Support Better Management of Hindu Mandir of Lake County

Dear ICA Trustees,

        Currently, there are two bodies involved in managing the temple; Volunteer Group and India Cultural Association (ICA). Volunteer group supported by a few employees manage day to day temple activities.  ICA has a legal ownership of the temple. Mandir management in its current state cannot sustain due to various reasons, such as

a)      Volunteer group does not have proper authority to perform day to day tasks. For example, no one from volunteer group has any authority to sign checks and sometimes have to run from pillar to post to get the checks signed.
b)      Looks like current constitution is not followed through. Not for Profit status may be in danger. For example, financial records, election records, membership records and minutes of the board meetings are not well maintained.
c)       Some volunteers, who were driving force behind some Mandir activities, are no longer interested in owning that responsibility.

        Hindu Community is very proud to have such an institution in Lake County and wants to make sure it thrives for generations to come. Hence, in order to sustain and maintain Hindu Mandir of Lake County (HMLC), we, the residents of Lake County, urge ICA trustees to:

1)      ICA Constitution

Immediately make following amendments to ICA constitution

a)      Allow ordinary devotees to become ICA members with voting rights.
b)      Hold public elections for board of trustees.
c)       Make trust memberships non-transferable. Current constitution allows patron members to transfer their patron membership to anyone else to represent their membership at any time.
d)      Establish a Mandir Management Committee (MMC).
e)      Grant appropriate authority to Mandir Management Committee.
f)       Set a firm date to make amendments to ICA constitution.

2)      Mandir Management Committee (MMC)

a)      Establish a Mandir Management Committee (MMC) to carry out and manage various functions of the temple. MMC members could be elected, employed, nominated or selected by ICA Board of Trustees.  MMC will report in to ICA Board of Trustees.
b)      Define roles and responsibilities for MMC members, operational systems and procedures for various Mandir functions.
c)       Provide all necessary authority  to MMC members to carry out their day to day temple management functions including but not limited to check signing authority for making payments to vendors
 
3)      Miscellaneous
 
a)      Run ICA as a professional "Not For Profit" organization. Maintain all necessary records including but not limited to accounting, legal, elections, member records, minutes of the board meetings, IRS Filings etc required to continue maintaining "Not For Profit" status.
b)     Provide organizational transparency to its members. Members should be able to inspect ICAs financial and other records, if they wish to do so.
c)       Have a town hall meeting at least once a quarter to provide update and get feedback from all devotees.