Ecstatic Dance
Wednesday April 3, 2024
10:00am
Admission: Free

Read more
LCCA Monthly Board Meeting
Monday April 8, 2024
5:15pm
Admission: Free

Read more
A Letter to the Lopez Community
Dear Lopez Community,

The recent exchange of posts on LopezRocks has revealed to us, the Board of Lopez Community Center Association (LCCA), that we urgently need to clarify how this organization operates and the benefits of membership. While we communicate this information as often as we can, it seems we need to work harder. We will start here.

LCCA is a non-profit membership organization. Everyone 18 and older who resides or owns property on Lopez is a member. LCCA owns and operates the Community Center and is steward of the surrounding 9 acres that includes the Skate Park, Children’s Center, Farmers Market, Fertile Ground and Sally’s Garden. The work is managed by a part-time Director, a part-time Assistant Director, and 13 Board Members. The Board functions as a group in regards to oversight, policy decisions and communications. As Board Members, we volunteer our time, talents, and labor - "we believe LCCA is an essential asset to our community and it is our responsibility to make sure it is here for generations to come. Equally important to running LCCA are hundreds of volunteers, who give thousands of hours of their time to help make the Center a vibrant part of our community, and our many generous donors. If you are not currently on our e-mail list, we invite you to sign up at www.lopezcenter.org.

Community Members are invited to attend our Board Meetings which are advertised at www.lopezcenter.org. If you’d like to address the Board at a meeting, please contact office@lopezcenter.org five days in advance. Letters can also be mailed to the Board at PO Box 291. In addition, we encourage you to attend and vote at the Annual Meeting, held in the first quarter of each year.

Regular and Annual Meetings follow strict protocols, with a set agenda and systematic voting on any major decision. The Board has legal and fiduciary responsibilities to keep the non-profit functioning smoothly and to maintain compliance with ever-changing state and federal requirements. Our Bylaws provide the structure for us to follow in our actions and apply to every member of the Board. We are advised by an attorney with expertise in state and federal laws, especially when it comes to bylaw revisions. Revisions are made when needed for clarification, to better serve our mission, to keep up with current legal language, and to correct reference numbers to changing laws. Most recently, revisions were presented, discussed and unanimously approved at our Regular Board Meeting on February 14, 2022, then ratified at the Annual Meeting on March 11, 2022 (30 in favor, 2 against). One important improvement in the newly approved Bylaws is that they expand the LCCA’s ability to increase member participation in elections.

In the lead up to this year’s Annual Meeting, regular updates were given to the Board about the Nominating Committee. Posts were placed on LopezRocks inquiring about additional members for the Committee and for Board Member candidates. In compliance with the Bylaws, five Board Member candidates were nominated from the floor at the Annual Meeting.

The Purpose of the 2022 Annual Meeting was to present a financial statement, approve the budget, ratify changes to the Bylaws, elect Board Members and receive the Annual Report. This year’s Meeting was held via Zoom again due to COVID. To expand attendance this year, in addition to posting notice on our website and on LopezRocks, we also published in the Islands Weekly newspaper 20 days in advance. To confirm membership ahead of time and make voting manageable via Zoom, we required pre-registration. We regret that some people missed the registration period. However, everyone who missed the deadline and contacted LCCA to request voting access in advance of the Annual Meeting was admitted as a voting member. The system wasn’t perfect, but we are pleased to report that we had more non-Board participants at this year’s Annual Meeting than the previous 10 years combined. We are excited at this sign that more people are interested in participating in LCCA.

As a Board, we promise to continually improve channels of communications, welcome your ideas for discussion, increase awareness of membership, and encourage more active involvement through participation and volunteerism as members of LCCA.

Sincerely,

Lopez Center Board
Eric Blaser, Mary Ann Cameron, Dawn Dawson Wexo, Dennis Egan, Bruce Ellestad, Karen Hattman, Jane Marshall, Laura Matthews, Mo Pomietto, Dave Rucker, Migael Scherer, Kate Scott, and Flora Wiegmann
Lopez Center for Community and the Arts is owned an operated
by Lopez Community Center Association, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization
204 Village Road
PO Box 291
Lopez Island, WA 98261
Office Hours:
Tuesday: 10am - 2pm
Wednesday: 10am - 2pm
Friday: 11am - 3pm