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

COMMISSIONERS ABSENT
None

MCB STAFF PRESENT
Mr. Patrick Cannon
Ms. Connie Kreiner
Mr. James Buscetta
Ms. Melody Lindsey
Mr. Larry Best
Mr. Bob Robertson
Ms. Constance Zanger

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE STAFF PRESENT
Mr. Marcus Andrews

FIA STAFF PRESENT
Ms. Jocelyn Vanda

GUESTS
Mr. James Omvig
Ms. Sharon Omvig
Mr. Jim Moore
Ms. Shirley Moore
Mr. Emile Najm
Ms. Donna Leach
Ms. Beth Harvey
Ms. Mary Wurtzel
Ms. Lisa Splawn
Mr. Tom Carpenter

Chairperson Steenstra called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order at 9:25 a.m.

Mr. Steenstra introduced the newly appointed Commissioner, Mr. Donald Bowman, and asked Mr. Bowman to tell a little about his background. Mr. Bowman said that he is a massage therapist and also works at General Motors. He formerly served on the Michigan Commission on Handicapper Concerns (now Michigan Commission for Disability Concerns). He said that he wanted to serve on the MCB Board to serve, learn new things and meet new people. Mr. Steenstra welcomed Mr. Bowman to the Board.

Mr. Steenstra welcomed Mr. Najm to the meeting and asked him to join the Commissioners at the table to discuss a memo that Mr. Najm had written on post-employment services. After much discussion, it was decided that the policy is adequate, but that staff needs to explore implementation issues. This will be an agenda item for further discussion at a future meeting.

Mr. Handschu requested that the Board’s organizational policy be added to the Committee of the Whole agenda for the next meeting and requested that the member’s receive another copy of that policy.

CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND DETERMINATION OF QUORUM

Chairperson Steenstra called the regular meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. Roll call was taken and a quorum was present.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MS. GREENE, TO APPROVE THE JANUARY 18, 2000 MEETING MINUTES AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

GOVERNOR’S APPOINTMENT PROCESS

Mr. Steenstra introduced Mr. Marcus Andrews, the Appointment Specialist for Governor Engler. Mr. Andrews said that he was attending the meeting to meet Commissioners and staff and to become more familiar with Commission issues. He also said that another reason for attending the meeting was to recruit for Board and Commission vacancies. He briefly explained the appointment process.

RECOGNITION OF MR. EMILE NAJM

Chairperson Steenstra recognized Mr. Najm’s six years on the Board and his contributions to the Committees on which he has served. Dr. Allen read the plaque which was presented to Mr. Najm from the Commission and also a tribute from Governor Engler. Mr. Najm said that it has been a tremendous pleasure working with the Commission Board and staff and thanked the Governor for appointing him. He also expressed his appreciation to the Commission and the Training Center for the integral part they played in his rehabilitation.

RECOGNITION OF LISA SPLAWN

Ms. Lisa Splawn, formerly the liaison for the Commission with the Governor’s Office, said that she had accepted a position as the Executive Director for the Trust Fund for Children with Special Needs in the Department of Community Health. She said that her former position had not been filled as yet, but if assistance was needed, questions should be directed to Stephanie Comai.

Mr. Cannon presented Ms. Splawn with a plaque for her dedication and service to the Michigan Commission for the Blind.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Mr. Jim Moore said that he did not understand the problem with regard to post-employment services and said that, if there is a problem, staff are not doing their job.

Ms. Mary Wurtzel said that she has been co-chairing the Outreach Committee for the National Federation of the Blind-Michigan and in that position answered many phone call inquiries. She said that 602 calls were taken in 1999. She said that the job retention training issue was one of the more frequent issues mentioned in those calls. Also she said many of the calls were calls from college students regarding Commission services and resources. Finally, almost half of the calls were from people whose loved ones are seniors who are losing their sight and that the Commission does not have enough staff to serve them.

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Mr. Cannon noted the change in the title of what has been called the “Director’s Report.” It will now be called the “MCB Report” and will include segments from the division administrators and will, in time, include information from other staff as well.

Mr. Cannon said that S.B. 658, the Braille Literacy bill, sponsored by Senator Sikkema, had passed the Senate by unanimous vote and has been referred to the House of Representatives. Mr. Cannon credited Ms. Brunhilda Adams and Ms. Dawn Neddo who worked very effectively with Lisa Splawn and Sen. Sikkema’s office.

Mr. Cannon reported that Jim Buscetta and Karla Hudson had made a presentation to the State Optometric Board on February 9 to provide an overview of MCB services. They also requested the licensing board’s assistance to get information to consumers regarding services available to the blind.

Mr. Handschu asked those present to write the members of the House Education Committee urging support of the Braille Literacy Bill.

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

MCB TRAINING CENTER REPORT

Ms. Lindsey introduced Mr. James Omvig who is doing some consulting with the Center on programming and facility issues. Mr. Omvig has run programs for the blind in Iowa and Alaska and has been an attorney for the national labor relations board. Mr. Cannon expressed his vision for the Training Center and said that he was confident Mr. Omvig could provide excellent consulting services. Mr. Omvig answered questions from the Commission Board.

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

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES REPORT

Mr. Best said that he wanted to report back to the Commission Board on three items that were raised at the February meeting. First of all regarding the federal authority issue, he received word that there would be no problem to accommodate the $1.3 million increase.

The second issue was concerning limited term appointments. Mr. Best reported that there appears to be no resolution to this issue at this time.

Thirdly, the final issue having to do with match, Mr. Best reported that a letter had been sent to the Governor requesting a resolution to the match problem. Mr. Best said he had received word from Ms. Vanda that Mr. Howard wants to have a meeting with staff to develop a strategy for approaching the Department of Management and Budget for a solution.

MR. HANDSCHU MOVED, SUPPORTED BY DR. ALLEN, TO ACCEPT THE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

REPORT ON SPECIAL EDUCATION

Dr. Jacquelyn Thompson, Director of the Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services, was moved ahead on the agenda because she had to attend another meeting later in the day. Dr. Thompson began by talking about data collection and the problem they have had with accurately identifying students who are blind or have visual impairments. She indicated that, in order to come into compliance with new federal regulations, the data collection instrument that is used has been modified to include more than one disability indicator. She also said that a request for proposals would soon be issued for the purpose of completely revamping their data collection tool. After more discussion on data collection, Dr. Thompson suggested that she meet with Mr. Cannon and staff to further revise the data collection tool to collect information mandated by P.A. 260. She further reported that a state plan for services to students who are visually impaired had been completed.

Dr. Allen asked Dr. Thompson about Camp Tuhsmehta. Dr. Thompson said that under the strategic plan, Camp T is designated as part of the enrichment arm of the School for the Blind, but the Board of Education has not addressed the issues of the management and scope of the Camp.

The meeting was adjourned for lunch at 12:05 p.m.

The meeting was called back to order at 1:10 p.m. Ms. Greene was not present for the afternoon portion of the meeting.

CONSUMER SERVICES REPORT

Mr. Buscetta said that his main item for discussion was the State Plan. He explained that the Plan was being submitted in conjunction with the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Plan which means that it must be submitted by April 1 instead of July 1, as has been the practice. It will go into effect on July 1, along with the WIA Plan and will be in effect for five years, with the opportunity to update it yearly. Mr. Buscetta explained each of the attachments. He said that this draft of the State Plan would be widely distributed. A public hearing will be held on March 16. He welcomed Commissioner input.

MR. HANDSCHU MOVED, SUPPORTED BY DR. ALLEN, TO ACCEPT THE CONSUMER SERVICES REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Handschu asked Mr. Buscetta to furnish the Commissioners with information on how many college students the Commission is serving and how many computers are being supplied to them.

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM REPORT

Mr. Wurtzel was not present at the meeting because he had another meeting he had to attend. Ms. Constance Zanger was present for the Business Enterprise Program report. Ms. Zanger began with the Elected Operators Committee Report. She read the first motion from the Committee meeting on February 12. The first motion was to allow an operator to take a leave of absence, but permitted the operator’s seniority to continue for a period of three years.

MR. HANDSCHU MOVED, SUPPORTED BY DR. ALLEN, TO APPROVE MOTION 1 FROM THE FEBRUARY 12, 2000 EOC MEETING.

As the Board considered the motion, the consensus was that language should be added to ensure that this action was specific to this unique circumstance only and is not precedent setting.

MR. HANDSCHU MOVED TO TABLE THE MOTION. THE MOTION TO TABLE CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

MR. HANDSCHU MOVED, SUPPORTED BY DR. ALLEN, TO APPROVE MOTION 1 FROM THE FEBRUARY 12, 2000 EOC MEETING IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE ONLY WITHOUT BECOMING A PRECEDENT-SETTING ACTION. THE MOTION PASSED ON A VOTE OF THREE TO ONE.

Ms. Zanger read the second motion having to do with changes to the BEP manual.

MR. HANDSCHU MOVED, SUPPORTED BY DR. ALLEN, TO APPROVE THE CHANGES TO THE MANUAL AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Finally, Ms. Zanger updated the Board on the major BEP projects. She said that people would be moving into the General Motors Building in Detroit later in the year and talks have begun with the Department of Management and Budget regarding the type of food service to be installed. She said that BEP has assumed responsibility for all the food service in the McNamara Federal Building in Detroit and food kiosks are being considered. The Detroit Main Post Office cafeteria will be closed until the ventilation system is repaired. A grand opening for the facility in the Campau Square Building in Grand Rapids was held. Finally, she said that remodeling will start for the cafeteria in the Transportation Building in Lansing.

MR. HANDSCHU MOVED, SUPPORTED BY DR. ALLEN, TO APPROVE THE BEP REPORT AS PRESENTED. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Ms. Mary Wurtzel said that she had a couple of informational items to present. She said that the January “Braille Monitor” is an issue on the Technology Conference and said that it would be good for anyone who is interested in technology of the future to read the issue. She also wanted to make the Commissioners aware that the Social Security linkage issue was again on the forefront. Mr. Handschu added that the current bill, H.B. 5, could be interpreted as a permanent de-linking.

MR. HANDSCHU MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MR. STEENSTRA, THAT THE BOARD OPPOSES SUCH A PERMANENT DE-LINKING. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Jim Moore commented that he hopes that the Board can someday come up with a standard for the three-year leave for BEP operators.

ADJOURNMENT

DR. ALLEN MOVED, SUPPORTED BY MR. HANDSCHU, TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.