Jan 7, 2013

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
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
  1. 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.
  2. Every Rotarian, Every Year-  44 of you have already reached your EREY and an additional 39 have contributed towards that goal.
  3. Parks project in Eureka-  We did a parks clean up thanks to Jill Macdonald.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Strategic Planning continues.

Small Grants
  1. $2,000 to the Humboldt Library Foundation for their young adult collection
  2. $1,000 to the Humboldt State Women’s Softball team for a new pitching machine
  3. $575 to Families Advocating Autism Now for sensory screening events for special needs children
  4. $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
  1. $7,128 to the Clarke Museum for climate control equipment to preserve their priceless collections.
  2. $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.
  3. $2,000 to Eureka High School to support the annual Logger Classic basketball tournament.
  4. $2,000 to the North Coast Honor Flight
  5. 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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