[nfbmi-talk] Fw: check out this insanity

[Joe Sontag]

I missed the last MCRS meeting and I thank Joe H. for sending this to me.

For those who don't understand, I am not a blogger and this is not a blog.  It is the public listserve of the NFB of Michigan and anyone's reasoned response is welcome.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: Joe Sontag 
Cc: terry Eagle ; Christine Boone ; David Robinson NFB MI ; Larry Posont MCB Comm. 
Sent: Saturday, July 06, 2013 15:06
Subject: Fw: check out this insanity



----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: blind democracy List 
Sent: Saturday, July 06, 2013 3:02 PM
Subject: check out this insanity


This comes from our new idiot sellout in his electroic packet comments to the Mich Statewide Independent Living Council. Note Rodgers is blind, but has no and I repeat no background in Rehab. Anyway in the last comment he talks about this federally funded VR/IL state program actually creating a Charter School for the Blind! What kind of insanity is this? What gives this lawyer and Administrative Law Judge the idea that a charter School of any sort can be created by a state entity itself. That is a violation of the law.

Moreover, where in the Rehab Act which authorizes funds for VR programs and IL programs for adults with disabilities (except transition services) can it be found that a VR entity could use these funds for this sort of educational entity?

Short answer it doesn't. This guy is an even bigger Uncle Tom and sellout and outright idiot than Pat Cannon ever was.

Joe Harcz

Comments are without quotes here, but copied and pasted from the public record:
BSBP- Edward Rodgers

•      

                                                                                                                                   White

•     As I took over on October 1st I inherited an auditor general's report, which was quite critical of our business enterprise program or BEP program as we call it.  We spend some time reviewing the operations of the BEP program and responding to the auditor general's concerns and addressing those concerns and we just turned in last week a response indicating what were some of the things we had already complied with that were in the auditor general's report and some of the things we are still working on. 

•       One of the things we did was work on getting a total inventory of all our facilities, both with equipment and looking at the business lines.  

•       BSBP also made a projection as to or finishing a projection as to which of the BEP facilities are prosperous and which ones need to be considered foreclosure.  BEP program presently has about 81 or 82 individuals that have permits to operate a stand or a cafeteria or have a vending route.  And that results in about 160 facilities across the state including such things as rest areas. Many of the buildings at state government have our vending machines. 

•       In the area of total Bureau review, what we have taken on is a review of each operation, some are in the final stages, some are middle stages and some are in the beginning.  As many of you may know, we have a training center, which is dedicated to the legally blind, which is in Kalamazoo.  And that training center we are going through a review of its management plan and changing some things as to how scheduling is done and how the operations could improve. 

•       BSBP is going to create a new Michigan School for the Blind as a charter school.  We are in the early stages of gathering together the information that we need to attach to the application to the Charter School Division within DOE. Our goal would be to open up the School for the Blind in Lansing by the year 2014, September. 2015 is probably very realistic.

•       BSBP is reviewing the services that are provided to seniors.  We have let some of those clients fall through the cracks. We are reviewing and determining now whether or not perhaps our services to the ILs and to the Senior Community needs to have a special attention of one or two dedicated staff persons who would handle that function.  

 

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