by Charles S.P. Hodge and Penny Reeder
(Editor’s Note: Because Charlie Hodge and I both took extensive notes at the mid-year board meeting, we have combined resources to provide the account below.)
Highlights of the ACB mid-year board meeting, which took place February 20 and 21, 2000, in Louisville, Ky., included a unanimous vote to accept the petition of Blind Friends of Lesbians and Gays to become a special-interest affiliate of ACB, approval of the budget for the coming fiscal year, and reports by the president, executive director, director of advocacy and governmental relations, “Braille Forum” editor, board of publications, and convention coordinator.
President’s Report
Since he had presented an extensive report at the mid-year meeting the previous day, ACB President Paul Edwards chose to give an abbreviated report at this meeting. (See the April 2000 issue of “The Braille Forum.”)
Edwards began by describing his concern about chronic fragmentation within the blindness community, and the continued inability of that community and its leaders to deal effectively with certain predictable and obstructive actions by the National Federation of the Blind.
“When the NFB repeatedly makes consensus development impossible to achieve, at some point, leaders in our community will have to convey to them ... that such continuing conduct is simply inappropriate and is injuring the best interest of all blind people,” Edwards said.
Next, Edwards shared his concern about incessant assaults against the Americans with Disabilities Act, not merely within the legal arena, but, more alarming, by the press and other media.
“We must develop strategies to counter and deflect such attacks if the ADA and our progress under that act are not to be undermined and destroyed,” Edwards said.
In response to questions posed by Pam Shaw and Sanford Alexander, Edwards explained that ACB would be addressing this important issue by providing ADA training at the upcoming legislative seminar, and sponsoring ADA clinics scheduled for this summer's national convention.
Finally, Edwards congratulated the national office for its success in making ACB the organization to which policy makers and the public turn to when questions arise about people who are blind. “ACB is truly becoming the leading organization of the blind in our country,” Edwards said.
Reports from the National Office
Executive Director Charlie Crawford outlined ongoing measures in the national office which take advantage of the strengths of individual staff members, and use a team approach to address various projects. Recognizing that Melanie Brunson’s plate is full to overflowing, as she has responsibility for both advocacy and legislative matters, Crawford explained that he has assumed an active role on certain legislative fronts. He also indicated that the national office will continue to spend frugally while attempting to increase revenues by writing innovative grant proposals.
In reply to a question from Debbie Grubb, Crawford said that he understood that membership lists (which affiliates needed to update for credentials purposes) had been forwarded in a timely fashion by staff members in the national office to all the affiliates in the formats they had requested. When certain board members expressed skepticism about whether this, in fact, had occurred, Crawford said that dissatisfied affiliates should contact him quickly to resolve any misunderstandings on this crucial matter.
Crawford next gave a report on behalf of Melanie Brunson regarding implementation of the resolutions which had been passed at the 1999 national convention. “ACB is particularly pleased by the progress we’ve made toward implementing the resolutions which dealt with the Randolph-Sheppard vending program,” Crawford said. “With respect to credit card and banking issues, because of court actions either taken or threatened by our state affiliates, we are beginning to see real progress, in terms of accessible ATMs, as well as account statements and billing information being provided in the accessible formats of our consumers’ choice.”
He expressed optimism about getting a meeting with insurance-industry representatives to make progress on obtaining insurance materials in alternative formats.
Finally, Crawford said that, as a result of ACB’s participation at Rights-of-Way subcommittee meetings, we may well get a strong proposed regulation from the Access Board in January of 2001 on accessible street crossings which will address many of our positions on issues such as having audible signal boxes at all four corners of signalized intersections.
Braille Forum Subscriptions Up
In her editor’s report, Penny Reeder told the board that subscriptions to “The Braille Forum” were up approximately 7 percent during the past year. However, she continued, many of ACB’s dues-paying members do not subscribe to “The Braille Forum.” This information spawned considerable discussion between the assembled board members and Reeder. The board voted to accept Reeder’s report, which had also been submitted to the ACB board of directors and the board of publications in written formats.
Report of the Board of Publications
The report was given by BOP member and ex officio ACB board member Charles Hodge. He reported that, under trying circumstances — because of absent members and assorted travel delays — the BOP had met on February 18 by telephone conference call. A number of recommendations had come out of the three-and-a-half-hour BOP meeting. First, Hodge moved on behalf of the BOP that the board approve ACB’s subscribing to a source book of sources and experts. He told the board that the annual cost would be $600, and explained that the subscription would greatly expand the universe of sources and experts to whom we could convey our expertise on blindness issues. The board voted to pass the motion.
Second, Hodge moved that ACB cover the reasonable expenses of bringing an individual who had been instrumental in publishing “The Braille Free Press” to the Louisville convention in July for the purpose of presenting this individual with a special lifetime achievement award. After several questions about whether nominating this individual for one of our normal awards might be more appropriate, the motion was amended to state that ACB would shoulder the cost of bringing the potential award recipient to the Louisville convention, and that the president, treasurer, executive director, BOP chairman, and awards committee chairman would confer to decide exactly what award would be granted to this special individual.
Finally, the board of publications recommended to the board that as an exception to the executive director’s newly adopted policy on distribution of ACB publications, unlimited numbers of the general membership brochure should be distributed without charge — in an effort to deplete supplies of that brochure so that it could be rewritten at the earliest possible date. Although the ACB board of directors did not take any formal action on this recommendation, it did vote to accept the report of the BOP.
Report of the Convention Coordinator
LeRoy Saunders, the convention coordinator, told the board that, just before this meeting, he had been informed by the lead hotel in Des Moines that that hotel did not have available space for our affiliate presidents’ and board of directors’ meetings on Presidents’ Day weekend in February of 2001. Saunders then asked for the board’s instructions on this matter.
After some discussion about where the coming September and February board meetings should be convened, the board instructed Saunders to attempt to schedule both mid-year meetings at the lead hotel in Des Moines over Martin Luther King holiday weekend in January of 2001. (Editor’s Note: At this writing, both meetings have been scheduled at the Des Moines Marriott during the second weekend of January 2001.)
Saunders told the board that the convention industry has been moving toward building smaller hotels around convention centers. He reported that Birmingham, Ala., and Albuquerque, N.M. have expressed real interest in the 2003 convention. Both of these proposals would in all likelihood involve multiple hotels and the use of a convention center. After board members made several suggestions about other possibilities for 2003, the board thanked Saunders for his excellent report.
BFLAG Accepted as ACB’s Newest Special-Interest Affiliate
After learning from the president and executive director that all petition documents were in order, board members heard and voted upon the petition of Blind Friends of Lesbians and Gays (BFLAG) to become an affiliate of the American Council of the Blind. Rob Hill, an ACB member from Tulsa, Okla., presented the group’s petition.
Hill told the board that since the founding 13 members of the group had come together for the first time at the Tulsa convention, membership had steadily increased, to the point where they felt their interests, as well as those of ACB, would be served best by their becoming a special-interest affiliate. Hill said that blind people who are gay cope with unique difficulties, which are defined more by their blindness than by their homosexuality.
“Our experiences with hate crimes, for example, are unique to us, not as gay people but as blind people,” Hill said. “In a gay population, two tenths of one percent may be blind. But, in a blind organization, probably 10 percent of the membership is gay.”
Hill said that he expected BFLAG’s membership to double by the summer. “Some people have already come to ACB conventions because of our presence there,” he said.
Dawn Christensen told the group about attending BFLAG meetings in Orlando and in Los Angeles. “At least a third of the members came as new people, coming for the first time to ACB.”
Hill said that BFLAG could address issues which are uniquely important to people who are both gay and blind — such as making gay and lesbian-specific publications available in accessible formats. “Our visibility [as blind people] will be increased within the gay community, and the ACB’s visibility will be increased, as well.”
Debbie Grubb said, “I frankly don’t see how we could say anything but yes to questions about whether this is a special interest or not.”
The ACB board voted unanimously to accept the petition of Blind Friends of Lesbians and Gays to become a special-interest ACB affiliate.
Financial Reports
In his report on ACB Enterprises and Services (ACBES), LeRoy Saunders told the board that, in order to meet their budgetary commitments to ACB, at the end of the 1999 calendar year, ACBES had transferred almost a quarter of a million dollars from its reserves to ACB.
“This is a substantial hit on ACBES’s reserves,” Saunders said. “But there is some good news to report. ACBES has signed leases and will shortly be relocating our Knoxville, Tenn., and Amarillo, Texas, thrift stores to new and improved locations. In addition, after much soul searching, ACBES has finally decided to close our thrift store in West Allis, Wis. ... Although the store closing in West Allis will involve some losses on the balance sheet, ACBES management is transferring many fixtures from West Allis to a new store which ACBES will shortly be opening in Des Moines, Iowa.”
Stating that sales volume for the first month and a half of this year was approximately $45,000 ahead of that for the comparable period last year, Saunders expressed confidence that ACBES will be able to meet its financial obligations to ACB.
ACB treasurer Patricia Beattie reported that, as of the end of ACB’s fiscal year on December 31, 1999, ACB had total revenues for the 1999 budgetary year of $1,070,000, with total expenditures of $1,282,000. In order to cover the shortfall, some $211,000 from prior years’ surpluses and reserve funds were utilized.
Beattie reassured the board that the entire $550,000 board-designated reserve remained untouched. She also lauded the national office for its cost-saving initiatives which had led to spending of over $200,000 less than had been budgeted for their purposes last year. The board accepted Beattie’s report.
Pat Beattie and Charlie Crawford presented the proposed 2000 budget, which contained $1,330,000 of projected revenue and $1,445,000 of projected outlays. Beattie noted that, while the proposed budget anticipates a deficit of $115,000, which will have to come from prior years’ surpluses and reserves, the budget committee’s projections had been very conservative on the revenue side.
Crawford also noted that this budget continues to reflect the national office’s efforts to streamline existing programs and services which will be performed at the same high level, but at less cost.
Chief Financial Officer Jim Olsen indicated that this proposed budget contained approximately $100,000 to cover new initiatives such as larger monthly issues of “The Braille Forum,” and that, typically, ACB does not spend all of its budgeted expenditures. In fact, in fiscal 1999, ACB expenditures were actually over $200,000 less than had been projected and budgeted a year before. Olsen also pointed out that ACB has been making slow but measurable progress in diversifying its income sources and becoming less dependent upon thrift store income. He stated that ACBES’s contribution toward total expenditures was down to 69 percent in fiscal year 1999 whereas that contribution had been as high as 90 percent of total expenditures in previous years.
The board voted to adopt both the revenue side and the expenditure side of the proposed ACB 2000 budget in aggregate. When Hodge asked whether this draft budget contained any monies to go toward board-designated reserves, he was informed that the budget did not contain any specific line item for that purpose — although it was anticipated that some funds would accrue to reserves since any amounts over $75,000 received attributable to bequests would automatically go toward reserves. Olsen explained that he was confident that ACB would receive in excess of $75,000 in bequests during fiscal year 2000. The board then voted to approve the ACB 2000 budget with one director, John Buckley, voting in the negative.
Other Actions
Charlie Crawford acknowledged the hard work and major contribution of Milly Lillibridge of Richmond, Va., who has completed a comprehensive review of all ACB board meeting minutes from the early 1960s to the present, and has written a report listing all formal actions taken by the ACB board. Crawford indicated his intention of sharing Lillibridge’s report with the board prior to the July convention in Louisville, and the board indicated by applause its thanks to Lillibridge for a hard job well done.
Mitch Pomerantz, chairman of the Rights and Responsibilities Task Force, presented the group’s draft policy statement, and the board voted to endorse it, with the understanding that the document would next be distributed to ACB affiliates for comment, and that comments and suggested revisions would then be taken into account before a final document’s presentation to the board for adoption.
Brian Charlson presented the proposal which WeMedia Inc. had made to ACB to accept ACB as a non-profit partner and to host ACB’s web site, free of charge, from the WeMedia platform. Charlson noted that Telepath had recently been acquired by a larger corporation, and that there was some uncertainty about the terms of our continuing relationship. After discussion, the board voted to accept WeMedia’s proposal and to begin the process of moving the web site to that platform.
(Editor’s Note: During the first week of April, ACB decided to discontinue a relationship with WeMedia because of that entity’s inability to meet ACB’s standards for accessibility and their insistence upon altering the terms of our original agreement. ACB is currently working with Telepath Inc. to facilitate the kinds of change and growth in our Internet presence which will be most beneficial to our members and others who wish to learn about blindness and the American Council of the Blind.)
The board voted to adopt amended convention guidelines which bar the sale of goods or services from ACB-subsidized suites or rooms for personal profit.
At Crawford’s urging, the board also voted to approve the creation of a voluntary sick-leave bank for members of the national office staff.
Under new business, Edwards indicated his belief that ACB would participate as an amicus curiae in the Supreme Court to argue against constitutional challenges to the ADA under the 11th Amendment. Edwards also praised the spirit of cooperation and partnership which has characterized the efforts of ACB, the Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America (RSVA) and the National Educational and Legal Defense Service for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NELDS) in standing up for the rights of blind vendors in federal court in the litigation brought by the National Industries for the Severely Disabled (NISH). Edwards noted with pleasure that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia had ruled in our favor by permitting ACB, RSVA and NELDS to intervene as parties defendant. The board concurred with the president’s sentiments with a round of spontaneous applause.
Finally, Edwards told the board that the National Association of Radio Reading Services had recently broadened the scope of its mission and changed its name to the International Association of Audio Information Services (IAAIS). Edwards explained that the newly organized association will, as a matter of policy, grant only advisory status to consumer organizations. However, since our particular consumer organization is now an on-air information provider — through ACB Radio — ACB qualifies for full membership in the association. The board of directors voted to authorize the president to apply on ACB’s behalf for membership in IAAIS.