FCB Executive Committee Meeting April 6, 2021 A meeting of the FCB Executive Committee was held on Tuesday, April 6, 2021. The meeting began at 7:30 PM. Those in attendance were: Sheila Young, President; Mikey Wiseman, 1st Vice-President; Cassandra Jessie, 2nd Vice-President; Mark Lear, Treasurer; Sally Benjamin, Membership Secretary; Mary Tyson, Recording Secretary; Immediate Past President, Jim Kracht and Kati Lear, guest. Motion was made by Cassandra and seconded by Sally to approve the minutes from the February 4, meeting. Motion passed. Motion was made by Sally and seconded by Cassandra to approve the minutes of the March 8, meeting. Motion passed. Unfinished Business: Mikey gave an update on Paul Edwards. He is doing well and planning a trip to Miami this weekend. Mikey gave an update on the correspondence with the Tampa hotel which was previously going to host our convention. We sent a letter seeking to verify that FCB had no contractual obligations with their venue and they responded that that was correct. Jim requested that Mikey provide Kati A copy of this correspondence. Convention Update: Kati sent out completed program to Sheila and Sally today. She will begin working on the email list tomorrow so that all can get the program and Zoom links. After the program is reviewed by Sally the printing and brailling process can begin. Sally requested reimbursement for paper, printer cartridge and envelopes needed for the registration process. Mikey made a motion that Sally remit receipts to Mark and that she be reimbursed. Motion was seconded by Cassandra. Motion passed. Mark requested that Sally and Mikey email him to advise him of how much money they will need to transact convention business so that it can be provided. Kati said that they had had conversations with Rick Moran regarding the Zoom set-up. A meeting will be held on Thursday morning to discuss specifics. Jim Kracht asked if John Richards had received his new computer and how much it cost. Mark advised that the cost was $659. Sheila asked how the numbers were looking as relating to the food and beverage contract. Mikey said that it currently looks like 60 for each banquet with substantial numbers outstanding. The hotel wants to write in the cost of the BRLF breakfast rather than letting us handle it in cash. The breakfast is currently at 37 participants and it will be capped at 40. This will allow for social distancing protocols to be in effect. Room reservations look good at this point. Initial AV cost has come in at $2,600. This will be reviewed to make sure that we are not being charged for equipment duplication with the equipment that we are bringing. Some scholarship recipients from 2020 will be in attendance. Mikey has requested restaurant menus be provided to Kati for distribution, but they have not been received at this time. Kati will add hospitality room information to the program before it is distributed. Cassandra had requested cookies and juice for the First Timers meeting. There is some concern about if there will be enough time to serve the snacks as well as hold the meeting. Kati suggested that more time be allotted for this meeting next year. Mikey said that he believes that it can be handled with the assistance of a volunteer. Mikey said that he would help out with this project. Kati asked if the meeting should be on Zoom. It was decided that it would not be as this was more of a meet and greet event and would not lend itself particularly well to the Zoom platform. New Business: Mikey has received information on a group wishing to form a Hispanic Council of the Blind affiliate. One member has contacted him, via Kati. The gentleman is primarily a Spanish speaker and has requested he be provided with a translator at convention. Mikey did not have anyone who was available, and suggested that if he wished to bring someone with him that we would waive the registration fee for that person, although he himself would have to register. Mikey then suggested that another member of this group serve as translator but this was also not an acceptable solution. Sheila was going to ask a member of GOCB to serve as translator but they did not wish to do so as they would not be able to do it for the entire weekend. It was noted that FCB is not required to provide a language translator. Cassandra said that the Multicultural Affairs group was pushing for this and she advised Mikey that he should inform the gentleman that we had offered all options that we have available and that it is up to him to find someone who is bilingual. Perhaps if we had had more notice we may have found someone to assist. During Midyear we were asked to set up a task force to see how people were dealing with the pandemic in the disabled community. Mikey suggested that Sheila ask for volunteers and take it from there. Jim stated that we did have some discussion regarding the vaccination issue but that we have not had volunteers stepping forward to work on the larger issue and that we did not want to create a task force until we have volunteers willing to work on it and decide on the direction it should take. It should be noted that Sila Miller distributed information on vaccination accessibility and that Sheila did a local TV interview on the subject. Also, many members filed complaints with the DOJ on this topic. A resolution was passed at midyear to write a letter to the governor regarding the Rehab Council as no one has been appointed yet. Paul Edwards will write the letter as he has in the past on this subject. Also discussed at Midyear was the topic of forming an Activities Committee and inviting Janeen to an Executive Committee meeting. Jim said that we are not able to move forward with planning activities until the end of the Covid situation. When the pandemic is resolved we will move forward with planning of activities, and she will be included. Mikey said that we should thank Terri Suarez for her suggestion of the “FCB Strong” bracelets. They were her idea and we will be using them at convention. Kati asked how we would handle calling on people in the meeting room and on Zoom. We will call on two in the room and then two on Zoom. This will continue until the end of the meeting. Mikey assured us that we would have plenty of microphones to make sure that people in the room could be heard over Zoom. Midyear Board Meeting minutes will be voted on at the Preconvention Board Meeting. Convention 2019 minutes will be voted on at the Sunday morning business meeting. Committee reports will be on an as needed basis. Sally made a motion that we donate a citrus basket up to $150 inclusive of shipping, to the ACB auction. Motion was seconded by Cassandra. Motion passed. Jim made a motion to adjourn which was seconded by Cassandra. Motion passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM. Respectfully submitted by, Mary Tyson, FCB Recording Secretary