THE FCB ANNUAL CONVENTION MEMBERSHIP MEETING


SUNDAY, MAY 15th, 2005
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL


TABLE OF CONTENTS
CALL TO ORDER AND FIRST BUSINSESS
PRESIDENT'S & TREASURER'S REPORTS
COMMITTEE REPORTS
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
NEW BUSINESS
ADJOURNMENT


CALL TO ORDER AND FIRST BUSINESS

President Paul Edwards called the meeting to order at 8:38 AM. After the usual observance of invocation and flag salute, Membership Secretary Linda Jacobson called the roll. A quorum was established.

Jesus Garcia made a motion to send flowers to Nancy Burgess-Hall. The motion was seconded by Jim Kracht and carried.

The minutes of last year's convention were read and approved with two minor corrections.


PRESIDENT'S & TREASURER'S REPORTS

President Paul then gave his report. He said that FCB is financially stronger than it has been for a while and better for the long term too. He then talked about the idea in Tallahassee of collecting all disability groups into one agency. He thinks that this has been thwarted because every group has protested against this on the state level. He is still somewhat worried about this on the national level though. He said that the key to keeping separate services for people who are blind is to stay in communication and to act quickly when the need arises. Paul said that there is to be a huge rally about this in Washington. He spoke briefly about the passing of our beloved Gayle.

Robert Jones made a motion that FCB send someone to the rally in Washington. The motion was seconded by Dan O'Connor and carried.

Larry Turnbull made a motion that FCB donate $500 to the ACB Scholarship Committee in Gayle's memory. Patti Land seconded the motion and it carried.

Patti Land then read her Treasurer's Report. Jim Warth made a motion to approve her report. The motion was seconded by Jim Kracht and carried.


COMMITTEE REPORTS

We moved on to committee reports. The first committee to report was the Constitution and By-Laws Committee.

CONSTITUTION & BY-LAWS COMMITTEE - Jim Kracht
Jim had a couple of FCB By-Laws to bring up for change. These changes were to change the date that dues and membership rosters are due. They affected Article III, sections C, D, and F. The due date will be November 30th for these sections. Jim Kracht moved for adoption of this change. The motion was seconded by Robert Jones and carried. The other change had to do with the sale of the raffle tickets. The change, in effect, puts the maximum that a chapter must pay the state at $350. The old language was vague as to if the maximum was $1,000 or 1,000 tickets. Now it spells out that if a chapter sells more than 1,000 tickets, 100% of the sales are to go to the chapter.

AWARDS COMMITTEE - Sila Miller
Sila reported on the recipients of this year's state awards. The William Alfred Outzs Award was presented to Patti Land. Lillian Reilly was the recipient of the R. Henry P. Johnson Award. The Dolly Gamble Award was presented to Alice Warth. Barbara Brown was the recipient of the Cooke Chapter Presidents Award. The Outstanding High School Senior Award was presented to John Kimbrough. And the Legislative Award was presented to Kathy Went of Sarasota. President Paul presented awards to Jesus Garcia and Robert Miller. Several Chapters also honored members with achievement awards.

EDUCATION & LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE - Nancy Folsom
Nancy reported that two young people were awarded scholarships this year. They are Gregory Lindberg of Palm Harbor and Kimberly Morris of Tallahassee.

Next the winners of the raffle ticket prizes were announced. They included: Joseph Hilton of Miami - $1,000, Lorenz Colvin of Miami - $500, Hal Knight of Clearwater - $400, Rosanna Bolduc of Winter Park - $300, Fred Rembolt of Orange Park - $200, and Adams Insurance of Tallahassee - $100. Some smaller prizes were also awarded. Because of the confusion about the ticket drawn for the $500 prize, Jim Warth made a motion to award a second $500 prize this year only. The motion was seconded by Robert Miller and carried. This prize went to Leslie Spoone of Orlando.

RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE - Jesus Garcia
Jesus reported on 3 resolutions and President Paul reported on 3 other resolutions.

Hotel Thank You Resolution

WHEREAS, the Florida Council of the Blind elected to have the 2005 annual convention in the Airport Sheraton Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; and
WHEREAS, the management and staff of this hotel have done an exceptional job throughout this convention.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the Florida Council of the Blind in Florida.

That this organization expresses its deepest thanks to this hotel's management and staff for doing a wonderful job to make our annual state convention a complete success.

FLORIDA COUNCIL OF THE BLIND
Resolution 2005-03
COMMITTING TO WORK FOR A COMMISSION

WHEREAS, two years ago all the organizations of and for the blind in Florida supported efforts to create an independent, consumer-controlled Commission for the blind that would have administered all elements of state-delivered services for people who are blind or visually impaired in Florida; and

WHEREAS, that bill's provisions were consistent with the Florida legislation calling for the privatization of the Division of Blind Services and its failure had little to do with any direct opposition from legislators to its provisions; and

WHEREAS, there has been a recent effort by the current state administration to explore providing services to all people with disabilities through a single agency which would seriously imperil the delivery of blindness-specific services which are essential if rehabilitation is to be successful; and

WHEREAS, the Commissioner of Education attempted to interpose a level of supervision between himself and the Executive Director of the Division of Blind Services which could have jeopardized Federal funding;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Florida Council of the Blind in convention assembled on this, the 15th day of May, 2005, at the Sheraton Airport Hotel, that all our affiliates and members are hereby urged to work in conjunction with other blindness organizations in Florida to assure that a Commission Bill is introduced during the 2006 legislative session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all blindness organizations in Florida agree through their endorsement of this resolution to work together to assure the passage of such a bill; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President of this organization is hereby directed to see that a copy of this resolution is made available to all appropriate organizations of and for the blind so that we can all commit to combine our efforts and resources to pass the Commission bill.

This resolution was adopted by the Florida Council of the Blind on May 15th, 2005.

Amtrak Resolutions

WHEREAS, transportation is a critical part of life activity for all citizens; and

WHEREAS, many blind and visually impaired individuals reside in communities where airline service is not available, and over-the-road bus service is being curtailed; and

WHEREAS, the only method of scheduled city-to-city transportation, which is available, is passenger rail service via Amtrak, which provides safe and comfortable transportation service, for all citizens in these communities.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Florida Council of the Blind in convention on this May 15th, 2005, at the Airport Sheraton Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale Florida, that this organization requests assistance from the American Council of the Blind to lobby the federal government for the continuation of Amtrak passenger rail service to communities where no other transportation service is available; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the access committee be directed by the president of this organization to write a letter to both of Florida's Senators, Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, to urge them to support Amtrak funding for all the communities in Florida which receive Amtrak service; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be forwarded to the American Council of the Blind, and that the American Council of the Blind Resolution Committee be requested to write a resolution to be brought to the general session of the 2005 Las Vegas convention of the American Council of the Blind.

AWARDS COMMITTEE - Diane BobrowskI
In Diane's absence, Sharon Youngs reported the recipients of this year's awards. The William Alfred Outzs Award was presented to Bill Ferrell. The R. Henry P. Johnson Award was presented to Rosanna Lippen. The Dolly Gamble Awards was presented to Dorothy Ferrell. The Cooke Chapter President Award was presented to Corinne Kendrick. It was also reported that Robert Miller had presented special President Achievement awards to both Carl McCoy and Jay Bader.

Several chapters presented chapter achievement awards also. This report continued with the names of the winners of the raffle prizes. Richard Williams, a member of the Metro Miami chapter, won the $1,000 prize. The $500 winner was Tom Collette. Joan Cox won the $400 prize. The $300 winner was Angel Areas. The $200 winner was A. Keithan and the $100 winner was Kim Wolfe.

CONVENTION COMMITTEE - Debbie Grubb
Debbie reported that 196 people attended this year's convention. Next year we will convene in Orlando at the Sheraton Safari. The dates for the convention are May 11th through 14th, 2006. We will once again hold the Autumn Board Meeting at that same venue in November from the 18th through the 20th.

PROJECT INSIGHT COMMITTEE - Rosanna Lippen
Rosanna reported that the call volume is, once again, increasing. The new brochures are here and ready for distribution. The next project is to send a supply of these brochures to every eye care professional in the state.

PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE - Sally Benamin
The new FCB brochures are here and ready for distribution also. She reported that LogistiCare donated the funds to produce the new FCB brochures. The White Cane Bulletin has produced two issues under the new editors. Jim Warth made a motion to send a representative of FCB to Jacksonville for the October 15th party to publicly thank Bobbie and Bill Probst for all of their years of work on our behalf. The motion was seconded by Dan O'Connor and carried.

EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE - Debbie Drylie
Debbie reported that the mentoring is in place but they need more participation.

Jeanne Sanders made a motion that all reports be accepted as presented. The motion was seconded by Morry LaTour and carried.


UNFINISHED BUSINESS

We moved directly to Unifinished Business. Robert Miller made a motion to return the time of the raffle drawing to the Saturday evening time slot. The motion was seconded by Robert Jones and carried.


NEW BUSINESS

New Business was the next topic of discussion. Robert Jones made a motion to curtail all convention activities on Thursday evenings. The motion was seconded by Dan O'Connor but was defeated. Barbara Grill announced the recipients of the FCCLV scholarships. They are Bryan Mattingly and Rosanna Lippen. Each recipient will receive a $500 scholarship. Barbara went on to announce some news concerning Amtrak. She said that some senators want to privatize this service. She promised to keep us informed on this issue.

Robert Miller announced that the dates of the Alumni Association of the Ft. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind would hold its annual reunion over the weekend of June 2nd through the 4th. Jay Bader asked us to get convention information to him as early as possible.


ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 11:51 AM.


Respectfully Submitted,
Sharon K. Youngs, Secretary


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