National Federation of the Blind of Florida
Board Meeting Minutes for November 26, 2006
Meeting was called to order at 8:07 PM.
Present were:
Kathy Davis - President
Dwight Sayer - First Vice President
Dan Hicks - Second Vice President
Sherri Brun - Secretary
Tom Hartig - Treasurer
Gloria Hicks - Board Member
Betty McNally - Board Member
Joe Minichiello - Board Member
Sherrill O'Brien - Board Member.
Minutes were accepted as mailed.
Tom Hartig gave the Treasurer's report. No significant change in the last month.. $177,902. With addition of Newsline® funds that we had in-hand, they were an increase over previous month with total ASSET balance of $225.462 and some cents. We are continuing to get additional paperwork for the estate of Carl Ebner. We are listed in his estate and Tom is projecting based upon information our share will be in the neighborhood of about $4,000. There are some objections to this estate by a son, but they have been overruled by the court. Higgins grant was received at $12,600, about $125 les than last year. Received Imagine grant for $5,000, which is in-hand. Signed contract with Kathy's authorization for Tallahassee Bus trip with Sawgrass for $3150. Following Gloria's on-cite review of Tallahassee Motel, Wingate, Tom signed contract. $99 a night. Drop any and all charges for meeting room, which had been at $70. March 1 is the date for committing to specific number of rooms. October 05 total assets including Newsline® funds $185,000. On December 1, $7000 will be given to our operating fund from Newsline® operating fund. This will be the second payment for the fiscal year. Treasure's report was accepted as read.
The Palm Beach chapter election was discussed. There were Difficulties with chapter elections because some members who were elected to the chapter board hold membership in the FCB, which is not allowed by the NFBF. Kathy asked how others had resolved this issue. Sherri reported that in the Greater Orlando chapter, a special election took place. David Evans asked the board for guidance. Kathy regrets that she did not hear back from Dr. Maurer and Joann Wilson regarding her e-mail to them on the matter. Kathy will send an e-mail to David Evans outlining the policy of NFB that duel membership in the NFB and the ACB is not allowed for board members in a given chapter. She will state in her letter to David that as chapter president, he must enforce this policy to insist that the board members involved will either present written proof that they have relinquished membership in the Florida Council of the Blind or immediately resign from the positions to which they were elected in the Palm Beach chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Florida. As per Kathy's request, Sherri Brun will e-mail a written reminder to Kathy regarding the above issue. Betty McNally said she would attend the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Palm Beach Chapter to provide NFBF Board presence and support for David Evans. Tom Hartig reported that David returned a portion of the $400 provided to him by the board that he did not use on his trip to Baltimore to participate in the Quiet Cars Seminar.
Kathy asked in consideration of membership policy and other policies if we should revisit our constitution to make changes in the NFBF policy. Several members said the constitution is good and the last revision adequate. Others stated that we should look at our policies and see if they need revisiting. Other policies were discussed. What about playing the presidential release when it is so readily available? It was suggested that a chapter member could listen and report on highlights. It was decided we should review the constitution and policies and see if we need to make changes. Joe said you never know what issues will come up in a chapter and perhaps the constitution should be examined and policies discussed. Tom wants to discuss the policy that perhaps a new member should hold membership in the chapter for a specific period of time before voting. This is particularly important in consideration of members who attend state convention and participate in elections. It was discussed that the term "Member in good standing" should be more clearly defined. There is also concern now that we have divergence between end of calendar year and end of fiscal year. Kathy appointed Dan to chair a committee with all NFBF board members participating. Tom will E-mail a copy of the constitution and existing NFB policies. Ideas on wording should be shared back and forth. Board will meet in February to focus on any needed revisions. Dan also mentioned the minutes of the previous constitution committee meeting are on the state website.
Dwight brought up social security administration and response from the national organization. Gloria suggested that Henry Alexander be contacted for his input considering that he is an expert.
Tallahassee legislative event was discussed. This will take place Wednesday March 21 through Friday March 23, 2007. We had tried to get contract with Ramada Inn. Gloria discussed her on-site visit to Tallahassee hotel. Dwight sent out inquiries to all hotels in the Tallahassee area and subsequently sent info back to the board on the top three hotels. The Wingate Hotel does not have a restaurant, but they do serve a warm breakfast. Meeting room was not available for Gloria to check out but will hold 50-60 adequately with theatre seating. Microwaves and refrigerators are in all hotel rooms. Ramada did not offer breakfast and did not have enough double beds in room. Gloria said she does not currently have a legislative report, but will meet with her committee.
Dwight stated that Sawgrass Tours will transport members to and from Tallahassee. The state will save about $900 on transportation by doing creative routing. Will start on east coast down to Miami, across Alligator alley and then up the west coast and I4 to Tampa. Need names of members who plan to attend and list will have to be developed indicating who will room with whom. Various chapters will need to submit this information no later than March 1. Tom said we should inform chapter presidents about the Tallahassee plans in December. Various legislative items were briefly discussed. Marion Gwizdala is working on new legislation for model Braille bill. Tom is not satisfied with way we are getting Newsline® funds, because it is a "handshake deal" rather than a concrete written agreement. Tom further stated that the best way to get funds is through the legislature, as is the case for the deaf. This would take only 1/4 of one cent of the funding currently existing in the telecommunications fund for the deaf. We are running out of money with our current funding source. Funds were earmarked. Politicians do not like that. Funds have been earmarked three times and we cannot go back for a fourth time. If we run out of funds this fiscal year, Florida will owe another $30,000. Tom will work with Senator Pruitt and we will also talk with Senator Dennis Baxley, who is the head of the Vision Caucus.
Kathy talked about the many troubling issues with regard to pedestrian safety for blind people and urged the NFBF to bring this matter to our lawmakers when we go to Tallahassee. It was suggested that we work with other transportation advocacy groups for strengthening the White Cane Law. The Accessible Electronic and Information Technology
(AEIT) policies for technology should be revisited. The FCAT issue for blind young people is also a matter of serious concern. Gloria informed us she will meet with her legislative committee as soon as legislature gets going.
Dwight discussed chapter building and membership. St. Augustine and Brevard County were discussed for development of chapters. Dwight said committee is looking for direction. Joe mentioned that teachers at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine felt threatened by formation of a Braille club and they are not supportive of the NFB having a presence in St. Augustine. Tom suggested dividing Palm Beach Chapter into two chapters – the north and south ends of the County. Joe suggested visiting chapters that appear to be having some problems and offer help if need be. Sarasota was suggested for developing a chapter. Is there a point person who could be a potential leader? Betty suggested Carlos's friend. Rick Calissi is a contact in Ocala. Dwight also suggested sending out a Newsline® announcement. Tom said we are restricted by legal requirements as to use of the Newsline® list.
Dan presented NFBF website and list report. He has relinquished control of the list to Mike Freeman and Dave Andrews. Topics for discussion on NFBF list were briefly discussed. There are 107 members on list. Dan and Tom discussed logistics of paying for the website and Dan discussed the various difficulties with maintaining and hosting the site. Dwight suggested an FTP location. Dan said we cannot do that with current provider. Kathy suggested having meeting of the website committee. Dwight asked if we could build our own page? Dan informed us that chapter sites should have no links to companies without permission and without being paid by the company. Also we need to have link to national and state website on chapter pages as well as the name of the chapter in the URL.
Tom Hartig gave Newsline® report. Florida currently has 13 papers now. Jacksonville is doing well. Jacksonville paper is the 55th largest paper in the country. Joe Minichiello is a beta tester. He will work with local Jacksonville paper to get publicity. The National Office is also putting out a public relations announcement about the Florida Times Union Jacksonville paper coming aboard with Newsline®. The next paper to come on is Ft. Myers. Tom Hartig says he has not been able to contact the vice-president of the Ft. Myers chapter in regards to the paper coming aboard. Newsline® will have TV guide available in January, 2007. Tom said there is the possibility of the addition of grocery ads, as well as items of interest to children. Tom Hartig and Sabrina Deaton recently attended NEWSLINE® seminar in Baltimore. Newsline® committee discussed priorities for the coming year to make certain that Newsline® continues to grow in subscribers and to expand with additional papers. More electronic access is available to download files to portable readers. Kathy said that Sabrina Deaton is doing an excellent job with public relations and that NFBF leaders and members should go through her before contacting the media. Her PR efforts for the 2006 convention were outstanding. Sabrina is in the process of putting together an NFBF promotional brochure.
Kathy appointed Joe Minichiello to be the NFBF representative for the NFB youth Slam. He is looking for qualified participants at the high school level as the event will take place over four days from July 30 through August 4. Young people from ninth grade through senior high will get together and work with math and science/technology issues. Blind mentors are needed to serve as mentors who are knowledgeable in technical fields. Joe needs support in recruiting and screening applicants. Looking for independent people. Need to get information out to the young people. Need 4-5 people from every state. One from Florida has applied. The student is from FSDB. Kathy mentioned counselor at FSDB is good contact. State coordinators will meet at National in January to coordinate efforts. There is an application fee of $200. May be a possibility that the state can ask National for a grant to cover application fee. Talk to DBS about covering fee. Mentors do not need background in scientific field, but should be an independent person with strong skills of blindness. Each mentor will have three mentees. Should be able to provide instruction in NFB philosophy. Need chapter presidents to make contacts. Kathy suggested the Joe contact Debbie Brackett and Sue Townsend who are likely to know of students who should apply for the Youth Slam. It would be a good idea for Joe to contact Sam Atwood to send information out to all DBS counselors who work with teens. Suggested that Joe also talk with Michael Elliott. Sherrill asked if there was an e-mail describing the youth slam that could be sent out to people in the Florida Instructional Materials Center? Can obtain information from blindscience.org.
Joe also reported on voting concerns. There were many negative comments from Supervisor of Elections office. There were some complications when reviewing the ballot. For the most part, things went very well. The major concern now is there is no paper trail.
The Presidents Committee report was given. Kathy says she will hold Presidents Committee meeting sometime in January. Does not hear from many of the chapter presidents when she sends out e-mail messages requesting their input. chairs should update chapter presidents and list members on the NFBF list regarding committees we chair. Kathy wants chairs to post an overview of what committees are doing on the NFBF listserv.
Events and legislative matters were discussed. Monday, January 29, through Wednesday, January 31. Students must arrive on Sunday morning to participate in their activities. Gloria stated that Ashley and Carlos want to attend the Washington Seminar and will contact both once again to make certain they will arrive in time to participate in the student events. David Evans expressed his desire to attend. Seminar attendees will have to cover other areas outside their counties. Last year, Betty covered Southwest and Miami. Betty will check with Denise and David will be available to assist in covering the south end of the state. Peter P. from the GDB Chapter will be an alternate and Gloria will also approach Joanne King about attending. James Johnson and Sabrina Deaton would also be good alternates. It was tentatively decided that the following NFBF members will be attending the Washington Seminar: Dwight Sayer, Dan Hicks, Sherri Brun, Tom Hartig, Gloria Hicks, Betty McNally, Joe Minichiello, Sherrill O'Brien, David Evans, Ashley Skellinger, Carlos Montas and Denise Valkema. Dwight mentioned that Southwest now flies into Dullis. Shuttle for transportation of NFBF members attending the Washington Seminar was approved by MV Transportation.
Scholarships were discussed. Kathy did not have anything specific to report, but is sure that Rick Brown, chair of this committee, will be sending out the letter to students and to DBS very soon. Kathy announced that Rick Brown and Laurel Henry are getting married December 30.
Sherri Brun reported on FLAGDU issues. Carlos Montas was not allowed to bring his dog into a Denny's restaurant. He and Marion are handling the complaint. Marion is working with Petco across the street from our NFBF convention hotel to get donations of dog goodies.
Merchant's report was given. Charles Hackney says head of Randolf-Shepperd committee should speak at convention. Gloria is making the agenda sub-committee aware that he will be invited.
No issues on deaf-blind committee. Sherri needs to contact Patricia Tuck. Joe Minichiello will send Patricia's phone number to Sherri. Joe Naulty is looking for financial assistance for deaf-blind division to subsidize travel. Kathy asked Dwight to write to Joe to gather more information relative to his request.
For Focus report, one of the duplicators has broken down. Dan has info on who fixed duplicator previously. Repairing the duplicators is cost prohibitive. Dwight suggested that we talk to Mike Gunde from the Florida Regional Library to ask them to produce and distribute the Focus on tape. Dwight will discuss logistics with Mike. Dwight said we should make a donation to Friends of Library Access to let the library produce the Focus. Dwight mentioned that other organizations are using the library services for a donation to Friends of Library Access. The distribution list for the Focus was discussed. Donna Evans is no longer handling that responsibility. Coordination of the lists was discussed. The Gainesville chapter is printing the labels. Marion has been their contact. It was suggested that a questionnaire be sent out to each person asking preferred format for the Focus. The Board's preferences should be taken back to Marion via his liaison, Betty McNally. Tom will also talk to Marion about developing a master list. The master list needs to have fields for member, yes no. Need a list of members and non-members, but sort it. Next deadline for submission of articles to the Focus is 12/22. This issue will focus on legislation and convention info. It was moved and seconded that we migrate towards a single list. Motion passed.
Fund-raising committee is working on major event. Imagine grant was provided to the NFBF from national in the amount of $5000.
Kathy discussed parents' division. Lots of exciting plans for state convention. Marion and Merry are working hard to provide activities for the children. We have $6,000 from last year plus the grant. $11,000 dollars. Check also raised for $12,000. We are covered even without help from DBS. Kathy will check with DBS for possible grant.
Dan reported on resolutions committee and said he would send an e-mail to the NFBF Listserv asking for resolutions for the 2007 state convention.
Joe had no senior concerns report, because he has been dealing with other concerns. Will pursue senior concerns in up-coming months.
Betty gave SUN report and said we contributed to National $280 and will put article into focus to encourage chapter contributions.
Joe volunteered to chair PAC.
NFBF State convention 2007 matters were discussed. Dwight suggested we table this discussion until the next meeting.
Exhibitors list was discussed. The list will be divided up among committee members and phone calls will be made to potential exhibitors . Marion, Sherri and David will be calling perspective exhibitors. Dan would like to know the names of exhibitors who have no interest in attending the NFBF convention so they can be deleted from our list. Dwight and Joe will get contact info for Talking Tabs. Kathy will send out request to Erik Sandvole for suggestion for talking book reader for our convention.
The March for independence, which will take place at our 2007 National Convention was discussed. Some members have already signed up to participate and are in the process of raising funds.
The meeting adjourned at 11:02 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted:
Sherri Brun, Secretary
National Federation of the Blind of Florida
Sherri Brun, Secretary
National Federation of the Blind of Florida