[NFBSF] Meeting Minutes for September 2023

[Monica Wegner]

National Federation of the Blind
San Francisco Chapter
Meeting Minutes
Meeting held on: Tuesday, September 12th, 2023, 6:30 PM
Location: Zoom

1.	Call to Order and Introductions
Bobbi invited members to share their name, pronouns, any identities they would like to share, and their favorite autumn beverage.
Board members present: Bobbi Pompey, Monica Wegner, Laura Millar, Sara Hadsell, Christina Daniels, Serena Olsen.
Members present: Cindy Fassler, Ginny Prince, Jeff Buckwalter, Sheri Albers, Taryn Morris, Lisa Irving.

2.	Reports
a.	Secretary's Report
Monica reported that she emailed the minutes of the August 2023 meeting to the listserv.
A motion was made and carried to approve the Secretary's report.

b.	Treasurer's report
*	Sara delivered the treasurers report. Reported bank balance is $966.60. Sara reported that our new bank account was operational at BMO. A motion was made and carried to approve the Treasurer's report.
*	Annual dues are $10 and are payable in January. If anyone wants to pay dues and is using PayPal or Venmo please use this information to pay:
Sara Hadsell, 510-387-0766, SaraAHadsell at gmail.com.
The address for payment of checks is 585 9th St, Oakland, CA 94607. If paying by PayPal, you must do it on a computer, which is where you can select that you are paying a friend, rather than purchasing an item. The PayPal phone app is set up for commercial purchases.

c.	Presidential release recap
*	Laura summarized President Riccobono's monthly presidential release. A transcript of the release can be found at https://nfb.org/resources/publications-and-media/presidential-releases/transcripts/presidential-release-530-sept

d.	Legislative report
*	Christina summarized the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act.0020 The current SSI program punishes disabled and elderly Americans for working, saving for the future, and getting married. Right now, individuals receiving SSI benefits are limited to $2,000 in assets; for married couples it's $3,000. The average current monthly benefit is $585 for individuals. For approximately 60% of recipients, SSI is their only source of income. The Savings Penalty Elimination Act would raise those caps, which have not been changed since 1984, to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for married couples, and index them to inflation moving forward.
*	To our knowledge, the NFB is silent on its support for this bill.

3.	Chapter announcements
a.	Students from a SF State class will attend our October meeting. These are grad students training to be teachers of the visually impaired. They come and observe for meet the blind month, they can ask questions of us and we can ask questions of them and impart knowledge. It will also be an opportunity to meet Dr. Adam Graves who has stepped into Dr. Ting's role.

b.	In November, since state convention is not happening until April of 2024, the California affiliate is having a virtual convention mini event. It will take place on Saturday November 4 from 4 PM to 7 PM. Details are still coming together but at the very least, 4 board positions need to be elected.

c.	Bobbi was contacted by a representative connected with the Oko app. It is an app that provides access to walk signals when crossing streets. The Chapter expressed interest in having him at our November meeting for a short demo.

d.	Social gathering
*	We are having a beach day on Alameda's South Beach on Saturday September 23rd.
*	Please meet at 1 PM at McDonalds. The address is 2239 Shoreline Dr, Alameda, CA 94501.
*	Those taking public transit from BART can catch the #20 diamond district bus from either 12th Street BART or FruitVale and get off at Willow St and Shoreline DR. The McDonalds is then a 500 meter walk.

*	Please RSVP to Bobbi Pompey if you plan to attend at bobbipompey at gmail.com or 336-988-6375.

4.	Discussions
How to deny a service animal from a Lyft driver
*	Lisa shared that she discovered a video from a Lyft driver. The video describes how to deny service animal users rides by driving by them without stopping or turning toward them. It justifies this behavior with the idea that a service animal shedding hair in a Lyft vehicle imposes extra cleaning time and expense on the driver.
*	Lisa was informed that national office would not be pursuing the matter and attempting to have the video removed from Youtube.
*	We discussed whether the video could and should be removed or whether we could advocate that Lyft take action including making a statement.
*	We discussed the contention of the driver and whether the owner of a service animal should be responsible for hair management as a social norm, acknowledging that it is not a requirement.

5.	Adjourn:
A motion was made and passed to adjourn the meeting.