[Iabs-talk] chicago minutes february 2018 second draft

[David Meyer]

NFBI CHICAGO CHAPTER MINUTES

 

MEETING OF FEBRUARY 10, 2018

 

The meeting was called to order by President Steve Hastalis at 1:02 P.M.
There were 15 members present.

 

What's Happening: Ken Borst announced that he would be interviewing Marilyn
Green about the Washington Seminar on February 27 for his weekly television
program. Those wishing to listen via internet will have to get the
information from KNTB. Please call 312-738-1400. Ask for Chris Wilkenson. He
will be there on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

 

Presidential Reports

 

National Presidential Release: Mark Riccobono, President, National
Federation of the Blind reported on the following items. President Riccobono
mentioned that we had a very successful Washington Seminar. We got a lot of
cosponsors for our initiatives during that time. It is now up to us to be
sure that all representatives-senators who indicated they would cosponsor an
initiative will do so. Our National Student Division had a strong presence
at the Washington Seminar this year. Our reception at the Nuseum was a
success. It featured a 3D exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the
Tet offensive. Our legal program does a number of things including the
writing of demand letters and the filing of lawsuits when necessary in order
to improve the quality of life for blind individuals as well as for the
blind collectively. Another function is to provide legal tools of education
for all of us so that we may be strong self-advocates.  Anyone who is
involved in a legal issue where blindness plays a part should continue to
consult with our National office, which will assist us either with advice or
actual legal assistance. Anyone with a legal concern should contact Valerie
Yingling.  Those of us with guide dogs, or who have ridden in an Uber or
Lift vehicle with a guide dog user should continue to provide feedback to
our National office. We should document both good and bad experiences. We
are presently working with Amazon to insure that blind people have the same
rights to be employed with them as any other citizen would. We are looking
for data on experiences blind people have had in seeking employment with
Amazon. Again, we should provide experiences that are both positive and
negative. Please document your experiences with Valerie Yingling by email at
vyingling at nfb.org or call her at 410-659-9314 extension 2440.  We now have a
new webpage for legal happenings. Please go to www.nfb.org/legal. The
Jacobus Tenbroek Law Symposium will occur on March 22-23 at the Jernigan
Institute. The theme for this year is Fifty Years after Tenbroek, the Right
to Live in the World. We have lost several federationists in the past month,
including Josie Armentraut, Dwayne Smith, James Hunt JR, Ken Caniberry, Jan
Triplet, Tom Ryan, Dr. Bob Lesnie and Patrick Lopez. Please keep all of
these individuals and their families in your thoughts and prayers. 

 

State Presidential Report: NFBI President Denise Avant reported on the
following items. We can now register at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel for
our 2018 National convention. Dates for the convention are July 3-8. Room
rates are $88 for singles and doubles and $82 for triples and quads.
Preregistration for the convention itself begins on March 1. Go to
www.nfb.org to register. Preregistration concludes on May 31. If you are in
need of financial assistance to attend the National Convention, you may
apply for a Jernigan Scholarship at www.nfb.org. You will also need to write
a letter stating how you are involved with the Federation and send it to
Denise no later than March 31. The deadline for Jernigan Scholarships is
April 15. You may also apply through the Chappell-Dennis fund. The
application can be found at www.nfbofillinois.org. Those applications must
be into Denise on May 1. Applications are being taken for both National and
State scholarships. Applications must be in for the National scholarship by
11:59 P.M. Eastern time, with state scholarships due at 11:59 P.M. central
time on the same date. One must agree to attend the entire National
convention for a National scholarship. Anyone considered for a state
scholarship must agree to attend the entire state convention. A Midwest
Student seminar will occur on April 20-22. Our student division along with
the National student division are involved in planning this event. It will
take place at the Holiday Inn O'Hare. Registration is $50. This fee will
include registration as well as lunches and a Sunday breakfast. Room rates
are $109 nightly. The next state board meeting will occur on Sunday,
February 18 at 7:00 P.M. Call 641-715-3273 with the access code as 6324.
Denise thanked Patti Chang, Marilyn Green, Steve Hastalis and Mary Grunwald
for representing the Chicago chapter at Washington Seminar.

 

Secretary's report: It was moved and seconded to approve the minutes to the
January 2018 meeting. The motion carried.

 

Program: Our program was on the National Accreditation Council and the
Washington Seminar. David Meyer and Steve Hastalis discussed the National
Accreditation Council and what it represents in the blind community. Lack of
communication about the new NAC suggests that the new NAC is much like the
old NAC. Dave suggested that NAC represented low expectations both for the
individuals it served and for itself. He pointed out that NAC was the only
accrediting body that he was aware of that permitted agencies to evaluate
themselves for purposes of reaccreditation. He also sited some major
problems which happened in residential schools for the blind while they were
accredited by NAC. Steve mentioned that one could email their thoughts to
the Association of Education and Rehabilitation professionals to express our
opposition to NAC. You may email your comments to nac at aerbvi.org. He also
mentioned that we were able to get the federal government to stop
recognizing NAC as an accrediting body in the past. We know precious little
about what is presently going on with NAC, and that is a substantial part of
the problem. Our attempts to get information about NAC and how we might
involve ourselves in the shaping of NAC have been ignored by aero. Denise
pointed out that if there are no changes in how NAC is constituted, history
may very well repeat itself.

 

Washington seminar: We had four issues at Washington Seminar this year,
three we hoped to pass and one which we oppose.  Marilyn Green talked about
the Marrakesh treaty. This treaty would permit accessible materials to be
distributed throughout the world regardless of where they were originally
produced or copied. Mary grunwald talked about the Access Technology
Affordability Act, HR1734. This bill would permit a $2,500 refundable tax
credit over three years to anyone who has purchased access technology. This
will improve prospects for education and/or employment for blind individuals
who would otherwise not be able to afford the technology they need to
succeed. Steve mentioned that Jan Schakowsky is a cosponsor of this
legislation. Denise mentioned that Kimmy Beverley is looking for
letters-stories from Illinois about how they would be or how they may have
been helped if this legislation were in place. Marilyn Green also talked
about HR1772, the Instructional Materials in Higher Education Act. Currently
blind students across the country are dealing with trying to access
materials that have been and continue to be inaccessible to them. This
legislation would create a commission which would come up with guidelines
institutions of higher learning may follow in order to make their materials
accessible. S2138 is the Senate companion bill for this legislation. Steve
Hastalis talked about HR620 the ADA Education and Reform act. If this bill
were to become law, a person filing a complaint would have to provide a
demand letter specifically defining the complaint. Once that is done, a
business would have 60 days to respond to the letter and another 120 days to
make a substantial attempt to remedy the problem. Nobody knows at this point
what a substantial attempt at compliance might be. This bill if passed would
effectively eliminate enforcement of Title III. Of the Americans with
Disabilities Act. That is why we strenuously oppose this legislation.
Congressmen Bill Foster and Randy Hultgren have cosponsored this
legislation. Thanks to

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, Congressman Bobby Rush who originally
cosponsored this legislation withdrew his cosponsor ship of this bill.

 

Treasurers Report: Marco Giannotti gave the fourth quarter treasurers report
for 2017. We had an opening balance of $5,253.09. Income, $2,210. Expenses,
$3,350. Balance, December 31, 2017, $4,113.09. The report was approved as
given.

 

Zanies Fundraiser: President Hastalis reported that the Zanies fundraiser
will occur on Thursday, March 15. Cost per reservation is $20 which is due
by March 10. If you already have a reservation and cannot attend, you must
cancel by March 10.Additionally, each attendee is required to pay a two
drink or a one drink and one food item minimum. The list includes Patti
Chang, 3. David Meyer, Steve Hastalis, for one, Shantel and Marlon Jones
two, Denise Avant, Marilyn Green, Mary Grunwald, Marco Giannotti, Jemal
Powell, Paul Shepherdson, Glenn Moore, Mellissa Fuller, Elizabeth Sally, and
Pam Gillmore. In other fundraising news, David Meyer reported that proceeds
from the Zanies fundraiser will support our annual contribution to the PAC
plan. If we raise more than $600, proceeds will go to fund our contributions
to National Convention funds. We hope to have a Beggars fundraiser on April
11. We will also have a fundraiser at Bakers Square It looks like that will
happen on June 19. We are working out details for a White Sox fundraiser.
The Beggars fundraiser will go for miscellaneous funds. The Bakers Square
fundraiser will support our contributions to National convention funds. The
White Sox fundraiser will support our 15 for funds contribution at the state
convention. Our Christmas auction and next year's Games night will support
our efforts to help people attend Washington Seminar. In membership matters,
Robert Hansen asked that whoever has the master membership list should mail
him a copy so that he can revise it. Fan-out calls should happen
approximately a week before the meeting.

 

New Business: Activities on March 10 will begin with a face-to-face board
meeting at 11:30 A.M. with the chapter meeting beginning at 1:00 P.M. Michal
Nowicki will present a program on accessible set top boxes for television.
The Metra ADA Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday February 20 It will
begin at 2:00 P.M. at the second floor conference room of Metra
headquarters, 547 West Jackson, Chicago. As of March 2018, Jemal Powell will
be the new chairman of the Pace ADA Advisory Committee. Melissa Fuller is
now vice-chairperson of the CTA ADA Advisory committee. Melissa's phone
number is 312-848-8937. Steve asked Jemal to define the two Pace ADA
Advisory Committees. The Chicago committee deals with paratransit services
in Chicago. The suburban committee deals with fixed route and Paratransit
issues in the suburbs. David Meyer encouraged anyone who has not yet done so
to sign up for NfB-NewsLine. He also went into some of the ways NFB-NewsLine
can be accessed.

 

The meeting adjourned at 3:18 P.M.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

David Meyer, Secretary

 

 

 

David Meyer, NFB of Illinois

Coordinator and Channel Administrator, NFB-NewsLine