[Bcma-l] update 3 on the embattled boundary museum
bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca
bcma-l@museumsassn.bc.ca
Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:06:31 -0700
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Hello all,
A short update - just the facts, hold the ranting.
In the 2nd week after the closing of the museum:
* on Tuesday we approached the post office to see about retrieving
the mail from our P.O. Box without the key.Apparently the
society's president can do so - his name is on a card.
* also on Tuesday there was a City council meeting where:
o The topic of the museum never surfaced.
o The board president, Rick, attended and at the end of
council had a short hall meeting with the mayor. They've set
a date of next Wednesday, Oct 17, to meet.
+ At that time the city expects to discuss only the
transfer of the artifacts from the society to the
city's, as yet unborn, organization and the issue of
the staff. The museum would like to resume
negotiations and stop the current lockout situation ...
* On Wednesday afternoon we staff were allowed in to the museum to
conduct office business.
o The bucket's were emptied ... the ceiling's still leaking
when it rains ...
o The contents of the till were deposited in the bank and
various issues dealing with mail and bills were dealt with.
o The museum's laptop with the most up-to-date version of the
collection database was removed from the building. A backup
copy exists within the building.
o also on Wednesday the local newspaper came out with an
editorial that keeps the issue on the front burner. And it's
completely against city hall.
* On Thursday a board meeting was held. Not enough members for a
quorum. Staff attended. Highlights as follows:
o The board has been passed the name of an out of town law
firm that they'll consult with.
o I passed on an email from the grants coordinator of the
other major funder. Nothing unexpected there ... our grant
for the coming year is shelved. The grant we got for this
year is begin reviewed to see if we'll have to pay some
back. Sigh ...
o The cheques were signed. This included the paycheques for
the staff. Whew ...
o Three documents were brought along for viewing and discussion.
+ A letter to the city requesting regular access to the
office by the staff to conduct the business of the
museum. This will be sent as presented.
+ A paragraph by paragraph rebuttal to the city's
original press release.
+ A 'press release' of our own.
* On Friday the board president reworked our press release.
o Both it and the rebuttal were hand delivered to the press.
o Both will also be made available on the museum's website in
the coming week.
On the weekend I scanned the Gazette Editorial and uploaded it to the
website.
More customization was done to the new parts of the website and they are
up and available to the visitors now. These are tools that allow us to
provide blogs and forums that may help us get through this.
A point of clarification:
The original 'official' museum website is actually a couple of pages
hanging off the city's website. It can be found at
http://www.city.grandforks.bc.ca/museum/
The new website (still under construction) was purchased and set up by
the staff in early august. You can find it at http://boundarymuseum.com/.
The blog and forum part are at http://boundarymuseum.com/communityserver/
Note: Since the museum has yet to reimburse me for it, it is technically
my property and I guess I'm responsible (legally) for it ... so please -
no incendiary or libelous comments posted please ;)
I'm not trying to remove discussion of this topic from this list to the
forums on the site ... it's just that many people in this community have
no access to the Listserv so this is my alternative way to get the word
out to them.
That's all for now ... my neck's starting to get cold ...
--
Les Johnson
Technician
The Boundary Museum
Grand Forks, BC
http://www.boundarymuseum.com
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Hello all,<br>
<br>
A short update - just the facts, hold the ranting.<br>
In the 2nd week after the closing of the museum:<br>
<ul>
<li>on Tuesday we approached the post office to see about retrieving
the mail from our P.O. Box without the key.Apparently the society's
president can do so - his name is on a card.</li>
<li>also on Tuesday there was a City council meeting where:<br>
</li>
<ul>
<li>The topic of the museum never surfaced.</li>
<li>The board president, Rick, attended and at the end of council
had a short hall meeting with the mayor. They've set a date of next
Wednesday, Oct 17, to meet.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<ul>
<li>At that time the city expects to discuss only the transfer of
the artifacts from the society to the city's, as yet unborn,
organization and the issue of the staff. The museum would like to
resume negotiations and stop the current lockout situation ...</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li>On Wednesday afternoon we staff were allowed in to the museum to
conduct office business.</li>
<ul>
<li>The bucket's were emptied ... the ceiling's still leaking when
it rains ...<br>
</li>
<li>The contents of the till were deposited in the bank and various
issues dealing with mail and bills were dealt with.</li>
<li>The museum's laptop with the most up-to-date version of the
collection database was removed from the building. A backup copy exists
within the building.<br>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>also on Wednesday the local newspaper came out with an
editorial that keeps the issue on the front burner. And it's completely
against city hall.</li>
</ul>
<li>On Thursday a board meeting was held. Not enough members for a
quorum. Staff attended. Highlights as follows:<br>
</li>
<ul>
<li>The board has been passed the name of an out of town law firm
that they'll consult with.</li>
<li>I passed on an email from the grants coordinator of the other
major funder. Nothing unexpected there ... our grant for the coming
year is shelved. The grant we got for this year is begin reviewed to
see if we'll have to pay some back. Sigh ...<br>
</li>
<li>The cheques were signed. This included the paycheques for the
staff. Whew ...<br>
</li>
<li>Three documents were brought along for viewing and discussion.</li>
<ul>
<li>A letter to the city requesting regular access to the office
by the staff to conduct the business of the museum. This will be sent
as presented.</li>
<li>A paragraph by paragraph rebuttal to the city's original
press release.</li>
<li>A 'press release' of our own.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<li>On Friday the board president reworked our press release.</li>
<ul>
<li>Both it and the rebuttal were hand delivered to the press.</li>
<li>Both will also be made available on the museum's website in the
coming week.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
On the weekend I scanned the Gazette Editorial and uploaded it to
the website.<br>
More customization was done to the new parts of the website and
they are up and available to the visitors now. These are tools that
allow us to provide blogs and forums that
may help us get through this.<br>
<br>
A point of clarification:<br>
<br>
The original 'official' museum website is actually a couple of pages
hanging off the city's website. It can be found at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.city.grandforks.bc.ca/museum/">http://www.city.grandforks.bc.ca/museum/</a><br>
<br>
The new website (still under construction) was purchased and set up by
the staff in early august. You can find it at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://boundarymuseum.com/">http://boundarymuseum.com/</a>.<br>
The blog and forum part are at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://boundarymuseum.com/communityserver/">http://boundarymuseum.com/communityserver/</a><br>
<br>
Note: Since the museum has yet to reimburse me for it, it is
technically my property and I guess I'm responsible (legally) for it
... so please - no incendiary or libelous comments posted please ;)<br>
I'm not trying to remove discussion of this topic from this list to the
forums on the site ... it's just that many people in this community
have no access to the Listserv so this is my alternative way to get the
word out to them.<br>
<br>
That's all for now ... my neck's starting to get cold ...<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Les Johnson
Technician
The Boundary Museum
Grand Forks, BC
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.boundarymuseum.com">http://www.boundarymuseum.com</a>
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