by Kim Charlson
Paul Edwards opened the fall board meeting, which was held in St. Louis, MO, by welcoming members and guests. All board members were present except for Alan Beatty.
Adoption of the pre- and post-convention board minutes was deferred until the next board meeting because of problems with their distribution to all board members.
It was reported that the Affiliate and National Organization Expectations document was ready for dissemination to interested parties. A motion passed instructing appropriate ACB staff to have the document posted on the web site and made available in alternate formats. In addition, Brian Charlson and Penny Reeder were asked to assume responsibility for management of the electronic lists for the board and ACB leadership.
In president Edwards’ report on activities within the North American/Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union, he said that ACB had been successful in expanding the viewpoints represented by organizations on the WBU Women’s Concerns Committee by having Jill Tobin, co-chair of ACB’s women’s concerns committee, appointed to that committee. The board formally supported this appointment by adopting a motion to authorize Tobin’s attendance at the committee’s meeting in early October.
Edwards also commended ACB’s Michigan affiliate for strengthening relations with the Canadian Council of the Blind by holding their October convention just across the Michigan border in Ontario, Canada. Brian Charlson was expected to attend that convention representing ACB.
The report of the executive director Charles Crawford focused on five key areas. First, on the ruling of the Federal Communications Commission requiring broadcasters to begin supplying some video description for prime-time programs, which over the next 18 months will fundamentally enhance the accessibility of televised programming for people who are visually impaired.
Second, Crawford said that ACB is involved in discussions with the Rehabilitation Services Administration regarding their notice of proposed rule-making to disallow a reimbursable employment outcome if a blind person chooses to work in a “non-integrated” environment or workshop setting. ACB does not support the RSA position, but rather espouses a strong commitment to consumer choice.
Third, Crawford reported that ACB has published the second edition of the Pedestrian Safety Handbook in various formats, and expressed ACB’s appreciation to all of the state and special-interest affiliates who made financial contributions to facilitate its publication. A brief pedestrian safety release, called “The Pedestrian Safety Bulletin,” has been written to provide basic information to cities and towns on the issue and refer interested parties to the handbook for more detailed information.
Fourth, Crawford reported on ACB’s involvement with the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Call for Action Implementation Program. He said that this meeting had produced a set of understandings which will be presented to the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind for adoption. These understandings will establish a unified vision for the vending program, and will delineate the kind of expanded resources which will be required to support further development of the Randolph-Sheppard vending program.
Fifth, Crawford announced that ACB had received an $18,000 grant for the development of a brochure and resource list for elders with visual impairments who live in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Although the original list will be targeted to the Washington metropolitan area, the basic framework can then be customized by individual state affiliates to reflect specific resources and programs in any area and can be distributed along with the original brochure.
Several committee reports were given including the ACB convention committee report presented by LeRoy Saunders. He outlined several policy and procedural changes to streamline convention registration processes which will lend to a more efficient convention. The board passed a motion accepting the policy recommendations and revised procedures, and approved amending the convention guidelines for site selection to emphasize the development of at least one high-quality bid, and make the requirement for two or more bids optional.
Kim Charlson reported that the history committee has identified a publisher for the ACB history. The book is scheduled to be completed in 2002.
Debbie Grubb reported on behalf of the ACB membership committee that their goal over the course of the next year is to have designated committee members contact each affiliate through its president. By early 2001, the committee will release a report on “How to Grow a Successful Local Convention.”
Kim Charlson gave the report from the board of publications. She announced that Billie Jean Keith had been selected as the new contributing editor for the “Here and There” column. She reported that the BOP would be working with the editorial staff to conduct a purge of “The Braille Forum” subscription list in all formats, since this had not been done for over four years. A motion passed authorizing a purge of the mailing list to be done no later than the end of 2001.
Pat Beattie, ACB treasurer, and Jim Olsen, ACB Chief Financial Officer, provided the board with an analysis of the current financial situation and projections through the end of 2000. President Edwards stated that the board, along with the national office staff, needs to help members understand how the dollars contributed through dues are utilized and why there is currently a need for increased financial participation on the part of each individual member as well as each affiliate.
Pat Beattie, the new chair of the American Council of the Blind Enterprises and Services (ACBES), presented her report, in which she shared data on how the various thrift stores were doing. LeRoy Saunders, past chair, reported on a pending meeting with all thrift store managers to be held in St. Louis in October 2000, the purpose of which is to build a better relationship between the store managers and ACB. Saunders explained that his hope for the meeting would be to develop an atmosphere where store managers feel that their input is valued and strategies can be identified to improve ACB’s relationship with ACBES. Strategies under discussion include adding a link on the ACB web site and including an article about ACBES and its activities in “The Braille Forum.”
Elections were held to select the members of the budget committee. Pat Beattie, Mitch Pomerantz and Dawn Christensen were elected.
President Edwards reported that a leadership coordination meeting was held in August which brought together the key representatives from the ACB and ACBES elected leadership, and ACB and ACBES staff. What emerged from this meeting was a stronger sense of cooperation. Periodic conference calls and an e-mail list will be set up to facilitate enhanced communication between all parties involved.
Kim Charlson gave a report on the special committee which was established to research implementation of resolution 2000-47 regarding distribution of braille materials from the ACB national office; the resolution had been referred by the convention to the board for action. A committee was established at the post-convention board meeting consisting of Kim Charlson, Penny Reeder, Terry Pacheco, Dawn Christensen, Pam Shaw and Chris Gray, representing the Braille Revival League. The committee met via conference call, and as their first function, identified all of the materials that are currently produced or made available in braille by the ACB national office. This list included the ACB Mission Statement, Reasonable Accommodation Policy, various ACB brochures, ADA clinic information, ADA publications list, various meeting agendas, appropriate correspondence, “The Braille Forum,” committee lists, constitution and bylaws, various officer handbooks, fund-raising letters, Pedestrian Safety Handbook, resource list, scholarship applications, small business brochure and the ABC’s of ACB. Some of the materials identified were available on hand, while others would need to be produced upon request.
It was the view of the committee that there are some documents with very limited time usefulness that are not recommended for production in braille. For example, the convention pre-registration materials would be virtually useless if made available in braille, because by the time the document could be produced it would no longer be of any value. Charlson emphasized that such items can be made available on the web site and would continue to be available on cassette. A further recommendation of the committee was to incorporate into the process of developing documents and publications a step in the production cycle that outlines the production of all formats. Following the acceptance of the committee’s report, the committee was formally dissolved.
Pat Beattie reported on the efforts of the committee charged with implementing resolution 2000-43 relating to leadership training initiatives. The committee identified current leadership development efforts including: the mid-year affiliate presidents’ meeting, the legislative seminar, and the national convention.
ACB also provides representatives to attend most affiliate conventions, and these designees could also share their expertise in their roles as officers, keeping members involved, or providing training on writing resolutions and other important documents. Helpful resource documents could be placed on the ACB web site to aid in leadership development. The committee will continue to work on options for enhanced leadership training opportunities which can realistically occur within budgetary constraints.
Charlie Crawford outlined his proposed goals for 2001 for the national office and its staff. A motion was passed by the board accepting the proposed goals. Crawford also reported that a draft of an ACB Operations Manual was available for board comment, and will be distributed in whichever format is preferred for review.
The board approved up to $650 from the ACB Buell fund to assist Mandy Sommer, a blind swimmer participating in the Paralympics in Sydney, Australia, with a portion of her travel expenses.
Pam Shaw will chair a committee on appropriate board recognition for years of service. She will submit a list of recommendations to the board at the 2001 mid-year meeting.
Sandy Sanderson, Sanford Alexander, M.J. Schmitt, and Charlie Crawford were appointed to a special committee charged to research the current state of the National Accreditation Council (NAC), and make a recommendation to the board as to the direction ACB might take regarding NAC. Sanford Alexander will chair this committee, which will prepare a preliminary report for the 2001 mid-year board meeting.
Jerry Annunzio volunteered to work on implementing the suggestion of designing an ACB commemorative patch, which could be stitched or ironed onto clothing and the like. Pat Beattie will assist him on this venture.
After no further business, the fall ACB board meeting was adjourned.