[nfbmi-talk] Fw: 1 year later fraud continues

[David Robinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: Janet Labreck RSA Commissioner 
Cc: Christyne.Cavataio at ed.gov ; Egan, Paul ; Marlene Malloy MCRS Dir. ; BRIAN SABOURIN ; Gary Gaynor ; Sarah Gravetti MISILC DNM 
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2015 7:03 AM
Subject: 1 year later fraud continues


May 28 2015

One Year Later, Fraud And False Advertising Continues

Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

1365 E. Mt. Morris Rd.

Mt. Morris, MI 48458

joeharcz at comcast.net

To: Many

 

After my signature line please note a press release still on the Michigan Bureau of Services to Blind Persons web site even today as well as an article about the same location for the corrupted Business Enterprise System in Michigan. The House Office Building and adjacent Capitol location are mandated facilities for a blind entrepreneur under PA 260. Yet, they haven’t been following the law in the very places where this law was passed for years and that is documented in these articles alone. (Oh and I haven’t even mentioned the highly illegal “Tim Hortons fiasco at these same locations that occurred in 2013).

 

But, now one year later regardless there is no Business Assistance Development Program. And Essenberg was given in the dead of night another BEP location.

 

Nor was there ever a legal agreement with MRA. It was all a scam and scheme to run a BEP operation staffed with highly paid sighted sstate civil servants and it was all an operation to misappropriate hundreds of thousands of Vocational Rehabilitation funds. It, again was all fraud conducted right in front of our state legislature.

 

Moreover, now one year later these locations have been offered now to a blind person to run, but they were never put on the bidline and there has been no response to requests for information and accountability on the matter except, of course for ludicrous, illegal and extortionate FOIA responses.

 

Bottom line is the state has been stealing from this program for years, again right out in the open.

 

Sincerely,

 

Joe Harcz

 

Cora's Café Opens in House Office Building; New Restaurant Offers Michigan Products and Advance Training to Blind Entrepreneurs

Contact: Jason Moon 517-373-9280

Agency: Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

 

Cora's Cafe

 

May 20, 2014 - The Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) today announced the opening of the new Cora’s Café in the Anderson House Office

Building. The new restaurant serves legislators, staffers and visitors a diverse set of quality menu options from many Michigan companies, including MSU

Dairy and Grand Traverse Pie Company.

 

Cora’s Café will also be the home to the new training center for the BSBP’s Business Assistance and Development Program (BADP). The program provides individuals

who are blind advanced training in how to manage and own businesses in the private sector.

 

"Michigan residents and other visitors will now have a convenient place to grab a bite to eat when visiting state lawmakers or attending committee meetings

at the Anderson Building," said House Speaker Jase Bolger. "As an added bonus, we're thrilled the café will help showcase some of the great food products

made by Michigan companies."

 

“Cora’s Café will not only offer hungry diners a wide selection of well-known Michigan products and exceptional customer service, but the new eatery will

aid in the advanced training blind entrepreneurs need to run their own business,” said Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Chief Deputy Director

Mike Zimmer.

 

Cora’s is located in the lobby of the Anderson Building on Capitol Avenue in downtown Lansing. Customers will be able to quickly and easily purchase quality

food and refreshments from 7:00AM - 4:00PM during week days.

 

In addition to many “grab and go” food items, Cora’s will also offer:

List of 4 items

• Sixteen flavors of MSU Dairy Store ice cream

• A variety of Grand Traverse Pie Company pies

• A wide selection of coffee flavors and products

• A state-of-the-art fountain drink machine

list end

The BADP will offer consulting and development services, educational programs, financial assistance and guidance for small and medium businesses operated,

managed or owned by entrepreneurs who are legally blind. The program will partner with the Michigan Restaurant Association on ServSafe food safety classes,

where students learn to implement essential food safety practices and create a culture of food safety. The BADP will also provide customer-related services

with various stakeholders and associations to encourage the growth of legally blind entrepreneurs in the private sector.

 

“The café will provide blind business professionals a highly-technical educational experience in customer service, human resources, inventory control and

record keeping. Skills they need to run any type of business,” said BADP Director Rob Essenburg.

 

Cora Reynolds AndersonCora’s Café and the Anderson House Office Building are named after Cora Reynolds Anderson, who served as the first woman and Native

American in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1925-26. The building and new restaurant honor her dedication to the citizens of Michigan.

 

For more information visit:

www.michigan.gov/bsbp

 

For information about the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons go to:

www.michigan.gov/bsbp

For more information about LARA, please visit

www.michigan.gov/lara

 

 

Second Story:

Life without sight a risk-taking adventure for Mann DIMONDALE Roxanna Mann doesn't like the word "can't. In high school declining vision should have stopped

her from playing volleyball and cheerleading. Doctors warned her parents that Roxanna's vision would eventually deteriorate and any blows to the head would

jeopardize what sight she had. She did both anyway. Now 51 and legally blind, Mann has carved out a life for herself as a risk taker. On a Monday morning

the Charlotte resident walks purposefully into Michigan's General Office Building, guide stick tapping the floor in front of her. Kristina Rae's An All-American

Grill is on the first floor. She's run the eatery since 2011. It's the second cafe in a state building she's operated. This past week she took over two

more for at least the next six months at the State Capitol and Anderson House Office Building. Ask people who know her and they'll talk about her energy,

her purpose and her reputation for growing a business. Only then do they comment on the fact that she is blind. It's an afterthought, said Richard Longstaff,

the cafe's manager. "Meeting her you don't even realize she's blind," he said. "She doesn't let it stop her from doing anything. Mann admits it is a mantra

she believes in. Fear exists, she said, so you can conquer it. "This is life," she said. "Whatever life gives you, you have to just run with that. If you

stop, even for a day, and really evaluate your life even if you're in a really bad spot that doesn't mean that tomorrow is going to be that way. You have

to go every day with dreams. Nothing decides for me my outcome. Driven to overcome Mann's eyes have been operated on 14 times. The first surgery was at

age 23. Her sight has never been better than 20/40 and over the years it simply became harder to see. "I started running into things, falling down, suffering

concussions," she said. In 2008 the lights went out and Mann left her job as an Eaton County caseworker because she couldn't do the job the way it needed

to be done. But Mann knew her new reality wasn't the end of the road and she wasted no time adjusting. She enrolled in classes at the Michigan Bureau of

Services for Blind Persons Training Center in Kalamazoo. There, she learned how to navigate spaces, read braille and cook. She and husband, Mike, started

traveling too. They've visited 49 countries together and Mann said being blind has inspired her to be braver than she ever was with sight. She's been swimming

with sharks, gone cliff diving and explored caves. These days Mann says there's very little a person who is blind can't do if they access the right resources.

"I had to embrace it," she said. "People try to help me all the time. I just let them but I don't need it. I'm okay with that. With my cane, I'm good.

Successful entrepreneur At Kristina Rae's, named after Mann's niece Kristina Rae Smith who died at 29 after a battle with brain cancer, she runs the business

with an open mind, a smile and purpose. Mann said it didn't take long before she fell in love with it. "I started liking what I was doing, creating food.

I like using spices and funky vegetables. I've always loved to cook. You would never be hungry here a second. In the four years that she's been in charge

the eatery's menu has expanded and its catering business has grown. Mann created several dishes herself and her staff of five puts them together. She uses

an automated "talk back" system to ring up customers and balance the books. The site is one of several state building eateries, snack bars or vending systems

that are part of the Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons' Business Enterprise Program. Through it qualified blind Michigan residents receive

training, are offered locations, equipment and start-up inventory. Program staff continue to monitor the business and offer advice but program participants

are expected to make the operation successful. They run it, hire and manage staff and make or break the business, said Mike Pemble, the bureau's deputy

director. He said Mann's real accomplishment has been growing her location. "She's always on top of her game," said Pemble. "She wants to earn her customers'

business. She's done a fantastic job there and her customers love her. Pemble said Mann's success is expected to carry over to the locations at the State

Capitol and Anderson House Office Building. Both spots need it. They haven't been profitable, he said. "I think she'll really turn the business around

and take it to the next level," said Pemble. Mann said it's a challenge she's looking forward to. She has plenty of ideas for both. "I'll have a broader

audience, so it's about looking at the bigger picture," she said. "It's awesome and I'm so ready for it. Pemble said Mann is as determined as she seems.

"She does not want her disability to define her," he said. "She wants to be defined by the other abilities that she has. Every time I've met with her that

is the person I see.