This year’s annual meeting of the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Monica, held on Sunday June 16 after the regular service, actually included two separate meetings — one to amend our bylaws to temporarily expand the Board of Directors, and one for the usual annual reports and elections.
Special Meeting
The first of the two sessions was a very brief Special Meeting to consider a motion that our congregational Bylaws be amended to temporarily expand the numbers of Members-at-Large on our Board of directors from four to six, for two years beginning in the 2024-2025 church year (starting on July 1, 2024). The motion also specified that “at the end of the two (2) church year period (July 2024-June 2026), the number of Members-at-Large of the Board shall return to four (4) Members-at-Large. Candidates elected to the added Member-at-Large seats will serve for a maximum of two (2) years.” The motion passed by a vote of 89 ayes, 18 nays, and 6 abstentions.
Annual Meeting
Next, the official 96th Annual Meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Monica was called to order by UUSM President Eileen McCormack at 12:59 p.m. After a chalice lighting by Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae, Eileen confirmed a quorum was present, and various meeting officials were appointed. The Covenant of Right Relations was read, and attendees also voted to approve the Minutes from the 2023 Annual Meeting (with one correction to the spelling of David Olson’s name).
Eighth Principle
In its first major order of business, the congregation considered a motion to adopt the proposed new 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism: “We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.” During the discussion that followed, Gerald Saldo suggested streamlining the wording of the Principle, but a motion to adopt the streamlined version failed with a vote of six in favor, 59 opposed and six abstentions. After a motion and vote to call the question, the original motion to adopt the 8th Principle as stated above passed by a vote of 87 yeas, 11 nays, and 2 abstentions.
Awards
Next, several members were honored with congregational awards. Barbara Gibbs and Denise Helton received Distinguished Leadership Awards, Gretchen Goetz and Cynthia Middleton received Distinguished Service Awards, and Sabina Mayo-Smith and Teresa Castelli received our Unsung Hero Awards.
Minister’s Report
Rev. Jeremiah Kalendae provided his annual report, in which he thanked members of the congregation for “the many ways you contribute time, talent, resources, and, most importantly, heart to our beloved congregation.” He also reviewed the congregation’s services, events, and activities over the last year, and discussed ongoing transformational efforts in both the Unitarian Universalist denomination and in our own congregation as we prepare for a new settled ministry. Finally, he also recognized members of our community who passed on this year – Mark Christiansen, Yacoub Kharraz, Hildreth Simmons, and Nora Hamilton – and urged members to “celebrate the many ways we have woven beloved community together, as we also grieve the losses, and commit to the patchwork and new weavings that will make this historic community stronger, more whole, and more beautiful.”
President’s Report
Next, Eileen gave her President’s report, in which she noted that the Board has asked Rev. Jeremiah, who was originally scheduled to end his Developmental Ministry in the summer of 2025, to stay on for an extra year, with plans to conclude our settled ministry search in the summer of 2026. She said there will be special meeting before the end of this calendar year to ask the congregation to vote to appoint the search committee, with a “slightly unusual ” year-and-a-half-long search process. She said this will allow time for healing after recent conflicts, strengthening of Right Relations/Healthy Congregations, ongoing work on our mission and vision, and growth and development of our children’s and youth religious education programs with our new interim DRE, Jessica Place.
Eileen also reported that “our financial house is in remarkably good order,” and that we ended our fiscal year with a small surplus and a promising budget for next year, thanks to our own congregation’s generosity, and to our new five-year partnership with the Santa Monica Synagogue. Also, she noted, the work on the Arizona Avenue entry to Forbes Hall is nearly complete, which will help our event marketing, and our more stable finances will better our position to call a settled minister. Finally, she said, we also raised more than $11,000 for a UU the Vote matching grant for important outreach efforts.
Presentation of Candidates
Next up was the presentation of candidates for the Board of Directors and for the Leadership Development and Nominating Committee. They included:
- Eileen McCormack – President (nominated)
- Vilma Ortiz – Vice President (nominated)
- Julie Nyquist – Vice President (petition)
- Linda van Ligten – Board Secretary (nominated)
- Larry Weiner – Member at Large (nominated)
- Shanna Shaked – Member at Large (petition)
- Cassie Winters – Member at Large (petition)
- Norman Richey – Member at Large (nominated)
- Rebecca Crawford – Treasurer (no vote required)
- Audrey Erbes – Member at Large (no vote required)
- Trish Brassard – Member at Large (no vote required)
- Barbara Kernochan – Past President (no vote required)
- Erik Paesel – Leadership Development and Nominating Committee (nominated)
- Robbert Schalekamp – Leadership Development and Nominating Committee (nominated)
- Haygo Salibian – Leadership Development and Nominating Committee (no vote required)
- John Zinner – Leadership Development and Nominating Committee (no vote required)
- Wendi Gladstone – Leadership Development and Nominating Committee (no vote required)
Treasurer’s Report
Ballots were collected after the candidate presentations and, while they were being counted, Treasurer Rebecca Crawford gave her annual report and presented the proposed budget for 2024-25. After some discussion and a successful motion to call the question, a motion to approve the budget passed by a vote of 41 in favor, 16 opposed, and 5 abstentions.
Election Results
Next, the election results were announced. Our 2 new Board members will be Shanna Shaked and Cassie Winters. All current Board members who were up for reelection got a majority of yes votes. Vilma Ortiz received a majority of votes cast for the contested Vice President seat and was elected to a second two-year term. The Leadership Development and Nominating Committee will have new members Robbert Schalekamp and Erik Paesel.
Specific vote totals for officers, board members, and committee members were:
- Eileen McCormack – President – 80 ayes, 20 nays
- Vilma Ortiz – Vice President – 58 ayes
- Julie Nyquist – Vice President – 43 ayes
- Linda van Ligten – Board Secretary – 86 ayes, 16 nays
- Larry Weiner – Member at Large – 85 ayes, 13 nays
- Shanna Shaked – Member at Large – 95 ayes, 3 nays
- Cassie Winters – Member at Large – 96 ayes, 5 nays
- Norman Richey – Member at Large – 83 ayes, 16 nays
- Erik Paesel – Leadership Development and Nominating Committee – 99 ayes, 3 nays
- Robbert Schalekamp – Leadership Development and Nominating Committee – 80 ayes, 19 nays
The newly elected Officers were all read the charge and accepted their responsibilities. Process observers Susan Hendricks and Cassie Winters said in general the meeting was peaceful and respectful.
In closing, Eileen thanked members for their patience and said, “Now let’s go do this.” The chalice was extinguished and the meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m.
Draft minutes used to prepare this report were provided by outgoing board secretary Larry Weiner.
