[GREN-Exec] [All] OGA donation distribution

[Susan Koswan]

Again, my apologies Kevin.

I could make Sun, Mon or Wed work.

Susan K

On 12/17/2020 6:26 PM, Kevin Thomason wrote:
> Hi GREN Exec,
>
> Thanks for reaching out though I think that your e-mail went to the 
> entire membership list and not just the Executive.  I would agree that 
> we should talk things through and make sure that everyone is on the 
> same page and there aren’t any questions regarding the OGA funding 
> though having dozens of people on a call could be challenging.
>
> I would have liked to have more time along the way to keep the 
> Executive and the GREN membership more in the loop however with the 
> insanity of my house build, the pandemic, young toddlers, etc. any 
> time that I had just went to trying to keep up with the other OGA 
> groups and what needed to be done.
>
> We had talked about hiring someone to do all the work for this 
> Greenbelt Foundation/OGA funding and in the end I was the one who 
> ended up doing most of work over the past 9 months - including likely 
> about 40 hours over the past three weeks alone and another three hours 
> today spent on Zoom calls with the OGA Steering Committee and editing 
> documents on tight deadlines.  This certainly wasn’t a donation from 
> the OGA - it was compensation to local groups for Greenbelt 
> activities/outreach and in this case it has been myself doing almost 
> all of the work required.
>
> I have tried to provide a Southern Ontario presence at the provincial 
> level as well as some outreach in our part of the province and it has 
> been insane trying to keep up with everything - particularly as things 
> such as Bill 229 just added to the onslaught.
>
> GREN likely wouldn’t have the grant if it wasn’t for my years of 
> efforts at a provincial level and all the time that I have put into it 
> this past year and splitting the $10,000 funding with GREN will 
> provide funds to put towards the GREN website or whatever the group 
> wants however if me getting any portion of the funds causes an issue I 
> will simply forgo any portion of it.
>
> As John and I discussed the other day it has been great to see GREN 
> activities on many fronts recently been it in the media, at standing 
> committees, working with politicians, or other groups.  It is great to 
> see GREN getting the respect and acknowledgement along with the impact 
> we can have.
>
> Some times that could work for me to discuss things over a Zoom call 
> would include:
>
> Friday, Dec 18th 6:30pm
> Sun, Dec 20th 7pm
> Mon, Dec 21st 1pm or 7:30pm
> Wed, Dec 23rd 2:30pm
>
> Or feel free to suggest any other times that might work better for folks.
>
> Stay safe in the meantime.
>
> Cheers,
> Kevin.
>
> -------------------------------------
>
> Kevin Thomason
>
> 1115 Cedar Grove Road
> Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4
>
> Phone: (519) 888-0519
> Mobile Phone/WhatsApp: (519) 240-1648
> Twitter: @kthomason
> E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com <mailto:kevinthomason at mac.com>
>
> -----------------------------------------
>
>> On Dec 17, 2020, at 3:04 PM, Susan Koswan <susankoswan at execulink.com 
>> <mailto:susankoswan at execulink.com>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Hi Kevin,
>>
>> Can you let us know when you are available for a Zoom meeting to 
>> follow up on your email about the distribution of the OGA money? We 
>> want to ensure that the best interests and integrity of GREN are 
>> maintained and have a few concerns:
>>
>> GREN has never compensated members in any way that could be construed 
>> as payment for work done. Our policy and practice for our limited 
>> funds is to assist small, local citizen groups, initiatives and 
>> events, often when unexpected expenses arose. As well, GREN has been 
>> able to reimburse expenses when a member is acting on behalf of GREN. 
>> Any reimbursement beyond that is best discussed further.
>>
>> When we talked about the OGA funding, we agreed that $5000 would be 
>> allocated towards building the GREN website and its ongoing costs. 
>> For the remainder, there was some discussion about hiring someone to 
>> do the work to meet the goals of the OGA funding, but the opportunity 
>> to do so was not opened to all GREN members.
>>
>> Because of this we’re a little concerned about the optics of 
>> compensating a GREN executive member without full membership discussion.
>>
>> We are all grateful for the time and energy you have invested into 
>> protecting and extending the Greenbelt, but also want to do best for 
>> GREN to make sure we can help financially in our own small way as 
>> needed.
>>
>> Please let us know when you have some time available to meet and 
>> Susan K can set up a Zoom meeting.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Greg, John, Susan B, Susan K
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> All at gren.ca <mailto:All at gren.ca>
>> http://gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca
>
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