2016 CMCM Board Candidate Statements
Current CMCM Members will receive an email with directions for online voting. Ballots must be cast by Tuesday October 25. Election results will be announced at the Annual Member meeting to be held at CMCM on Thursday October 27th at 6:00 pm.
Members will elect two of the following three candidates for a three year term on the CMCM Board:
Statement of Veda Florez, Novato, CA
Statement of William Sims, Sausalito, CA
Statement of Larry Strick, Mill Valley, CA
Candidate statements are below:
Name any Boards or Advisory groups on which you have served in the past:
President, Marin County Bar Association; Vice President, Marin Interfaith Council; Board of Governors Consumer Attorneys of California
Name any organizations with which you are affiliated:
Marin County Bar Association; Marin Trial Lawyer Association, San Francisco Trial Lawyers; Consumer Attorneys of San Francisco
Please list other Non-Profit/Board experience:
Consumer Attorneys of California, Marin Interfaith Council, Marin County Bar Association President.
Please list other Affiliations (organizations, corporations, foundations):
I have served on the executive Committee of the Consumer Attorneys of California as Parliamentarian. I continue to serve on that Board.
Why do you want to serve on the CMCM Board of Directors?
CMCM provides a forum for our community to have voices heard. I have produced over 50 episodes of the public affairs show "Marin Voices and Views." I try to get information about our community to the citizens of Marin. To protect our ability to get our voices out, we need a strong CMCM. That is why I have served on the Board of Directors of CMCM the past three years; I have done so to protect our ability to get a message out. I want to continue to serve on the Board, work on increasing revenue, get messages to the community, and have all our voices heard in Marin. My goal is to help members have the resources to continue to create programming.
What relevant experience do you bring to this board position?
As a small business owner and attorney, I believe my skill set can champion CMCM. It is only with strategic and comprehensive outreach that CMCM can accomplish this task. I understand the strengths of CMCM and can to introduce CMCM to the greater Marin community.
What is your vision for CMCM and how will you achieve it?
My vision for CMCM is to be a bulwark of free speech. A place where anyone in Marin can have an idea, work hard, be creative, and have their vision broadcast to the community. Importantly, the channels of CMCM need to be the destination point where interested members of the community can view the operation of government. CMCM needs to be a transparent portal where people get to see what is going on in City Hall. Finally, CMCM needs to be in the new wave of how education opportunities are provided to the community.
CMCM needs to continue to be a vibrant community center. A place where ideas are sent to the community, members share ideas and help each other grow and flourish. There should not be one vision of CMCM. It is and must remain a collaborative place. A safe place for ideas and a place to enjoy.
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Name any Boards or Advisory groups on which you have served in the past:
CMCM Board member and Treasurer; Sausalito Library Foundation Advisory Board; Next Generation Board member and Treasurer; Progressive Perspectives Board member; and Citizens' Reach Out are the most recent and current. I was also involved in an MTA governance group and a member of the Conveners Board, which were instrumental in founding CMCM. For the past several years, I have served on the CMCM Finance Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Governance/Board Development.
Name any organizations with which you are affiliated:
In addition to the above, I'm a member of the Democratic Central Committee of Marin, the ACLU, the Friends of the Sausalito Library, and several other organizations.
Please list other Non-Profit/Board experience:
I have a legal background in the law of tax exempt organizations, and taught advanced tax courses at Golden Gate Law School. I have been instrumental in the formation of all of the 501(c)(3) organizations listed in [the first] question and have prepared successful applications for IRS recognition of their exempt status. I continue to work with many of these organizations to help them deal with legal and financial issues.
Why do you want to serve on the CMCM Board of Directors?
I've been on the CMCM Board since its inception, and I'm immensely proud of all that Michael and the Board have done to build a national model media center, and bring true community media to Marin. But much remains to be done for CMCM to realize its full potential, and I'd like to help it realize that potential.
What relevant experience do you bring to this board position?
My most relevant and rewarding non-profit experience has been working with Michael and the CMCMBoard over the past several years to help realize our mutual goal of a vibrant and successful Community Media. The CMCM Board has been a wonderful mix of talented individuals who work well together as a team to support Michael. I think it takes a mix of diverse talents to help guide an organization as complex as CMCM. My own contribution has been mostly on legal and financial issues. I was part of the team that negotiated our first basic access provider agreement with the MTA that secured our initial funding and started us in business. When Comcast threatened to withhold PED fee funding, crippling CMCM, our team weathered a challenging year-long negotiation with the MTA in a successful effort to obtain the supplemental funding for CMCM necessary for its survival.
What is your vision for CMCM and how will you achieve it?
Within several years, I hope to see CCM at the very center of the Marin community -- an essential part of the public commons and the culture of Marin. We have already created a healthy and mutually supportive community environment for producers, and many of their works have garnered awards and recognition. Our public affairs programs such as debates, forums, and talk show interviews discussing issues of local interest are creating more community involvement, and it's not hard to see CMCM becoming the TV to watch for local affairs. CMCM's camera installations have enabled most cities to televise their City Council meetings. Innovative CMCM programs like the Marin Media Corps. have begun to increase the involvement of high school kids in video production and filming community events. We need to keep pushing these things and keep working to increase the funding necessary to support them.
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Name any Boards or Advisory groups on which you have served in the past:
Marin Grassroots; Metropolitan Transportation Committee, Advisory Group; League of Women Voters of the Bay Area.
Name any organizations with which you are affiliated:
League of Women Voters
Please list other Non-Profit/Board experience:
Marin Grassroots; League of Women Voters of the Bay Area; Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, Advisory Board.
Please list other Affiliations (organizations, corporations, foundations):
Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
Why do you want to serve on the CMCM Board of Directors?
I believe that CMCM is an important community resource -- both the content creation and media viewing communities. With my non-profit experience, I can contribute to the Board's work, particularly with outreach and fundraising.
What relevant experience do you bring to this board position?
As shown with the organizations activities identified in [previous] questions, I have been involved in various non-profit leadership positions. Additionally, I have interests and involvement in issues for minorities and the underserved, particularly the Latino community. Currently, there is no Latino representation on the Board. My appointment to the Board would show better diversity on the Board.
What is your vision for CMCM and how will you achieve it?
My vision of CMCM is to support the work of the Board as well as improve membership to those under 35 years of age by creating family involvement as well as asking current members to take an active ambassadordhship role for greater outreach.