AIA News

AIA Washington Report

6/14/2002

The winter meeting of AIA Washington Council was held January 25th in Olympia and was attended by Lois Wardell, AIA Central Washington president and Bob Wardell, filling in for Doug Eadie.

The biggest issue of the meeting revolved around the 2002 budget. Washington Council expenses for the year were as projected in the 2001 Budget, but income was only 80% of that projected. Several factors contributed to the shortfall. Income projected from both the Newsletter and the Website were down, interest received from invested reserves was drastically down, and the Assembly, although it broke even on direct expenses, did not cover the staff time needed to plan and implement it. The Board voted to amend the 2002 Budget, cutting it by about 35%. To do this, the staff position of Communications Coordinator will be eliminated, an outside firm will be hired to produce the Newsletter and website, the October Board meeting will be eliminated, and budgets for standing committees will be pared down. The Board voted to reinstate money into the budget to send Rich Wagner, Council vice president/president elect, to Grassroots. These cost-cutting measures should bring the Budget back in line and allow the Council reserve account to be built back up.

Because AIA Southwest Chapter will be sponsoring the regional conference in Tacoma in August, it was decided to not hold Washington Assembly this year and encourage all members to attend Regional, which promises to be a fun and informative event. The Board has discussed in the past whether the Assembly should be held at another time of the year (such as spring or early summer) instead of in November, and will continue discussions this year on whether to change the time, outsourcing the planning of the Assembly to a convention planning firm, or revise the focus of the event. Input on this is invited; contact either Lois Wardell, loisw@wardellarchitects.com or Doug Eadie, dreadie@bechtel.com if you have comments.

Other discussions included implementation of various items in the Strategic Plan adopted at the 2001 Annual Meeting, legislative priorities (chief of which is getting the 2000 IBC adopted), and housekeeping matters.

Mary Mauerman noted that the Council needs to submit a new slate of names to the Governor for the State Building Codes Council. We are looking specifically for women and minority members. If anyone is interested, please contact Mary Mauerman at mmauerman@aiawa.org.



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9/05/2002

AIA Central Washington Chapter Vice President Jim Dillman chatting about architecture with world-famous Canadian architect Mr. Arthur Erickson at the August Regional Conference in Tacoma. Attending the conference is a great chance to meet and converse with such famous architects. Click here to see Jim and Arthur