Attendees:

o Msgr John, Pastor
o John Toole, Chair
o Pete Adams
o Willy Agbayani
o Joe Millares
o Beth Millares
o Vivian Miranda
o Pat Waite
o Glenn Valvois
o Fr. Loi

Guests:

o Joyce Harper
o Ed Davalle
o Jim Koepf

Parish Leadership Council Meeting Minutes:

Agenda Item 1: Overview:

John Toole opened the meeting by thanking all the Parish Council Members who have served the Parish so well last year and those parishners, both new and old who will serve on the Council this year. Last year was remarkable for SFOA – the extraordinarily successful capital campaign, the recruitment of outstanding new staff members, just to name two of the highlights.. The agenda was modified slightly to accommodate our visitor’s schedule..

Agenda Item 2: Pastor’s Remarks

Msgr. John then provided a short update:

• The hiring process is bringing new staff onto the team. Nickell Melo has begun as Office Manager, and is learning quickly. She brings excellent experience to our parish from CISCO. Willy Agbayani was hired as Parish Administrator, and will officially begin on Sept 15th. Msgr pointed out the parish is blessed to have Willy and other staff now in place. Willy has served SFOA for many years and leaves his current job to join the parish. Willy has served on the Council for the last 3 years (one as Chair); has served as Chair of the Pastoral Commission; a leader in various ministries at Dove Hill and other EC communities; is studying in the Diaconate program; has run (with his wife), the “Take a Second Look Program;” and has made significant contributions to the Filipino and multicultural efforts in the parish.

• Preparations for the fall Stewardship campaign have begun:

o Sept 29: Clergy speak on Stewardship
o Oct 6/7: Testimonies from parishners
o Oct 14: Commitment Sunday

Msgr John briefly mentioned the staff offsite last week, with discussions that led to defining a new role for “outreach” in our community. We want Catholics to reach out beyond our Catholic community and bring the Word to everyone.

Agenda Item 3: Brief Finance Report

Pat Waite gave a short update on the budget. In July, the budget brought in approx $3500 more than planned, of which the building fund took in $4K more than budgeted.

Agenda Item 4: Building Options and Facility Issues.

John Toole highlighted the pre-meeting notes distributed to the Council earlier in the week (attached), and summarized the background, discussion, and logic that has led us to where we are thanks to all the work by the building and grounds committee. There was a long discussion of the options and necessary steps needed to proceed, summarized as:

• The information, analysis and responsiveness of the Building Committee to varying needs has been exceptional. Jim Koepf reported on the latest interactions with the City of San Jose, who has recently supported an abbreviated approval process. However, the manager responsible for SFOA has changed, but we expected the streamlined process would still be the route to take..
• The Council supported the direction of the building proposal, driven by the need to move current trailers ASAP, plus modestly meet some of the growing needs of the parish. Of the two options considered, the larger sized option of a prefabbed building, costing approx $1.64M is definitely preferable than the smaller building to help meet our needs, provided funds can be found within the narrow cash flow window needed to avoid escalating costs.
• Pat Waite reported there is approximately $1.5M in existing accounts/operations (NOT from the capital campaign) that could be used for funding this project, enabled by a significant gift by a donor who is considering allowing those monies to be used for this important project. That leaves a gap estimated to be approx $150K in funding, including outfitting and contingencies.
• The follow-up and continuation of the Capital Campaign was discussed at length, with the potential of about 150 families plus other new families that could contribute to this gap. The campaign team has been awaiting guidance before proceeding, and the parish is now ready to make this a high priority, with staff coming on board in Sept to help. The large donor should be contacted ASAP to verify intentions; plans put in place to begin home meetings in Oct; volunteers mobilized to begin contacts; and progress carefully reported to the Council.
• To keep on the accelerated schedule, Jim Koepf reported the need to proceed with a civil engineering study totaling $118K contract to begin the earliest phase of the building design approval. $40K of the $118K was for the design of the building was put on hold until the major gift could be verified. The remaining $78K is money needed to file an application for the permit, generate a soils report, survey, and design the pad, retaining walls and modest landscape. The majority of this work is needed even if we had to go back to the old plan of leasing and installing trailers. .

After considerable debate and discussion, the Council agreed:
• That no monies for design of the building would be authorized unless agreement with the major donor was clarified, which could happen before Monday.
• If agreement was obtained, then the entire $118K contract was authorized to begin work as described above, allowing the approval process to move forward.
• Major emphasis be placed on fundraising for the additional $200K (approx) capital monies needed in the near term, and volunteer help sought as needed. Pete Adams will continue to organize these efforts with staff and Council. Several ideas were discussed which will be taken back to the team(s).
• That the Parish Council be informed of progress and be appraised on the next steps, including the preparation of a simple cash flow analysis, given the new information and decisions made at this meeting.

Agenda Item 5: Election of Parish Council for Next Year

Referring to the notes handed out, John Toole discussed the steps he, Msgr John, and others had taken to bring the set of candidates forward for next year’s council. The list is attached. Considerable discussion ensued, with the following concluded:

• Based on the recommendation by the Chair, the Council adopted a change to the Parish Leadership Manual that the pastor would appoint the Chair of the Council each year, which would then be endorsed by the Council, and confirmed by the Assembly. This adds a position to the Council, which was recommended based on the growing need for diversity at SFOA and the need for the Chair to remain neutral in dealing with all Commission, Teams, and factions at the parish.
• After discussion of individuals, the discernment process, and overall workloads/opportunities:
o Joe Millares was elected as Chairman;
o Vivian Miranda, Beth Millares, John Toole, My Nguyen, Charlie Muller, and Eric Miles were elected as Ad Hoc Members. Eric’s availability to be confirmed by Msgr John.
o Joyce Harper will represent the Pastoral Commission; Ed Davalle will represent the Administration Commission; the EC and Faith Formation Commissions has not yet elected a representative but will do so by the next meeting.
o Mgr John appointed Fr Loi, Will Agbayani, Glenn Valois, and Julius Bercasio as staff representatives.
o All the positions will be affirmed at the next Assembly.
o It was decided that a co-chair would be chosen at the next meeting, after the Chair meets with Council members individually

Agenda Item 6: Future Projects and Events

Joe Millares, the elected new Chair, stated his desire to meet one on one with each Council member to refine the Parish’s shared vision and how Council can best operate. These will occur during the next month.

John Toole pointed out the intent to hold an Assembly in the future. Msgr John and Willy will consider timing over the next couple of weeks, after Willy begins work full time.

Agenda Item 5: Open Discussion

Due to the lateness of the evening, items were kept short. Vivian Miranda gave a quick PACT update and pointed out several upcoming community meetings that will be announced via email.

The meeting closed with a prayer by Fr Loi.

UPCOMING MEETINGS:
Oct 4, Nov 1
Parish Assembly to be scheduled