A few words about membership

At our recent board meeting, one of the items we discussed was membership in the South Capitol Neighborhood Association.

The reason this came up was really two-fold: we have several new members on the board (like me) who are learning about the board’s history and purpose, and what we as board members are supposed to do. And we have some questions about the neighborhood association itself – how do people become members and what’s required of them if they do?

So, we took a look at our bylaws to find answers to that question.

Article 2 is all about membership, and Section 2.2 says that an “eligible” individual will qualify for membership by submitting their name, address, and telephone number to the Association. And “eligible” means they must reside in or own property or a business in the neighborhood.

Email addresses aren’t required, but since our association was incorporated back in 1971 (or maybe even earlier in the sixties) before the birth of the internet, it makes sense. Since it’s now almost 2024, though, we would appreciate it if emails were shared as well to make communication easier.

Section 2.3 says the secretary of the board (me) “shall keep a list of all members”. Hmm, okay. I looked through our board files, but couldn’t find an up-to-date one. But board members change over time and we just survived a crazy pandemic, so not too surprising. We thought it best to start fresh and assemble a new one. But, how?

Fortunately for me, with our excellent website, it was easy to create a little page called “Join the South Capitol Neighborhood Association” with a form for signing up. Now we just have to encourage folks to do that.

And that’s where you come in.

It’s free to join, we won’t share your contact information with anyone.

We will only use it to let you know when board meetings are happening, when the annual meeting will be, and what sorts of things we’re currently working on or might in the future.

And the communication can and should go two ways – we’d love to hear from you about any concerns you have or ideas for making the neighborhood better.

The last bylaw I’ll mention (Article 3) requires us to hold a meeting of the members each year in February. We read the minutes of the last meeting, the president and treasurer give reports, and then we elect new board members (or re-elect them). That’s the bare minimum. If there are other things we want to do at the meeting (like meet new neighbors and socialize or discuss issues that come up), we certainly can.

But we do need at least 25 members of the neighborhood association to attend.

So, here’s the ask: please consider joining the South Capitol Neighborhood Association. Renters are welcome and strongly encouraged to join! Even if you think you’re already a member, please go online and fill out the form. This will help us (me really) keep our membership list up-to-date.

And please come to the membership meeting in February. We hope to encourage participation with a drawing for a $100 gift certificate – more about that soon.

We’ll be sending out info in January about the meeting (via emails, blog posts and snail mail) to everyone in the neighborhood we can reach, so if you sign up, you’ll be sure to get the word.