[Ohio-talk] Buckeye Update for December 5th 2008

[J. W. Smith]

It seems as if each time I write one of these updates the weather gets even 
colder! I do hope that each of you had a wonderful thanksgiving and that 
you are preparing  for the rest of the holidays. Thanksgiving is my 
favorite holiday and I thoroughly enjoyed it in every aspect. I want to 
update you in three areas this time, but I also want to remind you to make 
every effort to do something special to celebrate Louis Brail's birthday 
next year. Lets try to get as many proclamations and any other public 
recognition that we can for this historic day ( Jan. 4th 2009).

Scholarship Committee

I want to announce the formulation of the NFBO 2009 Scholarship Committee. 
I am so pleased that Barbara Pierce has agreed to chair it, and the rest of 
the committee members Bob Pierce, Deborah Kendrick, William Turner, and 
Leslie Penkel comprise a formidable group. I have activated this committee 
even before our January 17th board meeting because I want them to explore 
how we can increase both the quantity and quality of our applicants next 
year. It is my hope that they will be able to give us a report relative to 
this charge and let us know how each of us can be of assistance at that 
January meeting. We will have plenty of committee work to do in January as 
a body, but I wanted to get the AD hawk and Scholarship Committees started 
a little early.

Washington Seminar

By now those of you that have been selected for The Washington Seminar have 
been contacted and thus should prepare yourself for this important task. I 
don't know what the response has been in previous years, but it was indeed 
difficult to make decisions about participants this year because of your 
over whelming interest. I'm sure that those of you that were not selected 
this year maybe disappointed, but I hope that you will be supportive of the 
team, and continue to be active members of our affiliate. Each year is 
different and perhaps next time it will be your turn. I do believe that we 
have a good mixture of experienced and new participants this year. And I 
believe that we will do our usual, effective job on the hill. Even though 
not everyone can attend the seminar there will be opportunities for you to 
make positive contributions in your local districts, watch for them, and 
act accordingly.

Meeting with Director Haines

On December 2nd I had a productive meeting with Director Mike Haines of 
RSC's Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired. I am making available 
to you Mike's follow up comments about our meeting because I think they 
capture both the tone and sentiment of our conversation. Here they are;

"Just wanted to thank you for meeting with me on December 2nd in Athens at 
your office.  I found the meeting to be informative and helpful.  As we 
discussed on December 2nd, several of the major concerns of BSVI center on 
these areas;

1.  RSC and ultimately BSVI's case service budget and staffing levels to 
provide adequate services to consumers in Ohio.  Even after our discussions 
on Tuesday, new information became available and I've sent you that 
information in a seaprate e-mail.
2.  Some discussions are beginning to be put on the table at the 
Commissioner level in regards to consolidating the bureaus or some form of 
change.  At the RSC Commission sub-committee meeting on December 10th (see 
earlier e-mail) some of this may be discussed as the Commissioner 
Sub-committee on budgets will discuss all issues facing RSC and potential 
plans.  NFB may want to send a representative to hear the discussions.
3.  I've also attached (see below) the letter I presented to the Ohio 
Vendors Reprsaentative Committee (OVRC) in regards to the Columbus Dispatch 
news article and references made by Mr. Steve Vincke about the program.
4.  As for case services, BSVI has several vacancies and we are beginning 
to develop waiting list for services.  As we discussed, if the Early 
Retirement Incentive Plan is invoked as expected, BSVI will loose 
approximately 13 counselors.  In fact, our entire Athens office will be 
eliminated.  We are in the process of developing plans to offset some of 
these staffing issues with what resources we have available.
5.  Getting the Area Managers and the local NFB-Ohio chapters to dialogue 
is something that is worth exploring as we may be able to help each other.

Again, thanks for meeting and I hope we can meet on a regular basis as you 
indicated.  I look forward to working with you and NFB and hope we can 
partner on a number of issues facing us."

These are his comments verbatim without any editing from me, and I am 
attaching the letter he referred to in item 3 with this update, and in the 
mailing of those who received this update that way. I had invited Mike to 
join us for our January 17th board meeting because I believe that these are 
critical times for all of us, and it will be essential that we communicate 
as clearly as possible. I don't think it's an over statement to say 
that  our current financial condition will have a profound impact on 
services for blind ohioans,and this is a time for extreme diligence! 
Finally I hope that I will be getting my computer at home soon, and that 
the transition process will continue to evolve smoothly. I will probably 
write one more update before the end of the year but as always i reserve 
the right to update you as circumstances warrant.

Sincerely,
JW

NFBO po box 458
Athens, OH 45701-0458

Phone/Fax - 740-592-6326



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