October 2001 Meeting
Waterfront Inn, Traverse City, Michigan
Monday, October 15, 2001
9:00:00 AM - 3:00:00 PM

COMMISSIONERS PRESENT
Mr. Earl Steenstra, Chairperson
Ms. Peeti Greene
Dr. Velma Allen
Mr. Donald Bowman
Ms. Jo Ann Pilarski

COMMISSIONERS ABSENT
None

MCB STAFF PRESENT
Mr. Patrick Cannon
Ms. Connie Kreiner
Mr. James Buscetta
Ms. Melody Lindsey
Mr. Bernie Kramer
Mr. Larry Best
Mr. Fred Wurtzel
Ms. Judy Terwilliger
Mr. Tony VanStaveren

GUESTS
Ms. Veronika Peacetree-Long
Ms. Mary Orth
Ms. Judy Baltz
Mr. Brian Seybert
Mr. David Search
Mr. John Victory
Ms. Beth Harvey
Ms. Denny Everett
Mr. Tom Fleming

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
Chairperson Steenstra called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order at 9:14 a.m.
Chairperson Steenstra thanked Ms. Greene for chairing the meetings in his absence. Committee assignments were discussed and Mr. Bowman said that due to time constraints, he felt unable to continue serving on the newly-formed Placement Committee. Dr. Allen agreed to take his place on the committee if she could participate via teleconferencing. The decision was made to continue with current committee assignments until developments from Vision 2020 have occurred. A status report of the Vision 2020 initiative was provided by staff and John Victory.
Mr. Steenstra noted that the election of the Vice Chair would occur right after public comment on the agenda.

REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DETERMINATION OF QUORUM
Chairperson Steenstra called the meeting to order at 10:13 a.m. Roll call was taken and a quorum was present.

APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
Mr. Bowman said that the minutes of the August 20, 2001 Commission meeting should reflect the meeting that Mr. Wurtzel had with the Assistant Attorney General to reflect that, according to the comments from the Attorney General staff, BEP operators do have the right to provide comprehensive catering services in state buildings and facilities, although there is no statutory mandate for building tenants to utilize only BEP services.
MR. BOWMAN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY DR. ALLEN, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS CORRECTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

APPROVAL OF THE FY 2001-2002 MEETING SCHEDULE
DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 17, 2001 MEETING AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

PUBLIC COMMENTS
Mr. Fred Wurtzel, President, National Federation of the Blind of Michigan (NFB) commented on the discussion regarding the placement of the agency in state government and recommended that the Commissioners read P.A. 260 with regard to what the Commission is charged with and mentioned, in particular, programs for blind children, the closing of the School for the Blind and now the impending issue of closing the program at Michigan State University which trains teachers for the visually impaired. He raised these issues and others to remind the Commissioners of the many issues presently surrounding the Commission and their role and responsibility to the MCB consumers.

SELECTION OF VICE CHAIRPERSON
DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. PILARSKI, TO NOMINATE MS. PEETI GREENE AS VICE CHAIRPERSON OF THE MICHIGAN COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Mr. Cannon noted that the written MCB report had been mailed with the Commission packet and called attention to several items in the report. He mentioned, in particular, President Bush’s Freedom Initiative which focuses on the President’s proposals for people with disabilities.
Mr. Cannon also reported on the Career Day to be held in Lansing on October 17. Twenty MCB clients will be participating in the event.
Mr. Cannon noted that the Michigan Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired (MCBVI) had held their annual fall convention September 28-30 in Muskegon. MCB was well represented with eighteen staff members attending and a dialogue circle on the Vision 2020 process was conducted. He also urged Commissioners to attend the annual conference of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan which is to be held on November 9-11.
Finally, Mr. Cannon reported that the final Mini-Adjustment Program of the year was conducted in Wakefield, Michigan with eighteen consumers participating. About 250 people have been trained at the Mini-Adjustment Programs this year. Six Mini-Adjustment Programs will be conducted in 2002 around the state.
MS. GREENE MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. PILARSKI, TO APPROVE THE DIRECTOR’S REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

CONSUMER SERVICES REPORT
Mr. Buscetta reported that the Commission for the Blind has been selected as the recipient of the “Exhibitor of the Year” award to be presented at the Michigan Rehabilitation Conference. The award is being presented for MCB’s fifteen year support of the conference.
Mr. Buscetta said that twenty staff members had recently received training on an evaluation tool entitled “The Small Business Assessment Tool.” This tool will help staff evaluate the merits of establishing and running a small business. He also said that the “Building Trust Relationships” training, which is extensive job placement training, will be continued again this year. Financing for this training is being provided by the Regional Continuing Education Program.
Mr. Buscetta told about a couple of meetings that he and Bob Utrup are attending that are coordinating services for older people with visual impairments. One of these meetings is being coordinated through Mr. Holliace Spencer of the Office of Services to the Aging.
Finally, Mr. Buscetta said that he had previously provided the Commissioners with a proposed policy that states that the Commission will serve people who have communicable diseases in a safe, medically approved fashion. The existing policy will be changed to a procedure and edited to bring it up to date. A statement will be added which will provide for periodic review of the procedure.
Mr. Cannon called attention to the meeting which was held with the Office of Services to the Aging and noted that this meeting was very important in the effort to provide services to the aging population and suggested that the Board may want to write a letter of appreciation to Mr. Spencer. Mr. Buscetta further suggested that the Board might wish to have Mr. Spencer on a future agenda.
Mr. Cannon also suggested that the Board might want to go on record supporting the legislation by Congressman Frost of Texas that Mr. Buscetta had also mentioned in his report.
MS. PILARSKI MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, TO ACCEPT THE CONSUMER SERVICES DIVISION REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, THAT THE BOARD WRITE A LETTER OF THANKS TO MR. HOLLIACE SPENCER AND ALSO INVITING HIM TO A FUTURE MEETING. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
MR. BOWMAN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. PILARSKI, THAT THE BOARD GO ON RECORD TO ADVOCATE AND SUPPORT THE PASSAGE OF THE LEGISLATION INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE MARTIN FROST OF TEXAS. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

NORTHWEST REGION UPDATE
Mr. Kramer said that he first wanted to address a question that had arisen earlier in the meeting regarding the backlog of clients in the Upper Peninsula. He said that Mr. Michael Welch has done an outstanding job in providing services and diminishing the backlog. He also noted the contributions of John McMahon, Tony VanStaveren and Rose Dunlap-Gist.
Mr. VanStaveren said that he currently has a caseload of about 70 individuals, quite a number of whom have severe secondary disabling conditions. He spoke of how community partnerships, the education system and internal partners at the Commission for the Blind and the Training Center all work together to bring success to MCB consumers.
Mr. Kramer introduced Mr. John Porter, site manager, Michigan Rehabilitation Services in Traverse City. He said that they had eight offices in the northern Michigan district and cover 20 counties. They have five agency strategic directions on which they focus: Business services, serving youth, serving minority populations, Social Security and Workforce Development Boards.
Mr. VanStaveren introduced Ms. Denny Everett, Disability Specialist at Northwestern Michigan College. Ms. Everett said that she has worked with seven visually impaired students during her tenure at Northwestern Michigan College and spoke of the different paths each of them have followed.

The meeting was recessed for lunch at 12:13 p.m.
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The meeting was called back to order at 1:15 p.m.

MCB TRAINING CENTER UPDATE
Ms. Lindsey reported on a new initiative started at the Center with the Michigan Career and Technical Institute (MCTI) in conjunction with Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS). This new initiative will allow for career training opportunities for MCBTC students at MCTI.
Ms. Lindsey also reported that the roofing project has been completed. She also said that a staff in-service will be held the week of Thanksgiving. Goals and objectives for the upcoming year will be discussed.
Further, she talked about the shortage of supportive services staff and the steps being taken to rectify the situation. Meetings are being held with United Nursing Service and an exception request has been submitted to the Family Independence Agency for a nursing position.
MS. PILARSKI MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MR. BOWMAN, TO ACCEPT THE TRAINING CENTER REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES REPORT
Mr. Best stated that he did not have the final expenditures for the past fiscal year, but he believed that the budget would be slightly over what was projected. This is partially due to the fact that only $127,000 was received from Social Security reimbursements.
For the 2002 fiscal year, Mr. Best indicated that there are reports that state funds will be cut by ten percent. There is no indication as yet as to how this will affect MCB.
Mr. Best said that he had been asked to put together a “wish list” budget for the 2003 fiscal year by the Family Independence Agency Budget Office. Mr. Best prepared a list of seven items:
1) Restoration and/or elimination of a waiting list for the older blind program. Funds needed: $412,300 of general fund. FTE’s needed: 3.
2) Provide additional matching funds and services for the Title I Program. Funds needed: $300,000 of general fund.
3) Upgrade technology services for clients at the MCB Training Center. Funds needed: $200,000 of general fund.
4) Restore Youth Low Vision to original funding level. Funds needed: $100,000.
5) Increase state funding for vending stand retirement. Funds needed: $75,000 general fund.
6) Funds to replace 100 Business Enterprise Program vending machines. Funds needed: $500,000 general fund.
7) Increase FTE limit to the previously appropriated level. Needed increase: 10 FTE’S.
Mr. Best provided rationale for each of these budget items. He said that these items would only restore programs to their previous level of funding activity and do not represent requests for program increases. Mr. Steenstra asked that Mr. Best provide this information to both of the consumer groups.
Finally, Mr. Best said that Bob Robertson was taking the lead on a joint needs assessment on the needs of people with disabilities in Michigan. This will be done in concert with Michigan Rehabilitation Services. Mr. Cannon proposed that Mike Leahy from Michigan State University be on the agenda for the next Commission meeting to update the Commissioners on the progress of this needs assessment study.
MS. GREENE MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MR. BOWMAN, TO ACCEPT THE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM REPORT
Mr. Wurtzel began his report by once again talking about the issue of catering in state buildings. He said that the BEP needs to market the program as a meeting planner resource in response to the loss of catering business in state buildings.
Mr. Wurtzel said that he needed to commend one of his staff. He said that Dave Robinson has been dealing with facilities that were being run by temporary operators and shortage of inventories which has put him under a tremendous amount of pressure. Mr. Wurtzel indicated that Mr. Robinson had done an outstanding job.
Mr. Wurtzel reported that the Port Huron vending route had been awarded to Mr. Richard Hocking. Mr. Hocking was the sole bidder.
Mr. Brian Seybert presented the motions from the September 15, 2001 Elected Operators Committee meeting. One motion requiring Commissioner action was by Brian Seybert and Risa Patrick-Langtry to approve the document entitled “Training Criteria for Potential Operator Reinstatement.” This motion requires a change in policy but the criteria was not included for the Board consideration.
DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MR. BOWMAN, THAT THE ELECTED OPERATORS COMMITTEE REWRITE THE MOTION AS A CHANGE IN POLICY, LISTING WHAT THE CHANGES ARE. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
The Board discussed the motion by Bill Lozier and Kristina Richard that operators shall not be allowed to develop their own locations without first working extensively with staff of the Business Enterprise Program, the Elected Committee’s appropriate subcommittee, and approved by the Elected Committee and the Commission Board. The staff recommendation on this motion is that the motion is unclear and does not set forth any guidelines for how the policy would be developed. A positive statement of what is wanted to be accomplished would be more useful.
MR. BOWMAN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. PILARSKI, THAT THE BOARD FOLLOW STAFF RECOMMENDATION AND RETURN THE MOTION TO THE EOC FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
MS. GREENE MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MR. BOWMAN, TO ACCEPT THE BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Wurtzel, President of NFB-Michigan, invited everyone present to their annual convention November 9-11 in Southfield.

ADJOURNMENT
MR. BOWMAN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. PILARSKI, TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:35 p.m. The next meeting will be on December 17, 2001 at the Victor Office Center in Lansing. The Committee of the Whole will begin at 9:00 a.m. and the regular meeting will start at 10:00 a.m.