[NFBF-Tampa] Tampa Bay Chapter Meeting Minutes September 2018

Wed Oct 24 02:41:36 UTC 2018

Hello Chapter members and friends,

The September minutes are pasted below.

I look forward to seeing everyone at Beefs this Saturday!

Sherrill

Tampa Bay Chapter         

National Federation of the Blind of Florida

Chapter Meeting Minutes

O'Brien's Pub and Grill

701 W. Lumsden Road

Brandon, Florida

September 22, 2018

The meeting was called to order by President Miranda Kilby at 11:35am.

She introduced our guest speakers, Sandy Sroka and Christine Bright, from
the Hillsborough County League of Women Voters. We had invited them to speak
to us on the important topic of the Florida Constitutional amendments which
will appear on the midterm elections ballot in November. Sandy gave a brief
history of the League of Women Voters. Following the information about all
of the amendments, time was allowed for questions. Miranda thanked our
speakers for coming.

The business meeting then began at 12:20.

All introduced themselves. There were a total of eighteen members and two
guests in attendance. The guests were George Rosanelli, Yvonne's husband,
and Tammy Alleyn, Merry's intern. Merry led us in saying the NFB pledge.

Secretary and Treasurer's Reports

The August minutes were tabled, and we agreed to approve them via email.

Dan reported our treasury balance at $3,025.78. A motion was made by Merry,
seconded by Marion, to approve the treasurer's report as read. The motion
passed.

President's Report

Miranda said NFBF President Valkema has emailed out the complete list of
NFBF committee and group conference calls, including contact information and
meeting times. Miranda said it would be a good idea to have a chapter
representative for each of the groups. She said our chapter has purchased a
Square chip reader. She then called for reports. 

Chapter polo Shirts

Marion said that in addition to the chapter polo shirts he brought for
members at this meeting, he  will take orders for more shirts.  

Social Activities

Jeanette reported on our successful bowling event in September in Brandon.
We decided to table our next event, which will probably be attending a
comedy club, until the beginning of 2019. Janette will get details about a
dinner/detective mystery event.

Meet the Blind Month Events

Merry suggested our White Cane Safety Day event include meeting for
breakfast or lunch at Denny's. After discussion, a motion was made by Merry,
seconded by Marion, that we hold our White Cane walk on Saturday, October
13, at 10:00am at the intersection of Dale Mabry and Spruce. The motion
passed.   

Merry announced that we will hold a Meet the Blind event on November 10 from
10:00am till 3:00pm at her church, East Tampa Christian. Vendors have been
invited to participate. We will show the documentary Do You Dream In Color
at 11:00 and again at 2:00 

Vandelon Holland invited everyone to a cookout and white cane walk to be
held at the Lighthouse on October 12.

State Fundraiser

Miranda said that this year our Holiday Calendar Raffle will be held in
December, with the big drawing on New Year's Eve. The tickets and money will
need to be turned in some time in November.  

HART Concerns and Participation

Miranda announced the HART board will have a budget meeting on September 24
at 5:30 and encouraged members to attend. Merry said anyone having issues
with Yellow Cab needs to attend and speak on the record about their concern.
Merry urged us not to accept the preferential treatment which many riders
are accepting because of Yellow Cab's poor response time. She said Yellow
Cab should be providing all HART customers fair and equal access. Jeanette
said that the concerned she has expressed to HART have not been addressed.
She said they need to be accountable to us. Vandelon said she would like
HART to revisit their contract with United Cab. Marion said it would be best
to go to the October HART board meeting and request that they reinstate the
contract with United Cab. He said we all need to file complaints with HART's
customer service, and not with Yellow Cab, if the cab we call does not
arrive within the half hour window.or not at all. 

Legislative Report

Merry said that next week she will be accompanying Marion to Baltimore,
where he will be meeting with Delta officials on behalf of NAGDU. On Tuesday
and Wednesday she will travel to Washington to meet with our Florida
representatives and senators 

She asked those who are on our listserv to be on the lookout for her emails
with instructions on calling their senators and representatives  regarding
support for the Access Technology Affordability Act and the Marrakesh Treaty
Implementation Act. 

Holiday Party

We discussed skipping our November meeting and holding a holiday party in
early December, as we have done the past few years. We will talk about it
further at our October meeting.

Vandelon Holland won the 50/50 drawing in the amount of $23. She generously
donated it back to the chapter.

Our next meeting will be held on October 27 at Beef O'Brady's in Tampa.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:05pm.

Respectfully submitted

Sherrill O'Brien, Secretary

Tampa Bay Chapter

National Federation of the Blind of Florida

Phone 813-935-0474, cell 813-767-1890

email Sherrill.obrien at verizon.net

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise
expectations because low expectations create barriers between blind people
and our dreams. You can live the life you want! Blindness is not what holds
you bac

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