Page 2 - Kol Ami November 2017

The Prez Sez
Greetings! Other than my comments at High Holy Day services, this is my rst “o cial” communication to you. As some of you know, I have been a CKA member for over 20 years, and I am ge ing close to having 10 years of service on the board. My two daughters had their b’nai mi vah at CKA, and I was active in our capital campaign that helped to build our beautiful home. I moved to Portland ve years ago, but am invested in what is going on at CKA. It is an honor to step in and be president (my mother is so proud) and I have high hopes of keeping CKA on track for years to come. I want to thank all of the past presidents for ge ing us to where we are today. I’m hopeful that it will be a lot easier for me than it was for them. I also want to thank Robin again for her service to CKA and wish her and her family the best in Mexico.
At our last board meeting (my rst as president), we did a li le shu ing of seats. Rebecca K is now our Vice President (her only condition was that I not move to a foreign country during my term) and Cheryl R is now a trustee. Both of these positions, as well as all of the executive board, are up for election at the annual meeting next May. We felt it was important to ll the positions immediately, and the board would have lost Cheryl since she would no longer have quali ed as the “immediate past president.” The leadership commi ee (also known as the nominating commi ee) will get started looking for candidates to ll the slate in May. If you are interested, let us know.
I haven’t formulated a formal agenda for the coming year(s) (I just got a key fob to the building last week), but a few things are always at the forefront. First and foremost, we will always need more members. Membership is what pays the bills, and you will never hear anyone say, “We just have too many members” (unless the only open seat for the service is front row center). No one will be turned away for financial reasons. Participation is measured in di erent ways and having a thriving synagogue is important to and for our community. The worldwide decline in a liation is one of the most challenging problems for Jews and synagogues in our time. In my opinion, it comes down to not just paying for what the synagogue will do for you, but what support of the synagogue will do for others. We are a full-service synagogue and it is imperative that we have the basics in place for those times when any of us require them; our own families will need them too, at some point.
We are also going through another bylaw revision. This is an ongoing process. We try to “ x” problems that
come up as well as prevent them from being a problem in the future. We will also do a li le more strategic planning. We have additional property that could be more useful either for us as we grow or it could be developed in some way to provide income. If you have ideas, or are interested, let us know. We would also like to add to our endowment funds to ensure our nancial security. This can be done through normal giving or as a legacy gift (make CKA a part of your estate plan).
I, like many of you, have sat (or dozed) through many board meetings for this or other organizations (I’m currently also on three Federation boards). I hope that we always come away from a meeting or function with a sense of accomplishment. We may not always agree, or have fun, but we must keep an open mind to di erent viewpoints. And we must come together once a decision has been made, remembering why we are here, and that ultimately we share the goal to be “the cornerstone of Jewish life in SW Washington.”
If you have a question or concern, reach out. I try to be open-minded and accessible, even though I’m not always present. Finally, please keep in mind that I am a volunteer (we are all volunteers), that I am new to this, and that I don’t know everyone or everything that goes on at CKA. CKA is run by the e orts of many and I, as one of many, will do the best I can to make the decisions I feel are best for our congregation. Thank you in advance for your input, feedback, support, or condolences.
Sincerely,
Larry H
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Cheshvan / Kislev 5778uNovember 2017