ENA Board Meeting

February 10, 2026 7:00 PM

Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Ave SE

Minutes

Board members present:

Sherry Chilcutt (President), Karen Sweeney (Vice president & CNA representative), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Jim Rioux (Treasurer), Nathan Allan, Abigail Twombly

1) Approval of Minutes

The January 15^th minutes were approved as submitted.

2) Treasurer Report

Jim R. reported the following account balances:

Checking  $2,596.09

Savings    $1,950.62

Total       $4,546.71

Jim said the City’s automatic deposit system is working well.

3) CNA report

Karen reported on the following topics from the February 9^th CNA meeting:

• The new Executive Committee includes:
  • Chair – Peter Guttchen (NENA; and he would like to have a co-chair)
• • Vice Chair – Karen Sweeney (ENA)
• • Secretary – Melissa Allen (BHNA)
• • Communications Coordinator – Daniel Garcia (DNA)  
  • Program & Events Coordinator – Grace Fletcher (SWONA)
• One of Peter’s priorities is to have more RNAs
• Karen described the January 24^th Community Priorities Forum which was attended by an overflow crowd of about 150. The CNA team which organized the forum conducted a survey. Fifteen Eastside residents took the survey.
• The CNA has a list of grant funding ideas for each RNA.

4) Annual Meeting debrief

Sherry & others liked the Homes First presentation. We learned a great deal about an organization which is quietly active in our neighborhood and their challenges.

Newsletter topics

It was decided not to send a February newsletter as we are working to correct the email list. We discussed doing a hard copy mailing to update our email list.

Upcoming events

Block parties – June 27^th

National Night Out – August 4^th.

Combined Annual Picnic and Fall Festival – Saturday September 26^th. Jim R. will check to see if the Lions Park shelter is available. Josh volunteered to set up his large tent.

All dates and arrangements are tentative until confirmed.

Neighborhood Matching Grant

The Board discussed ideas to include in the grant application, such as:

• a neighborhood-wide mailing
• food drinks and advertising for community events
• live music and other entertainment for events
• a consultant to help us develop a new neighborhood walking map

Josh talked about Evergreen College’s “Olympia’s Hidden Histories” and mentioned a possible contact. He and Jim S. will discuss further to determine if it’s feasible for us to do something similar.

Because NMG applications are due before our March 10^th Board meeting, we decided to meet to continue working on our application Sunday February 22, 11:00 AM at Swantown.

Other topics

• Hector’s Tacos restaurant recently opened at 4^th and Central to rave reviews. Check out their menu at: https://www.hectors-tacos.com/menu
• Timberland Library budget woes
• Changing to a 501(c)(3) organization  
• Sherry said she is meeting with former ENA President Walt Bowman to look over his historic materials.
• Nathan described the advantages of a paid Mailchimp subscription. It was moved and seconded that we authorize a monthly subscription. Jim R. said we can use our bank credit card for this purpose. The motion carried unanimously.

The meeting ended at 8:20 PM

ENA Board Meeting

January 15, 2026 7:00 PM

Swantown Inn, 1431 11th Ave SE

Minutes

Board members present:

Karen Sweeney (Vice president & CNA representative), Jim Sweeney (Secretary), Jim Rioux (Treasurer), Nathan Allan, Therese Vogel, Cheryl Bayle, Abigail Twombly

1) Approval of Minutes

The November minutes were approved as submitted.

2) Treasurer Report

Jim R. reported the following account balances:

Checking  $3,441.13

Savings    $1,950.43

Total       $5,391.56

In response to a question about the ENA’s 2025 grant funds, Jim reported that about twelve hundred dollars of grant funds were unspent.

3) CNA report

Karen reported on the following topics from the January 15^th CNA meeting:

• The committee reviewing the NMG program has scheduled a community forum January 24 from 3:00 to 5:00 at City Hall
• Paul Berendt, the new Councilmember, talked about his positions on multiple issues
• Clark Gillman will continue as the Council’s representative to the CNA
• The Harm Reduction Center on Franklin Street is getting a lot of attention
• Homelessness continues to be a serious problem
• Speeding is another major issue
• The CNA reelected most of its current slate of officers with the exception of president; Larry Dzieza is stepping down and currently there is no replacement

4) Upcoming events

The Board discussed arrangements for the January 20^th annual meeting:

• The meeting is scheduled from 6:00 to 8:00, however people may arrive by 5:30 so we will have informal social time prior to serving dinner
• Sherry will start the formal meeting whenever the time is right
• Terese said Sherry talked to Josh about providing live music; Jim R. said there is no  money to pay for it; Nathan said he can provide background music
• Nathan will set up the ballroom for 30, and can accommodate more if needed
• Terese, Karen, Cheryl and Abigail said they will bring deserts
• Abigail passed out signs (which should go up tomorrow)
• Abigail will post the meeting announcement on the website and Facebook; Nathan will send it to the email list
• The first item on the agenda will be the election of Board members
• Officers will be elected at our February 10^th meeting

The meeting ended at 7:50 PM