Present | Present | ||
President Corey Mathisen | X | Director Mike Kruse | X |
Vice President Dan Sullivan | X | Director Blake Nelson | X |
Past President Forrest Hasty | X | Director Sam Padelford | X |
Treasurer Laura Lyons | X | Director Jason Radde | |
Secretary Benton Campbell | X | Director Mark Trogstad-Isaacson | X |
Director John Dalton | X | Executive Director Dana Wheeler | |
Director Kevin Joyce | X | Administrative Assistant Donna Blackwell | X |
Director Mary Kloos | X | Labor Relations Specialist Tony Kelly | X |
Director Justin Kraus | X |
Others in attendance:
Lori Vanderhider, MGEC Member;
Agenda
Call the Meeting to Order (Corey Mathisen)
Meeting called to order by President Corey Mathisen at 3:32 PM.
Review & Approve Agenda (Corey Mathisen)
Mark Trogstad-Isaacson moves to approve changing the agenda from Dana Wheeler to Tony Kelly for today’s Executive Director report as Dana Wheeler is on vacation, Forrest Hasty seconds, motion passes.
Secretary’s Report – Review & Approve Past Minutes (Benton Campbell)
February 28 Meeting Minutes: Mike Kruse moves, Forrest Hasty seconds, motion passes.
President’s Report (Corey Mathisen)
- MGEC Staffing Update
Tony Kelly has joined MGEC, nearing 1 month of service.
Employee and contractor hours tables have been updated with recent pay periods. Laura Lyons asks what % of vacation Dana Wheeler is using right now. He is taking ~25% of the time right now, working ~75%.
Contract and Position Description for Tony Kelly are included in the meeting packet for review, and will be briefly discussed during Tony Kelly’s report. Benton Campbell asks where the contract will be stored. Corey Mathisen answers that discussion should happen about where it will be and adds that he wanted to make sure the contract etc made it into the packet for longevity
- Committee Reports
Bargaining
Tabled for bargaining update
Communications and Social
Met on March 16th
Facebook page discussion will be tabled for the future
Jason received email from member that there was outdated info on website, the Member had changed filter and was looking at an archived page. They were looking at insurance info, there had been no new posts since 2019. This page will be changed from “News and Updates” to “Archived News” to avoid future confusion.
Working on updating homepage in chunks:
Committee is considering removing images from calendar. Committee is discussing redesigning homepage to center more important information than current boxes, Donna Blackwell will determine costs to update this. MnDOT stock images no longer work as of January 1st. Mary Kloos will get MnDOT stock images to Donna Blackwell, Corey Mathisen MDH, Laura Lyons MPCA, Sam Padelford DLI, Donna Blackwell will reach out to MGEC rep at DNR…. Working on a way to transfer images. Images may be used for website posts, news updates, etc.
Constitution and Legislative Committee
No updates
Ed and Tech
Question came in on 3/24, wondering if graduate students were eligible for family member scholarships. Committee thinks at most 1 should be for a grad student. Committee will meet to determine specific eligibilities and write a blurb for next member update, based on comments from other board members.
Finance Committee
Met on 3/21 to draft language for policy committee to ensure multiple people sign off on large payments.
Discussed audits and firms. It is an even numbered year, so auditing firm is required to perform it. Need to make sure all members are invited to committee meetings.
Benton Campbell asks about policy/constitution/legislative committee changes or merges discussed previously, Corey Mathisen would support recommendations from each committee to merge, but they need to come from committee
Committee normally meets around now to discuss budget prior to annual meeting, but with annual meeting pushed out, not sure what the schedule will be on that
Membership advocacy committee
No updates
Nominations committee
Dormant until it will be re-formed prior to elections
Promotional and Membership Committee
No updates
Treasurer’s Report (Laura Lyons)
- Treasurer’s report
Dana Wheeler not present so Laura Lyons will take notes on questions and pass them along to Dana Wheeler for research/answers. Laura Lyons knows he was looking into utilities, has not seen follow up on that front.
Benton Campbell asks if there is documentation for increased association fees. Per Donna Blackwell, the invoice sent reflects this update.
Scanning archived docs: MGEC hired Donna Blackwell’s daughter and Dana Wheeler’s daughter to scan the member cards from 1960s and 1970s, Donna Blackwell is updating database now that member info is scanned. Donna Blackwell will be working on pulling out minutes as well from old meetings as they are scanned. Member cards are completely scanned, board minutes have begun.
Benton Campbell asks what the building supplies were that were purchased in February. Laura Lyons will ask Dana Wheeler, Donna Blackwell posits that it may be paper towels or furnace filters.
Executive Director’s Report (Tony Kelly filling in for Dana Wheeler)
- NASHTU
Will MGEC send people to the conference? Forrest Hasty views this is a waste of money, Laura Lyons agrees.
- Member Advocacy Update
Grievance was filed, Tony Kelly led meetings for this grievance.
- Bargaining Update
Met with mediator, issues were certified. Next, MGEC and Employer will strike arbitrators from the list of 7 provided by BMS.
- Pension Update
Walz appropriated $73MM for a 2% pension COLA
Membership Report (Donna Blackwell)
- Membership Update
There are 3new members from SEMA4, 1 already full member before Donna Blackwell could reach out, Mike Kruse thanks Donna Blackwell for tracking these changes in such a detailed manner
- Ethics Seminar Update
Approx. 232 members registered. 12 without payment, Donna Blackwell reached out to confirm registration status. Some honorary life members have expressed interest and submitted payment to register
Tony Kelly’s Report (Tony Kelly)
- Covid meetings between unions and employer
State is still committed to ensuring remote work options continue even post-covid. There is a wide variety of employee vacation or sick in the bank, MGEC has most. 5.5% of MGEC members have less than 5 days of sick in the bank
- Pre Member Calls
Tony Kelly is halfway through the list, lots of voicemails. Most he talks to don’t remember getting the packet. Tony Kelly goes through what MGEC is and does, most conversations end with Tony Kelly essentially re-sending the packet. Based on his previous membership recruitment, Tony Kelly suggests reaching out from peers is most successful. Forrest Hasty concurs, says he will look at the list and call anyone he works directly with A working document is set up, with updates (google doc), so people will know who has been reached out to. Donna Blackwell will send a link to board members for their use.
- Contract for Tony Kelly’s position
Briefly reviewed by the board.
- Job Duties for Tony Kelly’s position
Briefly Reviewed by the board.
Vice President’s Report (Dan)
- No updates
Past President’s Report – (Forrest Hasty)
- Working-Out-Of-Class Update
Covered in executive director’s report regarding member advocacy.
Other updates, comments, questions, suggestions
- Mike Kruse asks if remote work long-term be allowed.
- Mike Kruse asks about achievement award as a lump sum and step
- Lori Vanderhider states that she appreciated the online annual meeting format as a greater MN employee, felt more connected
Adjourn
Forrest Hasty moves, Sam Padelford seconds, motion passes. Meeting adjourned 5:43 PM.