[Cinci-NFB] National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, Cincinnati Chapter, Meeting Minutes for April 2021

[info at onhconsulting.com]

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

Cincinnati Chapter

Meeting Minutes for April 2021

 

1.      The April 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 April 24, 2020. This meeting was held by
teleconference due to ongoing concerns related to the Covid-19 Pandemic. In
attendance were: President Gloria Robinson, Emily Pennington, Gary Warren,
Christopher Sabine, Tammy Smith, Frank Bragassa, Tammy McRae, Lisa Hall,
Candice Armstrong and Marianne Denning. Allison Meloy, Counselor for the
Southwest Region of the Ohio Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired,
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, attended today's meeting as a
guest of the Chapter. 

 

2.      Tammy Smith moved to approve the February meeting minutes as
emailed. Emily Pennington seconded, and the motion passed. 

 

3.      Emily Pennington gave this month's Treasurer's Report. Gary Warren
moved to approve the Treasurer's Report as presented. Emily Pennington
seconded, and the motion passed.

 

4.      Christopher Sabine gave this month's legislative report, which began
with a summary of his participation in this year's Washington Seminar. He
expressed that members of the affiliate met with representatives of fourteen
members of Congress and both Ohio's Senators, Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rob
Portman (R-Ohio) regarding the federations four national legislative
priorities, which were reviewed in detail in the January Chapter minutes and
are also available on the Federation's national web site at
https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/washington-seminar/washington-sem
inar-priorities?q=programs-services%2Fadvocacy%2Fwashington-seminar%2Fwashin
gton-seminar-priorities. Todd Elsey and Barbara Pierce from the Ohio
Affiliate's Board of Directors moderated Ohio's virtual delegation, in which
Christopher participated. Christopher expressed that he believes that the
Access Technology Affordability Act, introduced in the House as H.R. 431 and
the Senate as S. 212, has the greatest chance of being enacted in this
year's legislative session, as it has the most co-sponsors. Christopher also
indicated that the Ohio Affiliate made an attempt to have the Ohio General
Assembly and Ohio Senate introduce the parental rights legislation into the
2021 Annual State Budget. However, members of the Board of Directors
indicated that this effort was ultimately unsuccessful, as the affiliate's
proposal involved no amount to be allocated. None of the Ohio Affiliate's
legislative priorities-which are unchanged from the 2019 -20 legislative
session-have been introduced into the Ohio House or Senate due to the
pandemic. The Ohio Affiliate is asking all Chapters to invite their
representatives in the Ohio General Assembly and Congress to chapter
meetings to discuss the Federation's state and national legislative agenda.
Marianne Denning asked all Chapter members to determine the names of their
representatives in the State and Federal House and Senate to keep
legislators abreast of legislative priorities. 

 

5.      Gary Warren presented a fundraising Committee report. He expressed
that the Chapter's next fundraising campaign will commence sometime in late
May or early June. As in the Fall 2020 campaign, tickets will be sold for $5
apiece and 3 for $12 with the prize being an Amazon smart air frier. The
Committee plans to schedule a meeting to launch the campaign when it
receives the air frier. President Gloria Robinson expressed that she will
obtain a gift card to go with the air frier. She also expressed that she
will reach out to Neal Hartman, who designed the flier for the Fall
campaign, to design a new flier for this initiative. Other fundraising ideas
to consider after the resolution of the Pandemic-particularly the Italian
Dinner-were also discussed, but no action was taken at today's meeting.

 

6.      Christopher Sabine and Marianne Denning gave a report from the
Transportation Committee, as Chris Windham, the chair of that committee, was
absent from today's meeting. He indicated that The Southwest Ohio Regional
Transit Authority, the agency that operates the transit system for
Cincinnati and Hamilton County, has held several public meetings regarding
its expansion initiative, Reinventing Metro. He expressed that ACCESS,
SORTA's paratransit service, and seven of SORTA's highest volume fixed bus
routes are converting to 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week service starting
June 1. Christopher also reported that the agency's fare simplification
program has now gone into effect as of April 1 on all routes on Metro.
Standard fares for all non-express trips within Hamilton County are $2.00,
express routes are $2.60, and all out-of-county trips, such as the Batavia,
West Chester and King's Island Express Routes, are $3.75. All Trips on
ACCESS are $4-with 24-hour service now available. Zones have also been
eliminated on ACCESS rides as of April 1. Finally, SORTA-as part of its
current five-year plan to improve service on all its routes-is planning to
establish neighborhood transfer sites throughout its system to better enable
riders to travel to different neighborhoods without needing to travel to
Downtown or a regional transfer hub. This is in addition to the regional
transfer hubs already in place, such as the Northside and Oakley Transit
Centers. 

 

7.      Candice Armstrong gave an update on activities of the Ohio
Affiliate's Community Service Division. She reported that The Division is
holding weekly happy Hour events on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 P.M.
on the Ohio Affiliate Zoom Room. Each event has a theme. Information
concerning the Happy Hour events is posted each week to the Ohio-Talk
Listserv.

 

8.      Christopher Sabine gave a brief report from the Membership
Committee. He indicated that he is reaching out to a few potential new
members, including an individual who received a cane from the National Free
White Cane Program currently living in Highland County, Ohio. 

 

9.      President Gloria Robinson led a discussion of the Code of Conduct.
She expressed that a two-hour, national meeting was held to discuss the Code
and answer questions from Federation members, in which several Chapter
members attended. She indicated that all members must acknowledge that they
have read and agree to the Code of Conduct to sign up for National
Convention, a link to which is provided on the Convention Registration Form
on the National organization's web site. After a discussion with Christopher
Sabine prior to the meeting, Gloria asked Lisa Hall if she would be
available to read the Code of Conduct to members who need assistance
registering for National Convention online over the phone on the Chapter
conference line. Lisa indicated that she would be able to do so and promised
to schedule the meeting during the week of May 3-7. However, this meeting
was not scheduled at today's meeting, and the Chapter agreed that
Christopher Sabine would send an announcement via the Cincinnati Chapter
listserv and group text at a later date when the meeting is scheduled.
Marianne Denning also agreed to record the Code of Conduct electronically
and post the recording to the Cincinnati Chapter and Ohio-Talk Listservs.

 

10.  President Gloria Robinson expressed that she will be implementing a
point system which Gary Warren currently uses in the Delaware Affiliate in
which members receive points for participating in fundraising activities to
benefit the Chapter and expressed that the level of financial assistance
members will receive will be based on the number of points they earn.
Members who do not participate in Chapter fundraising events or attend
meetings will not receive financial assistance. President Gloria Robinson
also expressed concern about the lack of Board participation and attendance
at Chapter meetings and request that any Board member who is unable to
attend a meeting reach out to her in advance.

 

11.  Frank Bragassa, The Cincinnati Representative of the Ohio Vendors
Representatives Committee (OVRC), which represents business operators in the
Ohio Business Enterprise Program, led a discussion of his work with the
National Federation of the Blind and Opportunities for Ohioans with
Disabilities on behalf of business operators working in government
facilities under the Randolph Sheppard Act. He expressed his thanks to the
National Federation of the Blind for their work with OVRC on several
pressing concerns from business operators.

 

12.  Gloria Robinson indicated that she will be hosting a birthday party on
Saturday July 10 from 6:00 to 10:00 P.M. at the Knights of Columbus Hall
located at 4109 West Eighth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45205. The evening will
start with Jazz music from 6:00 to 7:00, followed by a party themed," From
Old School to New School." Rooms will be available for participants at the
Quality inn Queensgate Hotel, which is located near the venue. 

 

13.  Christopher Sabine expressed that he has been invited to participate in
a subcommittee of the National Organization's Diversity and Inclusion
Committee concerned with issues facing people who are Blind and also have
additional disabilities, and there is a possibility he will be doing a
presentation at National Convention. President Gloria Robinson encouraged
all members who have participated in activities in their communities to
share them with Christopher Sabine, so he can include them in this year's
gavel report for State Convention.

 

 

14.  President Gloria Robinson is looking into holding an in-person Meet the
Blind Event in October. However, she has not finalized these plans due to
the Pandemic. She also expressed the possibility of having a picnic in
August. It was agreed that the Chapter will post a message on the Cincinnati
Chapter Listserv to gage members' interest in the picnic and discuss in the
May chapter meeting.

 

15.  The April 2021 meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio,
Cincinnati Chapter was adjourned at approximately 2:55 P.M. on Saturday
April 24 2021.

 

16.  The next meeting of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio,
Cincinnati Chapter will be held on Saturday May 22 2021 from 1:30 to 3:30
P.M. by teleconference.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Christopher Sabine

Secretary

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

Cincinnati Chapter

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/cinci-nfb_nfbnet.org/attachments/20210514/247e2a13/attachment.html>