August 7, 2025 board meeting agenda:

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Discussion: Currently available means of dissemination of information

Are current methods sufficient and appropriate? If not, how they can be improved or replaced?

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August 7, 2025 board meeting minutes:

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Discussion: Currently available means of dissemination of information

Board Member Navratil accepted an action item to compile, for the September board meeting, a proposed communication plan for agendas/minutes, announcements, helpful community information/videos, bylaws, means for sharing & storing confidential files, means for hosting board chats and/or community chats about different topics (i.e., matters that have already been voted on and are not likely to be voted on in the foreseeable future), SMS, USPS, use of the SCRO gmail account, newsletter, social media such as FaceBook, etc., keeping in mind the need for consistent branding, and taking into account our desire to voluntarily comply with the Colorado open meetings laws and for all communication to be reasonably trackable and discoverable.

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September 4, 2025 board meeting agenda:

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Background: SCRO’s bylaws do not give any guidance on how to conduct membership votes. Historically, this has sometimes translated into little to no information about a vote being sent out to the membership ahead of the vote. Sometimes no notice was given about a vote, especially when members called for a vote from the floor. In such cases, people who were unable to attend the membership meetings did not have the opportunity to vote or to even submit public comment.

Discussion: Consider the following questions in relation to membership votes:

• How do we capture fair and balanced information (pros and cons) about a membership vote? Do we need to create a fact sheet for each voting issue?

• How do we distribute that “fact sheet” information to the membership? Do we have email addresses for all of the members?

• How can members submit absentee ballots? How do we collect, manage, and count those ballots?

• How do we collect votes in the Zoom environment? Show of hands? Chats? Roll call?

• How do we merge the results from absentee ballots with results collected through Zoom and through in-person votes? How do we make sure we only have one vote per membership? Do we need to set the expectation that the results won’t be announced until a number of days after the membership meeting?

• How much lead time do we need for a membership vote?

This seems to be too complex to address in our regular board meeting. Do we need to set up a work session or can a board member prepare a proposal? Or, do we need to establish a member committee to figure this out? Can we have the process ready in time for the Nov 1st membership meeting? If not, should we not conduct any voting at that meeting?

Vote by voice: Motion to “???”

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​​Background: SCRO does not currently have an effective way of communicating information and engaging in transparent and civil discussions. Communication via private emails limits transparency and discoverability. Thus, the board needs to explore and implement effective communication mechanisms to solve these problems. During the regular board meeting on 8/7, Board Member Navratil accepted an action item to present a proposed communication plan at the September board meeting.

Presentation by Board Member Navratil: Preliminary release of a report on potential options for improvement to SCRO communications, both internal administrative, and to the general public (see attachment “Communications & Branding”).

Discussion led by Board Member Navratil: Provide feedback on the options presented and determine next steps.

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September 4, 2025 board meeting minutes:

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Discussion: The board discussed the logistics involved in conducting membership voting in the Zoom or possibly a hybrid environment, especially taking into account absentee voting. The board concluded that this matter will be further discussed in the 9/18 work session rather than in this board meeting.

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September 18, 2025 work session agenda:

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Background: SCRO’s bylaws do not give any guidance on how to conduct membership votes. Historically, this has sometimes translated into little to no information about a vote being sent out to the membership ahead of the vote. Sometimes no notice was given about a vote, especially when members called for a vote from the floor. In such cases, people who were unable to attend the membership meetings did not have the opportunity to vote or to even submit public comment.

Discussion led by Board Member Frase: Consider the following questions in relation to membership votes:

• How do we capture fair and balanced information (pros and cons) about a membership vote? Do we need to create a fact sheet for each voting issue?

• How do we distribute that “fact sheet” information to the membership? Do we have email addresses for all of the members?

• How can members submit absentee ballots? How do we collect, manage, and count those ballots?

• How do we collect votes in the Zoom environment? Show of hands? Chats? Roll call?

• How do we merge the results from absentee ballots with results collected through Zoom and through in-person votes? How do we make sure we only have one vote per membership? Do we need to set the expectation that the results won’t be announced until a number of days after the membership meeting?

• How much lead time do we need for a membership vote? Do we have enough lead time to conduct any membership votes at the November 1 membership meeting?

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September 18, 2025 work session post-meeting notes:

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Discussion: Board Member Frase led a discussion on the logistics involved in conducting a membership vote in a Zoom setting and/or in a hybrid setting:

• We are not bringing any votes to the membership during the Nov 1st membership meeting; however, we might be conducting a vote during the Jan 31st membership meeting.

• Questions that need to be addressed:

  • How do we make sure we reach everyone who is a member?

  • How do we consolidate the votes of people who vote ahead of the meeting and those who vote during the meeting. Do we have enough time during the meeting to accurately combine and tally those votes, making sure no one votes more than once?

  • Or, do we just require all voting to be completed so many days/weeks ahead of the meeting, reconcile and validate all the ballots before the meeting, and then announce the results at the meeting?

• Board Member Squire stated that, in the past, SCRO has utilized the latter format (turn in ballots ahead of the meeting, reconcile/tally them, then announce results at the meeting). She thought the members had been given around two weeks to return the ballots.

• The blank ballots and returned ballots could be sent via USPS or email; or, it may be possible to also have members submit their votes via a website interface (if there is a way to ensure members only vote once).

• We could share the pros and cons via a “blue book” and we could facilitate a discussion on the issues on the website, all prior to the day the ballots are due.

The general consensus is that the board prefers that all membership voting be conducted via a ballot sent out and returned prior to the membership meeting, with results being announced during the membership meeting. The board also favored electronic means, whether that is via email and/or the website. Board Member Frase accepted an action item to put more thought into the related logistics and to bring the matter back to a future work session.

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