Change is in the air
by Peter LaTourrette, CGF Board of Directors

One reason for Committee for Green Foothills' many successes over its 42-year history has been the organization's ability to keep pace with change -- both in the surrounding environment and within its organization. The past few months have been no exception.

Last summer, when Zoe Kersteen-Tucker decided to step down from her nominally 75%-time position as Executive Director so that she could spend more time with her family, your Board of Directors made some decisions of its own. First and foremost, we decided that the responsibilities of our Executive Director had grown to the point that the position needed to be full-time. Second, we acknowledged that our administrative functions had become unduly burdensome.

We have now successfully addressed both of these concerns -- with exceptional cooperation and support by members of the Board and the staff, and with generous financial aid by the INNW Fund.

The campaign to find our new Executive Director began with an update of the job description and the crafting of a detailed and thorough selection process, both facilitated by consultant Marge Sentous, to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude.

That process has concluded with our exciting announcement that, as of March 1, Tom Cronin is the new Executive Director of Committee for Green Foothills. A long-time Peninsula resident, Tom is a dedicated public servant who has served on the Redwood City Planning Commission and the boards of several local environmental organizations. He comes to us with more than 20 years of management experience from a successful career at Hewlett-Packard as well as in the nonprofit world, and brings great enthusiasm for protecting our local open spaces.

I know I speak for our Board and staff when I say how extremely pleased we all are to have Tom at the helm of Committee for Green Foothills.

In order to address the issue of administrative burden, we have spent the last few months working to combine the Committee for Green Foothills with its sister nonprofit organization, the Green Foothills Foundation. The details of this change are complicated, but suffice it to say that these two groups are now a single 501(c)(3) corporation, the Committee for Green Foothills.

This change was possible due to revisions in IRS regulations, which significantly relaxed the limitations on lobbying for nonprofits. Careful analysis and timekeeping have proven that the Committee's work falls well within the allowable limits and that the two-organization structure is no longer necessary.

Combining the two organizations has eliminated a huge portion of our administrative and bookkeeping burden, and will allow us to direct more of our resources to the preservation of open space. This change also means that all of your contributions are tax-deductible, to the extent permitted by law.

We are grateful for the counsel and services of the law offices of Silk, Adler & Colvin in guiding us through this complicated process, and to the INNW Fund -- again -- for supporting this endeavor.

Despite all of this change, our programs have not missed a beat, as you will see in this issue of Green Footnotes. The entire Board of Directors, along with our staff, has shouldered an extra burden these past months, and to each of them we are grateful. And you, our members, have remained steadfast: our year-end fundraising appeal actually exceeded its goals, an incredible testament to your dedication to local open space.

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you - staff, Board members, volunteers and our wonderful members - for your absolutely fantastic support. Together, we move forward with new leadership and vigor in our mission to protect that which makes our region so special.