[Ohio-talk] NFBO MINUTES from September

Fri Oct 27 20:38:33 UTC 2017

Rachel R. Kuntz
Board Member
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
937.245.0547 cell
rachelrkuntz at gmail.com 
www.nfbohio.org
Live the life you want. Blindness is not what holds you back.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
rchpay7--- via Ohio-Talk
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2017 5:29 AM
To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List' <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: rchpay7 at gmail.com
Subject: [Ohio-talk] NFBO MINUTES from September

I wish to apologize for the late posting of these so the board and
membership will get them at the same time.

MINUTES

September 18, 2017

Board of Directors Meeting

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

                1. The meeting was held by conference call. The number (712)
775-7031 access code 240281423# was used. 

                2. President Richard Payne called the meeting to order at
7:01 p.m. He reminded us to mute our phones when not speaking to cut down on
background noise. Star 6 toggles between mute and unmute.  

                3. Macy McClain was the only board member not present on the
call. Approximately twelve affiliate members joined the board. We did not
assess fines for not being clad with NFB insignia. 

                4. Sherry Ruth moved that the minutes from the April meeting
be approved as amended. Barbara Pierce seconded the motion. It passed.

                5. Sherry R. presented the financial report. Carolyn Peters
moved the acceptance of the report. Cheryl Fields seconded the motion.
Members were given an opportunity to ask questions, which Sherry answered.
The motion passed.

                6. Deanna Lewis has been participating in ride-share
testing. She is working with both Uber and Lyft. The purpose is to ensure
that those using service animals receive the proper accommodations from the
companies. The companies  are supposed to use all survey information to
improve service. Drivers are to be trained in the law, and, if they do not
comply with the law, they are to receive appropriate discipline. If you are
interested in participating in this activity, contact Deanna. The affiliate
will receive a $500 check from the national office for our participation.

7. Richard thinks that NFB-OH should have a credit card for conducting
Federation business such as reserving hotel rooms, booking flight
reservations, making purchases for BELL, etc. Having people use their
personal funds and then being re-imbursed is not proper business procedure.
Several board members agreed with Richard. Barbara stated that she would
feel better if Richard consulted  with Bridget Burke from the National
Center on this topic. She did open a business credit card when she was
president of the state affiliate. Barbara received negative feedback for her
action; thus she suspects that the national staff would not be in favor of
this action. The card account that Barbara opened was closed by vote of the
board at the end of J. W. Smith's presidency.  It is easy to lose track of
the amount of money being spent when a credit card is used, so, if we do get
a card, it should have a limited amount of money accessible on it. The
people having access to the use of the card should be limited. The president
and treasurer are those suggested. Barbara moved that Richard speak with
someone at the national office on the card matter, gather information, and
then he and Sherry R. make a decision. Sheri A. seconded the motion. It
passed with Shelbi opposing the motion.  

                8.  Sherry R. told us that we have enough funds in a special
account to support BELL for two more years. 

                9. Jordy Stringer gave a report from the scholarship
committee. There were around ten applicants. Three of these were chosen to
receive scholarships. The Norwalk Lions club contributed $2,000 again this
year. They have asked to receive information about the winner of the
scholarship. Sherry R. will send this to them along with a thank you note.

                10. Richard introduced a guest, Todd Elzie. Todd does grant
writing and does have some connections with NFB. He was referred by Eric
Duffy. He gave a brief report on his background. He is currently working on
writing a grant for NFB-OH from OOD for Braille instruction. Todd is
volunteering his time and service to us so that he can get back into the
field of grant writing. Barbara offered to assist in any way she can,
especially in editing and providing background information. 

                11. Rachel Kuntz gave an update on her case with regard to
receiving quality training from an NFB center. She feels she is making good
progress even though OOD continues to put hurdles in the path. Rachel is
thankful for the support she receives from the Federation. She is preparing
for the informal hearing step. After this step has been taken, Disability
Rights Ohio may take the case, but that decision has not yet been made. The
date for the informal hearing has not been set. Rachel has requested that it
take place in either December or January. BLIND Inc. is continuing to submit
bills to Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. Our state needs and we
want a person who has received high quality training in blindness skills
from an NFB center to return to Ohio and stay, to demonstrate what this type
of training can do for a person's life. 

                12. Rachel explained the convention online registration
process. The deadline is October 6. There is the option of registering
online and sending a personal check to Sherry R. 

                13. The national office staff recommends that the state
affiliate have a liability insurance policy in place. The affiliate can be
sued if a person gets hurt at an event or gets sick from food served at an
event. Members of the board of directors are particularly vulnerable. A
liability policy should be in place before the upcoming state convention.
Rachel moved that an liability insurance policy be researched and an
affordable policy be in place by the time of our state convention. Sherry
R.sk Richard seconded the motion. It passed. Sherry R. and Sheri A. will
work to get quotes. 

                14. Sheri A. gave a legislative committee report. She will
be facilitating committee conference calls in the near future to work on
moving  the bills forward. The Columbus Seminar was held on May 9, 2017. We
had five  teams: Sheri Albers, Richard Payne, Barbara Pierce, Mike
Leiterman, and Jordy Stringer each led a team. Thirteen  affiliate members
participated. The teams visited with about thirty reps and senators, but
there are ninety-nine house members and thirty-three senators.  We would
love to see more NFB members  participate next time we do this seninar. 

                A. Service Animal Bill: Representative Scott Lipps (Warren)
R and Rep. Brigid Kelly (Hamilton) D

Marianne Denning, Deanna Lewis, and Sheri A.  met with Lipps and Kelly on
June 23 in Cincinnati to discuss our service animal bill. They gave us some
advice for testimony and suggestions for possible allies for our cause:
Police Canine Units and Pilot Dogs.

                B. Parent Rights Bill: 309 was introduced by  Rep. Anne
Gonzales District 19 Franklin R) and Rep. Jeffrey Rezabek (District 43
Montgomery County R). 

                C. SRC Bill: There is a new draft of this bill, and
stakeholders have a meeting next week to discuss it. We will see that the
NFB's views are represented in the hearing.

                15. There will be hospitality at the state convention. All
donations are welcome and needed.

                16. On Saturday afternoon of the convention there will be an
exhibit hall. If your chapter or division would like to have a table in the
hall, please contact Rachel Kuntz.

                17. Shelbi and Annette gave a report on BLAST. Both agree
that it is an absolutely tremendous seminar and well worth attending. 

                18. Annette gave the report from the fundraising committee.
There will be an auction at the convention. Please contribute to this
endeavor. Malley's is not sponsoring a fundraising campaign during the
Christmas holiday. 

                19. Please send a clean membership  list from your chapter
or division to both Richard and Shelbi. 

                20. The meeting adjourned at 9:43 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Shelbi Hindel

Richard Payne,  President

National Federation of the Blind of Ohio

937-396-5573

Rchpay7 at gmail.com

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back

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