[nfbmi-talk] Fw: the buck indeed stops at the top
joe harcz Comcast
joeharcz at comcast.net
Tue Nov 19 15:36:06 UTC 2013
----- Original Message -----
From: joe harcz Comcast
To: Rodgers, Edward (LARA)
Cc: zimmerm at michigan.gov ; bsbpcommissioners at michigan.gov ; Elmer Cerano MPAS ; MARK MCWILLIAMS ; BRIAN SABOURIN ; Christyne.Cavataio at ed.gov ; nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 10:23 AM
Subject: the buck indeed stops at the top
Nov. 19 2013 Questions About Contracting and Responding to Requests Rodgers
Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.
1365 E. Mt. Morris Rd.
Mt. Morris, MI 48458
810-516-5262
Joeharcz at comcast.net
Re: Buck Indeed Stops at the Top
TO: Edward f. Rodgers II, Director
Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons
(Via e-mail))
Dear Mr. Rodgers,
I point your attention to the lengthy exchange between you and Ms. Knapp of the Client Assistance Program from the March 28, 2013 “Commission for Blind Persons” minutes/transcripts here:
“17 MS. KNAPP: A quick question.
18 MS. MOGK: Would you please tell us who you
19 are.
20 MS. KNAPP: I am Lisa Knapp from the Client
21 Assistants Program, and I have a question for the Director.
22 If the information is reaching you regarding a lag time, would
23 authorizations have to come through your office? And if so,
24 how are those being addressed?
25 MR. RODGERS: I guess I'd ask for
1 clarification. You mean authorizations for spending on
2 clients or equipment or tuition?
3 MS. KNAPP: Yes. Authorization for approval of
4 equipment for clients.
5 MR. RODGERS: Okay. There is a process
6 internally that I put in place in October where authorizations
7 over $2,500 had to be approved by me. Because there was a --
8 one of the criticisms of the BEP audit program, which also
9 applied to the entire Bureau, is there was no accounting
10 system that was tracking where the money went. So we set in
11 place, and there still is in place, a process where I receive
12 a memorandum from the division that wants to spend more than
13 $2,500. It only has to be a one-page thing.
14 It can be as simple as saying, Jane Doe's
15 college tuition for Wayne State University. Our average turn
16 around time on those memos has been two business days.
17 Sometimes they go a little bit longer because the memo has not
18 been done properly or does not put sufficient evidence in
19 there. For example, I got a memo about a month ago that said,
20 college tuition for Jane Doe. It didn't tell me how much and
21 didn't tell me what university or college. So I was not going
22 to sign that obviously because it's too vague. The memos have
23 gotten better, and I think the lag time, if there is any, is
24 dropping down.
25 So if there's a lag time in getting equipment,
1 I don't think it falls with the Director's office, quite
2 frankly. I think it may -- part of it is that the client may
3 be undecided in terms of what equipment they think they need
4 or don't and/or, quite frankly, maybe some of voc rehab
5 counselors are not doing their paperwork timely or perhaps
6 there is a delay in the manufacturing or receiving the
7 equipment from wherever we order it from. You have to keep in
8 mind, there's a very elaborate process in state government.
9 If I'm going to buy you a $10,000 computer, it's got to go
10 through this whole bid and/or contract process that is above
11 me in the chain of command, and I have no control over that.
12 One of the areas that we acknowledge that we're
13 not performing at our highest level right now is in the
14 deaf/blind area with equipment, and there's a simple reason
15 for that. Prior to my arrival at the agency, a medium level
16 employee signed a contract to provide that equipment to some
17 of our clients. I did not discover that contract until about
18 November who's supposed to start providing equipment in
19 October. When I discovered there was such a contract, I
20 reviewed it and knew instantly, although I'm not an expert in
21 purchasing contracts for the state, that there was
22 deficiencies and problems with the contract from a legal
23 standpoint. That contract has taken until yesterday actually
24 to be approved. So we've lost four months there.
25 Part of that is our fault, part of it's the
1 process, but also part of it is, and I've got to throw the
2 prior administration under the bus a little bit, because the
3 top of the agency was not approving those contracts. They
4 were letting people at lower levels approve these contracts.
5 And these were voc rehab people who are not lawyers, and
6 they're not business bid contract people. They're simply
7 people who are trying to get something done. So I heap no
8 criticism on any of them, but we still have to follow the
9 rules and regulations in terms of large purchases.
10 MS. KNAPP: Okay. Because --
11 MR. RODGERS: And I know you can give me
12 examples, okay, but I'm telling you our average, at least on
13 my desk, is about two days. And if you want to contact me
14 with some more information, you can reach me -- well, I'll
15 give you a business card after the meeting.
16 MS. KNAPP: Okay.
17 MR. RODGERS: But my e-mail is a simple one.
18 It's rodgers, r-o-d-g-e-r-s, @michigan.gov. I met last week
19 with a consumer group, okay. And what I asked them to do for
20 me, and I ask all consumer groups or agencies to do for me,
21 don't just blog about issues, don't just talk to each other
22 and complain about the Bureau or Rodgers. If you don't bring
23 this stuff to my attention, then I can't look into it. So I
24 invite you to contact me.
25 I'll give you the business card so that you
1 have a phone number through my assistant, Sue Luzenski.
2 You'll have an e-mail address on it. And, you know, if
3 there's instances where something is bogged down, sometimes
4 the guy at the top has got to shake the chain a little bit to
5 get things done, and I understand human nature being what it
6 is. But I've got to know about it. I've got to know that
7 Jane Doe's tuition did not get paid at Wayne State or that the
8 bookstore, because she's got to buy books to send them off to
9 get them recorded or read or whatever, have not been paid for.
10 But if I don't know that, I can't do anything about it.
11 MS. MOGK: Okay. Are there any more questions,”
Now, plainly I and several others have requested information related to service delivery from you directly documented in the public domain just as you’ve suggested here. Yet, they are fraught with delays in getting answers and/or are turned into ludicrous so-called Freedom of Information requests with extortionate fees of consumers and consumer advocates attached to them.
In other words you don’t account for your actions, let alone spending in these regards at all and in any format let alone accessible format. And consumers go without necessary and required services and equipment over and over again, and again with no accountability by you sir!
A good case in point is your reference to the “I Can Connect Program” referenced above which is the Deaf-Blind equipment program. I know of two deaf-blind consumers alone who haven’t got one thing to this date. Nor, have I received any written answers about this program in full from you, and/nor has Mr. Marcus Simmons.
Now, once again I want accountability and am requesting in accessible format and a timely manner the “contract” you reference above. Moreover, I again want to know how many people were served by this program; the total dollar amount spent for assistive technology (from Oct. 1 2012 to the present); and whether or not BSBP submitted the allocation as program income to the Rehabilitation Services Administration.
I also wish to have a complete operating budget of BSBP in accessible format for fiscal year 2013. As you suggest the buck stops at the top.
Sincerely,
Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.
Cc: NFB MI
Cc: Zimmer, LARA, DSA
Cc: BSBP Commission
Cc: MPAS/CAP
Cc: several state representatives
Cc: RSA
Cc: several media
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