[Cinci-NFB] National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, Cincinnati Chapter, Meeting Minutes for June 2021 (Revised).

[csabine2010 at gmail.com]

Revised to correct time of next meeting, which is 1:30 P.M. on August 28
2021.

 

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

Cincinnati Chapter

Meeting Minutes for June 2021

 

 

1.	The June 2021 meeting of the National Federation of the blind of
Ohio, Cincinnati Chapter was convened by President Gloria Robinson at
approximately 1:32 P.m. on Saturday June 26 2021. Members in attendance at
today's meeting were: President Gloria Robinson, Marianne Denning, Emily
Pennington, Christopher Sabine, Dave Perry, Taslim Dibba, Haley Thurston,
Deborah Kendrick, and Lisa Hall. Suzanne Turner, Vice President of the
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, Eric Duffy, Secretary of the
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio and Chair of the Affiliate
Legislative Committee, Todd Elsey, Treasurer of the National Federation of
the Blind of Ohio and member of the Ohio Affiliate Legislative Committee,
Annette Lutz, President of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio,
Capital Chapter, William H. Turner, Member of the National Federation of the
Blind of Ohio, Cleveland Chapter, and Terry Bowers, Member, National
Federation of the Blind of Ohio, At-Large Chapter, also attended today's
meeting. Our guest presenter at today's meeting was Ohio Rep. Jessica
Miranda (D-Forest Park). 

 

2.	Marianne Denning, Vice President of the Cincinnati Chapter,
introduced Rep. Miranda to discuss the Ohio Affiliate's legislative
priorities. Rep Miranda's district comprises 13 of Cincinnati's northern
suburbs. She began her presentation with an overview of her role and
activities as a member of Ohio's House of Representatives. Rep. Miranda is
currently the ranking member of the House Insurance Committee and also
serves on the Transportation and Public Safety Committee, the economic and
Workforce Development Committee, and the Technology and Innovation
Committee. Eric Duffy introduced himself and expressed that Rep. Erica
Crawley (D-Columbus), one of the two representatives who introduced H.B.
352, the Affiliate's parental rights legislation, is leaving her position to
serve on Franklin County's Board of Commissioners, though the date of her
departure is unclear. This legislation has passed the House in both of the
past two sessions, and Eric expressed full confidence that it will pass the
House this year as well and thanked Rep. Miranda for her support of this
legislation. Eric indicated that H.B. 352 now has a companion bill in the
Ohio Senate, S. 202 and expressed his interest in arranging a special
ceremony when the legislation reaches the Governor's desk for his signature
due to its significance for the civil rights of Blind Ohioans. Eric also
expressed that Rep. Richard Brown (D-Canal Winchester) plans to issue a
"Dear Colleague letter the week of June 28 to solicit cosponsors for the
Affiliate's nonvisual prescription access legislation, which has not been
introduced to the House as of today's meeting but may be assigned to the
House Health Committee when it is introduced. An overview of the affiliate's
accessible prescription labelling legislation was provided. Eric expressed
that the Affiliate is seeking a sponsor in the Senate to issue a companion
bill for this legislation, and Rep. Miranda promised to look out for Rep
Brown's Dear Colleague letter and the corresponding bill when it is
introduced. Suzanne Turner, Vice President of the Ohio Affiliate, expressed
that the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio has several divisions and
committees of interest to its members. One is the Deafblind Committee and
National Deafblind division. Suzanne expressed that the Ohio Deafblind
Committee is seeking legislation for a single Support Provider (SSP) program
that would facilitate communication between members of the Deafblind
Committee and the general public to help them express their needs and reduce
their isolation. Other states have similar legislation in place. Eric Duffy
expressed that he believed the only way to pass this through the Legislature
would be as a line item in the biennial budget, possibly through
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. Rep. Miranda expressed
agreement with this as a possible approach and support of such legislation
in the House. Finally, Suzanne turner extended an invitation for Rep.
Miranda to attend and participate in the annual Convention of the National
Federation of the Blind of Ohio to be held in November in Columbus. Chapter
President Gloria Robinson expressed thanks to Rep. Miranda for serving as a
guest presenter at today's meeting. Rep Miranda's office telephone number
and email address were provided.

 

3.	Emily Pennington moved to approve the May Chapter minutes. Dave
Perry seconded, and the motion passed.

 

 

4.	Emily Pennington gave this month's Treasurer's Report. Marianne
Denning moved to approve this month's Treasurer's Report as presented. Dave
Perry seconded, and the motion passed. 

 

5.	Marianne Denning, Chair of the Cincinnati Chapter Legislative
Committee, announced that the Ohio Affiliate will be holding a legislative
seminar in Columbus on September 19-21. This will include a state board
meeting on September 19, a job seeker seminar and a tour of the Ohio State
House on the morning of September 20, and meetings with state legislators on
September 21, according to President Gloria Robinson and Eric Duffy,
Secretary of the Ohio Affiliate. Affiliate President Richard Payne is
requesting all members of the Ohio Affiliate to attend. Members interested
need to complete a form included in an email posted to the Ohio-Talk
Listserv and return it to President Richard Payne. The form is also
available on the Ohio Affiliate web site, http://www.nfbohio.org. President
Gloria Robinson reiterated that the Affiliate's Parental Rights Bills, HB
352 and S. 202, are close to being passed by their respective chambers and
signed into law, so as many Affiliate members as possible need to attend
this seminar. 

 

6.	Dave Perry gave a report from the Fundraising Committee. He
indicated that the Chapter's current fundraising campaign is about to
commence. Tickets will be sold for entry into a drawing to win an Amazon Air
Frier. Dave expressed the importance of all members' participation in the
campaign to the funding of the Chapter. 

 

7.	President Gloria Robinson expressed that the Chapter held a meeting
of the Board of Directors prior to today's meeting, in which concerns were
expressed regarding lack of participation by rank-and-file members as well
as members of the Board of Directors. Though the most recent Chapter
fundraiser netted $825 in revenues, only five people actively participated
in selling tickets. Gloria expressed that more members attend in the months
closer to Convention in order to receive financial assistance to attend. A
discussion on ways to increase member attendance, which included Suzanne
Turner, Current Ohio Affiliate Vice President and President of the Cleveland
Chapter, Eric Duffy, Former President and Current Secretary of the Ohio
Affiliate, and Former Cincinnati Chapter President Deborah Kendrick, ensued.
Several recommendations were made to President Gloria Robinson to improve
member participation. These included: meeting members where they are,
reaching out to members one-on-one to resolve any concerns and tease out
their view of their role in the organization, and giving each member a job
in the organization.

 

8.	Christopher Sabine gave a brief report from the Transportation
Committee. He reported that seven of the most popularly used routes on
Metro, the fixed route system operated by the Southwest Ohio Regional
Transit Authority, have been converted to 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-a-week
service as of June 1 2021.

 

9.	President Gloria Robinson indicated that she will be holding the
Chapter's first in-person meeting since March 2020 at her home, located at
917 Enright Avenue, West Price Hill. The meeting will consist of a picnic
for Chapter members. The picnic and Chapter meeting will take place on
Saturday August 28 from 1:30 to 4:00 P.M. Christopher Sabine made a motion
to allocate $50 of Chapter funds for meat and other food items and services
for the event. Marianne Denning seconded, and the motion passed. 

 

10.	Christopher Sabine expressed that he will be part of a panel
discussion to be held at National Convention on the experiences of
Federation members with multiple or secondary disabilities. The panel will
be held virtually on July 6 from 12:00 to 2:00 P.M. 

 

 

11.	President Gloria Robinson reminded all Chapter members that the Ohio
State convention is set for November 5-7 at the Hilton Double Tree Hotel in
Columbus, Ohio and encouraged all Chapter members to reserve their rooms as
soon as possible and take advantage of available financial assistance.

 

12.	Christopher Sabine moved that the Chapter allocate $75 to the Ohio
State School for the Blind's Model Restoration Project. Emily Pennington
seconded, and the motion passed. Originally spearheaded by the Ohio
Affiliate in honor of long time Cincinnati Chapter members Paul Dressell and
Paul Jorden, the Model Restoration Project aims to restore a collection of
tactile models of historic buildings and landmarks for use by students of
the Ohio State School for the Blind. Many of these models, originally
constructed in the 1930's and 1940's by the U.S. Works Progress
Administration, have fallen into disrepair. The Ohio Affiliate is matching
all donations made through the Affiliate to this project by July 1 2021.

 

13.	The June 2021 meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of
Ohio, Cincinnati Chapter was adjourned at approximately 2:40 P.M. on
Saturday June 26 2021.

 

 

14.	The next meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio,
Cincinnati Chapter will take place in person on August 28 2021 at the home
of President Gloria Robinson, located at 914 Enright Avenue, Cincinnati Ohio
45205. There will be no meeting in July due to National Convention.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Christopher Sabine

Secretary

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

Cincinnati Chapter

 

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