The Rotary Club of Kirkland held an in-person meeting November 4, 2024, at the Kirkland Eagles Club. Kristin Olson presided at this meeting and called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m.
Doug Evanson led us in both the Pledge and the 4-Way Test recitations.
Attendees: David Aubry, Cody Baker, Gary Cohn*, Sue Cohn*, Donald Dicks*, Sandy Ekins (Honorary)*, Jocelyn Ellison, Doug Evanson, Rashmi Garimella, Isabelle Kalisa, Chris Kelly-Storbeck, Kate Koslosky, Laura Loomis, Jim Meniketti, Kristin Olson, Rick Ostrander, Rémy Pairault, Angela Pritchett, John Pruitt, and John Storbeck. *Attended via Zoom.
Guests:Chuck Loomis was back again as a guest of Laura Loomis; Joe Gorder and Kristen Tollefsen from Rose Hill Middle School were guests of Cody Baker; Lulu Figine was a guest of Kristin Olson; Student of the Month Marianne Makowska and parents Ewa and Michal Makowska and Lake Washington School District Career Specialist Nichole Swanger were guests of the club, as was Sheila Cloney, our guest speaker.
Rotary Moment:
Kristin Olson gave us a Rotary Moment about Rotary International’s 7 areas of focus: - Peacebuilding and conflict prevention
- Disease prevention and treatment
- Water, sanitation, and hygiene
- Maternal and child health
- Basic education and literacy
- Community economic development
- Environment
She then gave a brief description of how RI addresses many of these issues.
Announcements & Committee Reports:
Doug Evanson reminded us that Saturday, December 14 is Holiday Gift Shopping Day at Fred Meyer in Kirkland – he still needs 15 total shoppers to sign up on a soon-to-be-ready area of the Club’s website. Monday, December 16 will be the Wrapping Party and Holiday Gala – also will be a sign-up area on the Club’s website. [Both events are live on the Club Calendar.]
New Business:
Ms. Olson then reminded us that we needed to consider the proposed revisions to Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 of the club’s Bylaws that were sent to all Cub members. Secretary Rashmi Garimella confirmed the presence of a quorum of active members: 19 of 36 voting members. Dave Aubry moved and Doug Evanson seconded that we adopt the revisions. There being no discussion, the presiding officer called for a vote. The motion was carried unanimously.
Student of the Month:
Jocelyn Reiter then introduced Rotary Student of the Month Marianne Makowska and her parents and school career specialist, all recognized above as guests. Our Student of the Month than told us a bit about herself, what she has done so far in life and in a public service role. She is very interested in social and environmental issues. She is currently in the process of applying to a number of colleges, mostly within Washington state.
Program:
Kristin Olson introduced our speaker, Sheila Cloney of Main Street Kirkland, a non-profit 501(c)(3) that works mostly with local small business and other local organizations that want to be heard as the city develops plans for future development.
Main Street is a national coalition to promote the development and evolution of smaller cities and districts within some larger cities. There are Main Street organizations in such places as Walla Walla, Edmonds, Pioneer Square and the International District in the city of Seattle, and Chelan.
Ms. Cloney spoke about her work in Kirkland and the conflict between local residents and businesspeople and city government officials. The current controversy over differing visions for the future of Park Lane is a prime example of the differing perspectives. Main Street Kirkland is currently developing outreach and a visioning process for the future evolution of Kirkland. The city of Chelan is a good example of this process. Chelan is aiming to modernize and strengthen older infrastructure for the future rather than tearing down and rebuilding into 5-10 story cookie-cutter buildings.
Main Street Kirkland is working with the Greater Kirkland Chamber of Commerce and with the Kirkland Downtown Association to avoid duplication of effort. Main Street is informing and empowering downtown businesses, thus giving their voices more weight. Ms. Cloney gave us some examples of how communication and coordination with the city could be improved. She spoke about the proposed redevelopment of the US Bank site on Central Way, which could result in cutting off delivery access to some of the businesses on Park Lane.
Main Street is suggesting using Edmond’s plan as a model for the future redevelopment of downtown Kirkland. Edmond’s plan is apparently to maintain low-profile development and strongly foster Shop Local.
Ms. Cloney gave us information on how to get involved in influencing Kirkland’s future evolution. See the website for Main Street Kirkland for additional information. Note that the website is still evolving.
There were several questions from interested Rotarians and guests.
More Announcements:
Cody Baker introduced Joe Gorder and Kristen Tollefsen who spoke about Rose Hill Middle School’s ‘Pantry’. About 15% of the school’s students qualify for the district’s federal free or reduced lunch program; the Pantry helps to bridge the gap especially by providing some non-food items such as soap, shampoo, deodorant, etc. They appealed to the club for awareness and support.
Happy Bucks:
Cody Baker did a round of Happy Dollars and also reminded us to donate raffle items so we can get back to making a few dollars from the weekly raffle. The fee to the Eagles Club for the use of their facility for in-person meetings comes out of Happy Dollars and the Raffle. There were several happy Rotarians at this meeting.
Acting President Kristin Olson rang the bell to adjourn at 7:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
David Aubry – Acting Scribe