Executive Committee Meeting April 19, 2022 A meeting of the Executive Committee was held on Tuesday, April 19, via Zoom. The meeting began at 7:00 PM. Those in attendance were: Sheila Young, President; Mikey Wiseman, 1st Vice-President; Cassandra Jessie, 2nd Vice-President; Mark Lear, Treasurer; Sally Benjamin, Membership Secretary; Mary Tyson, Recording Secretary and Jim Kracht, Immediate Past President. Also in attendance was Guest Kati Lear. motion to approve the April 5, meeting minutes was made by Mikey and seconded by Sally. Motion carried. Jim has not had a definitive response regarding the Agnes Capetto Trust. The extension was to be up in March. Greater Miami Update – Jim advised that we should send them a letter recognizing that they are dissolved and requesting that they return their charter to FCB immediately along with any undispersed funds that may be in their possession. Cassandra advised that she would prepare a letter in Braille and in print and send it to Paul Edwards. Tampa Chapter Update – Mikey said that communication has ceased and that he believes we should approach anyone who is from that chapter who attends convention and document the conversation. The only thing that has been received from that chapter is a check for dues, with no roster, minutes, treasurer’s reports, or constitution and bylaws. It was determined that a letter should be written to them and Mikey said that he would be happy to deliver the letter to them in person in Orlando. Copies will be given to Jim Warth and Dianne Bobrowski. Mary suggested that we return any monies if we are not accepting their membership. Jim advised that we had accepted the check in good faith as they were to provide additional documentation to bring them into compliance which they have not done. The check was in the amount of $90; $50 for assessment and $40 for five members. Tampa and Greater Miami chapter and member information will be removed from the website following the convention business meeting on June 5, 2022. Sally reported that Sharon Youngs advised that FCCLV currently does not have a slate of officers and no one is interested in running for two positions. There is a lot of internal dissension and many members are considering leaving the organization. Last year there were 40 members. It was suggested that a change in leadership may encourage members to stay on and perhaps run for office. Mikey is concerned that people are wanting to walk away from the situation instead of trying to solve the problems. He said that FCCLV has the power to remove leadership if they are not happy with it and that it is not appropriate for the Executive Committee discussion at this point. He asked Sally to have Sharon contact him and he would try to assist in resolving the issues within FCCLV. It was noted that FCCLV was no longer a member of the national affiliate because the president of FCCLV had lost too much vision to serve in that position according to their requirements. Publications and Publicity Committee has approved the use of the QR codes in our brochures and needs to know how to go about embedding them. Kati will contact Earlene after convention. Convention Update - Kati reported that they are currently working on a registration issue and that it will be open as soon as this is resolved. Sheila advised that the afternoon train to south Florida has been cancelled. Jim suggested that people doublecheck with AMTRAK as there have been several schedule changes. Ryan Cordell gave Sheila a proposal of $250 for his work at convention and $100 for the rental of the video camera. Mikey stated that this proposal should have gone to the convention committee for approval as the Executive Committee had already allotted a working budget for convention. Sheila advised that he would put it in writing and send it to the convention committee. Sheila advised that she had spoken with Rick Moran today and that he had not received approval to attend our convention. He had a meeting with Tony Stevens this afternoon and is awaiting the result of that meeting. Mikey does not understand how this could not be approved as Dan Spoone and Tony Stevens have been involved in the discussion of this contract and FCB is paying Rick’s travel expenses. Mikey said that he had gotten a $20,000 contract down to $7,000 with the understanding that we would have Rick’s services and his equipment. Mikey requested that any time Sheila is speaking with Dan Spoone in her position as president of FCB or if Dan brings up something concerning FCB policy, that she stop the conversation and switch to email so that the conversation would be in writing. It was felt by the Committee that ACB would benefit from the video portion of the convention as it was a pilot for the ACB convention in July. It was generally felt that ACB was not being supportive of FCB after indicating that they would support them in this endeavor as the contract for AV had been signed based on the premise that Rick would be in attendance and in charge of it. Mikey is not comfortable moving forward without Rick as he has been receiving input from Rick and Cecily from ACB from the beginning. Mikey made a motion to write a formal letter to ACB requesting the presence of Rick Moran at our convention with whatever equipment he deems appropriate, in order to provide technical support as needed and to conduct the streaming in person to support FCB. FCB will pay all of Rick’s travel costs. Motion was seconded by Mary. Jim made a friendly amendment; the letter should reflect that this request is in conjunction with the ongoing stream of conversations in which ACB has participated and been fully aware of what our expectations were; that Rick would be a part of our streaming team. Motion passed. Mikey and Jim will write this letter. Pay Raise for Earlene –She has worked for FCB since 2009 for $250 per month. She is requesting $300 per month. Mikey made a motion to increase her salary to $300 per month. Motion was seconded by Sally. Motion passed. Sheila and Mikey are going to ACB convention in Omaha as FCB delegate and alternate. Sheila said that the amount of the stipend offered should be discussed as it is currently only $2,000 each; to include airfare, hotel, etc. Jim made a motion that $1,000 be added to the stipend, $500 per person. Motion was seconded by Cassandra. Motion passed with Mikey abstaining as this would effect him directly. Motion to adjourn was made by Jim and seconded by Mark. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 PM. Respectfully submitted by, Mary Tyson, FCB Recording Secretary