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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm sending this as a companion to my last message
so that everyone who cares can know just what the BEP and the entire Agency is
heading for. There has been no response to my original message other than
that shown here.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joe Sontag</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=rodgerse@michigan.gov href="mailto:rodgerse@michigan.gov">Rodgers, Edward
(LARA)</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=suncat0@gmail.com href="mailto:suncat0@gmail.com">'Joe
Sontag'</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, October 29, 2012 8:30</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> RE: Recording of BSBP Meetings</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black">Good Morning
Joe,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black">Thank you for your email which I was just
able to read. I’ve been out of the office visiting regional offices since
Wednesday, October 24. I will review your concerns as well as the Open
Meetings Act and then respond more fully.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black">Thank you for your
patience.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black"><BR>Ed<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<HR tabIndex=-1 align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> Joe
Sontag [mailto:<st1:PersonName w:st="on">suncat0@gmail.com</st1:PersonName>]
<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Monday, October 29, 2012
9:08 AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> Rodgers, Edward
(LARA)<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Recording of
BSBP Meetings</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Ed, I faxed this to you on the
morning of 10-24-2012 and send it as e-mail in the event that there was a
problem with the fax machine at your end.</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Ed, I am writing you in response to
your claim that recording of BSBP meetings is not permissible because of a
concern about the official record of any meeting. While I did in fact stop
recording per your request, I stated that I would study the issue. I have
done this and now say that the October 22, 2012 meeting of the Elected
Operators' Committee was conducted in clear violation of <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Michigan</st1:place></st1:State>'s open meetings
Act and that BSBP remains bound by the provisions of the OMA for the following
reasons:</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Meetings of the Elected operators'
Committee are to be conducted in conformity with PA267 of 1976 as set forth in
BEP promulgated rule R393.52 (2) (a). You stated to me that the EOC
meeting was a public meeting, yet you denied me the right to make my own
recording of the meeting, saying I was limited to low-tech note-taking
only. It is also true that no opportunity for public comment was given
during this meeting, contrary to the requirements of PA267. That your
staff is fully aware of this, yet remained silent suggests strongly that you may
wish to question and more closely examine critically their statements to you
about BEP operations and the way they conduct business on behalf of the
Bureau</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">PA267 of 1976 has this to say about
the recording of public meetings:</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">addressing meeting of public body;
tape-recording, videotaping, broadcasting, and telecasting proceedings; rules
and regulations; exclusion from meeting;
exemptions.</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Sec. 3. (1) All meetings of a public
body shall be open to the public and shall be held in a place available to the
general public. All persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting except as
otherwise provided in this act. The right of a person to attend a meeting of a
public body includes the right to tape-record, to videotape, to broadcast live
on radio, and to telecast live on television the proceedings of a public body at
a public meeting. The exercise of this right shall not be dependent upon the
prior approval of the public body. However, a public body may establish
reasonable rules and regulations in order to minimize the possibility of
disrupting the meeting. The OMA exempts meetings in certain departments in
which the merits of a case are being deliberated, but there appears to be no
application to the former Commission for the Blind or the current BSBP, except
as it relates to closed sessions of public
meetings.</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">From EO2012-10:<BR>B. All
authority, powers, duties, functions, records, personnel, property, unexpended
balances of appropriations, allocations or other funds of the Commission for the
Blind are transferred from the Commission for the Blind to the Bureau of
Services for Blind Persons, including but not limited to the
following:<BR>1. The Blind and Visually Disabled Persons Act, 1978 PA 260,
MCL 393.351 to 393.369,</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Finally, from PA260 of
1978:<BR>BLIND AND VISUALLY DISABLED PERSONS (EXCERPT)<BR>Act 260 of
1978<BR>393.365 Conducting business at public meeting; notice; availability of
writings to<BR>public.<BR>Sec. 15.<BR>(1) The business which the commission or
any committee appointed under this act may<BR>perform shall be conducted at a
public meeting of the commission or committee held<BR>in compliance with Act No.
267 of the Public Acts of 1976, being sections 15.261<BR>to 15.275 of the
<st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Michigan</st1:place></st1:State>
Compiled Laws. Public notice of the time, date, and place<BR>of the meeting
shall be given in the manner required by Act No. 267 of the Public<BR>Acts of
1976.<BR>(2) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained
by the commission<BR>in the performance of an official function shall be made
available to the public<BR>in compliance with Act No. 442 of the Public Acts of
1976, being sections 15.231<BR>to 15.246 of the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Michigan</st1:place></st1:State> Compiled
Laws.</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The emphasis on the OMA in PA260 and
in the BEP promulgated rules is a direct result of attempts in the past to
deny the public generally and blind people specifically knowledge of how our
Agency was being run, even going so far as to deny the right of BEP operators
who were not EOC members to attend EOC meetings.<BR>Events of October 22 and the
discovery that there is a plan to introduce legislation that would exempt the
Executive and Legislative branches of State government from the food
service priority established in PA260 of 1978 have changed my attitude about
BSBP from cautious optimism to one of caution at best. Ed, here's hoping
that you are genuinely interested in repairing and building a better Agency for
the blind of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Michigan</st1:place></st1:State> and not merely a more educated and
aggressive version of your predecessor.<BR>I’ve contacted you via fax as my
internet service is not available. I should have working internet service
again by 10-29; and the e-mail address that you have on record should remain
effective.<BR>Joe Sontag</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>