Craig served as this week’s Toastmaster, and as always did a great job facilitating the meeting. Anna gave us the thought of the day, though was mistakenly
informed that the week’s theme was “Thriller,” which is in fact next week’s
theme. With that in mind, this was her Thought of the Day:
“Imagine a hundred zombies all dressed—some in lace, some in
elegant costumes, but all covered in blood and white, and suddenly they begin
to dance. A few minutes later you hear Michael Jackson. This is the annual
Portland Thriller Dance. I don’t know if any of you have had the pleasure to of
seeing it but every year hundreds of people practice the Thriller dance around
the city and all come together on Halloween and at a certain time spontaneously
begin to dance all in unison. It happened in Pioneer Square about two years ago
and up in north Portland last year. It makes me think ‘why do this?’ It’s
simply a random act of fun. We all hear of random acts of kindness but this is
an opportunity to get together and join with your fellow Portlanders and do
something that you can only see in Portland Oregon.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Mike shared with us some of what was
discussed in the “Officer’s Meet.” Once a month they discuss ideas to
improve or solve any problems involving the club. One of the decisions they
came to was to start the meetings on time, at the stroke of 12pm (so don't be late!). Another
policy change is that the week’s Toastmaster will print handouts containing the
agenda of both the current week and as well as the next week’s itinerary. For
the holiday weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas, instead of the regular
meetings, we will have a lunch meeting, which will just be a social event. The ET leadership is also looking
at special meetings to emphasize different techniques, as well as having a
microphone day, where they hope to grab an auditorium where the whole meeting
will be a Table Topics session. Lastly, the Annual District 7 Toastmasters Conference
is coming up November 3rd. Visit the Toastmasters District 7 and Register now!
SPEAKER 1: Kayla – “Tax Compression 101"
As luck would have it, the speech Kayla gave had objectives
focused on organization in her CC Manual. Titled “Tax Compression 101,” she put
forth a noble effort to educate us of something. Admittedly, when it comes to
talk of tax in the technical, my eyes immediately begin to glaze over.
Fortunately, that’s why I bring my recorder! Otherwise my attempt to summarize
the following info she provided would likely end with members being audited by
the IRS. For those who’re as lame as I am or didn’t make it to the meet, read
further and learn what statistically only fifty people in all of Oregon know:
The three components of tax compression that will give you
the base level understanding you need as an informed voter:
- Limits: In 1990 measure 5 was passed in Oregon by a 52% vote, which capped the annual property tax at $10 for every $1,000 of real market value, plus an additional $5 dedicating to school funding. Measure 50 passed in 1997, which limited the adjustments in assessment value growth. The immediate impact was $51.4 million reduce in tax revenue within the first few years.
- The type of tax levy matters: Some tax levies are compressed more than others. Permanent districts are compressed less than temporary districts. On any given property, you could have a city taxing district, county, sewer, water, port, community colleges, or an infinite amount of special districts. In the event that they’re all permanent, they all then compete for a certain amount of the real market value. Whatever remains is left for the temporary levies.
- Every property is impacted in a unique way: This relates to the limits and the inequities of how assess value is calculated and the different taxing districts that cover a given property. Depending on the relationship between the assess value and the taxing district of a property is categorized under, a property might not be compressed at all, or compressed to the limit.
Congratulations, if you’ve read this through (or listened to
Kayla’s speech at the meeting), you’ve just become one of Oregon’s intellectual
elites (on tax compression, anyway). So when considering how you vote in the
upcoming election and all thereafter, keep in mind the information you now know
thanks to Kayla’s great speech!
“Organizing” TABLE TOPICS:
The meeting’s Table Topics Master was Ryan this week. Being
that there was only one speaker for the day, he was stretched into providing
quite a few more topics than usual. Personally, I always appreciate it when a
Table Topics Master initiates each topic with a bit about himself that relates
to the following question. It gives the mind a hint as to where he or she is
taking the conversation. At this meeting Ryan did an excellent job of doing
just that.
The first topic was volunteered by David, who does three
things to stay organized at both home, and at worked. Those include a checklist
of tasks, and utilizing different organizational technological mediums. Lastly,
his wife helps to keep him in line.
Second was Susannah, who has friends who have hired workers
who help clean up and organize their houses, who seem to hoard the possessions
they pick up throughout their life. Susannah on the other hand, tends to move
every couple of years, so she tends to have fewer possessions.
Erik was a member of the boy scouts and eagle scouts. He
told us about the history of the organization, originating in England. In
addition to skill and leadership training, Erik taught us that the scouts were
all about organizing hikes, meets, camping trips, and other events.
Asked about a historical figure that interested me, were my
brain better organized I might’ve talked about Thomas Jefferson. Being that I
was struck with “stage stupor” (as I often am), I instead shared that I can be
both messy and OCD about different things, an example being that I used to
separate my Legos in Ziploc bags when I was a kid.
Next Pechara was asked about a good leader or a team that
has been well organized. Unfortunately, her voice was so soft-spoken I couldn’t
hear much of what she said. To anyone who was able to hear her, please email me
so I can update this section.
Lisa has recently Google’d a lot about the Adobe Premier
software, to get answers to her questions, since she is learning to use the
program. One specific inquiry she searched was “how to import footage,” which
was the first thing she needed to do.
Eric says he goes through cycles in his personal
organizational levels. He loves to be organized, but if he gets too much on his
plate he can sometimes let things at home get sloppy, though he’s good with
information organization, such as with his business. For Eric, it just depends
on what the subject is.
Mike was called upon to answer the question I sidestepped,
who talked about Earl Nightingale. Mike thought this historical figure was
interesting because of “The Strangest Secret,” a message he wrote that in
summary was about how “we become what we think about, and our mind controls a
lot of our lives.” Since that time he came up with a number of programs that
have been influential to Mike in his life.
Kayla, our sole speaker for the day, was asked to be our
final Table Topics speaker (as Ryan was running out of people to call upon). Kayla
listens to a podcast that she describes as a morning radio show, which play
this game called “You Auto-Complete Me,” every week. She’s played the game
herself a few times, and said it was a lot of fun, and recommended the rest of
us try it sometime.
EVALUATIONS:
This week’s evaluator for Kayla’s speech was Neal. He told her
how he appreciated the information she provided about tax compression, and felt
that she was very brave to have tackled such a topic. He offered to Kayla an
alternative intro she might’ve used to hook the audience’s attention. Neal also
stated that her hand gesturing helped him to follow along with her.
I don’t usually refer to the “Ah Counter’s” report, simply
because I don’t believe there is anything constructive that comes out of
posting online how many ‘ahs’ and ‘ums’ each person says in each meeting.
However, I make an exception only to recognize the “Ah Counter” David himself,
who gave about the most thorough report I think I have ever heard. Way to go
David!
Lisa, the General Evaluator for the week, praised Neal for
his energy right off the bat in evaluating Kayla’s speech. She also appreciated
his acknowledgement and gratitude to Kayla for the knowledge she shared, which
Lisa felt was important. She also felt that in summary his reiteration was well
organized, and suggested that Neal introduce what he concluded with at the beginning of his evaluation.
THIS WEEK’S AWARDS:
- Best Speaker Awarded to Kayla Mullis.
- Best Evaluator Awarded to Lisa Cicala.
- Best TableTopics Awarded to Susannah & David.
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