Members Absent: Thom Booker, Sharon Booker

Members Present: Barbara McDonald, Dan Martinez, Ted Chittenden, Robin Paraskevas, Carlos Paraskevas, Jeff Bishop, Marlene Decker

Members Absent: Thom Booker, Sharon Booker

Guests Present: Bob Williams

Introductions.Barbara began the meeting at 9:00 AM after Ted checked to see if a quorum was present (it was). After a moment of silence, Dan motioned, with Carlos seconding, that the minutes for the December 2013 Board be approved. The motion passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report. Robin gave the Treasurer’s report and noted that she had not yet received checks from all of the members. Ted asked about high costs associated with fundraising. Robin stated that she believed that these administrative costs were placed there because she didn’t know where else to put them but that she would get back to Ted with more certainty after reviewing the item further. Ted motioned, with Dan seconding, that the Treasurer’s report be approved as written. The motion passed unanimously.

President’s Message. Barbara gave the president’s report and listed some of the things she had been doing as AZCB president for the past two months.

State Conference Committee. Dan stated that the state Conference Committee had met and had determined that the conference for 2014 would be a one day event that would be held at the ABIL conference center on May 9, 2014. He said that the committee had agreed to make the conference very similar in feel to the 2013 meeting with Bob Williams’ wife, Faye, providing the breakfasts and an off-site vendor providing the lunches. Dan stated that the public portion of the conference would run from 9AM until 2PM and it would include a lunch for the scholarship winners. The time after the luncheon would be used for the AZCB’s annual business meeting, including officer and Board elections. Dan stated that while some of the programming details still had to be worked out, the basic theme for the public portion of the 2014 meeting would be technology and employment.

P.R. Committee and Website Update. Carlos stated that the P.R. Committee was now looking for contributions for the next ForeSight newsletter and that these contributions would need to be in by the first Friday in March. Jeff stated that while the AZCB website was continuing to run smoothly, the issue of PayPal information going to Tom Belsin for distribution remained. Barbara asked if Robin had access to the PayPal account, and Robin answered by saying that she had only limited access to it.

Membership. Dan echoed Robin’s earlier statement that not all of the membership dues had been received. He stated that he wanted to have an emergency Membership Committee meeting to discuss the situation to which AZCB Board members would also be invited. Carlos stated that he was working on learning the improved online database now being used by the ACB.

Dan said that as head of the nominating committee, he was looking for 1) additional committee members; and 2) people who would be willing to run for state president, second vice-president, secretary, and two Board positions at the May conference. Dan asked Ted (who had privately indicated he would not be seeking to renew his position as secretary in May) if he would be willing to serve on the nominating committee, and Ted answered that yes he would.

Budget. Dan said the Budget Committee had no updates to report.

Constitution and Bylaws. Ted said that he had contacted Dan, Marlene, Tim, and Ron about joining the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. Of those contacted, only Dan gave an unequivocal “yes”; Tim wanted to know what the committee was considering this year; and Marlene had commented on future possibilities (Ron had not answered Ted’s email). Ted said that he would attempt one more time to contact Ron before the March meeting and then he would start working on possible resolutions and constitution and bylaws changes after that. Barbara inquired if Ted had any ideas for resolutions. Ted stated that he was looking closely at the emails from Eric Bridges that Barbara was forwarding and, if new developments had taken place in Washington, he would look at writing resolutions to address those.

Teleconference Line Update. Dan said that he didn’t have any updates at this time on this issue.

Thank-you Letter from ACBVI. Barbara notified the Board that ACBVI had written a very nice thank-you letter in response to the AZCB’s generous support of the ACBVI given in November of 2013.

AZDAC Dues Payment. Barbara let the Board know that it was time to pay the annual AZDAC dues of $50. Since that money was already set aside in the annual budget, there was no need to vote on it.

AZDAC Capitol Day and FollowupMeeting Attendance. Barbara stated that because she was going on vacation the following week, she needed somebody from the state organization to volunteer to represent the AZCB both at the Day At The Capitol (Tuesday, February 12) and at the meeting where which bills AZDAC would support was to be determined (Thursday, February 14). Barbara stated that the latter could be attended over the phone. Ted volunteered to attend the Thursday meeting but was unable to attend Tuesday’s day at the Capitol.

Sharon Carpenter Memorial Fund Donation.Barbara stated that the family of the late Sharon Carpenter had set up a memorial fund and wanted to know if the Board thought it was appropriate to make a donation. Ted stated that because Sharon had been the AZCB secretary for many years and had overseen the convention committee, the Board should consider donating to this fund. Ted then motioned that $100 be donated from the AZCB to the memorial fund set up for Sharon Carpenter. Dan seconded and the motion passed unanimously.

Application of Third GCBVI Representative. Ted stated that he had learned in January that Jeff was serving on the GCBVI’s Technology Committee as a community member. Ted said that because there was a vacancy for an AZCB member on the GCBVI, he had approached Jeff to fill that slot, an offer Jeff accepted. Ted stated that while the applications process was closed for now, he expected the GCBVI’s Executive Committee to reopen this process at its next meeting scheduled for February 19. Jeff stated that he was looking forward to serving the AZCB in this new capacity.

Dial-a-ride Petition. Barbara asked what the AZCB should do about a request she had received from Frank Vance seeking support for a Dial-a-ride petition being circulated by one of ACBVI’s students. Ted asked if the petition had been shown to Ron (who oversees disability access for the East Valley service) an, if so, what was Ron’s response. Barbara stated that Ron had seen the petition and that he thought it was 1) too broad and 2) outside the scope of paratransit services as stated in federal law. Dan recommended that the AZCB Board not do anything about the petition at this time, but that the student in question be encouraged to discuss her concerns directly with Dial-a-ride representatives.

Vision Walk Table Staffing. Carlos stated that he had arranged for the AZCB to get a table at the Vision Walk that would be held on March 1. Carlos said that all fees had been waived for the AZCB but he wanted to know if the organization wanted to contribute something. Ted stated that because the goal of the Vision Walk was to raise funds to assist the blind and visually impaired, the AZCB should make a contribution to assist Vision Walk. Ted then motioned (with Dan seconding) that the AZCB donate $50 to Vision Walk. The motion passed unanimously.

GDUA New Year Update. Barbara stated that GDUA would be holding two restaurant events during late February: one in Phoenix and one in Tucson.

Maricopa County Club. Barbara stated that officers for the Maricopa Club were elected at its last meeting, and that the group was next scheduled to meet on February 12.

Phoenix. Barbara stated that she was working on putting together a social event for the Phoenix chapter but that she didn’t have any details at this time.

Southern Arizona. Marlene said that the SAZCB was working on a fundraiser involving a concert that would include SAZCB member Lindsay McCuen on April 19. Marlene then asked if the Board would be interested in attending this concert and holding its meeting in Tucson afterwards. Ted offered a motion supporting Marlene’s request which was subsequently tabled. Ted then asked if the Board needed to make a decision at this time and marlene said no—she just needed to know if there was interest before she proceeded. Dan noted that a phone-in line would need to be set up for those Phoenix members who would be unable to make the Tucson trip. Carlos suggested that the Board meeting take place before the concert (the concert was scheduled to start at 2PM). Ted concurred with Carlos, noting that the two-hour drive between Phoenix and Tucson would mean that Phoenix members might not return to their residences until very late if the meeting was held after the concert. Barbara suggested that a lunch and meeting be held at SAAVI with the food brought in for the purpose. Marlene stated that she would look into all of these suggestions.

RSA Clients. Carlos stated that the next introduction to blindness organizations for vocational rehabilitation clients would be held on February 12. Carlos said that he would talk about the AZCB since Barbara would be out of town. Carlos stated that because there were not enough blind clients available, January’s introduction had been cancelled.

AZDAC Update. Barbara stated that AZDAC had met in January and that the focus had been on preparing for the upcoming day at the Capitol and the followup conference call.

VRate Update. Dan said that decisions about AZCB’s participation in this year’s VRate conference would need to be made soon.

GCBVI. Ted stated that the GCBVI met in January and that at that time, nobody knew what the governor was going to propose for the state budget for Vocational Rehabilitation. Ted stated that since that meeting, he had learned that there was a bill backed by the state’s Chamber of Commerce that would add an additional $3 million from that organization to the vocational rehabilitation department budget.

Next Meeting Date and Adjournment. Ted stated that the next AZCB Board meeting would be held on March 8, the second Saturday of that month. Barbara adjourned the meeting at 11:00 AM.