By Erik Honda, DTNA News Editor, Henry Street neighbor

Neighbors, DTNA needs you. Last year as we switched to a new membership system on our website many of you renewed your DTNA membership as the year came to a close (thank you!) and are due for renewal soon. At our November Board meeting we learned that due to an unrelated delay in invoicing for newsletter advertisements and the concentration of memberships at the end of the year we have just enough cash on hand to pay for one issue of the News. If you value the work that this organization does, including the information this newsletter provides, please begin or renew your membership today:

Our regular membership is only $35 a year, but we happily take donations up to the superstar level of $250. And we want to include everybody. If $35 is too much for your family to afford at this time, we offer a discounted membership, just email us at membership@dtna.org

DTNA also needs you to be involved, at every level. We want you to vote in our Board elections – one will conclude soon at our December 10 General Meeting. We want you to consider joining the Board yourself – we welcome board members who represent and embody the rich diversity of our neighborhood, and women, young people, people of color, renters, and business owners would help achieve that representation. If you are a member who has an interest in joining the Board, or want to learn more about how the Board and DTNA function, please contact DTNA at info@dtna.org or by using the website contact form on our website www.dtna.org.

Lastly, we need your votes. At the December meeting we will also be voting on two revisions to our bylaws. The first is mainly bureaucratic – allowing for an electronic vote of all members instead of just members who attend the meeting when a vote is taken, limiting the immediate past president’s Board seat to a one year term, and insureoing the Board’s inclusion in selecting DTNA managers and project leads. The DTNA Board recommends a YES vote in favor of these revisions.

The second, promulgated by outgoing president Frank Tizedes, reads as follows: “Voting on topics involving the Duboce Triangle neighborhood, brought to the community by DTNA or by any other organization, are open to all Duboce Triangle neighbors and business owners to participate.”

The sentiment to seek out and consider diverse views in making decisions is consistent with DTNA’s practices and beliefs for decades. DTNA has never asked about membership status when soliciting input from neighbors at meetings and elsewhere, and will not do so in the future. But despite its laudable intent, the DTNA Board believes that Frank’s proposed amendment does not belong in the bylaws. In our view it is poorly written and vague, and could be interpreted in ways which could be detrimental to the organization and the neighborhood. And the bylaws are a legal document – not a place for statements of values, which should be memorialized elsewhere.  

In our view the amendment is a solution in search of a problem: DTNA has never limited input to only members, and has avoided taking any position on issues where consensus in the neighborhood did not exist, focusing instead on educating the neighborhood about the issue, something we will continue to do. Frank’s amendment would not change DTNA’s practices in any way, but it could well create opportunities to harm the organization. The DTNA Board recommends that you vote NO on this amendment. The current Bylaws, last revised in 2023, and the proposed revisions can be viewed online at www.dtna.org.

So please come to our December meeting, meet your neighbors and enjoy some social time, make a vote on the bylaws, sign up to volunteer for a committee or ask about being a Board member. See you there - DTNA needs you.