NC Statewide Independent Living Council Meeting Minutes July 10, 2015 Country Inn & Suites, Burlington, NC Welcome/Mission /Minutes The meeting was called to order at 9:08 by Kay Miley, Chair. Introductions: Council Members only introduced themselves Presentation: Building a Better Board by Bridgette Burge, Membership Director, NC Center for Non-Profits Lunch Break: 12:05 – 1:15 Agenda changes – Kay Miley: From 2:30 – 3:30 Deb Cotter will not be presenting. She was unable to attend. Sandy Ogburn will present from the Membership Committee in this time. The slate of officers is Kay Miley – Chair; Keith Greenarch – Vice Chair; Kimlyn Lambert – Member at large. Executive Committee secretary – Sandy Ogburn Treasurer – Ping Miller (Action) Approval of Agenda – John Marens/Teresa Staley Sandy Ogburn will act as secretary for the Executive Committee, the minutes from the full council meeting will be prepared by the Office Manager. Call for approval of the minutes of the last SILC meeting. Kimlyn Lambert - on page 34 please change Kay Lambert to Kay Miley and the word wow to how. (Action) approval of the minutes as amended - Keith Greenarch/Barry Washington the motion carried unanimously. Kay Miley: introduced the presenters from NC Center for Non-Profit, Bridgette Burge, Membership Director and Veronica Joo, Membership Assistant. A presentation was given on Building a Better Board of Directors. The Power Point is available from the SILC office. Many other resources are available to all members of the SILC Council. Barry Washington reported on his participation of the Emergency Management Team and Preparedness meeting being impressed with how statewide representation was brought together and on the progress being made to prepare the population for an emergency situation. Ex Officio Reports Client Assistance Program John Marens A printed report was handed out to the council. I decided to follow the old adage that a picture is worth 1,000 words. I received this email from a young man with whom I’ve been working; this is a picture of that young man sitting in front of a conversion van with a person who works for the company. He has been trying to get a van for over a year. VR wasn’t going to help him purchase a van. We were able to argue that the service was actually on his plan. Then more recently the request got lost. He phoned our office to let me know he hadn’t heard from anyone in six to seven months. This picture shows him in front of his new van with a big smile and he sent me a nice thank you note. This is what it’s all about. Council on Developmental Disabilities Steve Strom Barry, thank you for attending the emergency prep meeting and representing the SILC. It got a lot of good press. We have another initiative that involves guardianship. I asked the division of aging that we would like to have a member of the SILC and one of the CILs on board this guardianship task force. The next meeting is July 23rd at Guilford tech. If you are interested please let Debbie know. The other piece about which Debbie has been good about getting information out is that like all agencies we are involved in a five year planning so we have listening sessions going on. If you can’t attend a session there is a survey on line, if you can’t do it on line call our office, we can take your responses over the phone or send you alternative format. This will determine how we spend federal dollars on initiatives across the state. John Marens – for the record I have the young man’s permission to use this picture and have taken off his identifying information. Designated State Unit Report Division of Services for the Blind Deidre Dockery If I had brought a picture it would’ve been of our MFP transition out of a nursing home after four years to an apartment of his own. It was a very emotional and exciting transition. It would’ve been him standing with his keys in front of his apartment. I submitted my report and the only thing I would add is that I am retiring at the end of the month after 30 years of service with the state. I have enjoyed working with everyone on the committee and wish you all the best. I am having a retirement party next Friday from 2 – 4 in the basement of the Fisher building in Raleigh at Governor Morehead School, 309 Ashe Ave if anyone is interested in attending. Deidre received a round of applause. Keith Greenarch – I’d like to go back to the picture that John gave us and what Deidre talked about. This is what we need to see as a council. These are the fruits of the labor. This is awesome for these men. What helps me is that I can pull this picture out and show it to the people I’m working with and say, look it can be done. Ex. Officio Reports continued Disability Rights NC Mercedes Restucha-Klem reporting for Vicki Smith I have an update of the litigations that are most current and can talk about some policy things going on. I want to remind everyone about the LS settlement agreement that is on our website, basically that care coordinators shouldn’t be discouraging medically needed services be requested. Please give us a call if you come across anyone who needs these services. If any advocates that work for the CIL call us and request technical assistance you will get diverted to our training and get more specific services. You can also have individuals phone. We can’t directly represent everyone that call us, more than half the time all we can do is provide Information and Referral, hopefully we can find the tech assistance and an advocate on the ground and back up. The second case is the Medical certification program against the DMV; we are going into the discovery process on that. We are able to inform on a case that was brought against Duke University, Divinity school where a student asked for accommodations. We filed a Title 3 Americans with Disabilities Act claim. Under Title 3 there is not compensatory damages, we are trying to attach a fair and deceptive and negligent representation. The court denied the request to dismiss so we are moving forward. As for policy, at the federal level there is Rep. Murphy and the America Safe Act. It threatens 85% of our federal funding and would restrict our lobbying. Please contact your representatives. At the state it is the state budget. It does cut the funding of the Access Guide. On that note we have a policy blog update that you can find on our Facebook page. Pat Puckett presented via phone: Training to NC SILC regarding the role of the Centers and SILC in the new WIOA law. Power Point is available at the SILC office. Membership Committee Sandy Ogburn, Chair Handouts were provided. The handouts will be sent electronically from the SILC office. Those of you who do have low vision or blindness I will meet with you afterward and I will go over the documents with you. John Marens offered to provide large print and/or Braille at a later date. We have been talking in various conversations and meetings about what are our roles as board members and what should we be doing. I have some job descriptions and that we would like a contract of commitment from each board member and Ex. Officio. ` When we sent in our application we were making a commitment willing to do this work to fulfill the goals of the SILC. We have a very important job in that we are helping those like the man that John and Deidre shared. We are making a difference. If we only make a difference in one life we are making a difference and should celebrate those achievements. I have job descriptions for each position. I will explain a little bit to you of what we are expecting of members. I would like to recognize the membership committee for their help and diligence in this. Keith Greenarch, Sandra Hicks and Teresa Staley, who is one of the most faithful members she has been on every call, GB and BW who has just been appointed. The SILC chair and the vice chair pretty much have the same role. They chair all SILC meetings and the Executive committee meetings. The vice chair does that in the absence of the chair. They supervise the SILC office staff; work cooperatively with the DSU which will be entity in the future. They will represent the SILC in meetings and activities with individuals, other entities and groups. They will speak publicly on the SILCs behave, lead planning effort s of the SILC, sign the SPIL, oversee and coordinate any work, committees, task force any work groups whatever. Facilitate development of new independent leaders and to recruit those leaders. The last one is attend a percentage of 75% of all meetings. The authority of the chair, they have the authority to act or execute any activity on behalf of the entire body. Such authority is granted by state law or SILC by law or specific resolution. The values desired are definitely commitment to the principles of Independent Living, full integration of people with disabilities in all aspects of society, honesty, integrity and respect for others and a strong personal code of ethics including maintaining confidentiality and avoiding conflicts of interest. Qualifications are that they must be a voting member and have the ability to lead and experience with Independent Living. The work is estimated to involve, 11 hours for SILC meetings, 4 hours for phone calls, 4 hour s for miscellaneous and 4 hours for getting ready for this meeting. This is about 24 hours a month spent on SILC activities. Vice chair is pretty much the same except they chair and do things in the absence of the chair. The authority and values are all the same. The time spent is a little less, about 17 hours. Again these are the bare minimum of what you should expect to do. The Secretary will oversee recording of minutes, represent the SILC at the direction of the SILC body as designated by the chair, assist the chair in planning efforts and facilitate the development of new Independent Living leaders, recruiting new leaders and recruiting members that will help us meet the goals. The authority is to sign or attest to any document prepared and approved. The values are the same as the chair and vice chair. Something we should be really conscious of is honesty, integrity and the respect of values of others. Embracing the differences and moving forward, something we all need to instill in ourselves, think about and go forward on this work we have to do. The treasurer will chair the finance committee, they will oversee the fiscal management and the reporting of funds distributed to and by the SILC. They will cooperate with the Designated State Unit, they will report current fiscal state of the SILC at regular scheduled meetings. They will oversee audits, develop a budget for the resource plan, facilitate new Independent Living leaders within the state and recruit. They have the authority to develop a budget in conjunction with any SILC staff which then has to be approved by the entire SILC. The values are the same as prior mentioned positions. The qualifications are that they need to understand budgets and finance and have knowledge of Independent Living and what we are all about and be a voting member. This would involve approximately 25 hours a month. The next two are very important. If we all pitched in it would be less work for all and things would be done better. We are to monitor, don’t complain if you don’t have a hand in it. If a policy is passed you can’t complain if you aren’t diligent in carrying out your roles. These funds we get are nowhere near what we need to fulfill our goals, but we do need to be good stewards of what we do have. If you are on the board, you need to be on here to work and carry out the duties you said you would carry out when applying. A SILC Board member is to participate actively in SILC meetings and activities. Work actively on at least one standing committee (membership, finance, executive and policy and procedures) and one goal committee that match the goals in the SPIL. Help develop the SPIL, we are now just getting started on developing our new SPIL, we need members to input. Members are to facilitate new Independent Living leaders within the state and recruit new SILC members. Just talk it up anywhere and everywhere. The values desired are the same as mentioned before, the commitment to Independent Living, the commitment to full integrations to people with disabilities into all aspect of society, the honesty, integrity and respect and value for others, the strong personal code of ethics including maintaining confidentiality and avoiding conflict. Members need knowledge of teamwork and have experience with Independent Living. The teamwork is a real important part. We all do agree with the Independent Living philosophy and that is the bottom line, getting people the choices to live where they want and how they want. A member can expect to spend about 15 hours a month on SILC matters. The Ex.Officio should prepare their written report prior to the quarterly meeting, summarizing the report during the SILC meeting. They are asked to participate in one goal committee and participate in the quarterly trainings. The extra participation is important. Ex. Officio’s are asked to assist in the SPIL writing process and facilitate in identifying new leaders and help us recruit new SILC members. The values are the same as mentioned before. As an Ex Officio you can expect to put in about 14 hours a month. This is where the rubber meets the road. We would like for you to take the last page which is a contract of commitment. We would like a recommitment of all members on this council in writing. This states, I ____ do commit to performing the duties of ____ on the NCSILC. I have reviewed each position description and promise to uphold the position(s) listed above. If you could sign and date these, please return them to me. Something we have talked about in the Executive committee meetings is that we do have as part of our bylaws that members participate in 75% of meetings. That means not only the quarterly meetings but also committee meetings and trainings. You should be present at 75% of all meetings. We understand that o=some3 have jobs and other obligations, however we really ask that you strive to be here on Thursday and the Friday of the quarterly gatherings as well as your committee meetings. We want to do make this commitment, what I have done for my committee is to develop a spread sheet to track attendance at committee meetings. We would like to enforce the 75% rule, understanding extreme circumstances. In the past it has been 75% unexcused, this is clarification. We don’t need snoozers and dead wood, we need people that will work. We are asking that everyone step up. Please see myself, Kay or Keith if you have a problem with signing the commitment. This is for seated council members only. John Marens: In the spirit of honesty and integrity and communication I need to say a few things, especially since you are asking for a commitment in writing. At this moment I am not willing to sign this because first of all I want to say that I don’t think I am better than anyone else here. My philosophy has been we are all bozos on the bus. What s important here is not just what we say it’s what we don’t’ say, what we talk about and what we don’t talk about. I believe this council is at a point in time that they need to move in a direction, in my mind like a crossroads. I’ve been a part of this council for over 4 years. A lot of that time I’ve felt it was dysfunctional, filled with hostility, disrespect and I don’t think if functioned very well in terms of the purpose for which we exist. We moved out of that and we were moving in a much more positive and different direction but now, due to recent events we are at another crossroads. I want to say to you that I am certainly not dead wood or a snoozer and I believe in what we are doing here but if you are going to ask me to make a commitment of my time and maybe in the future of my money, I need to know that this council will function in a reasonable appropriate and positive way, that we will all be able to work together and collaborate for the purposes for which we are here. Until that day comes, I am not willing to sign anything. I will come and do my job. I’m speaking from my heart. That is where I am at. I think we have a choice; we need to get past the bickering and foolishness. There is a lot of work to do there is WIOA the new SPIL to write and something needs to change and it needs to be different because if it’s the same old then I’m wasting my time here. Sandy Ogburn – We are not trying as a group to say that anyone has done anything wrong, we are trying to do what John said, we are trying to get this council to stop the bickering, stop being absent for those that don’t come the way they should and those who don’t work like they should. We were not trying to call anyone out, what we are saying when we ask you to recommit is to be able to help you to remember what you are here for and to say it has been dysfunctional and not doing the things we need to do. I’m saying from now is that we are going to do what needs to be done. Rene Cummins – Thank you to you and your committee to do these job descriptions. I appreciate all the work. When we took the oath, that 75% participation comes from the Governor’s board and commission. When I was on the council before it was only 50% and it got changed. What you are asking in totally in line with the oath we took when we took our office. Thank you for all the hard work. Barry Washington – Thank you I also appreciate all your work. I also agree with John, I don’t think he was saying he didn’t agree with the 75%, or that he was not willing to commit. I think that if you were asking him to commit he is asking the group to lead by example and do the right thing as a unit. So if you are asking him to sign something he’s saying look what are you guys going to do. I was a little concerned about things, when I am here I want everything to be transparent. If we aren’t going to be transparent then I am out in the dark. I got a voice and sometimes it may be a voice of reasoning. I like what John said, after 4 years he is feeling this way, it means a lot. He was saying where are we going from here? Whether we agree or disagree we don’t have to take things personal we need to leave as friends. I’m going to fight with passion but leave with no problems. I’m a pastor and if it something comes out then we have a right to discuss it. Kay Miley – I’m going to say to you like I’ve said before. Will was not a board member he was a salaried employee. Therefore his records are confidential we cannot bring that to public. Barry Washington – I wasn’t asking you to do that I’m saying that what is discussed was thrown on me. I liked Will and then he is gone and I don’t know why you got me sitting here and the board has acted on something that I have no clue. Kay Miley – Not the whole board just the executive board. Barry Washington – But you are representing the whole board. Kay Miley – The executive board handles it therefore we can’t discuss the action. As far as the reasons is that you had to be there to understand what happened. It will not be discussed because of the confidentiality. Pamela Lloyd-Ogoke – While we cannot discuss the Will situation, I do think this council should take a close look at why we cannot retain an Executive Director. Will was number 4 in six years and that is worthy of a board discussion. Kay Miley – I agree with you, we are working from square one again because there are a lot of confused members. That is why we had the training today. We are going to have a committee go through the by-laws and get back to where it works. We are doing our best. I have seen it dysfunctional and we are working to get to functional. We are doing the best we can do and are trying our best to fix it. Sandy Ogburn – Just to reiterate, this is #1 in the steps we are trying to take and bringing everything back down to what it needs to be. We aren’t doing this as a way to punish anyone we are looking at is as we want you to read and revisit the job description and make the same commitment that you made when you signed on and saying you are willing to work. We are looking at our by-laws and our job descriptions, policy and procedures. We know that we are broken and that we need to be fixed and we need to figure out where before we move and end up at the same spot. John Marens – First of all it was not my intention to offend or accuse anyone, I’m speaking from my own perspective. I understand exactly what you just said so and I also want to say there are a lot of people on this council who do a lot of hard work. I wish you would’ve started with what you just said. The way it was presented felt like you were asking me to stick my head in the sand. I wish you would’ve started with that. I appreciate all of you I just want to see us do a better job. Election of Officers Kay Miley Chair – Kay Miley Vice Chair – Keith Greenarch Member at Large – Kimlyn Lambert Secretary – Sandy Ogburn – the recording secretary of the executive board Treasurer – Ping Miller Debbie as salaried staff is responsible for documentation of the full council Are there any nominations from the floor? Teresa Staley – I have a point of clarification. I think Keith and I are supposed to rotate off, do we know if we are going to be reappointed. Sandy 0gburn – I talked to Valerie at boards and commissions. Your terms will be up in 2016. You started in an unexpired term so you won’t term off until 2016. No nominations from the floor Action: presented by committee - vote carried unanimously Mercedes Restucha-Klem – I have two things I forgot to say. I want to reiterate the importance of the work you do. I think the state of the budget we need to be good stewards of the money. We are looking for good guardianship stories. Also we are working on September 22 is national voter registration day. We are hoping to coordinate a voter registration drive training. Chair Report Kay Miley, Chair No report was given, it will be provided electronically at a later date. SILC Office Report A report of SILC office activity was provided in the E-blast. Designated State Unit Report: Vocational Rehabilitation Independent Living Pamela Lloyd-Ogoke Two things, Jenny Pleasants is the new housing specialist. Sharon Grazioso is the new Gay Joyner. The position that Mark held is not going to be filled. I want to thank all the Center directors for the cooperation with the new cycle of contracts. It has been challenging because of changes on the state level. Seven of eight contracts have gone through the center of excellence and should be on time for October 1. Things are progressing well. I just want to clarify that the SILC contract because it is going through innovative and expansion funding does not go through me. Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing vacant Old Business: none New Business: none Announcement: none Public Comments: Teresa Staley – This is not like a formal committee six update. I want to thank the members. It was really cool having Deidre on the committee. We are having a meeting on the 17th, Friday at 11:15; Pam has obtained a speaker from NC Department of Transportation. We would like anyone who wants to, to join in. Kimlyn Lambert – I have a question, did we get a financial report. Kay Miley – Ping sent it to me but in a format that I could not read. It will be posted on the website. Debbie Hippler – You all know it has been a rough quarter in the SILC office. What you don’t know is that right before the last SILC meeting I had been told that I had kidney cancer and I did not know what I was facing. I had surgery two weeks later. They took out the kidney and it was all within the margins. I don’t have to have chemo or radiation. I just have to be followed annually. That is why I was out of the office for the month. Thank you so much. John Marens – I just want to thank Deidre who has a pretty good reputation as a person who has always been willing to go out of her way for someone. I want to thank her for her service. Debbie Hippler – There are also two SILC members whose terms are expiring and did not seek reappointment, Jennifer Overfield and Gloria Bellamy. Mercedes Restucha-Klem – Jennifer is a huge loss of a member she wasn’t exactly satisfied with how she was spending her time. Someone young not wanting to continue is not a good sign for the future. Keith Greenarch – I just want to say one thing about Deidre, she was an inspiration when I was acting as chair. She was always willing to help. When I was in the hospital I got a card from her one day and it just meant a lot to me. I want you to know it is a huge loss. She is one of the jolliest people I have ever met. You will definitely be missed. I bet you when she is sleeping she smiles. Motion to adjourn (Sandy Ogburn/Rene Cummins) Meeting Adjourned at 3:50pm Next Meeting: October 9th at the Country Inn and Suites in Burlington, NC. Attendees: P = Present / T= attending by Teleconference / A = Absent Members Ex. Officio Staff/Support Alewine, Ricky P Pamela Lloyd-Ogoke VRIL P Debbie Hippler P Barber, Deja A Steve Strom DD Council P David Payne P Bellamy, Gloria A Dockery, Deidre DSB P Cath Kiwitt P Cummins, Rene P John Marens CAP P 1 PCAs P Greenarch, Keith P Mercedes Restucha-Klem P Guests Hicks, Sandra P Vicki Wilson P Kaufman, Joshua P Center Directors Gary Ray P Kincaid, Mitzi A Mark Steele P Sharon Grazioso P Lambert, Kimlyn P Gloria Garton P Sierra Royster P Miley, Kay P Helen Pase P Nellie Placencia P Miller,Clare “Ping” A Julia Sain P Mike Ogburn P Ogburn, Sandy P Benita Williams P Jenny Pleasants P Overfield, Jennifer P Barbara Davis P Sebrina Dionne P Staley, Teresa P Meg Yeates P Watkins, Oshana A Melia Williams P Barry Washington P Tina Latrell P Respectfully submitted, Debbie Hippler, SILC staff c:\users\ncsilc\documents\10 october 2015\july 2015 minutes draft.docx 1