[NFBA-Phoenix] NFB of AZ Phoenix Chapter Minutes Draft-August 2022

Sat Sep 10 03:56:13 UTC 2022

NFB of AZ, Phoenix Chapter Business Meeting Minutes

Sat, August 6, 2022 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM

Jordan Moon, President 

Location- Hybrid/Virtual

In-Person : SAAVI Services for the Blind

Virtual: Zoom

Meeting Minutes

Call to Order by Jordan Moon, President

Roll Call 19 members present and 4 guests

Attendees participated in the Pledge of Allegiance, the NFB Pledge, and the
NFB One-Minute Message. Prayers were offered  by meeting participants.

Secretary's Report - Business Meeting Minutes, June 2022   by Rachel Kuntz,
Secretary 

Sharonda Goode moved that the minutes be approved as read. Seconded by both
Monica Nunez,2nd Vice President, and Donna Silba, Treasurer. The motion
carried. 

Treasurer's Report - August 2022  by Donna Silba, Treasurer

Rachel moved that we approved the treasurers report as read. Seconded by Joe
Goode. The motion carried. Ashleigh Moon mentioned that the BELL program did
not need our $50 lunch donation , although appreciated, since the program
was shortened and they had enough resources. 

Donna mentioned that dues paid after August 1 go toward the dues for the
next year. The discussion moved to electing new members. Lori Kirsop and
Dana Rivera expressed their interest in becoming a member of the chapter.

Mike Smith, 1st Vice President, moved to approved Lori Kirsop as a chapter
member. Rachel seconded. The motion carried.

Monica Moved to approve Dana Rivera as a member of the chapter. Rachel
seconded. The motion carried.

Jordan then turned the discussion to determining whether or not to renew the
chapter's zoom account.

Rachel made a motion that we extend the zoom account for one year. Shelley
Daines seconded. The motion carried.

Rachel mentioned for the record that the zoom renewal will take place
automatically on July 29. Jordan will get with Donna to reimburse Brad Kuhn
for this year's renewal fee. 

Presidential Release 518, 8-2-22 recap 

Jordan mentioned that President Mark Riccobono met with the president of the
NFB of Italy while on vacation there. He then suggested that we fill out the
convention survey, go to YouTube to find the videos of the general session
and banquet, and listen to the Nations Blind podcast. The national
convention will be held from  July 1 to 6 2023 in Houston. At this year's
convention, we passed 18 resolutions and one was defeated. Donald
Porterfield, Affiliate President, was elected to the national Board. July 26
was the anniversary of the signing of the ADA in 1990 so they attended some
meetings on Capitol Hill. One particular issue that was discussed was
website accessibility. Next week congress is in recess so they will be in
their home offices and it is a great opportunity to meet with your congress
person. BEAM will be in October. There is an opportunity for President
Riccobono to come to our city for a live broadcast of the Presidential
Release in October.

Donald mentioned that the affiliate is going to come up with a proposal to
attract the national president to our affiliate in Phoenix.  We hope to host
the convention in the future. New Orleans has proven that it doesn't have to
be in one hotel. In fact, Hyatt put in a bid for the national convention.
Jordan mentioned that the Center for Non-Visual Access has what are called
boutiques each month that we should check out. 

Legislative Report National/affiliate  Donald mentioned that the next two
big events are the state convention and the quarterly board meeting.
Registration is now open. The bugs are fixed.  He has invited members of the
state legislature to come and talk about our early voting bill during the
legislative seminar.  We want a say in the outcome of the accessible voting
legislation. Getting together at state convention will be a big deal. Send
chapter plans for BEAM to load them into our Website. Use social media to
promote BEAM activities. 

Jordan mentioned that we have arranged transportation to Tucson. Two stops
have been selected, one in Phoenix  and one in Mesa. It will be leaving on
Thursday and returning on Sunday. The virtual option to attend our
convention will be Saturday general session events.  Rookie roundup is on
August 22

The phone number for hotel reservations can be found on the website and will
be in email communication. 

Special Election Jordan announced the open board position and took
nominations from the floor. Mike nominated Joe Goode. Joe accepted the
nomination.

Sharonda moved to close nominations by acclamation and elect Joe Goode to
the open board seat. Sherry Boduo  seconded. The motioned carried.

Vicki Hodges mentioned that the nominating committee for this November's
elections will be comprised of three voting members and one non-voting
member. The committee chair is the non-voting member. The committee is
announced in September by the chapter President. Jordan will announce the
members during the meeting.

Five officers and two board seats will be up for election in November.

Membership Committee - Monica, co-Chair, welcomed the new members and asked
that they provide details to enable us to complete the new membership form
at the NFB website. Jordan asked that members who paid dues on line must let
donna know so they can be accounted for in the membership roster.

Vicki, Co-Chair, mentioned that they need first and last name, birth month
and day, street address including apt, city, zip, as well as  phone and
email if available. The national office would also like to know if you are
blind, a parent of a blind child, a blindness professional, if you  read
Braille, and are a Spanish speaker. 

Donald remarked that members of other chapters who decide to join a
different chapter are still members nationally and the affiliate. The dues
that were paid to the former chapter are not transferable and that the
person must pay to be a member of the new chapter to vote within that
chapter. You don't lose your voting rights at the affiliate or national
level. You can only be a voting member in one chapter. 

Donald mentioned that membership is from Jan1 to Dec 31. the membership
roster is due 30 days in advance of the state convention.

Picnic Planning Update (Social and outreach Committee report)  Rachel and
Monica asked if people would be comfortable with picnic style food.  There
were no objections. The picnic will be held at Margaret t Hans park on Oct
1. It holds 75 people in the western ramada. Entertainment is coordinated by
mike and nick. Door prizes will be included. Decorations are in storage with
Monica. The event will Include a walk around the park using a paved path for
BEAM. Wear NFB swag for a chance to win a prize. All are welcome to help.
Joy Harris, committee chair, mentioned that we will designate people to
serve the food to cut down on exposure to COVID. Jordan mentioned that we
would determine the specifics in the committee. The chapter seemed
comfortable.

Donald mentioned that safety is important and that covid is still high.

Joy asked if money was lost at convention as a result of covid. Donald says
that he wasn't aware of losing money because of covid but lots of people did
come down with the virus

Jordan gave his word that covid will be considered when making plans. he
said he would reach out to ask for funding from the affiliate to help with
the picnic.

Fundraising Committee   betty Love, chair and Nick Fletcher were unavailable
to discuss current plans. Jordan mentioned that we are still working on the
fundraiser. We will have a 50/50 raffle at the picnic.

Technology Committee joe, Chair, mentioned that the committee has been
discussing the possibility of creating a conference line that people could
call into for the latest information about the chapter. Rachel mentioned
that Newsline includes chapter updates and minutes which would address this
challenge. Jordan is not currently submitting updates to the Newline
coordinator, Debbie Chatfield, but will start this up again. Joe is working
on a way to get people connected. He wants to make sure people are included.
Email him if you want to take part in the committee. They will have their
next meeting in mid-august.

Connie mentioned that Debbie is white water rafting right now. 

State Division and committee updates-  Jordan skipped this in recognition of
the time. Be prepared to talk about these updates at the state convention.

New Business

Set the Meeting date for September and October

Rachel moved that we hold the next monthly meeting on September 10. Scott
Tokunaga seconded. The motion carried.

Vicki Moved to hold our October meeting on October 8. Sharonda seconded. The
motion carried.

State Convention-Jordan raised the issue that we have $500 for national
convention financial assistance that was not used.

Rachel moved that we allocate the $500 remaining from national convention
support for state convention assistance to be distributed at the presidents
discretion. Seconded by Vicki. A Discussion was held about whether an amount
per person should be applied. The motion carried without changes. 

Jordan asked that emails be sent to him by august 19 to request assistance.
Assistance is also available at the state level.

Door prizes Vicki, Co-Chair, mentioned that she is seeking door prizes for
the state convention. People can mail them to the SAAVI Tucson location. She
is seeking people to help collect them from each chapter. If we receive
large value items they will be used for the auction.  Jordan asked for a
volunteer to help Vicki on behalf of the Phoenix chapter. Debbie sent out
the general letter to encourage people to get busy collecting door prizes.
The chapter volunteer would encourage participation and keep track of
donations/donors and answer questions as needed. the chapter presidents will
have the letter with our tax id on it so contact them or the coordinator to
go over the donation and request. They are collecting prizes through  August
29. Joe Goode volunteered to help phoenix.

Contact joe for a hard or digital copy of the door prize request  letter.
Indicate who donated the prize for thank you letters. 

Jordan announced that Rachel is working on fundraising for the state
convention and sponsorships. 

He then asked for information from members who plan to use the bus to travel
to the convention. The bus will hold 55 people. Presently 9 members
mentioned that they will be on the bus not including the SAAVI staff.

Monica moved that we donate $50 for door prizes at the state convention.
Mike seconded. The motion carried.

Rachel mentioned that volunteers are needed and to contact Amy Porterfield.
Donald mentioned that people receiving financial assistance will be expected
to volunteer.

Philosophy -Rachel led a discussion about the meaning behind the words of
the first line of the NFB one minute message. The National Federation of the
Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or
your future. Remarks were given by several members of the chapter. The
essential message was that blindness is a characteristic and should not
place limits on our future. Donald spoke about the federations belief that
blindness is not a disability. Sherry Boduo  added that "Blindness is a
different ability." 

Announcements 

Quarterly board meeting on Saturday, Aug 13 time at 9:30 over zoom.

Birthdays and anniversaries were joyously celebrated.

Rachel moved to adjourn.  mike seconded. The motion carried.

Several people went to lunch at Coco's Bakery

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfba-phoenix_nfbnet.org/attachments/20220909/d64578a5/attachment.html>