Oklahoma Council of the Blind

October-December Quarterly Board Meeting

October 5, 2006

 

President Sanders called the meeting to order at approximately 9 pm on the conference line, 985-425-2620.  A quorum was established and present were Perry Sanders, Elaine Boykin, Vicky Golightly, Jeri Cooper, Judy Hansen, Julie Brantley, and Teresa Kruta.

 

Minutes and Treasurer’s report from the August 5, 2006, meeting were accepted as distributed.  Teresa stated a check from one of the auction items had returned.  A short discussion continued about how to best handle this matter.  Perry said perhaps we should compose a form letter for addressing such situations as this because this had happened before.

 

Newsletter Editor

Vicky stated she will have the newsletter  out shortly after October 25th.  She’s waiting on information from the different affiliates and others.

 

Old Business

Legislation – Vicky talked about their upcoming Candidate/Legislation Forum/Reception which will be held October 21, 2006, at 5701 N. Portland, Suite A-C.  Sponsors for this event are the Heartland Council, Oklahoma Rehabilitation, and Independent Living Council.  To date, at least 20 legislators and/or candidate have confirmed.  Discussion was held concerning getting the information out to as many disabled people as we can and also providing transportation if possible.  Elaine moved for OCB to match Heartland’s donation of $500 to help with this Legislative event.  It was seconded and approved.

 

2006 Convention Wrap-up

Perry will meet with Paul to get the final total cost for the convention and would like to budget approximately the same amount if not a little more for the 2007 convention due to next year’s being the centennial.

 

Affiliate Reports

TCB – Jeri said they were having a booth at Promenade Mall on October 14th for White Cane Awareness Day.  They’ll be demonstrating different adaptive equipment, answering questions about blindness, handing out fliers, and selling raffle tickets to win a $275 Best Buy Gift Certificate.  Also, Promenade Mall has a Magical Day of Giving on November 12  where people can come and enjoy sales, music, and food at the mall. They give tickets to non-profit organizations to sell for $5 each and the organization keeps the proceeds.

HCB – Judy said they were very involved in helping with the upcoming legislative forum.  A State Election Board staff attended their last meeting and gave a wonderful presentation,  and she was able to stay for about an hour and answer a lot of questions.  HCB also held their elections on this same day.

MCB – no one was available to give this information.

 

New Business

Budget – Perry will meet with Paul to figure a budget for the upcoming year and submit it to the Board at our next meeting.

Convention – Judy Hansen and Sandy Webster have volunteered to chair the 2007 OCB State Convention.  It was moved and accepted to have the convention in Oklahoma City. An idea was suggested that maybe the emphasis for the convention could be our history, and possible theme be pioneers into the future.  If anyone has any other ideas or would like to participate in next year’s convention, please contact Judy or Sandra.

 

Committees – Perry asked if anyone would like to volunteer to chair any of the following committees:  Membership, Convention (which has already been delegated to Judy Hansen and Sandra Webster), Constitution and By-Laws, Resolutions, Awards, Fundraising, Nominating, and Transportation. Perry added transportation because of the growing need.  Vicky volunteered to chair the Constitution and By-Laws Committee Teresa Kruta volunteered to help with the Nominating Committee, and Jeri Cooper volunteered to chair the Membership Committee.  Perry will request in his message in the upcoming newsletter that if individuals are interested in participating in any of these committees, please notify him.  Perry would like for board members to be a facilitator to help lead others in each of these committees.

 

Workshops – Perry would like to see different workshops in the areas of advocacy, legislation, and Roberts Rules.  Due to transportation needs, each affiliate could sponsor one in their own geographical areas.  Times for these workshops could possibly be held during February or March to get ready for Disability day in April at the Capitol.

 

Next OCB Board is scheduled to meet Thursday, January 11, 2007 on the conference line, 9 pm.

 

Meeting adjourned at approximately 10 pm.

 

Jeri Cooper

OCB Secretary