[nfb-db] We Need Your Support

[Maurice Mines]

hi this a list being payed for by the nfb and requretment for  
enayother group is not alow. please take this off the list. Maurice  
Mines list modrater. hellow this a nfbliest. 	
On Jul 4, 2009, at 10:23 PM, John Lee Clark wrote:

> Can I add your name in support of our efforts to convince the board  
> of AADB
> to give us back our most cherished tradition: the national  
> conference.  Many
> deaf-blind people do not have email and are not able to speak up in  
> such a
> short time, so this petition needs support from ANYONE who  
> understands how
> important our conferences are to us.
>
> For more information, read the petition below.  I hope you will be  
> willing
> to add your name.  If so, you can reply to this message with "Yes!"  
> and I
> will add your name.  Also, forward to those you think might want to  
> support.
> Thanks!
>
> We, the members and friends of the American Association of the Deaf- 
> Blind,
> were shocked and heartbroken when Arthur Roehrig, on his last day as
> president (Tuesday, June 30, 2009), announced that the board had  
> voted two
> months earlier to postpone the next conference to 2013.  This means  
> seven
> years of no conference.  We find this unacceptable.
>
> In his letter, the president explained that AADB did not have enough  
> money
> for a conference.  That is not true.  AADB DOES have the money, but  
> the
> board decided to use it to maintain AADB Office staff and expenses,  
> which
> total around $300,000.  Most of this money comes from a fund AADB  
> had for
> many years, that used to be solely for conferences.  We ask the  
> board of
> AADB to use this fund for conferences again.  Ever since the  
> expansion of
> AADB Office affected our conferences, members have made it clear on  
> many
> occasions that we want the deaf-blind community's most important  
> cultural
> touchstone back: the conferences.
>
> In the same letter, the president mentioned that the host  
> organization for
> the next conference had found a hotel available for 2011.  The hotel
> requires a $25,000 deposit.  The host organization even raised  
> $10,000 on
> its own.  That left $15,000.  But the board decided to postpone the
> conference with the hope that the host organization would raise more  
> money.
>
> We are disappointed that the board did not make cuts to the already
> overpriced and ineffective AADB Office (for an organization of our  
> size,
> four hundred deaf-blind members) and transfer $15,000 to the hotel to
> complete the deposit.
>
> We affirm that the conferences are of utmost importance to the deaf- 
> blind
> community.  We ask the board to get the next conference back on  
> track for
> 2011.  We request that the board transfer $15,000 to complete the  
> hotel
> deposit by the end of July.  Failure to do so will result in the  
> members
> among the undersigned withdrawing our memberships and requesting  
> refunds,
> followed by other acts of protest by members and our allies.
>
> Members and non-members, deaf-blind and others, all are welcome to  
> support
> our cause.  If you would like to sign this petition, email your name  
> and
> city to ipo56 at aol.com by July 10.  The leaders of this petition will  
> submit
> it to the board of AADB on that day.
>
> Thank you for your support!
>
> Petition Leaders
>
> Melanie Bond
> Bay City, Michigan
>
> John Lee Clark
> St. Paul, Minnesota
>
>
>
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