[IABS-Talk] Chicago Hybrid Chapter minutes for August 14, 2021

[davant1958 at gmail.com]

Good Morning All:

Here is a draft of the Chicago chapter hybrid meeting minutes for August 14,
2021.

 

NFBI Chicago Chapter Meeting

August 14, 2021 at 1pm CST

Exchequer Pub & Zoom

 

Chapter President Denise Avant brought the meeting to order at 1:00 PM.

She began by thanking Marco Gionnatti and Michal Nowicki who have been
working hard to set up our sound for this hybrid meeting.

She also asked the chapter to give George, the owner of Exchequer Restaurant
and his staff a standing ovation for making the space available for us to
have our regular meeting and to serve food beginning at noon. The chapter
did so.

She explained that for those on Zoom, we would follow the same protocols. If
you have a question or comment, please raise your hand and either Michal or
Dustin will recognize you to ask your question.

 

Denise invited those present to introduce themselves and share any news.

 

Present in Person were:

Eileen Truschke

Michal Nowicki - Thanked those for coming out.

Marco Gionatti 

Steve Hastalis - Out of the hospital and recovering.

Ken Borst

Laura Cordingly 

Ken Borst

Sara Luna - First Vice-President of IABS and it's good to be here with all
of you.

Ellen Bartelt - President of IABS and will begin student teaching at Otis
Elementary in a couple of weeks.

Jemal Powell - Second VP of Chicago Chapter, glad to be back here after
about 16, 17 months, lost count. He would have hugged everyone and kissed
the ground but due to COVID protocols he's just happy to be here.

Paul Shepardson

Mary Lou Grunwald - So happy that all these people are here and in person, I
cannot hug you, those of you I know please come join us.

Bill Reif - From Springfield, glad to be back up in Chicago and with
everyone.

Todd Lively - Glad to be back here with everyone.
Dustin Cather - Glad to be here

Ken Chad - Glad to be back in the hybrid meeting and together.

David Meyer - Thank you Denise for your stable leadership and it's really
nice to be here.

Pam Gillmore - Up to 15 in attendance here in person. She hopes everyone can
here her. She also wants to give fully vaccinated hugs in person and out
there in Zoomland.

Chris Villsap - Glad to be here also.

Dan TeVelde- So glad to be here especially given all the challenges
experience this last year, thank you god for keeping everyone safe.

Robert Hansen - Good to be down here.

 

Dustin was then asked to call on those on zoom to introduce themselves.

 

Present on Zoom were:

Bob Whitman - Here in Michigan, sounds great and best to everybody.

Gina Falvo - Here from Homewood, from her living room. Hello to everybody,
looks like everything is coming back so that's a good sign.

Alicia Green - Here from Aurora, Illinois - Denise welcomed her

Greg Rosenburg - In his computer room in Tinley Park right now, has to wait
for his immune system to get back to 100%

Kyle Chellino - First time at a chapter meeting

Marilyn Green - State President and in so much traffic she forgot the parade
is today and is trying to make it before the chapter meeting ends. She loves
each and every one of the members of the NFB of IL Chicago's Chapter and
will be there soon.

Teresa Fabre - She is busy packing as this is her last weekend in Chicago
before she goes back to school. She will start her first year at Northern.

 

Denise then noted that there are 20 present in the room and 9 present online
and announced Jemal Powell and Steve Hastalis who will be providing the
program item for today's meeting.

 

Jemal - Good afternoon everybody, Chicago Chapter chair for today's program,
Audible Pedestrian Signals. Audio signals have been around in this country
for about 30 years or so. When they were first rolled out, they have had
varied results about them and as time has gone on we had a little more
preference in the US and at a recent Chicago Chapter Legislative meeting
audible pedestrian signals were discussed in Chicago and that is why we
decided to have a program on Audible Pedestrian Signals today. Hopefully we
are going to hear some soon.

 

Steve - There are different kinds of signals so we're going to start with
State and Jackson, for those of us who use parallel traffic as our guide may
find it a little challenging. So, we will start with State and Jackson.

 

Denise - Please remember to wipe mic down after using.

 

Steve - That was the cuckoo and the cardinal on Oak Street. (sounds of birds
played) So as I cross Oak Street to the west side of Roosevelt you hear the
chirps. You have to listen to the audible signals to know which bird sound
correlates to which street. (sounds of birds played, cuckoo first) The
cuckoos are going across the southwest side of 33rd and State street. These
were recordings taken from my shirt pocket. You can hear somebody just
turned at the southwest corner. (faint sounds of cars) Here's the sounds
crossing on the south side of Madison. (faint sounds of beeps) 

 

It was noted on the zoom call that there may be audio problems as those on
zoom cannot hear but Denise shared that they won't be able to hear very
much. She suggested Steve and Jemal could talk about different sounds and
where you encounter them at as that might be easier for the people on zoom
to understand. 

 

Denise asked if those on zoom could hear and those on zoom stated they could
not.

He played the chirping birds by the Lighthouse but now he's playing the more
moderate one. It was noted the birds could be heard on zoom.

 

Steve stated that we are hearing both locator tones. Denise said we would
need to stop at this point because her understanding was that on zoom,
participants were having a hard time, she then asked that someone describe
the type of audible pedestrian signals so that everyone will know what those
presenting are referencing. Denise said she wanted to start by saying that
the city currently has 18 signals. She emailed Lori Dittman for a list that
she was unable to give but outside of Denise's house there is an audible
pedestrian signal. She shared that there is a button that you press and if
you're getting ready to cross Lake Shore Drive and there are cars coming
there are a series of beeps, similar to what you heard being played by Jemal
and Steve. However, she noted that the one by her will also say "Wait" to
notify you that it is not yet time to go. Once it is time to cross, she said
it will say "Ok to cross local lake shore drive". Usually when she gets
across Roscoe she said the light has changed but in case it hasn't, the
signal would say "Wait" and then it would say "Ok to cross west roscoe" when
it is crossing time. So she pointed out that obviously she still has to make
sure that she doesn't hear any cars the best that she can, but there's a lot
of cars and traffic so the signals are helpful. She said that you still have
to use your skillset to cross streets. 

 

She then turned it back over to Jemal and Steve. Jemal mentioned that in his
areas in the south suburbs, the municipalities that mainly have audible
signals are Park Forest, Homewood, and two in Chicago Heights. He stated
that the recording that was played a minute ago was the audible signal in
Park Forest at the corner of Lakewood Boulevard and Lincoln drive. He shared
that when you hit the button it says "Walk Sign across Orchard Drive" and it
does say "Wait". He said that at the next light down the street, at Orchard
drive and Main street, that he also did the recording for, it says "Walk
Sign" and if you go across Main street is specifies by saying either "East"
or "West Walk Sign Main Street" and "Walk Sign Orchard Boulevard". But in
the past couple years he did note they put a wait tone in there as well. In
Homewood he said there are several on 183rd street and at one of the main
thoroughfares, Western Avenue, if you hit the button there is a quick
announcement that is loud and says "Walk Sign, Western Avenue and 183rd". 

 

Denise then asked Jemal to describe the one at Wood and Roosevelt. Jemal
said they were the the good old-fashioned bird chirping signals. He stated
that if he remember correctly, that at Wood Street and Roosevelt Road, the
cuckoo is meant to cross Roosevelt and the other bird chirp is meant to
cross Wood street. That was verified. Jemal shared that he first encountered
those bird signals in Park Forest and he got confused and thankfully was not
hit but soon he learned they were different birds for different directions
at different lights but he noted those are for the birds. He prefers the
ones that audibly say Walk Sign and the name of the street. He said there is
one on 55th street near the Metra tracks that says "Walk Sign and 55th
Street" and when they first put it in there it was fairly loud but difficult
to hear near the Metra. He did remember when he met with MOPD officials and
told them they'd turned it down too low. He also noted you need to slow down
and be careful at these corners because when it says Walk Sign it doesn't
prevent a car from making a left or right turn and he recalls an experience
at an intersection with an audible signal with a friend where he was glad he
was walking slowly because he heard cars turning in front of him while the
message was playing.

 

Steve added that he and Jemal proposed that the city install signals at a
fairly unique thoroughfare, Riverside plaza, it's a large walkway serving
Union station and Ogilvie transportation center both of which have a lot of
train service and since they don't have parallel traffic you don't know the
difference between no traffic on the intersecting street or traffic.
Therefore, he said, you don't know if you have the light or if there's
traffic, so it would help to have the audio confirmation of whether you
should wait or not.

 

Denise then asked if anyone had any questions and began with those on Zoom.
Kyle asked what if someone is completely deaf and cannot hear the signal.
Denise noted that there are supposed to be vibrations and asked Steve or
Jemal if that is present. Steve said there should be an arrow key on the
button that should let you know to cross the street. Kyle noted he couldn't
hear Steve so Denise repeated what Steve stated. Denise noted that the
hybrid meeting will get better each time as we get more experience. Bob
asked what our federation's general policy is toward audible pedestrian
signals. Denise said we take the position that we are, number 1, not opposed
but we don't need them at every intersection and number 2, we want there to
be a consistent operation of the signals but what we have now is a mixed bag
of different signals, uniformity is key as you will know what to expect
throughout the city. The city has said that they will not be doing anything
with signals until they need to make repairs. Denise noted that we want them
to be loud enough to hear but we don't' want them to disturb homes and
businesses nearby. She shared that we are not suing the city, the ACB have
brought legal action but we have not been a part of that except
participating in responding to questions from the prosecutor to see if it
violates the ADA act. 

 

Denise then shared that she, Patti, and Dustin were all interviewed by the
Chicago Tribune about the signals including going out and interviewing
Denise at the signal near her house. She stated that our focus is complex
intersections and those with heavy noise. Steve added that the city has
established three tiers of proposed intersections that are mainly downtown.
They would like to install them throughout the city, funds permitting, and
Riverside is on the list. He noted that we passed an NFB resolution in
Illinois two years ago, 2019, referring to the tiers and sent them a message
supporting installing them. Denise mentioned that there may be more money
awarded with President Biden's infrastructure bill or other work done by the
administration, so the city might change its plans, but we will need to wait
and see on that. 

 

Gina mentioned that she lives in Homewood on 183rd and having the signals
are quite a blessing because in 2016 she almost got hit and so she emailed
the village president to ask for talking signals due to her visual
impairment and the need for safe crossings. She said that two other people
joined her in these efforts, including Kathy Austin at Second Sense and
Marvin who is a volunteer at Second Sense that live in Homewood. She shared
that Kathy is on one of the boards for the town, so she began that work and
it is a blessing to have them. Downtown Chicago, Gina noted, it may be
difficult to hear the signals with the L above. Denise suggested you may
need to wait until the train goes by and rely on some of your skills to
cross. Denise said we will have to see how loud they make them, and Gina
noted they'll need to be pretty loud. 

 

Greg then shared that he was in the state of Washington a few years ago and
he doesn't remember the specific intersection but due to the change in
pressure that particular day he had zero vision. They had a bird chirping
sound at the stoplight but at the same time there were birds in the area
making very similar sounds making crossing that four lane highway very
dangerous and he had to find sighted assistance. He suggested we have a
nationwide standard if not a global one because people travel if they are
different it will create challenges for those traveling and needing to learn
how the signals work. In addition, he stated somewhere between 40-50
decibels of sounds will work fine. He said that because trains produce
sounds between 120-150 decibels, they will wipe out your ability to hear
anything anyway. 

 

Steve noted that a standard protocol for signals exists and that there are
two engineers who have a lot of guidance on this and the industry standard
currently consists of tones plus speaking, they have not recommended
chirping birds. Greg mentioned the National Institute of Standards and
Technology that have groups trying to develop standards for a lot of
different accessible areas. He's not sure if they're involved with anything
in respect to traffic signals but wanted to make that point. 

 

Dave asked if you find an audible signal that you feel is not functioning
properly , sound level, etc. where would you call to file a complaint? Jemal
suggested that you start with the municipality but that it may vary on
location. Steve recommended you either contact MOPD in Chicago or call 311.
Denise seconded the MOPD suggestion since she mentioned we have a good
working relationship with their office.

 

Denise checked in to see if anyone else had arrived and Marilyn stated she
was at the Exchequer now in person. Juliette Walker, Bruce Paul, & Glenn
Moore are also now present.

 

Denise thanked Jemal and Steve and then moved to play the National
Presidential Release and Dave played the release.

 

Following the Presidential Release, Denise stated that it was now time to
take up our Chicago Chapter collection and asked if anyone came in during
the report. She noted that no one did and she then asked that the people
here in person who would like to stay and socialize following the meeting to
say so they could count who would be staying, 14 people noted they would
stay. So she asked who she referred to as her hospitality person, Mary, to
talk to the restaurant about accommodating those who wished to stay. She
then turned over the meeting to "Our wonderful State President Ms. Marilyn
Green".

 

Marilyn greeted everyone and expressed her happiness at being in person with
everyone and on with those on zoom. She thanked the chapter president Denise
for getting the meeting together and Mario and Michal to get there early for
sound, Dustin for the zoom call, and Dave for bringing wipes, and anyone she
missed or didn't know helped with things.

 

State Report:

Marilyn shared that state convention is at the forefront of her mind and she
noted that the first things that leads into the state convention will be the
face-to-face board meeting on Saturday, August 28, two weeks from today. It
will be a hybrid meeting, so she noted this current meeting is a good
practice to learn how to do things. She hopes to get agenda and zoom
information out on IL Talk next week but the zoom link will be the same as
the one for today's meeting. The meeting will take place at the Sheraton
Naperville Hotel, 3000 Warrenville Road. If you have not made your
reservation yet she said you will want to do it quickly, the phone number is
630 505-1000 and let them know you are with NFBI. If you have issues please
contact Patti Chang, she's off the grid for about a week so if you have any
problems in the next week give Marilyn a call. If you are trying to make a
reservation for State Convention, Marilyn said to please wait until next
week to talk to Patti. If you are attending the board meeting in person
there will be lunch for $25 and Patti sent an email out earlier this week
with information on it. The State Board Meeting will start at 9am and there
will be a lunch break, meeting should end around 2pm, but be gentle with her
since it's her first time doing this and it's all new.

 

Marilyn next brought up the upcoming State Convention for 2021 to a round of
applause. She shared that thanks to Leslie Hamric who is Vice President of
the at-large chapter, we have a theme: Stronger than the Pandemic. She noted
that matches our group as we are stronger than the pandemic. The hotel for
the convention is the same as the board meeting and will also be hybrid, so
it is the same information as above, but she repeated it here. It will take
place at the Sheraton Naperville Hotel, 3000 Warrenville Road. The phone
number for the hotel is (630) 505-1000. She shared that NFBI members get a
rate of just $99 a night, so be sure to mention that you are a part of the
NFBI. The Convention will take place on October 22-24 and Marilyn stated
that we will start at 4pm with Resolutions, chaired by Dustin Cather and
Michal Nowicki. She then said that we are looking to do a fun activity as
we've done the last few years. She asked that everyone please be there by
4pm in the room or the zoom room. We will be doing the IABS Idol on Friday
night as well as choosing the theme for the battle of the Chapters and she
thinks the state board won back in 2019. 

 

On Saturday, October 23 our general sessions will take place and Marilyn
said she is still looking for convention ideas of people who you would like
to see address us for the convention. She welcomes all ideas through email
at president at nfbofillinois.org <mailto:president at nfbofillinois.org>  or you
can text or call her at (312) 343-8396. She welcomes all to share as this is
everyone's convention and she wants everyone to be a part of it. The banquet
will take place on Saturday night and we will have a speech from a
to-be-assigned National Rep and the announcement of the Scholarship winners.
Debbie Stein will once again organize Braille is Beautiful for the morning
of Sunday October 24th 

 

There will be a limited menu and shuttle service available at the hotel. The
Convention Registration will be done electronically this year, no paper
registration this year but paper checks for payment will still be accepted.
Otherwise PayPal and Zelle will both be options for payment. Once
registration goes live, she said she will send an email out for IABS & IL
Talk to register. There will be a $5 registration fee prior to October 7th,
but if you register after that date it will be $20. There is therefore an
incentive to register early. This also means that if you register at the
door or coming in virtually you will need to pay more. 

 

Jemal added that for transportation to state convention there is a PACE bus
that runs by the hotel that runs Monday thru Saturday. Denise noted that the
$5 fee is in effect whether you are appearing in person or by phone/virtual.
Marilyn confirmed this and also stated that increase after October 7th
applies to those in person or by phone/virtual. The same is true for meals,
if you want to register for meals there is an additional $5 fee for each
meal if you register after October 7th. Thus, if you register on or before
October 7th, Breakfast is $10, Lunch is $15 or $20, and the Banquet is $30.
If you register after October 7th, the cost of each meal is $5 extra.  The
state leadership did their best to keep the registration fee low so it's
accessible for all who would like to participate. 

 

Dave mentioned that dues can be paid when you register for convention which
makes it very easy to both collect and to remember to renew each year so
please pay dues when you register for convention. Marilyn confirmed it will
be an option to renew membership for all chapters on the registration form
for state convention as well as to pay for IABS Idol and any other
activities. Patti Chang, (773) 307 6440, and Dave Meyer, (708) 606-7091, are
available to help with registration and any questions that might arise. Bob
asked if 15 for Funds will be a part of registration form and Marilyn stated
that both the 15 for Funds and General Donation will be on the form. Steve
asked who we call to arrange for shuttle transportation to and from the
Lisle Metra station. Marilyn said they are talking to the hotel about
running some service on Friday and Sunday afternoons to ensure we can get to
the hotel. If you have checked your email, Marilyn noted there should be an
email regarding this from Patti.

 

Marilyn then mentioned that if you need financial assistance this year for
the state convention you can go online and request Chappell Dennis financial
assistance on our website. You will apply and provide a request which the
committee will consider and if approved will provide a moderate amount of
assistance. If needed you can call Marilyn for help in filling it out, at
(312) 343-8396, but of course she noted you can also reach out to other
members who can help and may have more time to do so.

 

Denise then moved on to legislation, stating that we are currently working
on advocating for the HR-431 Access Technology Affordability Act. We are at
105 co-sponsors and counting and we have 12 people in Illinois who have
signed on. She stated that Representatives Bill Foster, Danny K. Davis,
Sherri Bustos, and Sean Casten still have not signed on, but we would like
them to so if you did any of the visits please reach out to them and ask
them to co-sponsor the bill. Our own Senator Tammy Duckworth has signed-on
but Senator Dick Durbin, while he may not co-sponsor, we can ask him to put
it into a budget reconciliation act when the time comes. Denise pointed out
that more we can get on board the better off we will be with that bill. Rep.
Mary Miller has never responded to our requests for an interview so we are
not sure we will be able to ever reach her.

 

Denise asked if Dustin had anything else to share. He stated that he did not
have anything additional just wanted to reiterate the part in the
presidential report about the home use medical device act that was
introduced into the house recently and to keep an eye out for updates. Bruce
Paul mentioned that he would like to help us out with reaching out and
Denise said she thinks that Mike Quigley may be his representative after he
shared where he lived so she let him know when it's time to call they will
reach out to him. Dave asked for help in working to reach out to Danny K.
Davis. He noted that Dustin, himself, and others have reached out but they
need help. If you do reach out to his office, please copy
datemeyer at mysero.net <mailto:datemeyer at mysero.net> . Denise mentioned that
aside from Mike Quigley's district, Danny K. Davis' district is the most
popular as far as where our members live. She noted he's co-sponsored in the
past so she's not sure why there's been such a difficult time reaching him
and getting him on board again. 

 

Denise moved the meeting forward to approve our June 12, secretary's report
completed by Kira O'Bradovich that has been sent on IL-Talk and Newsline and
several small corrections were noted and made. Jemal moved to approve and it
was seconded.  Dave noted a misspelling of a name in the report (Ellen
Bartelt) that he wasn't sure has been corrected but Denise stated she'd go
back and make that change as needed. There were no other deletions,
additions, or corrections mentioned and the report was approved. 

 

Steve Hastalis, Chapter Treasurer, was then asked to provide the treasurer's
report for the second quarter of 2021, entitled April, May, & June Zoom
Meetings COVID-19. He shared that the beginning balance was $2,675.0. He
then listed all Chicago Chapter income which included: monthly collection
income $0, read-a-thon subtotal $1,580, dues. ($5 a piece) subtotal $70,
donation total $120, and cane tips total $2, for a total income of $1,772. 

 

Then Steve listed all Chicago Chapter expenses which included the following:
electronic withdrawal transitions pre-authorized contributions to the NFB of
$50 monthly, April, May, June, subtotal $150, Exchequer Restaurant & Pub
room rent $0, and National Federation of the Blind of Illinois National
Convention Funds including JTP $150, NFB Jernigan Fund $150, NFB White Cane
Fund $300, NFB Sun Fund $0, subtotal $600, total $750. As of Wednesday, June
30, 2021, Steve stated that the ending balance was $3,575. Steve noted that
were two more debits, another donation, and more read-a-thon contributions
that were made in July $3,577 and they will go into the third quarter
treasurers report. Dave Meyer moved to approve and Jemal Powell seconded,
the report passed. He thanked Eileen for helping to collects funds and
wanted to note that the contribution at today's meeting was $132.

 

Denise then mentioned typically there would be an advocacy/legislative
update for the Chapter from Kira but as she was out that would be done at
the next meeting. She then called for any old or new business and Ellen
mentioned IABS is currently working on a virtual cooking class fundraiser
and that there will be more information coming forward in the next couple of
months. Denise noted that the next Chapter meeting will be hybrid, on zoom
and at the exchequer with a board meeting prior at 11:30am but she does
need to talk to George to make sure the restaurant can make that happen
since sound will need to be set up prior. She stated we will be discussing
things that we can do as a chapter including a possible Beggars fundraiser,
activities for Meet the Blind month, and October's Meeting due to the state
convention taking place near the time of the meeting. All of those topics
will be discussed and then the hybrid chapter meeting will take place at 1pm
on September 11th. The information will all go out on IL-Talk and by email.
Denise moved to adjourn, with Bill making the motion and Jemal seconding,
motion was passed, and meeting was adjourned.

 

 

 

Signed and Submitted by, 

Kira O'Bradovich

Secretary

Chicago Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois 

 

 

Denise Avant, ESQ

1st Vice President

National Federation of the Blind of Illinois

For more information about NFBI,

Go to www.nfbofillinois.org