residents before presenting their proposal to the City Council. The issues of affordable housing for some of the displaced residents of BVMHP and of some affordable units in the Prometheus proposal remain unsettled.

4. Annual Meeting Date and Topic (Lynnie)

There is too much up in the air regarding the BVMHP and the Prometheus proposed redevelopment for it to be the annual meeting topic. There was no enthusiasm by Board members for any of the other proposed speakers or topics Lydia contacted a dance troupe/event planner who will organize a Lion Dance in celebration of Asian Lunar New Year. They are available to perform on Saturday, February 9 at a cost of $1100. We noted that since we have discontinued the Welcoming Gathering and Christmas caroling this new event was warranted and the suggestion was warmly received. Lydia is still looking into a City grant to support this kind of cultural event. The event planner will take care of promotions and reaching out to Barron Park schools. We agreed that any promotion would be limited to the Barron Park vicinity. John moved to hold Barron Park’s Lunar New Year Celebration in lieu of an annual meeting and approve the $1100 expense. All were in favor. The dance will be held outdoors if weather permits and move indoors if not. There was some concern about the short lead time, but we decided it won’t be necessary to send out post cards. Gwen mentioned that the Welcome Gathering did not use them. Sharing of Asian foods may be a part of the celebration. The event time will be from 2PM – 4PM. Lynnie and Lydia will book the Barron Park School immediately.

The Barron Park Association

February BPA Board Meeting Agenda

BPA Board Meeting Agenda

Background to the BPA Board Statement to the Boy Scouts of America

The 17th Annual Juana Run Race through Barron Park

BPA Board Meeting Minutes: January 15, 2013