Cultural Council

Lowell Cultural Council Tuesday, May 22, 2018, 6:30pm Mayor’s Reception Room, Lowell City Hall In attendance: Maxine Farkas, Laura Frye, Joe Pyne, Marianna Wood, Olu Ibrahim, Roberto Dei (administrator) I. Folk Festival Participation: a. Maxine asked the group if anyone was available to work during the Folk Festival, July 28- 29, 2018 i. Cost is approximately $150 for full table ii. Maxine will send a SurveyMonkey poll to all grantees asking if they would like to use the table in 2-3 hour shifts to promote their projects. If there is enough interest to fill all time slots, we may reserve a table. iii. If grantees aren’t interested in using the LCC table, would LCC members be able to work in shifts to promote LCC and MCC programs? iv. We will continue discussion at June’s meeting II. Community Input Meeting a. Potential priorities for next grant cycle from the Community Input meeting: i. Projects that are led by youths (ages 18-25) ii. Multi-disciplinary collaborations iii. Projects that promote and support diversity and inclusion initiatives iv. Collaborations between individuals and organizations b. We will continue discussion and vote on grant priorities during June’s meeting III. Fundraising Committee Report a. Originally planned to host a 1980’s dance party fundraiser, but those plans are on hold b. Roberto suggested asking local and chain restaurants to host a fundraising night for LCC i. For example, Panera will donate 20% of sales c. Additional ideas included a Paint Night IV. LCC Officers a. We need to vote on LCC Officer positions at the June meeting. Please read the attached job descriptions and tell Laura if you would like to run for one of these roles. If more than one person is interested, Laura will create a very simple slate of nominees to present to the committee. Please inform Laura by Tuesday, June 19. V. Charlotte Cutter from MCC will be attending our June meeting. She will talk about MCC’s future plans, and give us suggestions on how we can move forward with securing a line item in the City of Lowell’s budget. 5/22/2017 LCC Meeting Minutes  VI. Proposed Marketing Plan a. Laura Frye presented a marketing plan to promote LCC programs to individuals, groups, and organizations that are unaware of our programming. Due to time restraints, we were unable to fully discuss this plan. We will continue this discussion at another meeting. VII. Action Items: a. Inform Laura if you are interested in serving as a LCC Officer by Tuesday, June 19 b. Review your schedules on July 28-29 to see if you are available to work at Folk Festival VIII. Next Meeting: a. Tuesday, June 26, 6:30 in Mayor’s Reception Room 5/22/2017 LCC Meeting Minutes Lowell Cultural Council Officer Job Descriptions Chair  Oversees the grant-cycle process, and serves as advisor to other major council tasks led by fellow members, such as publicity, membership, fundraising and local council originated (LCO) projects.  Ensures that all Conflict of Interest procedures are followed.  Serves as the principal liaison with the MCC, receives all mail and email and disseminates all council related business to fellow members.  Works with fellow members to set funding priorities and guidelines.  Oversees the council review process and provides annual reports to the municipality.  Ensures information entered into the LCC online office, is up-to-date, and accurate.  Ensures that the council’s annual report is completed on time each year.  Works with fellow members to develop the work-plan for the council and implements the plan by calling meetings, setting agendas and facilitating discussions.  Periodically evaluates the work of the LCC and alters future plans accordingly.  Ensures that applicant queries and recipients’ reimbursements are handled efficiently and accurately by serving as a public point of contact or ensuring that another member takes that responsibility (i.e. the Grants Coordinator fields questions about applications and the Treasurer fields question about reimbursements).  Works with council members to maintain a strong relationship with the municipality and other community stakeholders in order to ensure the leadership in the community is aware and supportive of the LCC.  Ensures that once his or her term expires, the transition to the next chair is smooth and effective. Co-Chair  Works with the Chair on all duties stated above and may share leadership over specific tasks as deemed appropriate. Tasks can be divided however the chair and co-chair see fit. Treasurer  Maintains accurate records of grants paid, grants unpaid, interest and fundraised monies and administrative expenses.  Maintains ongoing contact with the municipal fiscal officer for record keeping.  Meets with municipal financial officer in September to compare account records and complete required LCC Account Form.  Ensures submission of LCC Account Form and accuracy of financial information.  Keeps chair and fellow members informed of accounts.  Works with the chair and/or special project coordinator to set project budgets and track income and expenses for LCO activities. Secretary  Records meeting minutes and submits them to the appropriate municipal authority in accordance with the open meeting law. 5/22/2017 LCC Meeting Minutes   Tracks membership contact information and keeps the information up-to-date on the member list in the LCC online office.  Helps chair draft meeting agendas and distributes them to members prior to meetings.  Drafts letters for all LCC applicant and recipient correspondence.  Coordinates mailings and periodically checks council records to ensure they are up-to-date and organized.  Ensures that all meetings are publically posted and filed with the city or town clerk with 48 hours advance notice for all meetings in accordance with the open meeting requirements.  Works with city or town to ensure that five years worth of council records are appropriately maintained in accordance with Public Records Law. 5/22/2017 LCC Meeting Minutes