January 7, 2013
Welcome to the 24th meeting of the year!
Jim Howard led the flag salute while John Gierek, Jr. gave
the invocation.
Visiting Rotarians
Liana Simpson & Lee Cunningham.
Guests of Rotarians
Matt Hague, CPA-David L Moonie & Co., Barbara Horvitz-
Cal Courts, Pete Origer, Heidi Olson-North Coast Journal.
Student Guests
Eureka High Student Body President, Ben Ross, announced the
student government elections, winter formal, All-Star breakfast & clearly
enjoyed lunch.
Exchange Students
Larissa from Germany & Franco from Brazil are here! Franco rode a horse, had a good Christmas and
is back in school. Larissa spent her
time with her host family, had a wonderful New Year & is enjoying her time
in Eureka.
Birthday and Anniversaries are in the book. Congratulations to all!
Announcements
Help out the Lost Coast Rotaract build kayak storage on Woodley Island next Saturday, January 12th. Bring gloves, socket sets and drills. Profits from the rental of the slips will be
split between the Marina & Lost Coast Rotaract.
Recognitions
Past President, Tom Shallert, had a ton of weddings this
month, including his daughter! He
continues to work on blood banks in Nigeria,
Africa and has a training this spring in the Ukraine. He got a rainmaker for his troubles.
Neal Carnam received his Paul Harris award for contributions
to the Rotary Foundation. Standing
ovation.
So what have we done so far this year?
Goals
- 4 new members (net), which means 14-18 new members total. New members include Dana Jones and Steve Jackson, with a nomination for Nathan Nielsen.
- Every Rotarian, Every Year- 44 of you have already reached your EREY and an additional 39 have contributed towards that goal.
- Parks project in Eureka- We did a parks clean up thanks to Jill Macdonald.
- Peace Project- Working with Veterans for Peace and Eureka High Interact on advertising the 4th Annual Redwood Coast Peace and Art Poetry contest to be held May 19, 2013.
- More emphasis on vocation- October was Vocational Services month and we had various programs around that theme. We honored Greg Williston as the 1st Scott Guild Vocational Rotarian of the Year.
- Strategic Planning continues.
Small Grants
- $2,000 to the Humboldt Library Foundation for their young adult collection
- $1,000 to the Humboldt State Women’s Softball team for a new pitching machine
- $575 to Families Advocating Autism Now for sensory screening events for special needs children
- $300 to KEET TV for the Homework Hotline
** We are still accepting grant applications through the end
of the month. Applications are available
on our website at www.rotary1.org. **
Sign Smith
- $7,128 to the Clarke Museum for climate control equipment to preserve their priceless collections.
- $10,000 to the St. Joseph Hospital volunteers for the purchase of a new van to shuttle patients to and from the Evergreen Lodge for cancer treatments, to transfer patients between General Hospital, the Sleep Center, outpatient rehab & the St. Joseph campus.
- $2,000 to Eureka High School to support the annual Logger Classic basketball tournament.
- $2,000 to the North Coast Honor Flight
- Toys for Tots- Through cash donations and having barrels at your stores, Eureka Rotary helped give gifts to over 5,100 children. Thanks to all who made this happen!
Eureka High Interact challenged our club to a matching
contribution, so we kicked in $375 to their fund. Rotaract is going well too…join them at their
evening meetings at Los Bagels!
Raffle
$10 winners were Jay Hockaday & Walt Shimasaki
Program
Murl Harpham introduced our guest speaker, William
Panos. Mr. Panos brings over three
decades of experience to his new position as the City Manager for Eureka. Most recently, he was the Director of Public
Works for the City of West Sacramento. As a member of the City’s executive and
budget teams, Panos directed city financial strategies, governmental relations
and regional partnerships. He was
previously the school construction executive for the State of Washington where he directed capital
finance, land use policy and local school construction throughout the
state. He also served with local government
in Idaho and Los Angels, as special advisor to
the Chancellor of the California State University
system and as Toxics Director for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Bill thanked Rotary for our service to the community. Bill is a third generation Californian. His father worked for American Airlines and
his mother worked for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. His wife, Melissa, is finally arriving this Wednesday. They both look forward to serving our
community.
Bill first came to Humboldt
County twenty-five years ago to work
with Allister McCrone at Humboldt
State and stayed at the
Eureka Inn.
Mr. Panos’ public sector experience came after a successful career
with the TRW Corporation in its defense, space and automotive business operations
in the Americas, Europe and Asia. He was an advisor
to the President’s Council on Sustainable Development under the Clinton administration and
his work received the TRW Chairman’s Award for Innovation and the prestigious Harvard
University-Ford Foundation Award for Innovation in American Government.
Bill is pleased with the team David Tyson left him at the
City and feels he’s well situated to succeed.
He says the City Manager is a very straightforward job: control finances, follow the direction of the council
and manage services handled by the City.
Bill wants to get to know the people and the community and believes “context
is everything.”
He also believes cities have a business model and are
corporations responsible to their shareholders, the citizens. Bill intends to hire a new police chief. Finally, he plans to update the General Plan,
taking his time to make the right decisions.
Bill pointed out that we are one of the most giving and
benevolent communities in the US,
per capita, using our Rotary Club as an example.
He’s so new he doesn’t have business cards yet. He says to call City Hall and they’ll schedule
you a meeting.
Jeff Leonard asked a technical question about zoning. Bill demurred to make decisions on zoning
until after talking to the City Council and staff.
Gary Todoroff asked about the challenges in West Sacramento. Bill
had high praise for their innovative recruitment of experts to serve the
City. He discussed how they successfully
garnered $120 million from Washington
DC and changed the brand identity
of the community.
John Ash asked about replacing the redevelopment
agency. Bill stated that Sacramento will not
support “Redevelopment II.” However, he
says Eureka is
doing very well with redevelopment and credits Dave Tyson. He also recognized his hard-working deputy, Mike
Knight.
Bruce Rupp asked about Measure O, the sales tax increase, which
is expiring in a few years. He hasn’t
had enough time to get into it in detail (two weeks, people!) but says we are
not in as bad shape as many municipalities, and will need to come up with new, creative
revenue streams going forward.
Lee Cunningham praised the Eureka Police Department, and
asked about Bill’s management style and one-year goals. He tries to match the style of the departments
he answers and evolve with the organization.
However, he subscribes to servant leadership. His one year goal is to still be employed and
that he and his wife are enjoying the community.
Gregg Williston asked about transportation issues and Bill’s
experience. West Sacramento
has a busy port, environmental community and wetlands and 1-million tons of
shipping annually. He points out we are
a straight shot across the Pacific for Asian shipping. Bill has experience working with Rail and will
look forward to our rail capacity and concerns.
The guest was thanked, the library book was signed and the
meeting was adjourned.
REMEMBER! The next
meeting, January 14th, is at the Eagle House.
Respectfully submitted,
John Harper
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