Quarterly Meeting Minutes (Thursday, January 21, 2010)

Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront
1201 Riverplace Blvd., Jacksonville, FL

MINUTES

Approved April 9, 2010

Ted Hull, Chair called the meeting to order at 8:45 AM.

Council Members Present:  Ted Hull, Henry Alexander, Rufus Brown, Sheryl Brown, Paul Edwards, Jesus Garcia, Ben Grzesik, Brian Johnson, Paul Kaminsky, Robert Kelly, Jodi Lamm, Bruce Miles, Joe Minichiello, Jay Naiman, Dan O’Connor, Sue, Townsend and Joyce Hildreth.

Council members absent:  Dwight Sayer, Dawn Saunders (joined by teleconference after lunch).

Council Staff: Phyllis Dill

DBS Staff: Michael Elliott, Wayne Jennings, Wendy Hoss, District Supervisor

Audience: Becky Simpson, ILAB Project Coordinator

Election of Officers

Joyce Hildreth asked for nominations for Chair.

Rufus Brown moved that the current officers be nominated as a slate and remain serving in their positions.
Paul Edwards seconded the motion.
Motion passed, unanimously.

FRCB Officers for 2010 are:

Ted Hull, Chair
Paul Edwards, First Vice Chair
Brian Johnson, Second Vice Chair

A brief Bio was given by each officer.

Director’s Report – Joyce Hildreth

Strategic Plan

Mrs. Hildreth gave an overview and update of the Strategic Plan.  A summary was previously emailed to the Council.

Update on Florida Outreach

Bill Findley reported via teleconference.

Joint Meeting in July

Policies Discussion – Michael Elliott

Policies sent out to the Council for review were:

6:18 Replacing Equipment
6:19 Returning Participants
8:18 Eye Medical Services
2.21 Qualification Requirements for performing VR assessments
Dog Guide Policy

Discussion on Dog Guide Policy

Policy 6.18 Replacing Equipment

Policy 6.19 Returning Participants

Policy 8.18 Eye Medical Services

Policy 2.21 Performing Vocational Assessments

Council suggestions:

Michael Elliott reported the following:

Budget – Marta Copeland reported  for Kurt Ponchak via teleconference.

Break

District Administrator Report – Wendy Hoss, Supervisor District Three

Five VR Counselors and she serve the following:

Clients served....

BB - 84
CP - 72
IL - 114
VR -389 (66 are in transition)

Closed Employed - 37
Expected Closures - 25
Required - 96

Jay Naiman suggested they start including data on the number of individuals closed successful who are totally blind.

Local CRP – Independent Living for Adult Blind – Becky Simpson

  • IL, VR, and VRT DBS Contracts, City of Jacksonville, St. Johns County.
  • Annual giving, Wine Tasting, A State of Vision tag.
  • First Quarter Stats:  Total served 156
    • Served 73 – IL
    • IL Referrals up: 54 plans written this year compared to 23 DBS referrals last yr.
    • Served 45 – VR
    • Served 38 – VRT

Ms. Simpson read a testimonial by a client and gave out copies of a brochure and the newsletter ILAB GAB.

Needs Assessment – Joyce Hildreth

Paul Edwards moved to continue using MSU for the Needs Assessment.
Motion received a second.
Motion passed.

Lunch Break

Meeting resumed at 1:00 PM.  Dawn Saunders joined by teleconference.

Committee Break-Outs did not occur.  Council met as a whole.

Michael Elliott informed the Council that DBS was reviewing the Strategic Plan to make sure the Goals were consistent with the State Plan.   He stated that the State Plan would be sent to the Council shortly for review.

Evaluation Committee

Robert Kelly moved to accept the Agreement and continue with FSU conducting the Survey.
Paul Edwards seconded the motion.

Motion to accept the Agreement passed.

Client Satisfaction Survey Questions

Paul Edwards moved to approve the Survey questions as amended.
Jay Naiman seconded the Motion.
Motion passed.

New Council members were appointed to serve on a Committee as follows:

Planning Committee

Meeting adjourned at 2:30 PM

Friday, January 22, 2010

Ted Hull, Chair called the meeting to order at 8:35 AM.

Council Members Present:  Ted Hull, Henry Alexander, Rufus Brown, Sheryl Brown, Paul Edwards, Jesus Garcia, Ben Grzesik, Brian Johnson, Paul Kaminsky, Robert Kelly, Jodi Lamm, Bruce Miles, Joe Minichiello, Jay Naiman, Dan O’Connor, Sue, Townsend and Joyce Hildreth.

Council members absent:  Dawn Saunders, Dwight Sayer

Council Staff: Phyllis Dill

DBS Staff: Michael Elliott, Wayne Jennings, Wendy Hoss, Supervisor

Approval of October Minutes – Phyllis Dill

Agenda Items for April 2010 meeting in Lakeland – Phyllis Dill

On-Going agenda items:

Paul Edwards moved to have a Public Forum at the April meeting in Lakeland.
Motion received a second
Motion passed.

Location of January 2011 meeting – Phyllis Dill

Council voted by show of hands:

Vision Summit – Robert Kelly

Sunshine Law – Charles Pellegrini, Legal Counsel

Mr. Pellegrini went over Section 286.011 of the Florida Statutes relating to public meetings and records.

All meetings of any board or commission of any state agency or authority or of any agency or authority of any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision, except as otherwise provided in the Constitution, at which official acts are to be taken are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times, and no resolution, rule, or formal action shall be considered binding except as taken or made at such meeting. The board or commission must provide reasonable notice of all such meetings.

Florida's Government in the Sunshine Law, commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law, provides a right of access to governmental proceedings at both the state and local levels. 

Advisory boards created pursuant to law or ordinance or otherwise established by public agencies are subject to the Sunshine Law, even though their recommendations are not binding upon the agencies that create them.

The law is applicable to any gathering, whether formal or casual, of two or more members of the same board or commission to discuss some matter on which foreseeable action will be taken by the public board or commission.

The use of a telephone to conduct such discussions does not remove the conversation from the requirements of section 286.011, Florida Statutes. 

The Sunshine Law is applicable to meetings between a board member and an individual who is not a member of the board when that individual is being used as a liaison between, or to conduct a de facto meeting of, board members.

Meetings between a voting member of a board and a non-voting member, who serves as a member of the board in an ex officio, non-voting capacity, are subject to the Sunshine Law.

Members of a public board or commission are not prohibited under the Sunshine Law from meeting together socially, provided that matters which may come before the board or commission are not discussed at such gatherings.

Section 286.011, Florida Statutes, specifically requires that minutes of a meeting of a public board or commission be promptly recorded and open to public inspection. 

For further review of the Sunshine Law go to:  www.Myflsunshine.com

The Administrative Procedures Act requires that all public meetings should be noticed at least 7 days before the meeting.

Voting by Council members must be open and not secret.

Charlie Pellegrini’s contact information:

Office:  850-245-0442
E-Mail Address:  charles.pellegrini@vr.fldoe.org

Mr. Hull gave a brief overview of his trip to Phoenix, AZ and attendance at CSAVR in November 2009.

Orientation for New Members – Phyllis Dill

Mr. Hull informed the Council that justification for the new representative position for Deaf-Blind was being put together and interested individuals will be contacted.

Break

Open Discussion

Paul Edwards moved to replace the Miami location with Tallahassee and combine the Vision Summit with the Council meeting in 2011.
Motion received a second
Motion passed with majority (9) voting yes.  Five voted no.

RSA Representative – David Jones

Mr. Jones is a VR Program Specialist with the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

Had a couple of questions about the partnership between DBS and the general DVR agency.

His first question was how the Order of Selection DVR is under impacted services to DBS consumers.

Response:

Mr. Jones second question concerned recruitment of qualified staff and the impact of the low salaries.

Paul Edwards offered three challenges:

For further questions are concerns, you may contact Mr. Jones at:

Rehabilitation Services Administration
550 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20202
Phone: 202-245-7356
E-mail: David.Jones@ed.gov

Meeting adjourned at 11:35 AM.

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