2007-2008 Membership Committee
Current Committee Meeting Minutes

December 11, 2007

TCMA Membership Committee
December 11, 2007
Conference Call

Members of the committee present were: Chair: Courtney Sharp, City Manager, Mount Pleasant; Vice Chair: Rick Cortes, Assistant City Manager, Seguin; Terri Johnson, City Manager, Friona; Brandon Anderson, City Administrator, Haskell; Rickey Childers, City Manager, Lancaster; Dion Miller, City Administrator, Mineola; Joni Clarke, Assistant City Manager, Hutto; Mark Israelson, Dir. Customer/Utility Services, Tax A/C, Plano; Mario Canizares, Assistant City Manager, Addison; Elizabeth Reining, Assistant to the City Manager, North Richland Hills; Paulette Hartman, City Manager, Joshua; Lawrence Bryant, Director, Administration and Finance, Azle; David Morgan, Assistant City Manager, Richardson

TML Staff: Kim Pendergraft

Courtney Sharp, City Manager, Mount Pleasant and committee chair, called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m., welcoming and thanking committee members in attendance for their support.

1. Membership Drive Non-Renewals. Courtney Sharp gave a brief history on the membership drive that was offered between February 2007 and June 2007. Kim Pendergraft reported that as of December 10, 2007, 100 of the 217 members have renewed. Courtney stated that he will contact the region representatives to ask for their assistance contacting those who have not renewed. He asked those on the Membership Committee to assist their region representatives. Kim will provide an updated list to include contact information.

2. 2008 Professional Awards. Courtney Sharp emphasized that historically there have been few nominations and stated it’s not likely that members will nominate themselves. He asked the committee for feedback on how to motivate the membership to participate, increase the number of nominations, and bring more significance to the award. Rickey Childers, City Manager, Lancaster, stated that the focus should be at the region level to promote and recognize their members. Rick Cortes, Assistant City Manager, Seguin, and Joni Clarke, Assistant City Manager, Hutto, also stated that the region representatives need to encourage nominations from their respective members. It was also suggested that when a member is nominated, it would be worthwhile to ask an elected official for a letter of recommendation. Courtney stated that if enough nominations are not received, the award does not have to be presented. In order to make the award meaningful, there should be several applicants to choose from. Kim was asked to include a historical record of award recipients in the next membership directory, provide a narrative for the TCMA President regarding the significance of the award, and provide a brief excerpt on why the recipient was nominated during the presentation at the Annual Conference. Courtney will contact the region representatives to encourage nominations and he asked the committee members to assist in their respective regions.

3. Scholarships. Kim gave an update on the status of the Barney L. Knight Texas Certified Public Manager (CPM) Scholarship and the Clarence E. Ridley Scholarship. Four applications for the CPM Scholarship have been received. One complete application for the Ridley Scholarship has been received and 3 partial applications. The deadline is Friday, December 14.

4. Kim was asked to schedule the next meeting at Dallas Love Field for February 29. The recommendations for recipients of the Professional Awards and interviews for the scholarships will be conducted.

Courtney thanked everyone for their participation, and the meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

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