Board of Trustees

Oakland Museum Of California Board Of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Regular
SEPTEMBER 7, 2006
MUSEUM RESTAURANT
4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Trustees

Dale Block, Christopher Curtis, Steven Douglas, Rich Edwards, Lori Fogarty, Virginia Furth, Lance Gyorfi, Anthony Harris, Melvin Harrison, Daryl Lillie, Judith McKee, Christopher McLain, Missy Nelson, Darren Oliver, Marianne Robison, Katherine Shea, Penelope Wong, and Sheryl Wong

Trustees Excused:

Susan Chamberlin, William Chiasson, Matthew Cox, Richard DeAtley, Harold Jones, Jacqueline Kane, John McDonald, Phyllis Pfeiffer, Deborah Roessler, Margaret Russell, Timothy Silva, Brian Washington, and Sandra Wolfe

Staff Present:

Ann Dickson, Barbara Henry, Dorothy Hood, Christiaan Klieger, Philip Linhares, Bill McMorris, Mark Medeiros, and Catherine Millar

Volunteers Present:

Gay Auerbach, Lois Corrin, Michael Coleman, Sandra Coleman, Dave Elliot, Ruth Hussey, and Gail Weininger

Guests Present:

Linda Crittondon and Roslyn Cole

1. CALL TO ORDER/INTRODUCTIONS – Lance Gyorfi
Chair Gyorfi called the meeting to order at 4:15 p.m. and introduced Ann Dickson as the museum’s new Director of Marketing.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Lance Gyorfi
On a motion duly made and seconded (Curtis/Wong), the following resolution was unanimously adopted:

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the June 22, 2006 Board of Trustees meeting are approved as corrected.

3. CHAIR’S REPORT – Lance Gyorfi
Chair Gyorfi reported that the Management Operations Agreement (MOA) between the Foundation and the City is on the agenda for the September 12, 2006 meeting of the Life Enrichment Committee. Mr. Gyorfi thanked trustee Katherine Shea for all her efforts and work in ushering this through the City’s process. City Administrator Deborah Edgerly is quite supportive and Mr. Gyorfi believes the MOA will pass at the September 19, 2006 City Council meeting.

It was planned for trustee Timothy Silva, Vice President of Wells Fargo, to make a check presentation for $25,000 to the foundation from Wells Fargo. However, Mr. Silva was unable to attend this meeting and the presentation will be made at another meeting.

With regard to the capital campaign, except for the new members, all trustees have been contacted regarding their personal contributions and our goal is to have 100% Board participation by the time of the off-site retreat on September 29.

4. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – Lori Fogarty
Director Fogarty said the museum now has a full senior staff with the hiring of Marketing Director Ann Dickson and Director of Development Catherine Millar. The Development Department has hired Bernadette Powell to be the Associate Director of Annual Giving and Linda Larkin is now the Associate Director for the Capital Campaign.

With regard to attendance projections to date, particularly for the Disneyland exhibition, projections fell short in July but came close in August. At this time, the museum is not planning reductions based on the lower attendance numbers, but will continue to monitor performance moving forward. The CCRC is very near completion and Christopher Curtis, Susan Chamberlin, Mel Harris, and John Burke were thanked for working on this project. The collection is in the process of being moved to the CCRC and it is hoped the move will be completed by the end of this year.

Ms. Fogarty announced the opening of following exhibits: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers on September 23, 2006; Dias de los Muertos 2006 on October 11, 2006; and California as Muse: The Art of Arthur & Lucia Mathews on October 28, 2006.

5.NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT – Darryl Lillie
Trustee Lillie presented the Board of Trustees slate of offices for 2006/2007 as follows:

If members have other names they would like to put up for nomination, the names should be submitted to Ms. Lillie.

6. GOVERNMENT RELATIONS– Katherine Shea
A form that listed city, state, and federal government politicians was distributed and trustees were asked to identify anyone known to them and indicate how that person could help in being an advocate for the museum. Trustee Shea suggested that Maria Shriver and Mayor-elect Ron Dellums be added to the list and also said that politicians prefer to be informed by one or two personal contacts rather than from letters or the press. The forms should be returned to either Ms. Shea or Ms. Fogarty. Trustees were also asked to provide any additional contacts they may have from such organizations as the Oakland Chamber of Commerce.

7. RENOVATION OVERSIGHT– Lance Gyorfi
Chair Gyorfi introduced Project Manager Roslyn Cole of Cavagnero Associates who is part of the team overseeing the museum’s renovation. Mr. Gyorfi gave a power point presentation on the updated estimates for Phase I of the renovation with Ms. Cole providing clarification where needed.

At the recommendation of the Campaign Cabinet, it was agreed at the February 2005 Board of Trustees meeting that the foundation’s fundraising capacity for Phase I of the renovation project was $39.9 million. However costs have risen on most renovation elements and inflation has also caused additional escalation in costs. It is now estimated that Phase I elements will cost an additional $5.1 for a total of $45.0 million.

The Landmarks Commission sub-committee has approved all of the proposed renovation changes, and full Commission approval will be sought in the near future. The Foundation agreed that the renovation work would seek to attain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification if it made sense to do so with this type of Museum modification, which it appears that it does. Cavagnero and Associates will continue to track costs for Phase I and will prepare costs estimates for Phase II.

Executive Director Lori Fogarty said in regards to fundraising, in order to make the best case to all donors the campaign should be thought of as a single project. To date, $4.0 million dollars has been raised in private fundraising and Ms. Fogarty and Development Director Catherine Millar are optimistic about the fundraising if the transformation of the museum is seen as significant and dramatic. Chair Gyorfi reiterated that it is one campaign with the renovation project done in two phases of construction.

Some comments, concerns, and suggestions made were:

o Use solar panels in the gallery to save on the costs of lights.
o Seek in-kind donations such as carpeting.
o Concern that some items of the renovation seen by the public are being pushed back, such as the restaurant.
o Have a public fundraising goal but have a backup goal if public goal is not attained.
o Need to solicit for the Capital Campaign and also the Annual Fund.
o Will the renovation move us toward becoming more the Museum of California?
o We are trying to build a brand. The biggest thing is how do we tell our story as opposed to looking at the criteria list?
o If we do the right branding, the criteria list is not necessary.
o We have a brand now but need to add the broader community rather than local constituents.
o Is there a way to have free admission day?
o Does the renovation respond to the customer’s need, i.e. restrooms and other amenities?
o Would like State to recognize the museum as the Museum of California.
o The museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday and the restaurant, store, and Collector’s Gallery should be moved to the 3rd level so the public can access them when the museum is closed.
o There are many stories to be told about the museum, one of them would be about architect Kevin Roche, leading the way in the greening of the building more than 30 years ago.
o There are too many criteria.

The next steps are: estimates of Phase II cost will be presented by Cavagnero and Associates on September 26, 2006; rough cut pass at what needs to change to meet preliminary ability to raise funds; present preliminary adjustments to overall renovation at offsite; develop final list of project elements and campaign goal for October board meeting review/comments/endorsements.

Ms. Fogarty said the criteria will be reviewed and all the suggestions regarding the criteria will be used to fine tune it. Mark Cavagnero has said for every month that goes by, the cost increases by $80,000.

Trustee Sheryl Wong invited all to attend the Campaign Cabinet meeting to be held on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.

12. ADJOURNEMENT – Lance Gyorfi
There being no further business Chair Gyorfi adjourned the meeting at 6:10 p.m.

Christopher McLain
Secretary