Oklahoma Council of the Blind
Board Meeting
September 13, 2003
President Randy Howard called the meeting
to order at 9:00 AM. This meeting was
conducted through a teleconference. A
quorum was established with the following
board Members present: Vicky Golightly,
Judy Hansen, Julie Brantley, Elaine Boykin,
Joe Fallin, Tommy Robertson, and Paul
Miller. Also attending was Ray Jones and
Jean Jones.
Joe Fallin moved, Vicky Golightly seconded
and the board approved the minutes as
distributed.
Joe Fallin moved, Julie Brantley seconded
and the board approved the treasurers report
as distributed.
Presidents Report: President Howard stated
that he had received a request from the Tulsa
Transit Office to write a letter of support for a
grant that would provide them funds to
conduct a survey for improving services.
He did write this letter on behalf of OCB.
Unfortunately due to the high volume of
applications they did not receive the
requested grant. Vicky mentioned that there
are some individuals in the Norman area that
are trying to obtain a grant to provide
transportation services to low income
individuals. Randy encouraged all OCB
members to stay active in transportation
issues as needed.
Randy reported on the DRS 10 year
anniversary celebration. Vicky informed
everyone that OCB received a certificate from
DRS for the support that they have offered
over the years. She accepted this on
Randys behalf as he was unable to attend.
She has given the certificate to Elaine and
Randy stated that it would be nice to
showcase this and any other special
memorabilia at the OCB convention or at
other times when we have some type of
display.
Randy asked for a report of the ACB
convention activities. Elaine provided a short
report thanking OCB for the opportunity to be
the states delegate. We had approximately 9
individuals attending. The convention went
well and we were well represented in the
various meetings. Judy provided information
of the ACB book signing which did showcase
a few Oklahomans that were instrumental in
the development of ACB. This should be
available for members to buy on cassette at
some future date.
DRS Committee: Joe Fallin, Ray Jones and
Tommy Robertson provided information about
their first official meeting with the new division
administrator, Jane Nelson. This meeting
was conducted through a conference call.
They stated that Steve Shelton from the NFB
of Oklahoma also joined them in this meeting.
Points that were touched on during this
meeting were:
a. The future of DRS staff, many will be
retiring in a few years and what is the agency
doing to think of the future of their staff.
b. Current activities of the BEP program and
the taskforce committees that have been
developed.
c. Jane Nelson was informed about the
differences in philosophy between OCB and
NFB especially in the area of Orientation &
Mobility instruction.
d. The concern of the low turn out of staff
members in OAER, the only professional
organization for individuals working in the field of blindness.
It is hoped that the new administration will
encourage and support staff attending these
meetings.
Joe stated that he had the opportunity to talk
with Jane Nelson in a one-on-one telephone
call and provided his support in anyway
possible.
There will be additional conference calls or
meetings in the future. Randy stated that we
have the appearance of a good working
relationship with our new Visual Services
Division Administrator.
Convention Report Vicky Golightly updated
everyone on the current convention activities.
She stated that the convention is coming together quite nicely. She gave an overview of the progress that has been made to this date. Vicky has talked with Norman Dalke and he has gone through the constitution and cant find a disillusion clause. She stated that she has the DJ scheduled for the dance. Member registrations are coming in slowly,
but we are getting people who have not
attended in many years. Billy Brookshire and
Jay Stiteley have sent some information on
additional presentations that they can do if we
need them for the breakout. Vicky and Elaine
have met with Tracey to finalize the hotel
accommodations. Will have evaluation ready
for individuals to fill out for the convention.
Newsletter/Convention Registration Update:
Elaine provided information on the recent
mailing of the newsletter/convention
registration packet.
Once again we did have difficulty getting the
convention announcements/newsletter out
because of the interpretation of free matter for
the blind. It appears that you can not promote
any other business. Jean stated that they
included in the new rules of advertisement
anything that promotes an issue or supports a
business. A resolution needs to be prepared
to address this issue. It is a district-to-district
interpretation and these individuals are
untouchable and it is going to require a
National focus. Jean will be working in a
couple of directions. She stated that there
could be value in us working with the key
individuals with our district Post Offices.
This also brought up the current status of the
OCB mail box. It was noted by Judy that
information that the Post Office has is old and
needs to be updated. It appears that the last
information provided has been lost and will
need to be done again. Paul has the form
and will take care of this matter.
Legislative Report Jean Jones and Joe
Fallin provided a brief report on activities that
may concern OCB members.
a. Transportation: We now have a house
bill that passed and ACB seems to be happy
with the pedestrian safety additions.
b. Appropriations bill the house bill has
public transit as 11 to 12 million on the house
side and the house has line items for capital
improvement funding.
c. Statewide gets 6 million for the rural
transit providers in Oklahoma.
d. There are no significant developments on
the Rehabilitation Reauthorization Act as of
this report. Jean has heard that some type of
pull back has occurred on the RSA
commissioner change.
e. Surface transportation authorization
Presidents name for this proposal is “safe
tea This authorization is drawing attention
on highway safety issues.
f. Transportation equities act. This is to
allow some of the smaller states to have more
flexibility on their formula funding. There are
mixed feelings about this decision. There
would be enormous pressure to move that
money into operations instead of maintaining
buses, etc.
The following are DRS's informal
recommendations on legislative issues.
At this time these are talking points that Jane
Nelson would like OCB to consider.
1. Revisions to the interpreters fee
2. Development of land trust for OSB OSD
3. Attorney has been asked to work on
a clean-up of state statue concerning DRS
4. Delete references to "Commission to
the Deaf" in state statue
5. Amend tax check off language title
68 & 74
6. amend language concerning "Visual
Services" name.
7. Possibly request a public
transportation taskforce.
Technology Committee: President Howard
stated that the web site continues to be
updated and we have been adding convention
information as it is updated. Jean asked if
there was anyway that other individuals could
have the ability to post to the website. Randy
will check with Jeannie to see if this can
happen. Jean stated that if possible she
would have the ability to keep the legislative
section updated.
Affiliates
Heartland Council of the Blind: Judy stated
that the annual meeting is today 9-13 and will
include election of board members. They are
proud to announce that they have received
their 5013C tax status. During this meeting
they will be putting together the registration
packets for the convention. Last year they
had 53 members and they are hoping to have
that many this year. Will be meeting the first
Saturday of the month at the OLBPH.
Tulsa Council of the Blind: Joe reported that
everything is moving along fine, elections will
be soon and they are participating with the
Foundation on a project. They are trying to
keep their membership up.
Oklahoma League for the Blind Report:
Randy stated that they are on track for
another good year. As of June 2003 they
have made 6.3 million. It appears they might
make their 8.1 million that they made last
year. Doing a lot of strategic planning and
have developed a 5 year on going plan which
will be finalized on September 19. They are
still working with consultants.
They are still working to build relationships
with Tulsa and will be participating with the
chamber for the technology fair. Once again
will be organizing the Macular Degeneration
seminar in OKC on September 25. Jack
Williams from NIB has been hired to assist
with product development.
Oklahoma Foundation for the Education of
Blind Children and Youth: Joe Fallin stated
that they are working with the Tulsa Chapter
on a fundraiser that they believe will be held
in the second quarter of 2004. They are
going to be doing a benefit and he will provide
more information as it develops. They are
offering mini grants for teachers to provide
instructional materials for their classes that
have visually impaired children. They are
offering two scholarships, for high school
seniors that are considering further education.
Judy also added that the foundation will
assist with the Braille literacy booth at the fair
on the Sept. 20 from 10 am till 9 pm. They
need volunteers.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 AM
Elaine Boykin, Secretary
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