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7 THE SHEPHERD • AUGUST 2022 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO We are writing to inform the community that during Great & Holy Week Father Andrew received a letter from Attorney Bill Parks representing S. Michael Stavropoulos, M.D., and a group of parishioners called “Save Our Church and the Property.” e letter stated that Dr. Stavropoulos was concerned about the proposed possible sale of properties owned by the St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church and claimed that the Parish Coun- cil did not follow the by-laws of the Parish in holding the May 23, 2021 Special General Assembly where the Parish authorized the Parish Council to enter a listing agreement with Marcus & Millichap. e letter request- ed that the Parish provide information re- garding compliance with the Uniform Parish Regulations (“UPR”) and the Parish By-laws. e Parish Council has prepared and sent a response to Attorney Parks outlining the process that was followed in scheduling the April 18, 2021 General Assembly and the May 23, 2021 Special General Assembly. e letter detailed how the Parish Council had scheduled the meetings and was au- thorized to enter into the listing agreement. Since sending the letter in May, we have not heard anything further from Attorney Parks. Nonetheless, the Parish Council wanted to provide the community with the facts to ad- dress misinformation which is being circu- lated. A General Assembly was held on April 18, 2021. A notice and agenda were sent to pa- rishioners in advance of the meeting as re- quired by the UPR. e agenda included an item indicating that the Master Planning Committee would provide background for the Special General Assembly to be held on May 23, 2021, where the Parish would be asked to consider and approve a proposal to list and solicit proposals from developers to purchase a portion of the property to obtain funds to move forward with the Master Plan. e minutes from the April 18, 2021 Gener- al Parish Assembly show that a quorum was not present but that a vote was taken to hold the Special General Assembly on May 23, 2021 [27 in favor, 4 opposed]. Due to the lack of a quorum, no action was o cially taken at the meeting. e Special General Assembly which had been scheduled by the Parish Council prior to the April 18, 2021 Parish General Assem- bly went forward on May 23, 2021. A vote of the Parish was not required to schedule and hold the May 23, 2021 Special General Assembly. Article 31, Section 7 of the Uni- form Parish Regulations provides that “Spe- cial Parish Assemblies can be held when the Priest and/or Parish Council deem it neces- sary.” Parish By-laws, [Art. V, § 1], likewise authorize the Priest and/or a majority of the Parish Council to hold a Special General As- sembly whenever they deem it necessary. Ac- cordingly, the May 23, 2021 Special General Assembly was properly called by the Parish Council. e agenda for the May 23, 2021 Special General Assembly was sent to parishioners in advance of the meeting. Neither the UPR or Parish By-laws required the Parish Gen- eral/Special Assemblies be held in person. Moreover, during the COVID pandemic, the Greek Archdiocese of America and Metrop- olis speci cally authorized and sanctioned the use of virtual meetings to protect the health of parishioners. Accordingly, parish- ioners were allowed to attend the meeting in person or via Zoom; 32 were present in the Hall and 30 were present on Zoom. e only item on the agenda was a request to authorize the Parish Council to retain Mar- cus & Millichap to list for possible sale prop- erties owned by the Church and the Founda- tion. Following a power point presentation and discussion, a motion was made and seconded to authorize the Parish Council to retain Marcus & Millichap to list for possi- ble sale properties owned by the Church in conjunction with the Foundation. A quorum (more than 50) was present and the motion carried: 54 yes; 7 no; and 1 abstention. A er the May 23, 2021 Special General As- sembly, the Church and the Foundation re- tained the law rm of Hecht Solberg to pre- pare the listing agreement to ensure that the Parish was not obligated to sell any property until any proposed sale is presented to a vote of the parishioners in good standing present at a Parish General/Special Assembly and the approvals from the respective Metropolis are received. e Listing Agreement was entered into with Marcus & Millichap and o ers have now been received. Despite what you may be hearing, the Parish Council has not agreed to sell any property and the Parish is not committed to sell any property. Per the UPR, no property owned by the Parish can or will be sold unless two- thirds (2/3) of the parishioners in good standing present at a noticed Parish Assem- bly approve a sale and the required approvals are received from the Metropolis. Our plan is to notice and hold a parish assembly in September or October of 2022 to present a proposal to the Parish. Parishioners in good standing will receive advance notice of the date and time of the parish assembly and will have the right to be heard and vote on any proposal to sell property that may be presented. If a sale is approved, prior to the close of escrow, the Foundation Property owned on the Block will be transferred to the Church and the Church will receive the net proceeds from the sale. e Parish Council and Foundation are in the process of nal- izing a written agreement to con rm these details. We encourage you to talk to members of the Parish Council if you have any questions. is is a signi cant decision that the Com- munity will be asked to make and the Parish Council wants to ensure that your questions are answered. FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL St. Spyridon GOYA families, you are the best! ank you for my wonderful gi for serving this worthy ministry for 9 years. May God continue to bless you all! Bill Navrides Nektarios Tradas - 858.292.6070 - info@theshepherdnews.com A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER You may have noticed that this month's newsletter is printed on premium paper stock, but not by choice. Due to paper shortages, supply chain issues, and in- flation, the ideal paper used for this publication since 2011 is now out of stock, forcing the purchase of higher grade paper at a higher cost. If you'd like to help offset this and other rising costs associated with the publication of our beloved newsletter, please consider advertising and / or submitting Personal Greetings & Announcments. Rates are reasonable and your personal or business message will reach our entire community! Please contact me for more information. Thank you!