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TXT file 2024 February 21 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
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A meeting of the Executive Committee was held on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.  Those in attendance were: Sheila young, President; Mikey Wiseman, 1st Vice-President; Cassandra Jessie, 2nd Vice-president; Mary Tyson, Recording Secretary; Sally Benjamin, Membership Secretary; and Mark Lear, Treasurer.  Others in attendance were  Kati Lear, Administrative assistant, and guest Janeen Lea.  The meeting began at 7:02 PM.

Unfinished Business:

Janeen Lea was concerned because she had not received a response from the Executive Committee after the Midyear Board Meeting and felt that she had been left in limbo regarding whether or not she would be eligible to apply to be  a representative of FCB in Washington D.C. for the Leadership Conference.  It was explained that she had not been eligible to apply for the stipend this year but could certainly go at her own expense.

Mikey thanked Janeen for coming forward with her concerns and stated that he had seen growth in her work within FCB.  He apologized for the lack of clear and prompt communication from the Executive Committee.

Mikey made a motion that upon completion of the D.C. Leadership Conference that Janeen lea be considered as a member in good standing and be eligible for any participation to include stipends and/or reimbursements  as  any other member of FCB.  Motion was seconded by Mary.  Motion passed.

Janeen advised the Committee that she had responded to attend a production of Hamilton that had been posted on the FCB list and had been ‘disinvited” because she was told it was a private event.  She asked if this was allowed or acceptable behavior from a chapter or affiliate president and was told that it was not. Mikey advised that the Committee was not in a position to intervene but asked if she would be willing to provide a timeline of events to document this occurrence.  He further apologized on behalf of the Executive Committee and FCB for any discrimination or exclusion she experienced.  Janeen said that she would provide this documentation.

Mikey said that he hoped Janeen would continue her interest in leadership and said that the program should be better moving forward as last year was the first after the pandemic and the logistics kept changing.  Janeen also asked that we reach out and apologize to Dan as he has been a good advocate and now doesn’t want anything to do with the leadership program.

Mikey reported on the trip to Tallahassee about some concerns about proposed legislation.  FCB, NFB and Blinded Veterans of Florida  were invited guests and the purpose was to re-engage with legislators regarding blindness related issues. It did not materialize in the way they thought it would, but they felt they did the best they could and some good came out of the event; something to build on in the future.

Sally reported that her chapter members were excited to attend and spoke about it at their following chapter meeting.  She hope that more will be involved if such events are held in the future.  

Sheila felt that it was a good sign that we could all pull together when issues come up that will affect our services.

Mark reported that he had been trying to speak with Michael Carlisle, who is handling our paperwork, but has not received an answer to his emails.  Michael keeps saying that he will get to it but Mark has not been able to get a definite answer.  He spoke with Michael’s partner yesterday and was told that they would call this morning with an update, but they did not. He will call again tomorrow.  It is concerning because we will lose our eligibility for certain things if we are not in compliance.

We need to approve Annette’s contract and Sheila asked if we had reviewed Annette’s revisions to our proposal. It will cost an additional $2,000 because she had to recreate everything as Earlene had not left anything up.  This would make a total of $5,000.

Kati has sent Annette all copies of the White Cane Bulletin back to 2015, all executive committee minutes, and the Constitution and Bylaws.  She has had to input everything individually and it has taken a lot of time.    Her only concern is that we don’t have a current policy manual.  Since this is not a priority it was suggested by Cassandra that we provide Annette with what we had, and in November we have all committees review their sections and provide the necessary updates.  This can be done when the membership information is due on November 30.

Mikey made a motion that we pay Annette the $2,000 for the work she has done outside of the contract amount while giving us a day to review and approve the actual contract.  Motion was seconded by Mary.  Motion passed.

Florida Agency Serving Blind individuals (FASBI) was invited to participate in the meeting in Tallahassee along with the other agencies serving the blind in Florida.  Their Executive Director, Amy Grissom,  proceeded to tell everyone in their initial meeting why this would not be a successful event.  Everyone was perplexed as they had been there by invitation as well and had had nothing to do with the planning of the meetings.  She stormed out of the room.  However, Amy did show up at a subsequent meeting while not speaking to any of the participants, most of whom did not realize she was there as they are blind.  The Florida Rehab Council has written a letter regarding this behavior.  She says she doesn’t know why everyone is so upset.

Mary made a motion that Mikey and Sheila write to FASBI leadership requesting a meeting so that our position can be made clear, and that while we prefer to collaborate and work as allies, it is essential that our consumers and leaders be treated with respect. The motion was seconded by Cassandra and was passed.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mary Tyson
FCB Recording Secretary