Theatre Advisory Council Charter
Johnson County Park & Recreation District
The Theatre in the Park
 

I.  Purpose:  

The Theatre Advisory Council (“TAC”) advises the Johnson County Park & Recreation District (“JCPRD”) and the Theatre in the Park (“TTIP”) producing staff on various matters regarding TTIP programming and the community.  It advocates for TTIP in conjunction with the overall mission, vision, values and goals of JCPRD through volunteerism, promotion, advising JCPRD, and fund raising to assist TTIP reach its goal of fulfilling a commitment to live theatre and providing quality, professional level entertainment, recreation, and education for the citizens of the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area.

II.  Duties and Responsibilities of the Council:

The mission of the Council is, in collaboration with the staff, to provide strategic ideas, direction and action and support the policies, procedures and programs of the Theatre. As part of this mission, members of the TAC should be chosen from a broad demographic consisting of, but not limited to:

1.  The TTIP audience;
2.  The citizens of Johnson County and the surrounding metropolitan area;
3.  Corporate and business supporters of the Theatre;
4.  Volunteer and/or professional actors, musicians and technical support staff;
5.  Non-performing volunteer contributors;
6.  Production staffs;
7.  The staff responsible for the technical aspects of the Theatre.

The Council will endeavor to advise and assist TTIP  in:

Fundraising;
Programming;
Promotion of TTIP activities;
Goals, objectives and priorities of TTIP as defined or communicated by JCPRD;
Policy and procedure development;
Community relations.

The Council will share in the responsibilities of TTIP including:

1.    Serving in an advocacy role on behalf of TTIP to JCPRD and to the community at large;
2.    Acting as a sounding board for issues and concerns brought to the Council's attention by volunteers, performers, community members, JCPRD and TTIP’s producing staff;
3.    Advising on program development for the Theatre;
4.    Assisting with and attending all events and special programs/event activities;
5.    Assisting with fundraising and promotion;
6.    Advising on issues related to the safeguarding and improving of the physical assets of the Theatre.
 

The Council will give advice and feedback to the Executive Producer and to JCPRD.

In order to fulfill the above Duties and Responsibilities, Council Members are expected to attend 80% of the regularly scheduled Council meetings. Members who miss two consecutive meetings without reasonable cause will have their eligibility for ongoing service reconsidered by the Council.
Council Members will also:

1.    Attend at least one performance of four out of five shows produced by TTIP during its regular summer season. However, TAC members understand that missing a summer performance is the exception to the rule and that it is highly encouraged to attend one performance of all five shows;
2.    Attend at least one performance of all shows produced by TTIP during the non-summer season. Inability to meet this attendance requirement will be evaluated on an individual basis, but TAC members understand that missing performances is the exception to the rule and that it is highly encouraged to attend one performance of all performances produced by TTIP;
3.    Volunteer at yearly auditions and other Theatre sponsored events;
4.    Give an annual financial contribution of a minimum of $500.00 either personally or through the support of other individuals including program ads and sponsorships. All individual purchases and donations count toward the $500 contribution whether it is made to the theatre or to the designated fund at the Johnson County Parks Foundation. Any fair market value of goods and services provided to the individual shall be deducted from the total contribution. Each council member will be responsible for tracking their own contribution to meet the minimum requirement.
5.    Attend all non-performance events including, but not limited to, the TTIP signature fundraising event and other TTIP fundraising events which may occur throughout the year.

G.    The Chair of the TAC shall have the right to grant exemptions from the above requirements to individual Council members if the individual Council members are unable to meet one or more of the above requirements based on financial, personal, physical disability or other situations.  Unless otherwise agreed by the Council member seeking the exemption, such requests shall be made in private to the Chair and, if granted, shall be granted confidentially.  With permission of the requesting Council member, the request may be submitted to the full TAC for consideration.
H.    If a Council member fails to meet the expectations set forth above without an exemption from the Chair as permitted by section II.G., the Council member may be removed from the TAC by a super majority (2/3) vote of the TAC at a regularly scheduled or special meeting.

III.       Membership of the Council:

A.            Voting members of the Council shall consist of:

A  representative of the JCPRD Board;
A representative of the SERTOMA club;
Seven-twelve at large.

TAC  members:

  Shall be elected to two year terms beginning in January;
  Shall serve no more than three consecutive full terms;
  Shall be nominated by the Council and submitted for approval to the JCPRD board.
 

Members will be selected based on proven leadership, experience in fundraising and other needs of TTIP, and history of volunteer activities associated with TTIP or other community service organizations.

B.    The Superintendent of Culture, the Producing Artistic Director and the TTIP Administrative Assistant shall be non-voting ex-officio members of the Council.

IV.  Officers, Committees, Special Committees, Task Forces and Ambassadors

            Officers

1.    The officers of the Council consist of a Chair and a Vice Chair, who must be members of the Council at the time of their election and service.
2.    Officers will be elected in November, take office in January and serve during a calendar year.
3.    The Chair may be elected or re-elected to a term that does not cause that individual to serve in the position for more than thirty months consecutively.
4.    The Vice Chair automatically succeeds to the position of Chair to fill a vacancy or at the end of a term unless, during a regular election cycle, the Council votes to re-elect the Chair or to elect a different Council member to be Chair.
5.    In the absence or disability of the Chair, the Chair’s responsibilities will be exercised by the Vice Chair, the Past Chair, or the senior member of the Council, in that order.

B.            The Executive Committee

1.    The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chair, the Vice Chair and Past Chair. The Producing Artistic Director shall serve in an ex-officio, non-voting role to the Executive Committee.
2. The duties and functions of the Executive Committee include:

Soliciting recommendations for new Council members  as vacancies come available with the formal term to begin in January of the following year.

Acting as the nominating committee for Council officers;
Recommending members for the Council;
Monitoring and coordinating the work of Council task forces and providing assistance and support as needed;
Monitoring and coordinating the Council's long range planning process ;
Other duties and functions as assigned and delegated by the Council.

C.    Task Forces
        Task forces will be formed, as the need arises, by the TAC to perform specific activities with a defined purpose and objective, and with a defined term of existence. Members should represent the TTIP constituencies most affected by the stated objective and need not serve on the TAC. Each task force must have a designated member of the TAC who will serve as liaison between the Task force and TAC/Staff.

V.  Meetings:

A.    The Council shall meet regularly.  Meetings will be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised. 
B.    Special Meetings may be called by the Chair, the Superintendent of Culture, or the Producing Artistic Director-as deemed necessary for Council business and may be convened by electronic means including, but not limited to, e-mail, conference call, or other electronic means deemed acceptable.
C.    Electronic meeting and voting may be conducted under the following conditions:

1.    Via email: Any e-mail calling for a vote must clearly state the objective and purpose of the vote.
2.    Three business days must be provided for the completion of voting.
3.    All responses, comments, and votes shall be copied to all members and Ex-Officio members of the Council, and identified in the meeting minutes.

D.    The Chair of the Council will send notice of all meetings and a call for agenda items to all Council members and the JCPRD Superintendent of Culture no fewer than five calendar days prior to each scheduled meeting.
E.    Minutes will be kept of all regular and special meetings of the Council and the Executive Committee.  The TTIP Administrative Assistant, or his or her designee, shall take and distribute minutes of TAC meetings.

 

VI.  Voting:

A.    A quorum shall consist of a majority of the duly selected voting members of the Council.
B.    All motions except amendments to this charter may be carried by a majority vote of all members present.

VII.  Amendments:

Amendments to this Charter must be passed by a majority of all council members and are subject to the approval of the JCPRD Superintendent of Culture and the JCPRD Board of Commissioners..

Last amended, passed and approved September, 2019.