The Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica

Featured Articles - September, 2004

Church Work Parties Begin August 21

We’ll vote September 19 on plans for 18th and 17th Street properties What should we do with the house next door? Should we sell the 17th Street lot? These and other questions will be discussed and voted on at a congregational meeting on Sunday, September 19 at 12:30 p.m. in the sanctuary. Lunch will be available before the meeting. At least 79 members must be present for a quorum.

The purpose of the meeting is to (1) approve preliminary building plans/direction for the new 18th Street property based on a recommendation from the Building Committee, and (2) vote on whether or not to sell the 17th Street property to help finance the approved building plans. After the Building Committee presents its final recommendation, the congregational vote will provide direction to the committee on how to proceed with plans for submission to the City of Santa Monica.

The congregational meeting has been scheduled after three town hall meetings/forums held by the Building Committee to discuss strategies and alternatives for our properties and an extensive newsletter article on building strategies. Those meetings were held on June 3, at Camp de Benneville Pines on June 20, and on July 25 and were fairly well attended.

“Active participation on September 19 is critical for two reasons: We are making decisions that will affect the future of our church for the next several decades, and we must make those decisions through an active, democratic process,” says Carol Kerr, UUCCSM president. “I firmly believe that we become members of this church because we choose to be stewards who are passionate about its future. We need to fulfill our stewardship obligations by attending the meeting and voting on the issues.”

Absentee ballots will be available, but absentee ballots do not count towards a quorum and must be submitted by the deadline shown on the ballot in order to be counted.

— Paula Bernstein

Participate in Yard Sale on September 18

Now that we have a house — and a yard — we can have a yard sale to benefit out building project. There are three ways to participate. One is to donate items (in good conditionn only, please!). So bring in your like-new possessions. Contact Carol Agate or leave them — on Sunday mornings, September 5 or 12, only — on the front porch of our new house. The second way to participate is to schlep. If you have a pickup truck, or a minivan or SUV, volunteer to pick up some of the larger items. The third way is to help out at the sale. We need volunteers for setting up on Friday, September 17, and for the actual sale on Saturday, September 18. Let Carol know if you are available during any hours on those days. Also, please call her with any ideas you have for advertising.

Congregation Rejects Banner Motion, 44-42

The special congregational meeting, held Sunday, August 1, was an example of democracy in action. With 85 members present at the start of the meeting, plus absentee ballots, the congregation voted to not have banners on church property to support social issues. The vote was 42 in favor of the motion and 44 against the motion.

The wording of the defeated motion was: “A banner may be placed on church property for any social issue that has received a two-thirds vote of approval at a Congregational Meeting as a Resolution or Statement of Conscience.”

In an organized manner, people expressed their views on the meaning of having banners on our church. Many felt that it was important to not hide what the church believes in. Members spoke about the church getting off its duff to make sure social issues get discussed. Members wanted to make sure that the church made vocal our beliefs.

In opposition, many members felt that banners could be construed as crass advertising and identify the church with one issue. Some members stated that though banners may attract people, banners might also stop people from coming inside and hearing more about what the church believes. Those in opposition to the motion made it clear that they believed in and supported the social issues important to the church, but they felt there were ways, other than displaying banners, to engage the broader public in our social ideals.

Since the first motion was not adopted, the second motion that stated the Board of Directors “may authorize banners in accordance with the Proposed Motion No.1” and that “The design of any banners placed on church property and the period of display must be approved by the Board of Directors” was not discussed. The request to place a banner on the church stating “Civil Marriage is a Civil Right” was also not discussed.

— Nels Hanson

Another Honor is Given to Our Ray Goodman

Dr. Ray Goodman, director of the Los Angeles County Medical Reserve Corps, and a past president and longtime active member of our church, is featured prominently on the website of the Medical Reserve Corps. He is pictured with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, who came to Los Angeles recently. In a meeting scheduled to last only five minutes, but which ran for 30, they discussed some of the unique threats facing Los Angeles, the efforts being made to prepare for them, and the role of the Medical Reserve Corps in supporting these efforts with volunteers.

“Secretary Ridge was most personable and intensely interested, especially in our public education program and the Interfaith Bereavement Council,” Ray reports. The Interfaith Bereavement Council represents about 4.5 million members of Los Angeles congregations, from all the major faiths and denominations. Among his many contributions to the church, Ray was the original chair of the new building and capital campaign. He has served as a member of most of the standing church committees over the past 20 years. From 1950 to 1977, he was a member of the faculty at UCLA School of Medicine, and is currently adjunct associate professor, UCLA School of Public Health, and a member of the school’s Hall of Fame. He is also emeritus attending physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Ray conceived the idea of enlisting the services of retired doctors and nurses to provide an auxiliary response to meet the needs of people affected by a disaster. He presented this proposal to the Bioterrorism Preparedness Director in the Los Angeles County Dept. of Health and was asked to pursue this plan. Three months later Ray discovered the existence of the Medical Reserve Corps on the Internet and realized that his idea had already been adopted by the Homeland Security Office.

Early in 2003 he was appointed as the Medical Director of the Medical Reserve Corps serving all of Los Angeles County. This county serves 11 million persons, the largest community in the U.S. In September 2003 this unit was officially recognized by the Office of the Surgeon General.

Recruitment began in February 2004 and at this date there have been over 500 enlistments. Their mission is to provide health care services in mass vaccination clinics, aid in the distribution of pharmaceutical centers, and participate in the presentation of public education programs called “WHAT, HOW, and WHEN” to prepare and respond to any major disaster. Ray and all of his health care professionals serve as volunteers without compensation. More information is available at http://www.cphd.ucla.edu/mrc.

— Paula Bernstein

Gifts that Live on After You: Easy to Arrange with UU Help

Would you like to make a gift of cash or securities to Unitarian Universalism while retaining needed income for yourself and your loved ones? The Unitarian Universalist Association offers free gift planning services to all UUs and can help you make a “life-income” gift to support our congregation, the UUA, and/or another UU organization.

The two primary types of life-income gifts are the Charitable Gift Annuity and the Pooled Income Fund. Life-income gifts are rewarding and simple to arrange. You make an irrevocable contribution of cash or securities and may claim a one-time charitable deduction for part of your gift. In exchange, you’ll receive quarterly payments for life, guaranteed. One or two people — you and your partner, for example — may be named as income recipients. Payments can be either fixed or variable, depending on the type of gift you choose. When you die, your gift is distributed to the beneficiaries you’ve designated — our congregation, the UUA, another UU affiliate, or a combination. It’s entirely up to you.

Life-income gifts are a great way to give highly appreciated securities because part or all of the capital gains tax may be excused, and the remainder distributed over a period determined by life expectancy. You may be able to generate a larger income stream from lowyielding assets, and you'll create a wonderful legacy for our congregation. To learn more about life-income gifts and the benefits you might enjoy, contact Ron Crane, the church office at (310) 829-5436, or the UUA’s Charitable Gift and Estate Planning Team, at (888) 792-5885.

— Ron Crane

We Need More Time to Think Before Selling 17th Street

We are scheduled to meet September 19 to decide on building plans. This need was created by the unexpected acquisition of the property next door on 18th Street, essentially throwing our building plans for 17th Street out the window. Such a change and delay can be very disturbing: somewhat akin to grieving. We want to reachieve our equilibrium and momentum.

In this present state we may make decisions we may later regret. The church has not yet had the equanimity to truly contemplate and dream about what the new acquisition can mean for the long-term future of the church.

The original buyers of the corner lot on 18th Street had no chance to foresee what would happen to Santa Monica in 75 or 100 years. Further, when the 17th Street property was originally purchased, it was right after the building of Forbes Hall and classrooms and many people could not see the future need for that property. Now, in many regards we are at the same place: we have plans for the new 18th Street acquisition and, again, cannot see the future need for 17th Street. Part of the reason, I believe, for not currently being able to look beyond our current needs is that we have not yet had the opportunity to examine what our new property holdings could mean for our long term future.

The church board recently had its annual retreat, during which we discussed in broad strokes ways we could increase the level of commitment and responsibility our members feel toward the vibrancy of the church. The consensus was that offering programs which engage our members creates a cycle of enthusiasm and involvement that will lead to an increase in commitment. (Commitment, here, can mean either time or money.)

Up to this point, our church has mainly been a Sunday institution. The acquisition of the new property allows us the opportunity to think beyond Sundays. But the church community has not had the opportunity to discuss these possibilities. We are scheduled to meet regarding building plans, which currently include the possibility of selling the 17th Street property, without having had the opportunity to brainstorm and cogitate on our future. The church has been around for over 75 years. What about the next 75 years? We have pressing needs now, particularly regarding the church school, but if we meet those needs without thinking of our further future, we may be dooming the church to little beyond what we currently are.

A vibrant church is a growing church. Many might say we don’t want to be much bigger than what we currently are. That may be a valid point, but the church has not had a chance to talk about it. Some want to reach out to the wider community, to help the disadvantaged. Some feel that a weekday nursery school offered by a liberal religion would be good. That may be a valid point, but we have not had a chance to talk about it from our current property position. We need that opportunity. The town hall meetings that have taken place to this point have not offered that option.

We have carried out a capital campaign, which has not netted us as much as we had hoped, and we have bursting classrooms. We want to DO something and have something to show for all of our efforts. This is also a valid point. Doing something related to building can help our fund-raising efforts. But we also need to think about our longer-term goals and we cannot do that if selling the 17th Street property is on the table beforehand.

The facilitator at our board retreat felt that the ideas generated would need six months to be fleshed out. That was for the board — what about the whole congregation? If the 17th Street property has already been sold, it will be too late. September 19 is too soon and comes too quickly after summer for such a permanent decision. We need time.

— Rebecca Deal Crawford

It's Time to Start Building; We Must Sell 17th Street

We have spent many years on our building plans. Through a series of visioning meetings in 1997, facilitated by LuAnn Darling, the congregation named a new building as our priority. We wanted more sanctuary space and better church school facilities. In 1999 we engaged a capital campaign consultant and an architect.

I doubt that any of us realized what a long process it would be. It is not easy to build in Santa Monica. We conducted a capital campaign. And the Building Committee kept plugging away at plans for the city to approve.

Those plans were shelved the very week the city approved them. No one objected to that delay because the new property is so clearly better for us than the original. We all recognize new plans must be created and we must jump over whatever obstacles the city places in our way. I am working on both the capital campaign and the Building Committee, trying to make the delay as brief as possible.

The purchase of the new property depleted the construction funds. We have only about $300,000 to begin a project that will cost at least $1.5 million, or much more if we build underground parking. This is far more than we can expect to raise from a capital campaign and loan; sale of the 17th Street lot could contribute up to $1 million and mean the difference between starting construction in 2005 or not until years later.

Further delay to study alternatives to selling the 17th Street property is uncalled for. There have been many opportunities to state our preferences. In the survey taken at the July 25 town hall meeting, 30 favored selling 17th Street and five were opposed. At the de Benneville gathering, 23 favored selling it and two were opposed. We all have had an opportunity to speak pro and con, and to study alternative ideas. We have until September 19 to do further work on them.

It is hard for me to understand why some people think this is not enough time. Yes, once property is gone, it is gone. But land across the alley was always second best. We are fortunate we made the purchase, because without it we would never have had the capital campaign that enabled us to buy the property we have long coveted. Without selling that land we have the coveted property without enough money to build on it.

Am I in a hurry to build on that property? Yes. There is the city to consider. With their approval of our plans fresh in the minds of the planning staff and commission, I hope we can move faster to get approval of this new project. Property values are high now, and with interest rates rising, the value of land may drop. And we must consider our donors. They gave money for classrooms and improved facilities. Do we have the right to spend it in another way?

Keeping 17th Street, for whatever reason, leaves us without much-needed cash, which would mean we have three properties with mediocre facilities. Given the size of the property, its location, and the significant development limitations for the site, the best use is to sell it so we can make something special contiguous to our church. Using 17th Street for parking or putting parking under our new property would mean a huge cost per space and not give us enough spaces to make a dent in our needs.

The town hall meetings gave us the opportunity to discuss alternative uses of the property. More talk is not what we need. It’s time for action. Those who want to present facts and figures on alternatives to moving ahead now with our building plans can present those alternatives at the meeting.

Our existing facilities are inadequate, unsafe, and inaccessible. We reached that conclusion in 1997 and nothing has changed. Let’s get moving and build a facility that we and the larger community can enjoy.

— Carol Agate

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