The Articles of Incorporation Committee will meet on Monday, March 15, 4pm-6pm at the Takoma Park Store.

Click here to see the "Focus on Local" report prepared by the Local Foods Committee.

Click here to see the nominating committee policies.

Get involved

• Board member job description
  
• Code of ethics
  
• Policy register
  
• Monitoring report decision tree

The next board meeting will be March 21, 2010 from 6 pm - 9:30 pm.

See the board calendar for 2010.

Join a committee

Read the minutes from previous board meetings:

• The December meeting was canceled due to the snow.
• November 2009 board meeting
• October 2009 member meeting
• October 2009 board meeting
• September 2009 board meeting
• August 2009 board meeting
• July 2009 board meeting
• June 2009 board meeting
• June 2009 member meeting
• May 2009 board meeting
• April 2009 board meeting

• Drop a note in the board's mailbox
• Write concerns in the board's member comment log
• Write the board at board (at) tpss (dot) coop

• Write the general manager at gm (at) tpss.coop.
• Write the newsletter editor at editor (at) tpss.coop.
• Fill out a customer comment form and put it in the customer comment box at the customer service desk. Again, please include your contact information (email address or phone number) for a response, otherwise read the response from the appropriate staff member once it is posted in the customer comment log located at the customer service desk.

Board communication to members:

1. The Board led a thorough search for and hired a new general manager. The GM Search Committee consisted of Board Members, staff and members. All staff and members had a chance to meet with the finalist candidates and provide feedback to the Board. The Board hired John Kidney, who began in November.


2. The Board adopted and began implementing portions of the Strategic Plan, including reviewing and revising the End's Policies which govern the Board's direction to the GM. the Strategic Plan and the Policy Register can be found on the TPSS webpage, www.TPSS.coop/governance.html .


3. The Board's Local Foods Committee, a result of the Stragegic Plan, inspired several members to get involved and met actively over the year. They have develped a set of recommendations which the Board will consider early in 2010.


4. The Board brought in an independent accountant to review the TPSS financial systems. The accountant found many areas which were out of compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The Board worked with the Interim General Manager to hire a new Finance Manager and begin implementing GAAP and Best Practices for Financial Operations. A more detailed memo related to this was distributed to the membership Dec. 3, 2009.


5. The Board brought in outside consultants to conduct a survey with staff members on their experiences with TPSS as an employers. The results raised several areas of concern so the Board hired an outside Human Resources Consultant to review TPSS's HR systems. The Board simultaneously changed TPSS policy to require that the GM hire a human resources manager. A HR Manager was hired in October and TPSS has begun implementing the recommendations to the HR consultant. The Board has changed what the GM is required to report on a regular basis to ensure the Board can monitor the HR situation.


6. The Board's Living Wage Committee, also a result of the Strategic Plan, recruited members and began work toward the end of the year. Their work will continue into next year.


7. The Board developed new election protocols to ensure fair elections. These protocols were used in the redone election in December, and will be further refined for future elections based on the feedback we receive.

December 31, 2009

Congratulations to the newly elected board members: Mary Rooker, Nelson Graves and David Walker. Thanks to all candidates for their interest in serving the co-op.