by Mike Duke
The board of directors of the American Council of the Blind met on February 15 and 16 at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, in Birmingham, Ala.
President Chris Gray called the meeting to order at 1:40 p.m. Central time on Sunday, Feb. 15. All officers and directors were present except for Dawn Christensen and Steve Speicher, both of whom had resigned. Numerous guests also attended throughout the open portions of the meeting.
Attendees reviewed the agenda and added three items. The motion to adopt the agenda as amended carried on a voice vote.
President Gray gave a brief report. He praised Laura Oftedahl for her work on fund-raising and grants for ACB. He also announced the appointment of Dave Williams as executive director of ACB Radio. Williams is working to get ACB Radio back on schedule, and hopes to begin broadcasting some programs in Spanish.
The board then turned to the task of filling the two vacancies created by the resignations of Dawn Christensen and Steve Speicher. The motion to elect Mitch Pomerantz by acclimation to the position of second vice president carried on a voice vote.
Cynthia Towers and Cindy Burgett, both of Washington, were nominated to fill the seat vacated by Christensen. On a roll call vote, Towers was elected by a vote of 9 to 4. Those voting for Towers were: Annunzio, Bradley, Keith, Miller, Pomerantz, Ruschival, Schmitt, Seliger and Sheehan. Those voting for Burgett were: Bazyn, Beatty, Charlson and Edwards.
David Trott of Alabama and Becky Floyd of Mississippi were nominated to fill the remaining position, which was created by the selection of Pomerantz as second vice president. On a roll call vote, Trott received 8 votes and Floyd received 7. Those voting for Trott were: Annunzio, Bradley, Pomerantz, Ruschival, Schmitt, Seliger, Towers and Gray. Those voting for Floyd were: Bazyn, Beatty, Charlson, Edwards, Keith, Miller and Sheehan.
The board then approved the minutes of the September and November meetings on separate voice votes.
Following the voting, the board discussed the disbursement of minutes to the membership. After discussion, the board adopted a policy that allows members to request, in writing, complete sets of minutes of open meetings from the secretary. A fair and reasonable fee may be set to cover the cost of such distribution.
M.J. Schmitt reported that membership committee members would call affiliate presidents to discuss local membership issues. She reported that the Four Corners Conference would meet in Salt Lake City September 10-12, 2004. The motion to accept the membership committee report carried on a voice vote.
Shortly before 4 p.m., the board went into executive session. Upon returning to the open business meeting at 5 p.m., Gray reported that the executive session was held to discuss the results of the executive director search committee. An executive director was chosen and negotiations can now begin with the candidate.
Acting Executive Director Melanie Brunson reported that Sens. Kennedy, Ensign and Gregg have gotten into the military food service contract issue on federal properties. NISH contractors now hold two-thirds of those facilities. Brunson asked the board to entertain a motion for the president to write a letter expressing the intention of the board’s support for the Randolph-Sheppard program and ACB’s continued support for the priority and its application specifically to military dining, and ACB’s opposition to any effort to erode that priority in any manner. Annunzio made the motion, which carried on a voice vote.
Edwards moved that the board go into recess in order to convene the ACBES membership meeting. On a voice vote, the motion carried.
As chair of ACBES, Edwards asked for a nomination to replace Christensen on the ACBES board for a one-year term. After Carla Ruschival and Brian Charlson were nominated for the slot, the motion to close nominations was adopted. On a roll call vote, Ruschival received 12 votes and Charlson received 3. Those voting for Ruschival were: Annunzio, Beatty, Bradley, Gray, Keith, Miller, Pomerantz, Ruschival, Schmitt, Seliger, Towers and Trott. Those voting for Charlson were: Bazyn, Charlson and Sheehan.
The motion to adjourn the ACBES meeting and return to the ACB board of directors meeting carried.
Treasurer Ardis Bazyn reported that in the previous year, expenditures exceeded revenue by $296,831. She then made a motion that Jim Olsen be authorized to approach Price Waterhouse for the 2003 audit. The motion carried on a voice vote. A motion authorizing the CFO to expend up to an additional $90,000 from the board reserves to close out the books on the 2003 budget also passed on a voice vote. The board then accepted the treasurer’s report.
Budget committee chairman Brian Charlson reviewed the proposed budget for 2004. Proposed revenues for 2004 are $937,000. The proposed expenses for 2004 are $1,000,037.
Edwards moved to reconsider motion seven of the November 25, 2003 conference call, which instructed the budget committee to prepare a budget on the assumption that 10 issues of “The Braille Forum” would be produced during 2004. The motion to reconsider carried with one dissenting vote.
The motion to budget for 10 issues then failed on a roll call vote of 6 in favor, 9 opposed. Those in favor were: Beatty, Edwards, Keith, Pomerantz, Schmitt and Towers. Those opposed were: Annunzio, Bazyn, Bradley, Charlson, Miller, Ruschival, Seliger, Sheehan and Trott.
Pomerantz made the motion to amend the proposed budget amount for staff travel to $8,000; the motion carried.
Edwards moved the adoption of the expense side of the budget. A motion to table Edwards’ motion until the next day carried on a roll call vote with 8 in favor and 7 opposed. Those voting in favor were: Bradley, Keith, Miller, Ruschival, Schmitt, Seliger, Towers and Trott. Those opposed were: Annunzio, Bazyn, Beatty, Charlson, Edwards, Pomerantz and Sheehan.
President Gray then entertained a motion to recess until 8 a.m. on Monday, February 16.
Monday
The Monday session began with a continuation of the budget discussion. A motion to rescind the previous motion to delete $1,665 from the expense side of the budget for staff travel carried on a voice vote.
Next, Charlson reviewed the revenue side of the budget. The line item which now reads “board fundraising” will be changed to “board-sponsored fundraising.”
The total revenues anticipated for 2004 are $915,500.
A motion that the ACB Store income become a separate line item for next year’s budget carried. The board then adopted the revenue side of the budget.
Charlson then moved to adopt the budget in aggregate. This motion carried on a roll call vote of 10 in favor, 4 opposed and 1 absent. Trott asked to go on record as opposed to the deficit budget. Those voting in favor were: Bazyn, Beatty, Charlson, Edwards, Keith, Miller, Pomerantz, Schmitt, Sheehan and Towers. Those opposed were: Bradley, Ruschival, Seliger and Trott.
A motion instructing the acting executive director to prepare a plan that would involve the dedication of a significant amount of additional staff time to work specifically on fund-raising and related matters within a month carried.
The motion to use AIG Insurance Annuities for investment of matured CDs carried.
President Gray reported that the office review committee has not done much in the past few months because the committee members have been working on other projects, including the executive director search. It was recommended that the committee meet within the next 30 days to begin its work.
Cynthia Towers reported that the general sessions, exhibits and ACB Café will be in close proximity to one another this summer. Her report was adopted.
Acting executive director Melanie Brunson reported that Sharon Lovering is now the acting editor of “The Braille Forum.”
The California Council of the Blind has contacted Lainey Feingold to help with negotiations to make point-of-sale credit card machines accessible. It was moved that ACB sign a retainer with Feingold and Dardarian’s law firm for the purpose of making accessible point-of-sale machines. On a voice vote, the motion carried.
Brunson asked for consensus from the board for ACB to enter into a contract with Tari Susan Hartman, who plans to bring corporations to the ACB convention to conduct focus groups on household items that are not now accessible.
Terry Pacheco announced that the scholarship committee has received applications sent electronically. Six hard copies have also been received. She also reported that the sight and sound committee listserv is very positive and has seen a lot of growth. The national office report was accepted on a voice vote. The fundraising update was also accepted.
Mike Duke reported that the board of publications will meet on March 1, 2004 via conference call. He had previously addressed issues relating to “The Braille Forum” during appropriate portions of the budget discussion. The board of publications report was accepted.
The Randolph-Sheppard Vendors of America donated $5,000 to ACB to be used to offset expenses of the legislative seminar. Board members discussed the best ways to spend the money. A motion to use these funds to offset the cost of printing materials and then room charges if it appears that there are sufficient funds carried on a voice vote.
After a brief discussion, it was agreed that President Gray would write a brief report on the transportation survey and post it to the board list in seven to 10 days.
A motion to adjourn was adopted, and the meeting ended at 12:05 p.m. on February 16.