VOTE: To amend the Comms Dept budget to move $2500 from "Storefront" to a new line item titled "Marketing"

To amend the Comms Dept budget to move $2500 from "Storefront" to a new line item titled "Marketing"


  • Total voters
    33
  • Poll closed .
We have an adequately sponsored motion: To amend the Comms Dept budget to move $2500 from "Storefront" to a new line item titled "Marketing", so we will proceed to a vote.

This poll will run for up to 96 hours, and may be closed after 48 hours if the majority threshold for passing is met.
 
I'm abstaining on this for the purpose of killing it until the meeting and am asking my fellow members to join me until we get a treasurers report. This request is a little different than the last in that it's reorganizing the buckets instead of adding to one but right now we have absolutely no hold on our finances.

I'm sure there are going to be those on this board who disagree with me but in a pre-buttal I'll say if any one of us or even a business much bigger than this organization went to a financial advisor or auditor and told the auditor at the beginning they had a good grasp on their own financials then later the auditor found a $5,000 bank account and was told "Oh I don't know what that is, I just found it, we're calling it the zombie account." It would be reasonable for the auditor to lose their shit at the idea that the person being audited had a good grasp on their own financials. I'm not saying our financials are bad, I'm not saying they are good, I am saying we don't know and I need to know before I even feel equipped to discuss adjusting budgets.

Since this is rearranging and not allocating a new bucket I will ask four question that may soften my resolve on this point.
@Amanda Gibbs is there a need and intent to spend this newly allocated money before the SLEC meeting?
If yes, on what?
If yes, how much?
Lastly, if yes, can it be done from discretionary for now and then reallocated at the meeting?
 
I'm abstaining on this for the purpose of killing it until the meeting and am asking my fellow members to join me until we get a treasurers report. This request is a little different than the last in that it's reorganizing the buckets instead of adding to one but right now we have absolutely no hold on our finances.

I'm sure there are going to be those on this board who disagree with me but in a pre-buttal I'll say if any one of us or even a business much bigger than this organization went to a financial advisor or auditor and told the auditor at the beginning they had a good grasp on their own financials then later the auditor found a $5,000 bank account and was told "Oh I don't know what that is, I just found it, we're calling it the zombie account." It would be reasonable for the auditor to lose their shit at the idea that the person being audited had a good grasp on their own financials. I'm not saying our financials are bad, I'm not saying they are good, I am saying we don't know and I need to know before I even feel equipped to discuss adjusting budgets.

Since this is rearranging and not allocating a new bucket I will ask four question that may soften my resolve on this point.
@Amanda Gibbs is there a need and intent to spend this newly allocated money before the SLEC meeting?
If yes, on what?
If yes, how much?
Lastly, if yes, can it be done from discretionary for now and then reallocated at the meeting?
Yes, there was intent. I’ve talked with the team that’s trying to make the Plano Balloon Festival happen. There are marketing materials that I anticipate and would love for LPTexas to have. Previously I think it would have fallen under ops but not sure exactly. Think swag items, single issue rack cards, maybe pocket constitutions with some LPTexas branding, banners for outdoor events (reusable marketing) with research on ROI and what will get the most impressions or touches. Chatting with Anastasia about it and trying to find out how much of a discretionary my dept has, I just want to make sure my department can show where $$ is saved and $$ is spent without a doubt.
 
I'm abstaining on this for the purpose of killing it until the meeting and am asking my fellow members to join me until we get a treasurers report. This request is a little different than the last in that it's reorganizing the buckets instead of adding to one but right now we have absolutely no hold on our finances.

I'm sure there are going to be those on this board who disagree with me but in a pre-buttal I'll say if any one of us or even a business much bigger than this organization went to a financial advisor or auditor and told the auditor at the beginning they had a good grasp on their own financials then later the auditor found a $5,000 bank account and was told "Oh I don't know what that is, I just found it, we're calling it the zombie account." It would be reasonable for the auditor to lose their shit at the idea that the person being audited had a good grasp on their own financials. I'm not saying our financials are bad, I'm not saying they are good, I am saying we don't know and I need to know before I even feel equipped to discuss adjusting budgets.

Since this is rearranging and not allocating a new bucket I will ask four question that may soften my resolve on this point.
@Amanda Gibbs is there a need and intent to spend this newly allocated money before the SLEC meeting?
If yes, on what?
If yes, how much?
Lastly, if yes, can it be done from discretionary for now and then reallocated at the meeting?
But I am also okay if the body wants to wait. My banner guy is local and will same day me what we need. And the August meeting is early enough that if needed I can get other stuff in between that weekend and the balloon festival.
 
But I am also okay if the body wants to wait. My banner guy is local and will same day me what we need. And the August meeting is early enough that if needed I can get other stuff in between that weekend and the balloon festival.
Thank you for that clarification. I personally would like to wait if it is viable to do so, but I am okay with changing my vote and moving forward if it is not. I will leave it at abstain for now, but please let me know if something about the timeline changes.
 
Thank you for that clarification. I personally would like to wait if it is viable to do so, but I am okay with changing my vote and moving forward if it is not. I will leave it at abstain for now, but please let me know if something about the timeline changes.
(Comms director hat on) while I am asking for the motion to pass I will not spend $ on this line item until after SLEC receives a full financial picture at the August meeting.
 
It’s too late, and I already voted yes, but directors should have the ability to move $$ between line items in a year. I don’t know why we had to vote on this point. Whether, as the year goes on, we can increase or decrease that overall bucket is a separate question. And it should be handled by the directors when (if) they need to adjust.
 
It’s too late, and I already voted yes, but directors should have the ability to move $$ between line items in a year. I don’t know why we had to vote on this point. Whether, as the year goes on, we can increase or decrease that overall bucket is a separate question. And it should be handled by the directors when (if) they need to adjust.
It was not currently a budget line item and the monies were approved for a specific thing, I will always err on the side of caution when it comes to donor dollars. After talking with Anastasia, Jodi, and Andrew, I felt it was in order if I were moving money approved for one thing into a completely new item to require approval by SLEC.
 
I don’t know why we had to vote on this point.
Because it's in the Bylaws of SLEC. If that's something you don't agree with, then I would recommend making a motion accordingly.

However, to argue why it *should* be such that SLEC votes on the reallocation of funds, it's because categorizing budgets into spending goals and expectations is a healthy way to build a budget and because it's a healthy practice to consult with those responsible for the oversight of the group's finances before making decisions.
 

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Agree with the Bylaws. I do think we are broadly interpreting "authorization of expenditures". I wouldn't expect Austen to look to a SLEC vote because he wanted to use a reduction in Google licenses to cover a hosting increase. Any sketchiness should be resolved by removing the director, not by micromanaging them.
 
(and this comes from someone who has managed budgets in excess of $100M and hundreds of people. If you can't trust your leaders to make good decisions within limits you hold them to, it is incredibly disempowering). Also note, I don't think Amanda did anything wrong here, I just think that is a cultural limitation.
 
Agree with the Bylaws. I do think we are broadly interpreting "authorization of expenditures". I wouldn't expect Austen to look to a SLEC vote because he wanted to use a reduction in Google licenses to cover a hosting increase. Any sketchiness should be resolved by removing the director, not by micromanaging them.
The historic remedy for sudden items like that has been a discretionary spending line as a small portion of the budget but I don't agree that the entire department budget should all be discretionary and then a year later when we find out we had a bad hire and they have been using the entire budget to take their team to RedRobin every Friday during the "working lunch" that we should just say "Oh well, guess we'll fire them and do better." Also, some of the department directions are strategic. A good faith view in the PA department could be that we should spend all the money on Bob's campaign for city council, and a good faith view could be that we should spend it all on lobbying for election reform. I don't want to find out after it's spent what the PA director thinks and it wouldn't be fair to that PA director to put them in that position. I mean, we can pass whatever we move, but I won't get behind a non-itemized department budget.
 
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