LCUAS board approves officer slate, creates finance committee and tightens banking controls

The Laredo Center for Urban Agriculture and Sustainability board voted to adopt a slate of officers for the 2025–26 year, create a finance and audit committee, and approve several measures intended to strengthen financial controls.

At the meeting the chair proposed a slate naming Bobby Gonzalez as treasurer, Luis Vasquez as secretary, Federico Lisondo as vice president and Mayra Hernandez as president. A motion to adopt the slate passed by voice vote and the chair declared the effective date as the meeting date.

The board also voted to form a finance and audit committee to oversee annual audits, budgets and financial matters; the chair asked committee members to meet with the executive director and the treasurer to finalize purchasing policies and audit arrangements. Purchasing policies presented during the meeting were tabled pending review by that committee.

To improve cash controls, the board approved reactivating or establishing a secondary bank account (LCUAS2) with an intended monthly balance and to provide the executive director with a debit card for limited organizational expenses. Members discussed reactivating a dormant account or opening a new one; the motion to reactivate/establish the account passed by voice vote. The board also moved to allow the finance committee to set the authorized spending limit for the executive director and approved adding the sitting board president as an additional signer on the organization’s business checking account. Members noted the purchasing policy language calling for two signatures on checks above certain thresholds should be reconciled with the signatory changes.

All recorded governance and finance motions passed without recorded opposition during the meeting; the finance committee was tasked with returning recommendations to the full board on purchasing policy language, authorized spending limits, and bank-account procedures.