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

COMMISSIONERS ABSENT
None

MCB STAFF PRESENT
Mr. Patrick Cannon
Ms. Connie Kreiner
Mr. Larry Best
Ms. Melody Lindsey
Mr. Charles Dunn
Ms. Gwen McNeal
Mr. Fred Wurtzel
Ms. Regina Wesley
Mr. King Nelson
Ms. Taletha Crawley
Mr. Bob Arnold

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE STAFF PRESENT
Ms. Kim Harding

FIA STAFF PRESENT
Ms. Jocelyn Vanda

GUESTS
Mr. Rob Hannah
Mr. Ray Roberson
Ms. Karen Arendall
Ms. Kim Walsh
Ms. Gretchen Garimella
Mr. Ron Hoenecke
Ms. Sharon Cantrell

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
Chairperson Steenstra said that the October meeting, which is the first meeting of the fiscal year, is usually the “organizational” meeting for the Commission Board where a Vice-Chair is chosen, committee assignments are made, and the coming year’s meeting schedule is adopted. Discussion of these items will be scheduled for the December meeting when the new Commissioner may be on board. He also noted that the meeting schedule for the 2000-2001 year had been approved at a previous meeting.
Commissioner Bowman provided the Commissioners with an overview of the meeting of the Michigan Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired (MCBVI) which had been held October 13-15 in Sarnia, Ontario. He felt that the most interesting aspect of the conference was the comparison of the disability rights movement in Canada and the United States.
Commissioner Bowman raised a concern he had heard at the Elected Operators Committee meeting about requesting clarification from the Attorney General on the language of Public Act 260 and concessions versus catering in state buildings. The issue had arisen from a legislative luncheon held to honor state employees where a local deli had catered the affair. Mr. Wurtzel stated that he felt very strongly about this issue and felt that P.A. 260 was being eroded.
Chairperson Steenstra said that the Commission Board should be prepared to discuss the performance appraisal for the Director at the December Commission meeting and also to begin thinking about performance objectives for 2001.

CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DETERMINATION OF QUORUM
Chairperson Steenstra called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m. Roll call was taken and a quorum was present.

MR. BOWMAN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 COMMISSION MEETING. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Ray Roberson expressed his wish that when the Commission meets in outstate areas, meeting sites be found which are accessible by public transportation.

BOARD CORRESPONDENCE
There was no Board correspondence.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Mr. Cannon informed the Commissioners that Mr. Buscetta would be honored at the Michigan Rehabilitation Conference in November with the Distinguished Career Award. He also noted that Karla Hudson had had the honor of introducing President Clinton when he was in Flint to announce a new technology center.
Mr. Cannon said that Mr. Buscetta had attended the annual Michigan Works! conference in Grand Rapids and that Mr. Buscetta had also attended the groundbreaking of the new Lansing One-stop in which the Commission for the Blind will have a presence.
Mr. Cannon updated Commissioners on the progress of the Vision 2020 Design Team and said that the Design Team had submitted a report which will be shared with Commissioners.
Further, Mr. Cannon reported on the recent Mini-Adjustment Program held in Woodhaven and said that the next program would be held in Big Rapids during the week of January 14 and urged the Commissioners to attend as much of the Mini as their schedules would allow.

MS. GREENE MOVED, SUPPORTED BY DR. ALLEN, TO ACCEPT THE REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

GOVERNOR’S DISABILITY LIAISON
Ms. Kim Harding, Coordinator of Civil Rights and Disability Policy for Governor Engler, said that she had been with the Governor’s Office for about a month and said that she looked forward to working with the Commission. She said that the letter from the Commission to the Governor regarding the Medicaid buy-in issue had been received. She is working with other departments on a Medicaid proposal and will keep the Board informed as to the progress.
Mr. Steenstra informed Ms. Harding about the matching funds issue and the issue of less staff and more clients to serve.

FAMILY INDEPENDENCE AGENCY UPDATE
Ms. Jocelyn Vanda said that Mr. Howard was unable to attend the meeting due to a Governor’s Office assignment. She also said that Mr. Howard had received his copy of the Medicaid buy-in letter and that he was planning to have a meeting with Community Health Director James Haveman. Ms. Vanda indicated that she strongly supported the increase of full-time equivalents (FTE’s) for the Commission, but she said that the general fund situation would be more difficult.
Ms. Vanda reported that Mr. Howard would be sending a letter to all department directors reminding them of Public Act 260 and its Business Enterprise Program mandate.

REGIONAL REPORTS – Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Ms. Gwen McNeal, Assistant Supervisor, Southeast Region, noted that Mr. Leamon Jones, Supervisor of the Southeast Region, was in leadership training in Oklahoma and therefore would not be at the meeting. Ms. McNeal said that the Southeast Region serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Monroe Counties. Staff in the office are currently serving approximately 750 to 800 consumers and receive about 25 referrals every month. They currently have three Memorandums of Understanding signed and a fourth in process.
She said that two very successful Mini Adjustment Programs had been held this year in the region and in conjunction with those, Employment Readiness Seminars were also held. As a result, four consumers had been called for job interviews.
She introduced the newest counselors for the region: King Nelson and Regina Wesley.

DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, TO ACCEPT THE REGIONAL REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

VISUALLY HANDICAPPED SERVICES AT DETROIT RECEIVING HOSPITAL
Ms. Karen Arendall explained that Visually Handicapped Services at Detroit Receiving Hospital works closely with the Michigan Commission for the Blind on a contractual basis. She said that MCB had requested that Visually Handicapped Services conduct a client satisfaction survey. Currently, on a scale of one to five, they have scored out at a score of 4.7. She explained that they work with a wide variety of people on wide-ranging goals. They provide 5,000 hours of student training per year at a cost to the Commission of $52 per hour.

DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, TO ACCEPT THE REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES REPORT
Ms. Taletha Crawley said that, currently, she is the only Independent Living Program Counselor for the Southeast Regional Office due to Ms. Charlene Gordon being on family leave. She said there are currently 55-60 people awaiting services and she is currently serving 45-50 people. Discussion ensued and Mr. Cannon stated that this was an example of why support was needed for the additional general fund money to add more IL staff.

ACCESSIBLE VOTING
A video describing accessible voting for persons with disabilities was shown and Mr. Cannon said that the Commission had also developed a brochure entitled “Voting is for Everyone.”
The meeting was adjourned for lunch at 12:05 p.m.

The meeting was called back to order at 1:20 p.m.

TRAINING CENTER REPORT
Ms. Lindsey reported that the committee which is studying the proposed technology area for the Training Center is continuing to meet and that a report should be complete by November 1 which Ms. Lindsey will share with the Commission Board.
Ms. Lindsey also reported that she had participated in an “Investing In Abilities Week” event in Alpena and had talked about services at the Center. She also attended the MCBVI conference in Sarnia.

MS. GREENE MOVED, SUPPORTED BY DR. ALLEN, TO ACCEPT THE TRAINING CENTER REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES REPORT
Mr. Best said that he, too, had attended the MCBVI conference where he had hoped to enlist the assistance of the members with the cash match issue. He also reported that work was finalized on MCB’s five-year capital outlay request which is for FY 2001 through FY 2006. And, he announced that the Flint office would be holding an open house to showcase their new office space on October 17.

MR. BOWMAN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, TO ACCEPT THE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM REPORT
Mr. Wurtzel said that there would not be an Elected Operators Committee representative present at the meeting.
Mr. Wurtzel reported that seven students had successfully completed training and he said that he was very pleased with the job that the trainer, Carol Curneal, had done. He also told about some potential places of business that may provide for another BEP operation in the Upper Peninsula.
Mr. Best read the motions from the September 16, 2000 Elected Operators Committee meeting. The first motion was a request that the Commission seek an opinion from the Attorney General for clarification of the definition of “concession” as it applies to catering under P.A. 260.

DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, TO REQUEST THAT THE DIRECTOR SEEK THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OPINION REGARDING THE CLARIFICATION OF THE DEFINITION OF “CONCESSION” AS IT APPLIES TO CATERING UNDER P.A. 260. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
Discussion ensued regarding motion 4 which was a motion that facility #41 Ottawa North Tower be removed from the bid line and offered to the operator of facility #95, the Ottawa Cafeteria. Mr. Bowman said that this actually cost the loss of one job for a blind person and said that he felt it was unfortunate that the policy was not flexible enough to give the BEP management the discretion to bring in a new operator. He went on record as saying that when this location changes or becomes available that the snackbar sales be re-examined and if they are above the limit, that it be restored as a separate location. Mr. Cannon said that the current policy does not allow for an equitable way for the Commission to assess the potential of a facility.
Finally, Mr. Wurtzel reported that the Elected Operators Committee will be conducting a retreat and indicated that this is as a result of the Vision 2020 initiative. He welcomed Commissioners participation in the retreat.

DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, TO ACCEPT THE BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Ray Roberson said that he wanted to announce that the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan would be holding their annual convention in Grand Rapids on November 11-12 at the Hilton Airport Inn and welcomed all to attend.
Ms. Kim Walsh, Director, Detroit Radio Information Service, said that she was sorry she had missed the discussion earlier on the Newsline service and said that she was available as a resource as services are developed further.
Mr. Rob Hannah said that he wanted to add support for the motion requesting the Attorney General’s opinion regarding P.A. 260.
Mr. King Nelson wanted to comment on the earlier discussion regarding braille literacy and said that he felt there was a key word that was missing regarding choice and that was “informed choice.”
Ms. Gwen McNeal added that counselors need to be very strong advocates for teaching braille because parents are not always given the larger picture by doctors and teachers.
Mr. Bob Arnold agreed with Ms. McNeal and he also commented regarding the BEP issue that he has a client who has a problem with outsiders providing food, etc. which takes away from his client’s business.

ADJOURNMENT