THE FCB ANNUAL CONVENTION MEETING
SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2003
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CALL TO ORDER AND FIRST BUSINSESS
TREASURER'S REPORT
COMMITTEE REPORTS
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
President Robert Miller called the meeting to order at 8:32 AM. After the usual
invocation and flag salute, Membership Secretary, Linda Jacobson called the
roll with the following results.
Alachua - Present
Brevard - Present
Broward - Present
Charlotte - Absent
Clay - Present
Englewood - Absent
FABS - Reorganizing
FCCLV - Present
FCCTB - Present
Greater Miami - Present
Greater Tampa - Present
Halifax - Present
Inter-County - Present
Jacksonville - Present
Miami-Metro - Present
Mid-Florida - Present
Palm Beach - Present
Pensacola - Present
Pinellas - Present
PSLCB - Present
RSVF - Present
Sarasota - Absent
Tallahassee - Present
Tampa - Present
Venice - Present
President - Present
1st Vice President - Present
2nd Vice President - Present
Treasurer - Absent
Secretary - Present
Membership Secretary - Present
Immediate Past President - Present
The first order of business was Robert Miller's President's Report. Robert reported
about some voting access problems. He talked about some legislative issues coming up
of vote. He talked about the changes that the DMV required us to make in order to
comply with the rules to continue to receive funds through this donation option. He
talked briefly about the funds from the DMV.
He praised Linda Jacobson for her efforts with the membership lists. Through her efforts
FCB gained 400 new members. He ended his report with outlining other accomplishments of
FCB members. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.
The Treasurer's report was then read. It was explained that there are now 3 accounts:
The General Fund has $18,351.61.
The DMV Account has $26,932.85.
And in the Merrill Lynch Account there is $62,677.76. Of that amount, $20,336.64
is available cash.
It was noted that the money taken in for convention registration went directly
into the general fund. Also noted was that the interest from all accounts in
the ABLE Trust is approximately $10,000.00.
Robert Jones made a motion to accept the report. The motion was seconded by
Jim Kracht and carried.
We moved to committee reports. The first committee reporting was the Constitution
and By-laws Committee.
CONSTITUTION & BY-LAWS - Jim Kracht
Jim stated that the proposed constitutional amendment that was published along
with the "Convention Call" was withdrawn and there will be no vote on that.
He did have some proposed By-law changes to bring forward.
The first change would create a new section and had to do with new members.
Robert Jones moved for adoption of this by law. The motion was seconded by Doug
Hall and carried.
The second by-law change would, if passed, increase FCB membership dues, making
FCB dues $5 above those paid to ACB. This proposed change was also moved for
adoption by Robert Jones and seconded by Doug Hall but was defeated.
The third proposed change simply would add language that spelled out the duties
of the membership secretary. Again, Robert Jones moved this change for adoption.
The motion was seconded by Carolyn Dwarica and carried.
The last proposed change was similar. It gave the definition of who a delegate
is and what their duties actually are. Robert Jones moved for adoption of this
change also. Doug Hall seconded the motion and it carried.
RESOLUTIONS - Jesus Garcia
Jesus informed us there were 5 Resolutions for us to approve.
Resolution #CONV2003-01 concerned itself with the voting issue. Jesus moved
for adoption of this resolution. Jeanne Sanders seconded the motion and it carried.
Resolution #CONV2003-02 was read by Paul Edwards and concerned audible traffic
signals. Paul then moved for adoption of this resolution. Doug Hall seconded
the motion and it also carried.
Resolution #CONV2003-03 was also read by Paul and talked about the creation
of a "Commission for the Blind". He again moved for adoption of this resolution.
Richard Giombetti seconded this motion and it carried.
Resolution #CONV2003-04, read by Paul, outlined ACB's stance on the Iowa affiliate
and the guide dog issue which has been much talked about in the "Braille Forum".
Paul moved for ratification of this resolution and it was seconded by Carl McCoy
and carried.
Resolution #CONV2003-05 was the usual resolution thanking the hotel for their
assistance in putting on this convention. It was moved for adoption by Jesus,
seconded by Richard Giombetti, and carried.
We took a few minutes for a break. The first order of business after the break
was from Calvert Durden. Calvert, as representative for the Tallahassee Chapter,
announced donations to FCB and to ACB in the amount of $350 for each.
EDUCATION AND LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE - Paul Edwards
Paul informed us of the names of the scholarship recipients. They are Scott Greenblatt
from Miami and Sarah Russeau from Apopka.
ACCESS COMMITTEE - Doug Hall
Doug talked about the ATM's that are being installed. He said that there are still many
problems in the areas of voting and audible traffic signals. He also said that there had
been some major problems with the production and disbursement of the Braille and tape
versions of the recent issue of the White Cane Bulletin. These problems were found to be
in the system at the Library. Doug said that, in the future, if such problems arise, he is
to be notified first.
PUBLIC EDUCATION COMMITTEE - Carl McCoy
Carl talked about the meetings planned to deal with the creation of the Commission for
the Blind. He also talked briefly about a state fund called the Gifts and Donations Fund.
AWARDS COMMITTEE - Linda Jacobson
Linda informed us of the recipients of the various awards presented by FCB. The Dolly
Gamble Award was presented to Dr. Marc Gannon. The R. Henry P Johnson Awards was presented
to Debbie Drylie. The Legislative Award was presented to Senator Radcliffe. The Cooke Past
President's Award was presented to Dolores Wussler and the William Alfred Outzs Award was presented
to Sharon Youngs.
Linda said that several chapters had honored their members with
achievements awards also.
We moved on to Unfinished Business. We talked about the raffle tickets. We were informed
that 7765 tickets were sold this year. The major winners were announced. Sheron Ebron won the
$1,000 prize. Other winners included: Ferdinand Dwarica who won $500, Sandra Hanline won $400,
Shawn Skaggs won $300, Karen Tatum won $200, and Dupheslo McNeally won $100.
Under the general topic of New Business, we discussed how the Membership committee and
others worked together to keep the special interest affiliate, FABS from folding. Carl
McCoy talked about the Durwood McDaniel Fund that funds first timers to be able to attend
the ACB Convention. He made a motion to contribute $100 to this fund. The motion was
seconded by Paul Edwards and carried.
Lee Stallworth talked about FCBS and the need to re-vamp this fundraising arm of FCB. He
made a motion for FCB to contribute $500 to this entity. He stated that the Pensacola
Chapter would match these monies. The motion was seconded by Jim Warth and carried.
The talk then turned to the ABLE Trust money. The only time the interest from funds in the
Trust may be taken out is in June of each year. Carl McCoy made a motion to leave this
interest for this year. The motion was seconded by Robert Jones and carried.
There were some general announcements. The main announcement was the convention place for
next year. Next year, we will be back at the Westshore Doubletree in Tampa. With no other
business to come before the membership, the meeting was adjourned at 11:18 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon K. Youngs
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