[nfbmi-talk] Fw: request mcb cic minutes past and present

[joe harcz Comcast]

Another request for accessible information never responded to to this very date.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: Patrick Cannon MCB 
Cc: Jo Anne Pilarski ; geri.taeckens at isahealthfund.org 
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 7:49 AM
Subject: request mcb cic minutes past and present


March 14, 2010

 

 

Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

1365 E. Mt. Morris Rd.

Mt. Morris, MI 48458

(Cell: 810-516-5262)

E-mail: joeharcz at comcast.net

 

Re: Request for accessible “Proposed” or “Draftand past approved” MCB Consumer Involvement Council Meeting Minutes on n ongoing basis pursuant to obligations under the Michigan Opened Meetings Act with corollary accommodations pursuant to the ADA and Section 504

 

LANSING, CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE

Phone, voice: (517) 373-2062

Toll-free voice (800) 292-4200

TTY (517) 373-4025; toll-free TTY (888) 864-1212

Fax: (517) 335-5140

DIRECTOR'S OFFICE

Cannon, Patrick D., Director

(via e-mail)

 

 

Ms. Jo Ann Pilarski, MCB Commission Chair

pilarskij at charter.net

 

Mr. Michael Geno, MCB Commission Vice Chair

luzenskis at michigan.gov

 

Ms. Velma P. Allen, MCB Commissioner

luzenskis at michigan.gov

Ms. Geraldine G. Taeckens, MCB Commissioner

geri.taeckens at isahealthfund.org

 

Ms. Margaret Wolfe, MCB Commissioner

margwolfe at usa.net

 

 

 

Dear Director Cannon, MCB Chair, Pilarski, and MCB Commissioners:

 

I am writing you all today to formally request “Proposed” or “draft”  and past approved Consumer Involvement Council of MCB  Meeting minutes within eight working days pursuant to obligations under the OPEN MEETINGS ACT

Act 267 of 1976. Specifically I cite this reference to this requirement (something I’ve pointed out in the past to Director Cannon on several occasions by the way)):

 

“15.269. Minutes; contents, corrections, open to public inspection

 

Sec. 9. (1) Each public body shall keep minutes of each meeting showing the date, time, place, members present, members absent, any decisions made at a

meeting open to the public, and the purpose or purposes for which a closed session is held. The minutes shall include all roll call votes taken at the

meeting. Corrections in the minutes shall be made not later than the next meeting after the meeting to which the minutes refer. Corrected minutes shall

be available no later than the next subsequent meeting after correction. The corrected minutes shall show both the original entry and the correction.

 

(2) Minutes shall be public records open to public inspection and shall be available at the address designated on posted public notices pursuant to section

4. Copies of the minutes shall be available to the public at the reasonable estimated cost for printing and copying.

 

(3) Proposed minutes shall be available for public inspection not more than 8 business days after the meeting to which the minutes refer. Approved minutes

shall be available for public inspection not later than 5 business days after the meeting at which the minutes are approved by the public body.”

 

While Director Cannon has in the past stated that only approved minutes need be made accessible to the public he is clearly in error on that account as the above language clearly indicates. Moreover there seems to be an oversight that has been ongoing regarding posting even approved CIC minutes on the MCB web site which seems to by implication diminish the role of the CIC relative to other components and relative to other public meetings like say for example of the Board of MCB itself.

 

 

Now, as a legally blind person I make the request to receive these minutes in the same eight (8) day period in a format that I can readily read pursuent to obligations of this public entity under The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504, of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As, Director Cannon is the State of Michigan ADA Coordinator I assume that he is intimate with the obligations and citations here so I won’t bother to cite statute and regulation. Regardless this ongoing request for accessible “Proposed” minutes can be met by simply sending them to my e-mail address listed above as either plain text enclosures or as a Word attachment. I would also accept as a reasonable accommodation (and in the interest of public disclosure and open government) that these minutes are routinely put on MCB’s web site within eight (8) working days after each and every meeting of the CIC in the future. Further I’m requesting the past ten years of approved meeting minutes of the CIC, again in prescribed accessible form. Again to re-emphasize and clarify I will accept that the past approved CIC meeting minutes having been posted within 30 days to MCB’s web site to meet this request both in regards to the obligations under the Michigan Open Meetings Act and the provisions of the ADA and Section 504. This would also benefit the public in transparency and show the importance of the CIC over all.

 

Thank you in advance for your consideration of this matter and of your joint attention to both the letter and spirit of all the laws of this country and our great State of Michigan.

 

Sincerely,

 

Paul “Joe” Harcz, Jr.