[nfbmi-talk] let's see if this comes through

[David Robinson]

   It is typical of Rodgers, and some of his comments being left out of the 
draft, implied that my comments could not be trusted and were just sour 
grapes, as a former employee.  He stated, that this former employee has no 
credibility as he no longer works at the agency and you may want to ask him 
just why he is no longer employed.  I consider his comments defamation by a 
public official and I have the findings of a hearing officer that I was let 
go because I was a member of the NFB and for no other reason.
   This also left the MCRS members thinking that what I had to say were lies 
and just comments to get back at Rodgers and the agency.

Dave Robinson
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christine Boone via nfbmi-talk" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net>; "NFB of Michigan Internet 
Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 5:46 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] let's see if this comes through


> On the positive side here, these minutes were produced in an extremely 
> timely fashion and appear to be well done and complete.  We are indeed 
> fortunate to have many good, strong advocates within this body who are 
> working hard to bring some level of accountability and federal compliance 
> to the BSBP. Michigan is indeed fortunate in its Council for 
> Rehabilitation Services, which is recognized as a leader on the National 
> level.  On the less positive side, the Council went on to approve the 
> state plan for the BS for BP, which represents a most unfortunate turn of 
> events. Kudo's go out to Joe harcz, Dave Robinson and Joe Sontag for 
> taking the time and making the effort to speak during the public comment 
> period.
>
> With respect to Ed Rodgers' comments, I note that in my experience one's 
> adversaries will attribute behaviors and tactics to their opponents that 
> they actually employe themselves.
> On Jun 25, 2014, at 2:45 PM, joe harcz Comcast via nfbmi-talk 
> <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> For those who cannot take attachments.
>
> For some reason the original didn't go through as a text file. (MCRS had 
> some picture attached).
>
> Joe
>
> ACTION ITEM
>
> DRAFT
>
> MICHIGAN COUNCIL FOR REHABILITATION SERVICES
>
> 3490 Belle Chase Way, Suite 110
>
> Lansing, MI  48911
>
> 517.887.9370 or 877.335.9370
>
> Special Meeting Minutes
>
> Teleconference
>
> Friday June 20, 2014
>
> Members Present:  Carol Bergquist, Sheryl Diamond, Trina Edmondson, Sara 
> Grivetti, Rod Jones, Deanna Middlebrooks, Caryn Pack Ivey, Michael Poyma, 
> Anne
> Riddering, Ed Rodgers (Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs – 
> Bureau of Services for Blind Persons LARA-BSBP), Brian Sabourin.
>
> Members Excused:  Mark Eastburg, Mitch Tomlinson, Matthew Weaver.
>
> Members Absent:  Sue Howell (Department of Human Services – Michigan 
> Rehabilitation Services DHS-MRS), William Jones, Adam Kaplan, Jennipher 
> Wiebold.
>
> Guests Present:  Valarie Barnum-Yarger (Statewide Independent Living 
> Council), Diamalyn Gaston (LARA-BSBP), Gary Gaynor, Joe Harcz, Leamon 
> Jones (BSBP),
> Lisa Kisiel (LARA-BSBP), Shannon McVoy (LARA-BSBP), Mike Pemble 
> (LARA-BSBP), David Robinson, Joe Sontag.
>
> Staff Present:  Marlene Malloy, Shori Teeple.
>
> Call to Order
>
> The meeting was called to order by Chairperson C. Bergquist.  Roll call 
> determined that a quorum was present.
>
> Welcome & Introductions
>
> C. Bergquist welcomed Council Members and guests.  Introductions were 
> made.
>
> Agenda
>
> The draft agenda (June 20, 2014) was reviewed by the membership.
>
> A motion, made by S. Diamond and seconded by A. Riddering, was passed to 
> approve the agenda as presented.
>
> Public Comment
>
> The public comment statement was read aloud.
>
> Joe Harcz
>
> Ensuring the efficacy and viability of the program of BSBP is a seminal 
> job of this statewide rehabilitation council.  Ladies and gentlemen, you 
> don’t even
> get accurate and up-to-date data relative to how these programs and 
> services are put together.  Let me digress just a little bit to tell you 
> how a competent
> voc rehab program works.  I have a lady friend; yes, I even have a life. 
> She happens to be in another state.  She’s 66 years old but still working. 
> She
> went to apply for services to learn new adaptive technology in her home, 
> because Windows 8 is pretty complicated for blind people.  Immediately 
> they opened
> a case, set her out with eligibility in accessible format in a timely 
> manner.  She’s got a plan developed and she’s got the services in her 
> home.  Contrast
> this to what’s happened to Joe Harcz as a consumer advocate, which many of 
> you people have seen, where I get abused on things relative to this State 
> Plan,
> including yesterday a three hundred dollar expense related to 
> documentation on the memorandum of understanding and the so-called 
> consumer satisfaction
> survey conducted with the one-stops.  No response whatsoever about the 
> memorandum of understanding with the VA (Veteran’s Administration).  None. 
> None
> related to their activities with DHS (Department of Human Services) and 
> ensuring that they’re accessible to blind people and yours truly by the 
> way is
> documented that they are not.  I got print information on my Medicare 
> premium reimbursement and their website is not accessible.  We do not have 
> due process
> and that goes back to the illegal executive order in which the final 
> agency determination is made by the agency, and that includes our VR 
> (vocational rehabilitation)
> programs and the DSA (designated state agency) is run by Mike Zimmer, who 
> runs M-A-H-S (Michigan Administrative Hearings System), or did, created 
> it, and
> the DSU (designated state unit) is run by Mr. Rodgers, who is with 
> M-A-H-S.  Ladies and gentleman, we’ve got millions of dollars, and I’m not 
> kidding you,
> of voc rehab dollars going into non-VR functions with no accountability. 
> That’s even in the state capitol location on the Business Enterprise 
> Program
> and into the Anderson Building, of which there’s not even a licensed 
> operator who happens to be blind and there isn’t even one blind employee. 
> Again on
> a personal note, we’ll go to transition services.  Brian Sabourin and 
> others attended the Advisory Committee meeting where you had parents 
> begging for
> work experience for their kids.  And yet we’ve had yet untold 
> non-disabled, non-blind student assistants hired to do non-VR functions 
> and everything else,
> and not one blind student, not one.  Ladies and gentlemen, this is a 
> vocational rehabilitation program, federally funded that has to have 
> accountability.
> I am going to be writing to RSA (Rehabilitation Services Administration) 
> directly to defund this program.  It is so out of control and so 
> unaccountable
> that that’s all I can do, but what I beg you people to do, today, because 
> you know in your recommendations that this agency hasn’t supplied you 
> information
> consistent with what MRS (Michigan Rehabilitation Services) does.  That’s 
> right in your recommendations, which I wholeheartedly support, except for 
> they
> should be demands, because that’s what the Voc Rehab Act requires, period. 
> But I ask you to exercise your conscience as individual members to either 
> abstain
> from approving the state plan supplement, which is full of documented 
> lies.  You cannot call anything a lie but a lie, documented falsehoods and 
> no accountability,
> none.  You notice, by the way, we’ve got all these consumer satisfaction 
> things, which you rightfully asked for, where’s the tool, where’s the 
> instrument?
> It’s pretty hard to have five minutes to go after everything, but I’ll 
> tell you, many of you people have seen these ludicrous responses, and I’m 
> sorry
> if I’m a little bit upset but I’m kind of suffering from PTSD 
> (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) from the bullying and outright 
> discrimination.  Thank you.
>
> David Robinson
>
> Ladies and gentlemen, I too am a blind person and also a former employee 
> of the Commission for the Blind, which is now the BSBP.  I worked in the 
> Business
> Enterprise Program, so I’m very familiar with the details and ins and outs 
> of this particular program as well as the agency.  I am also a member of 
> the
> National Federation of the Blind and very in tune with what’s happening 
> with services for the blind in this state.  I too support everything that 
> Joe says
> in terms of I urge all of you not to approve this plan.  It is full of 
> lies, documented lies.  There is, just for example, in the Business 
> Enterprise Program
> the NFB (National Federation of the Blind) took the agency to court to 
> force them to obey the rules in regards to bidding out a facility at the 
> Operations
> Center, which is in West Lansing.  The agency settled with that and said 
> that they would bid it out in the correct way.  One of the litigants in 
> that suit
> was one of the operators who subsequently received that location, was 
> awarded that location.  Now, that operator is out there in that location 
> and can’t
> get one dime of support in her transition, even though she’s eligible for 
> such things as upward mobility and accessible equipment that’s necessary 
> for
> a blind person to function in that facility.  She is getting nothing. 
> Nothing.  And yet, the Anderson Building cafeteria who does not employ 
> any, not
> a single blind person, which is a mandated building, spent over $170,000 
> in VR money for equipment has spent, since October, more than $87,000 for 
> food
> to various facilities, including the Anderson Building, more than $25,000 
> just in the last month and a half in terms of food from Gordon Food 
> Service,
> and not one blind person is getting employed.  In fact, the whole program 
> has been diminished by a number of blind people giving up and leaving the 
> program.
> So this effort, this VR money that’s supposed to be spent to employ blind 
> people is getting robbed by agency bureaucrats.  For example, when the 
> BSBP
> was formed, when it was it was the Commission for the Blind, we had a 
> director of the agency, there was a director, Pat Cannon.  Now we have a 
> director,
> an assistant/deputy director, and then we have a whole new division, which 
> hasn’t done one thing in employing a blind person, not one thing.  It’s 
> been
> in existence for almost a year, and all those people receive well over 
> $100,000 a year, plus there’s a bunch of support staff that’s been hired, 
> not one
> blind person.  Several student interns have been hired to run BEP 
> facilities, not one blind person.  People are not getting the services 
> that they need.
> They have to get successfully employed, including technology training and 
> other factors.  It’s truly a sham, and I think this agency is out of 
> control
> and it needs to be shut down and the people there need to be held 
> accountable for what they’re doing to blind people in this state.  I hope 
> that you, as
> responsible people, that monitor the VR services in this state, will take 
> the necessary action to assure that each and every blind person is getting 
> the
> services they need to get in order to succeed in this world, because that’s 
> what the 26 million dollars that they get every year is for.  Thank you.
>
> Joe Sontag
>
> Like Dave and Joe, I am a blind person and I am also a member of the 
> National Federation of the Blind of Michigan.  I don’t have a whole lot to 
> regale you
> with, just to say that I wholeheartedly support the recommendations of 
> your council with respect to BSBP and its goings on.  I say this from a 
> background
> of relative ignorance, I must admit, that I have to say that it looks 
> good, at least in theory, and I think that given the fact that I and many 
> other people
> have no real idea what is going on in BSBP within the last year or 
> thereabouts.  I can only hope that things get better, because by God, they 
> sure can’t
> get worse.  Thank you.
>
> Attachment 4.2(c) for BSBP FY 2015 State Plan – Brian Sabourin, Vice 
> Chair, MCRS State Plan Advisory Work Team Chair
>
> An overview was provided of the process for development of the Draft 
> Attachment 4.2(c) for BSBP by the MCRS State Plan Advisory Work Team.  The 
> draft document
> reflects the work that has been done to date, and the recommendations 
> reflect those things that council members recognize that they need to do 
> their job.
> One edit was proposed on page 6 for language in Recommendation #1 for the 
> ‘MRS’ acronym to be changed to ‘BSBP’.
>
> A motion, made by R. Jones and seconded by A. Riddering, was passed to 
> approve Attachment 4.2(c) for the BSBP FY 2015 State Plan as amended.
>
> Draft BSBP FY 2015 State Plan – B. Sabourin
>
> An overview was provided for the State Plan process with BSBP, including 
> the Council’s attendance at and involvement with BSBP State Plan meetings 
> over
> the past couple of months.
>
> Concern was expressed by C. Pack Ivey about comments made during Public 
> Comment at the beginning of this meeting regarding approval of this State 
> Plan.
> Pack Ivey stated that she was struggling with being able to approve the 
> State Plan without having the option to have the public comments addressed 
> first.
> Pack Ivey asked if it would be appropriate, or not, for there to be some 
> type of clarification, not a response, to have the public comments 
> addressed.
>
> In response, E. Rodgers stated that as Director of BSBP, he would be more 
> than willing to address the concerns that were expressed by Mr. Harcz, Mr. 
> Robinson,
> and Mr. Sontag, but he would like to do that by sending it to the Council 
> in writing.  He further stated that they used a real shotgun approach on 
> BSBP;
> these are concerns, but if the written response to the concerns is looked 
> at, it will alleviate any fears that Council members may have with 
> approving
> the plan.  E. Rodgers further stated that he didn’t believe that approval 
> of the plan should be held up based on comments by individuals who come on 
> and
> talks for five minutes; the work group has had everything in front of 
> them, with lots of data, and have worked with BSBP staff diligently.  E. 
> Rodgers
> added that the comments are factually incorrect; they are not new 
> allegations, but rather are from people who have made the same allegations 
> over and over,
> some coming from a former employee of the agency.  These allegations have 
> been refuted before and BSBP will do it again if the Council wants that. 
> Rodgers
> added again that as an ad hoc member, the Council should go ahead and 
> vote.
>
> C. Pack Ivey shared her appreciation for the comments from Director 
> Rodgers.  She additionally stated that she was by no means stating that 
> she believes
> or disbelieves the public comments that have been made, but rather 
> acknowledges that concerns were raised and that they sounded familiar.
>
> R. Jones added that is inappropriate to respond to public comment.
>
> A motion, made by A. Riddering and seconded by D. Middlebrooks, was passed 
> to approve the BSBP FY 2015 State Plan as presented.
>
> Adjournment
>
> There was no further business for discussion.
>
> A motion, made by D. Middlebrooks and seconded by T. Edmondson, was passed 
> to adjourn the meeting.
>
> The meeting was adjourned at 12:36 p.m.
>
> NEXT BUSINESS MEETING:
>
> Friday August 8, 2014
>
> MCRS Meeting Room, Lansing
>
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