Minutes
Oklahoma Council of the Blind
January 5, 2008
 
President Sanders called the telephone conference meeting to order at 9:10
A.M., after which a quorum was established. The entire Board was present.
Others attending were Laurie Leach, Jean Jones, Allison Fallin, Cathy Tuton
and Tommy Robertson.
 
Minutes of the previous meeting were filed as distributed. 
 
The Treasurer's Report was filed as distributed.
 
Newsletter editor Jeri Cooper is collecting short bios of Board members to be  
included in the newsletter. Julie and David Bailey will present a bid to print the 
newsletter. Elaine Doudna, Vicky Golightly and others will assist with the 
publication.
 
In the legislative report, Jean Jones said there are not any state bills on 
transportation in process at this time. Several OCB members plan to meet with 
Senator Connie Johnson, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, which deals with 
public transportation. There is a possibility this committee might hold a public 
hearing on public transportation issues.
Several OKC OCB members are contacting legislators urging them to support 
dedicated Federal funding for public transportation.
rehabilitation programs will be level next year. A key concept introduced in the 
Rehab Act is the concept of prioritizing services to transition youth.
 
DRS is searching for a new director, as Linda Parker will be retiring  at the end of 
the year. With NFB of Oklahoma, OCB will write a letter in support of specialized 
services for the blind. Joe will check with Linda Parker as to the optimum timing 
of said letter.

OCB 2008 Convention Chairman Julie Bailey said the RSVO vendors will meet on 
January 19 to discuss whether the RSVO wishes to have a joint OCB/RSVO 
Convention. Possible joint activities could include exhibits, speakers and 
entertainment.
 
Relative to the ACB 2008 Convention, President Sanders asked if OCB should 
coordinate transportation and Jeri Cooper asked if OCB could send someone to 
the Convention or maybe pay part of the expenses for several
people to attend the Convention. It was suggested that scholarships of $100 or 
more could be of assistance to send a number of people to the Convention. This 
could be, Joe Fallin stated, a topic for the chapter Town Meetings.
 
Treasurer Bailey said former Treasurer Miller and she worked on a proposed 
OCB budget. 
 
The Secretary sent a letter thanking the Holiday Inn Airport for providing a great 
venue for OCB's 2007 Convention.
 
Resolutions: It was determined that relative to the resolution on transportation 
adopted at the 2007 OCB Convention that the distribution clause needed to be 
implemented. Elaine and Jay Doudna, Jean Jones and Joe Fallin will perform the 
distribution directive of this resolution.
The resolution concerning DRS funding of independent living services requires no 
action at this time. RSA plans to meet with independent living centers in 
Oklahoma during March/April. President Sanders encouraged OCB members to 
participate in these statewide focus groups.
 
OCB plans to have a booth at the DRS annual People with Disabilities Day on 
March 26. This is also an excellent time to visit with legislators.
 
The next OCB Board Meeting will take place at the Library for the Blind on March 
15. The ABOT Credit Union will also meet that day.
 
OCB will host town meetings in conjunction with chapter meetings in April and 
May. The purpose of these hour and a half meetings are to inform our members 
of the accomplishments of OCB, to find out what issues are important to our 
members and to find out what the members need in order to be supportive on 
these issues. A committee to discuss the formation of these town meetings will 
meet on January 10. Joe Fallin is the Chairman and committee members thus far 
are Allison Fallin, Vicky Golightly, Jeri Cooper, Perry Sanders and Sandi 
Webster.
 
The meeting adjourned at 10:25 A.M.
 
Respectfully Submitted,
Lynn (Vicky) Golightly, Secretary
 
Back to the OCB Home Page