A Message from our Outgoing Board Chair, Helena Cunningham
December 2, 2021
City Club members:
Reflecting on the past two years reminds me of a great quote I recently heard: “There are years that ask, and years that answer.” The year 2020 certainly asked a lot of all of us, given the shutdowns, mandates, impacts, and uncertainties of the pandemic. In 2021, as we adapted our personal and professional lives to protect our health, to support our economy, and to continue thriving in spite of the challenges, I believe many felt that we found more answers.
As I end my tenure as the 2021 President of the Board of Governors, I cannot express enough gratitude to all my fellow Board members and to our entire membership and staff for the trust placed in me during such a critical time, and for the answers you all helped to provide throughout this formidable year.
I am proud to report that thanks to the leadership and efforts of so many, our City Club not only successfully navigated the shutdowns and business disruptions brought on by the pandemic, but more importantly our collective efforts have elevated the City Club to a sound financial position with key leadership in place to see the club thrive going forward.
I am confident in this because on so many levels during these trying times, we led.
We led as our club withstood several key personnel changes this year, including the retirement of two of our key team members, Mr. Anthony Warr and Darren Betts. We wish them well as they enter this new chapter of their lives. We have gained our top-notch chef, Jaime Hernandez, who is familiar with our operations and the quality we provide to City Club members. And we have our tremendous Interim General Manager, Zafer Goncu, who is leading our operations every day.
Most important on the personnel front, we retained so many of our great team members throughout the uncertainty of the pandemic, and we celebrate them for their perseverance and loyalty to the club and our members.
We also led in making challenging but responsible financial decisions. Despite the shutdown, we pulled together to make critical budget decisions to withstand this disruption. Since then, we have put the City Club in a solid financial position that exceeded our estimates, and we are now ending the year with higher than anticipated revenues.
We also took advantage of the crisis to plan for the future, making critical capital improvements to the facility. Embarking on these facility enhancements was a key step toward the long-term viability of the club, and I am so excited that we have many more improvements planned for the coming year.
I must give a special thank you to the entire City Club staff – we are blessed to have such a wonderful team, and I am so grateful to have worked alongside each of you to accomplish our goals despite the most challenging circumstances. Thank you for all you do to make the City Club a success.
I also want to recognize my fellow members of the Board of Governors for the dedicated time, energy, and insight they poured into seeing the City Club through these unprecedented times.
Finally, I want to give a warm welcome to incoming Board President Chip McAlpin and recognize his tireless efforts this past year both as Board Vice President and as Chair of the Search Committee for the General Manager position. Chip’s talent and commitment will continue serving the City Club and our members very well, and I ask you to join me in wishing him the very best for his tenure in 2022.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to serve in this role. Together we not only weathered the storm, we pursued opportunities to position the club for even greater success in the future. It has been a sincere pleasure to be a part of it all.
Sincerely,
Helena Cunningham
2021 Board of Governors President
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For over 60 years, City Club has been downtown Baton Rouge’s private member premier dining club. Members represent all business sectors, generations, and fields of expertise. United by a common lifelong pursuit of personal & professional excellence. To find out more information about membership or get a tour, call 225.387.5657.