<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>Good morning Helen. <br>
</p>
<p>My name is Justin Heard, current Cambridge Chapter President.
Thank you for your concerns for our safety. Unfortunately, I have
not had many interactions with you, but I look forward to changing
that in the future. It sounds like you have a strong desire to
serve the chapter and help us build the organized blind movement.
<br>
</p>
<p>I am here to remind everyone of proper protocols when enacting
chapter business. These protocols may feel like burdensome
bureaucratic nonsense. However, they exist to ensure that the NFB
of Cambridge maintains a solid reputation, and they also keep our
actions orderly and precise. <br>
</p>
<p>Anyone is welcome, and urged, to bring concerns to any of the
currently serving board members, now or in the future. The board
member, after acknowledging the concern, can either act if he or
she determines it is a crisis, or s/he may bring the concern to
the rest of the board members. This does not have to involve a
formal board meeting. The board may then determine an appropriate
response. Responses may include, but are not limited to: acting
immediately due to the urgency of the situation, dismissing the
concern, or calling an emergency chapter meeting to discuss how to
proceed. Of course, <br>
</p>
<p>Any communication with outside entities should be done through an
elected board member, or a committee member as appointed by the
President. This ensures that we maintain an official response, and
that the will of all chapter members is most democratically
represented. As chapter members, we elect our officers for exactly
this purpose. It is a sign of trust and confidence that they will
respond to our needs in an appropriate way. For the same reason,
our affiliate president, or the president of the National
Federation of the Blind, can of course act and speak for the
Cambridge chapter if needed, and because they have authority over
the Cambridge chapter, they have certain other privileges. <br>
</p>
<p>I cannot emphasize enough that I appreciate your concern, Helen.
I welcome your enthusiasm for keeping us safe. I, like you, want
all our members to feel comfortable traveling to and from our
in-person events. I did not realize that Central Square has become
less safe since chapter meetings were held there. However, I want
to maintain our proper protocols so that we do not descend into
chaos. This is not a rebuke. I am sure that you were unaware of
how to proceed. This is not a public condemnation. Rather, I did
not realize that these protocols had not been discussed. This
situation provides a perfect opportunity for the instruction of
every chapter member, and serves as a reminder for those of us who
may have forgotten. <br>
</p>
<p>Once again, I thank you for your love of the chapter. I hope to
work with you more in the future. Please keep us updated with more
information from the Cambridge police. <br>
</p>
<p>With love, hope, and determination, <br>
</p>
<p>Justin Heard <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/7/2022 9:29 AM, Helen Kobek via
Massachusetts-NFB wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CA+O5DjiZofx1Rf5qqhQxJEKhpLKhtp3Nv_phwPCK7a9nYM=Qww@mail.gmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div dir="ltr">Hi, folks,
<div>I've heard back from Community Relations Police. They have
run this quickly up the flagpole to the Commissioner and the
following is in process, to be confirmed: </div>
<div>Two uniformed Police cadets (unarmed, unbadged) will be
positioned at 5:30 pm, as follows: One in front of Starbucks,
and one in front of CVS. The Starbucks group will cross the
street and pick up the group in front of CVS, and head down at
5:40 to the Senior Center. The cadets will go back to the T
meeting locations, sweeping to see if there are late-comers
who might wish escort. At 7:45pm the same cadets will meet the
group, escort back to the T stops, in reverse order, and go to
both stations. I will have the names of the cadets to post
here before the meeting, and we are just asked to let the
police know of cancellations for any reason.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I wish to be clear that I don't assume everyone will want
to make use of it. I also want to be clear that this option -
if it's available - is not to be degrading of anyone's
blindness. The option can be discussed by the chapter if you
feel led next week. (I felt an urgency on this until I
realized it's not until next week, so there's some space to
range this.) If NFB decides not to have this option, that's
fine, too. I know that NFB has a strong sense of
independence. <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>If anyone is annoyed with me for being protective, that's
fine. LOL.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I will confirm here when it's a done deal, but, given how
quickly it was run up to the Commissioner, I trust it's done.
They will have a meeting to visit all of this this afternoon.
I'm grateful to the police for being so quick and respectful.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Kindest regards, yours in blindness (smiling)</div>
<div>Helen</div>
<div><br clear="all">
<div>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"
data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<br>
<div><font
style="background-color:rgb(238,238,238)"
color="#0000ff"><font style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" size="2"
face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </font></font><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
Massachusetts-NFB mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Massachusetts-NFB@nfbnet.org">Massachusetts-NFB@nfbnet.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/massachusetts-nfb_nfbnet.org">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/massachusetts-nfb_nfbnet.org</a>
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Massachusetts-NFB:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/massachusetts-nfb_nfbnet.org/braillemasterjustin%40gmail.com">http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/massachusetts-nfb_nfbnet.org/braillemasterjustin%40gmail.com</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>