At the June 2006 Fremont Chamber Board of Directors meeting Karen Ward, who had already served a whole month as a Chamber Board Member, agreed to become Board Secretary. As a former Board Secretary, I have some advice for Karen and, surprisingly, it is not "run!"

Of the officers of the Chamber Board, Secretary and Treasurer most often get overlooked. Originally, one brave volunteer, Teri Baker of Rainier National Bank, served both positions simultaneously until the Board separated the roles and gave us the officer configuration still used today.

For a Chamber, and a community, not naturally inclined towards process or paperwork, our Secretary and Treasurer deal with little else. Luckily, the Fremont Chamber doesn't require volunteers to be bureaucrats or naturally officious in order to take the job. Faking it is not only allowed, but encouraged.

Secretary

From the Fremont Chamber Of Commerce by-laws (as amended 1989):

"Section 5: Secretary. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Board of Directors to keep all records of the Board of Directors and of the corporation, and to perform such other acts as the President may direct."

Margie Freeman served a year as Vice President (Membership) for the Fremont Chamber before she volunteered as Board Secretary in 1989. She has said she sought out the Secretary position partially to avoid the expectation associated vice-presidency - that it leads to President. Secretary "was one of the jobs I knew I could do well." She did it so well that the Board kept her at it for four years, "it's just the right niche for me."

Margie personally took minutes during Board meetings. "Sometimes it was difficult when things got heated," she recalls, "to be sure to get the gist of what everyone said." While she's moved on to other things, and retired, mostly, from community service, she recalls "it was a family" working with Chamber members to improve the neighborhood.

In our early years, the Secretary held the steno pad and ball point pen and scribbled furiously throughout every meeting. Now that isn't always the way. Laptops have brought a change, and so has the addition of paid volunteer staff that can include minute taking in their duties, along with updating by-laws and filing with the state. The role of Board Secretary has evolved, when staff can be relied upon, to an oversight position, where the Secretary makes sure things get tended to rather than personally dotting every I and crossing every T.

A Round of Applause for Our Past Secretaries -

1983	Teri Baker, Rainier National Bank
1984	Suzie (Burke) Osterfeld, Fremont Dock Company
1985	Rose Thompson/Haechler, Alternative Business Systems
1986 - 87	Rich Gallagher, Matteson, Gallagher & Kusaka
1988	Barbara Chilcote, Quadrant Corporation
1989 - 92	Margie Freeman, Fremont Boat Company
1993 - 94	W. James Daly, Daly's Home Decorating Center
1995	Melissa Hines, Empty Space Theatre
1996	Judith A. Drury, U.S. Bank of Washington
1997	Thom Van Hollebeke, Planning Resources Inc.
1998 - 99	Lillian Tangen, PROLAB
2000	Kirby Lindsay, Ladybug Books
2001 - 02	Ellen Sas, NorthStar Bank
2003	Ellen Sas/Marsha Hower, NorthStar Bank
2004 - 05	Marsha Hower, NorthStar Bank
2006	Karen Ward, Fremont Abbey Arts

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Treasurer

From the Fremont Chamber Of Commerce by-laws (as amended 1989):
"Section 6: Treasurer. The Treasurer shall receive and be accountable for all funds belonging to the corporation; pay all obligations incurred by the corporation when payment is authorized by the Board; maintain bank accounts in depositories designated by the Board of Directors; and render periodic financial reports."

From the Fremont Chamber orientation materials:
"This is the only office of the Chamber Board, which, historically, requires daily work or at least weekly; which is why it is a good idea to retain a good Treasurer for as long as you can convince the sucker to stay…"

Pam Hinckley doesn't remember details from her time, in 1993, as Treasurer. Fortunately, the experience didn't scar her for life, or sour her on community involvement. "For such a renegade group," she recalls, "they were such a well-oiled machine."

The part of being Treasurer she remembers vividly were the artists involved in erecting our famous Rocket, a project Pam took a central role in but the Chamber did not. When they heard she was Chamber Treasurer, she recalled, they thought she could reach in to Chamber coffers and hand out checks. "As if their project were a Chamber project," she wonders, and also as if the Chamber had funds to pay them.

"You get to see people in a real intimate way," she remembers about serving on the Chamber Board. You get to know them when they are very passionate about something. "I always liked it," she remembers, "and I still put it on my resume."

While the job of Treasurer does require regular attention, really anyone with basic bookkeeping skills can handle it. However, where a new Secretary or President might bring a new outlook and different skills, the role of Treasurer also requires continuity. At least, our most senior (in time served only) Board Member believes that to be the case, and the Board lets her since its kept Suzie Burke as Treasurer since 1994.

And yet, for all her abilities, Suzie does not sit hunched over our ledgers and spreadsheets personally, rather she delegates and takes responsibility for the outcome. At first she got Delores Neumiller, when she went to work for Suzie, to do the ledger entries. After Delores passed away, of cancer in 1996, our Executive Secretary kept the records. When we had trouble maintaining Executive Secretaries, Suzie took back the task and her Receptionist, first Carol Stocker and recently Liz Nordstrand, have balanced the books and faithfully given Suzie a report to present at each board meeting.

Three Cheers for our Tremendous Treasurers -

1983	Teri Baker, Rainier National Bank
1984 - 89	Delores Neumiller, Independent Bookkeeper
1990 - 91	Sandy Bucsit, Brass Tax
1992	George Heideman, Architect
1993	Pamela Hinckley, Red Hook Brewery
1994 - 00	Suzie Burke, Fremont Dock Co.
2001	Suzie Burke (Carol Stockler), Fremont Dock Co.
2002 - 06	Suzie Burke (Liz Nordstrand), Fremont Dock Co.

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In the end, the existence of our Secretary and Treasurer make the continued existence of the Fremont Chamber possible. The Secretary must file our Articles of Incorporation with the Secretary of State, and the Treasurer must pay this fee and the rent for our post office box address, or else we cease to be.

Luckily both tasks can be, and have been, done by paid volunteer office staff or substitutes in the case of minute takers, while our Secretary and Treasurer make sure the job gets done. Responsibility is theirs alone, and it is up to them to decide how heavy the burden will be. As Karen warms to her new role as an Officer of the Fremont Chamber, there is one simple idea I thought she should know, "delegate, delegate, delegate!"