[nfbmi-talk] Fw: Appointments office resignation letter

[joe harcz Comcast]

This is public domain information.

Joe
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry Posont" <president.nfb.mi at gmail.com>
To: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net>
Cc: "Larry Posont" <president.nfb.mi at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2011 10:28 AM
Subject: Fw: Appointments office resignation letter


>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Geri Taeckens" <geri.taeckens at isahealthfund.org>
> To: "Cannon, Patrick (DELEG)" <cannonp at michigan.gov>
> Cc: "Jo Ann Pilarski" <pilarskij at charter.net>; "JOHN SCOTT" 
> <jcscot at sbcglobal.net>; <laschuck at juno.com>; "Larry Posont"
> <president.nfb.mi at gmail.com>; "Luzenski, Sue (DELEG)" 
> <LuzenskiS at michigan.gov>
> Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2011 11:04 AM
> Subject: Appointments office resignation letter
>
>
> Dear Pat, Jo Anne, John, Lydia, Larry, and Sue,
>
> Below is the letter I sent to the appointments office. Feel free to
> share it with anyone you wish.
>
> Take care.
>
> Geri
> Geri Taeckens
> MCB Board Commissioner
> 1131 E. Spruce St.
> Sault Ste Marie, MI 49783
> (906) 635-3439
> accsstherapy at gmail.com
>
>
> March 22, 2011
>
>
> Norm Saari, Appointments Office Director
> 111 S. Capitol Avenue
> P.O. Box 30013
> Lansing, MI  48909
>
> Dear Mr. Saari,
> I am writing to give notice of my resignation as Commissioner to the
> Michigan Commission for the Blind.  I have served on this board since
> December of 2005 and need to leave a few months before the natural
> ending of my term in September 2011.
> In January of 2011, I retired from my position as school social worker
> from the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District and have
> started my own business.  This change makes it difficult for me to
> provide the time and travel necessary to be a responsible board
> member.
> I have really appreciated the opportunity to serve in the capacity of
> Commissioner. I have learned a great deal, met some wonderful people
> and have felt fulfilled in providing support to the blind people of
> Michigan.  I commend Patrick Cannon, MCB Director, and his staff in
> providing service to blind clients in such tough economic times.  I do
> encourage Mr. Cannon to move towards a more open relationship with
> consumers and to focus more heavily on data collection and evidence
> based practices.
> I would also like to take this opportunity to share my deep concern
> for the Governor's recent appointments to the board.  Though Lydia
> Shuck and Larry Posant are capable individuals, understanding the
> needs of blind people, they are also both members of one of two major
> consumer organizations, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB.)
> This has raised great controversy and frustration by members of
> another major consumer group, Michigan Council of the Blind and
> Visually Impaired (MCBVI.)  Members of MCBVI have expressed their
> dissatisfaction that the MCB board is now very unbalanced with unfair
> representation by NFB.  With John Scott, an existing board member also
> being an NFB member brings the five member board to three NFB
> representatives.  This would be the equivalent of having a public
> board consisting of an ethnic or religious majority if the focus of
> that board were ethnic issues.
> I am surmising through news releases and communications by blind
> citizens, that the governor was not aware of the contentious
> relationships between NFB and MCBVI.  I am sure if he had been aware
> of the issues between these two groups, he would have considered more
> carefully the appointment of these two additional NFB members.
>
> Mr. Posant poses particular problems in that he has attended many
> board meetings, frequently announcing, "I'm Larry Posant, President of
> the National Federation of the Blind, the only true voice of blind
> people."  He has also publicly stated his goal to remove the director,
> a less than admirable position to take when applying for such a
> critical appointment.  Conversely, Mr. Posant and other NFB members
> have demanded transparency and fairness with Governor appointments,
> but are now boasting about how Mr. Posant's has an, "in" with the
> Governor because of their friendship. This suggests anything but
> transparency and fairness, and borders on nepotism and coercion.
> In my opinion, Mr. Posant's style breeds animosity among blind people
> who are not members of NFB and creates hostility at board meetings and
> through e-mail and news releases.  The fact that Larry was one of the
> leaders of his group in a legal action against the board for holding a
> closed meeting, then instantly retracting this action when he realized
> it would be a conflict if he served on the board, also suggests to me
> that integrity is not high on Mr. Posant's list.  This legal action
> cost much time and stress by the existing board members serving at
> that time.  It also cost a great deal of tax payer's money.  By
> remaining president of NFB and serving on the board with aspirations
> to be appointed Chair, strongly suggests conflict of interest.
> I do hope the governor and legislators will seriously rethink this
> appointment and remove Mr. Posant from the board.  I also hope that he
> will seriously review applications for appointment applicants and make
> sure someone from MCBVI is chosen to serve as a commissioner to the
> Michigan Commission for the Blind.
> Again, I want to thank everyone for the opportunity to serve the blind
> people of Michigan.  If there is ever anything I can do to support the
> blind community in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me at
> any time.
> Sincerely,
>
> Geri Taeckens ACSW
>
> Cc:  Patrick Cannon, MCB Director
> Joann Pilarski, MCB Commission Board Chair
> John Scott , MCB Commissioner
> Lydia Shuck, MCB Commissioner
> Larry Posant, MCB Commissioner
>
>
>
> --
> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> We are a community of 7 million users fighting spam.
> SPAMfighter has removed 1888 of my spam emails to date.
> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>
> The Professional version does not have this message
>
>