The extraordinary assembly of CSL met in the multipurpose room of the SIS, provided by the Sitges Town Hall for this event, to review the actions that were executed in 2022, as well as to update the economic situation of the entity, all of which was unanimously approved by those attending the assembly.
The treasurer, Martín Martín, explained the need to modify the membership fees. During the last three years, the membership fee to CSL has remained unchanged, while the fixed costs have increased. Insurance for volunteers and civil responsibility, membership fees for ILGA, FELGTBI+, or the Platform of LGTBI entities of Catalonia, supplies, among others, are sufficient reasons to ask for an increase that adapts to reality and to what the theory of associativism says: that membership fees should cover fixed and ordinary expenses.
It was explained that the 2020 increase was not made effective until the end of 2021 due to a lack of knowledge of how to update the website to automatically update the fees for active subscriptions. Even so, the regular expenses of the association are still not covered. A balance between expenses and income remains the Committee’s objective. The treasurer extrapolated the fee to that of other associations in Sitges that exceed €120 and do not provide as many services or organise as many activities as Colors Sitges Link.
Unanimously, it was agreed to raise the fees, with a note from a member, that the possibility of providing payment facilities, for example, on a half-yearly basis, should be considered. Both the treasurer and the vice-president agreed to study this, but also warned that this would also generate an extra cost, as the bank charges for each movement or online payment or bank card.
From now on the fees will be €50 per year and €15 for unemployed people, students under 25 or people who demonstrate a particularly fragile financial situation. Also for the Friendly Fee (for tourists and visitors, valid for 3 months only). The benefactor fee will continue to be €100 and donations from €10 can be made through the Colors Sitges Link page https://colorssitgeslink.org/en/product/donaciones.
Also, a vote was held for a new committee, as almost all of the previous committee have left for health reasons for the most part, and personal reasons for others. From the old committee three people have remained, Martin Martin, Prado Garcia and Tim Telcs, who have made a change of positions.
The new committee, made up of nine members, unanimously became the first Board of Directors to be chaired by a woman. The positions are distributed as follows: Prado García, president; Martín Martín, secretary; Montse Casaoliva, treasurer; Fernando Lavieja, vice-president; Adam Iungman, member; Carlos Javier, member, Tim Telcs, member; Laia Conesa, member; Óscar Aguilar, member.
The new committee presented the goals, budget and project for 2023, which were also unanimously approved.
In the question and answer section, Mr Brandon Jones asked about the entity’s position on the installation of video surveillance cameras. Mr. Simon’s question about what is being done or how the money raised at the Solidarity Gala (formerly the AIDS Gala) is being spent was also answered. To the first question, the new president replied that the committee had just been elected and that it was impossible to pronounce on this issue without first having discussed it. To the next question, it was clarified that the money for the Solidarity Gala or the Summer Party is obtained exclusively from the sale of numbers for the raffle, not from the cover charge, which meant that there was a profit of around €2000 between the two events, for the whole year, and that only the salary of the professional who had led the Resilient Men’s Circle, a group specifically for HIV, had been €800, without counting the number of emotional health workshops and the psychologists hired who also attend to people with HIV, among others.
Before ending the session, Martín Martín thanked Pedro Martín for having been president for the last two years, and secretary for the previous three, and for his involvement with the organisation. He was presented with a bouquet of flowers and a weekend box.
The session adjourned at around 13:15 and a glass of cava was drunk.
