[Nfbf-l] Call for Proposed Resolutions for the 2017 NFBF Resolutions Committee Meeting

[Dan Hicks]

Attention, NFB of Florida Chapter Presidents, Division Leaders, and all NFBF
Members: This letter concerns Resolutions for the NFBF 2017 State
Convention. Please read it carefully and circulate it as widely as possible.


Dear fellow NFBF Members:


NFBF President Denise Valkema has appointed me as chairperson for the 2017
NFBF Resolutions Committee. 

 

The Resolutions Committee meeting will take place, probably on Friday
evening, January, following the NFBF Board Meeting. (Please consult your
convention agenda to confirm the date and time.) I will serve as chairperson
of the committee. 

 

This year's Resolutions Committee will consist of: Sherri Brun, Joe King,
Joe Minichiello, and Camille Tate. NFBF President Denise Valkema is an ex
officio member of the committee. We will be inviting our National
Representative, to sit in with us. All convention attendees may also attend
the meeting. Additional later meetings of the committee may be necessary,
although this almost never happens. We will do our best to take care of all
business before or during this one meeting.

I am sending you this letter to request that all proposed resolutions be
sent to me via e-mail at danjhicks at yahoo.com, as soon as possible. 


If you have an idea for a resolution but are not sure how to develop it, now
is the time to get help in turning that idea into a resolution. Numerous
examples of national Resolutions can be found in past issues of the Braille
Monitor as well as on the NFB website at: 

 

https://nfb.org/resolutions 

 

There is also a "Guidelines for Resolution Writing" at:

 

 http://www.nfbflorida.org/resolutions/guidelines.html  

 

I am stressing all of this because we need people to turn in written
resolutions, not just ideas for resolutions.

I am asking that all resolutions be sent to me in advance, at least three
weeks  before the Convention. The latest that a resolution may be submitted
directly to the committee is Friday, May 5, 2017. Please note that this
deadline is to give the committee enough time to work with you on your
resolution before the start of convention.  

If your Resolution concerns late-breaking matters and must be turned in
after the May 5 deadline, it may be turned in any time until the start of
the Resolutions Committee Meeting, but only if it has been pre-approved and
endorsed  by at least three Chapter Presidents or three State Board Members,
or a combination thereof. 

Resolutions MUST be in writing and they must be in resolutions form. This
does not mean that the committee cannot or will not propose changes to the
resolution, however these changes are subject to the approval of the person
or group presenting the resolution to the committee. The committee will vote
either to recommend or not to recommend that the resolution be approved and
adopted by the Convention, but you, the presenter of the resolution, have
the option of bringing your resolution to the floor of the Convention, even
if the committee has voted not to recommend it.

Please keep in mind that each and every resolution must have a person at the
Resolutions Committee meeting and at the General Convention sessions to
speak for and take responsibility for that resolution. If you plan to submit
a resolution, but are unable to attend the Convention, then you must find
someone who will speak and take responsibility for your resolution before
the committee and the Convention.

Because the NFBF is the Florida affiliate of the National Federation of the
Blind, topics for resolutions should concern the blind of Florida. I don't
want to make this stipulation more restrictive than it needs to be, but, if
your resolution concerns something that affects the of the entire nation or
addresses entities that lie outside the jurisdiction of the State of
Florida, then you might want to consider submitting the resolution directly
to NFB's national Resolutions Committee, rather than the NFBF. However, if
you are in doubt, please write to me with your ideas and we will try to find
the best avenue for addressing your concern. 

 

Resolutions are the means by which we, the members of the NFBF, set the
policies that will govern our organization for the coming year and beyond.
That is why it is very important that all chapter presidents share this
letter with your members. I encourage you to start thinking about
Resolutions you would like to see adopted and get them written and send them
to me as soon as possible.  Let's look forward to making the resolutions
process run as smoothly at this convention as it has in the past.  

 

IMPORTANT: So that I do not miss your message, please send your messages
concerning Resolutions to me at danjhicks at yahoo.com and make sure the word
"Resolution" is in the subject of the message. If you don't hear back from
me in four or five days, please resend your message. 

 

I look forward to seeing all of you in Orlando. Please remember to contact
me if you have any further questions or would like further information.

Sincerely,

 

Dan Hicks, Chairperson

2017 NFBF Resolutions Committee

danjhicks at yahoo.com

 

"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as 

 outraged as those who are."                          ― Benjamin Franklin