Minutes from Dec. 9 meeting

DRAFT

Minutes
Iowa Commission for the Blind
December 9, 2010
 
1) Call to order and determination of quorum. A meeting of the Iowa Commission for the Blind was called to order at 12:06 p.m. with the following members present: Sandi Ryan, chair, Mike Hoenig, member, and Steve Hagemoser, member. Others in attendance: Karen Keninger, Tiffany Bickell, Bruce Snethen, Randy Landgrebe, Shan Sasser, Becky Criswell, Megen Johnson, Roger Erpelding, Sandy Tigges, Carolyn Hicklin, Joe Van Lent, and Lora Van Lent.
 
2) Approval of Minutes from September 14, 2010. Mr. Hoenig moved approval of the minutes. Mr. Hagemoser seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
 
3) Director's Report.
 
a) Update on Oral History Project and the National
 
 
Register. Ms. Keninger said that there have been 11 short interviews and 10 longer interviews completed for the history. She is hoping for more written submissions. She stated that the staff working on the project have connected with Dianne Utsinger at Vinton about the historical items there. Mr. Hoenig asked if there was a structured set of questions, or can the interviewees pursue what they would like to discuss in the interview. Ms. Keninger said that the interviews were not structured in that sense. Mr. Hoenig asked if there was a due date to call-in or write submissions, and who would people need to contact about this. Ms. Keninger stated that the project is slated to last 36 months, and that Shan Sasser is the contact. Mr. Hagemoser asked how many interviews Ms. Keninger is hoping to have. She said that they are hoping for 50.

 
b) Update on 2010 VR/IL Outcomes. Ms. Keninger said that there were 83 status 26 closures. Of those closures, 75 were in competitive employment. The average wage was $15.15/hour, which is 86% of the average wage in Iowa. Ms. Keninger added that 57% of the closures list their personal income as their primary source of support. Out of the 83 closures, there were eight closures as homemakers. There were 1,461 referrals, of those, there were 865 first-time referrals, and 424 were of working age. Ms. Keninger said that IL had been busy serving 846 clients. There were 2,500 separate lessons given by the IL teachers. She stated that there were 56 IL cases completed. Ms. Keninger also gave numbers from the Library. Total readership is 6,238. The circulation of NLS Braille was 5,939, and circulation of network Braille was 8,470, for a total circulation of 14,409. The large print circulation total was 6,949. The descriptive video circulation total was 749. The audio book circulation were as follows: NLS cassette, 151,022, and NLS digital, 37,627. The total for magazine circulation was 17,945. Ms. Keninger went on to state that the average income for BEP vendors was up to $44,103.
 
c) Report on the Library 50th Anniversary Celebration. Ms. Keninger said that WHO Radio and KCCI TV covered the event. There was good attendance from a broad spectrum of people. Ms. Keninger said that she believes that the social networking done for the event helped with the promotion.
 
d) New Staff Assignments. Ms. Keninger discussed the new staffing assignments that have happened over the past few months. She said that Sandy Johnson will be moving out of her apartment and Lance and Tai Blas would be moving in to join the apartment staff. Randy Landgrebe was promoted to program administrator of the Library. Marcella Edmonds was promoted to the IMC staff, and Debra Wade took a promotion to Library associate. Bettina Dolinsek was promoted to field operations secretary, and Rhonda Morrow was hired as the receptionist. Rachel Bussan was hired as a Library associate, and works in the RA position left vacant by Cindy Valin’s retirement. Craig Johnson was hired as a senior services specialist for the blind 2 and is working with the IT team.
 
e) Team Structure Changes in Field Operations. Ms. Keninger said that the team structures have been changed. She had a study committee look at ideas for different structures, and there have been seven teams, each with a specific goal. Ms. Keninger discussed the teams. One team will be the Open Houses Specialty Team, eight members, with an objective of planning and conducting one major outreach event on each side of the state. The second team, with eight members, is the In-Service Staff Training Topics Specialty Team with the objective of arranging for and facilitating two in-service trainings on the topics of substance abuse and mental illness, particularly depression, and dealing with these issues in the rehabilitation process. One of the in-services will be in March, 2011 and the other will be in June, 2011. The third team, with seven members, is a Placement Strategies Specialty Team. Their goal will be to participate in two training activities aimed at improving the motivation, reliability, and dependability of those clients seeking employment; design a pilot project t utilize the strategies and techniques gleaned from these training sessions; and implement the pilot project for at least five VR clients in Status 20, ready for employment. The fourth team, with seven members, is the Tours Specialty Team, which has the objective of exploring different ways to improve our client tour process. These include items such as how to sell the tour, transportation of the client, increasing the number of tours, crating a pilot tour project, and tracking the results. The fifth team, with seven members, is the Financial Education Training Specialty Team. This team will develop a staff desk reference and/or a client training on resources, programs, and initiatives available to assist low-income clients in achieving more financial stability or becoming more financially literate. The sixth team, with seven members, is the Keeping the Flame Alive Specialty Team. This team will design and implement a pilot project to sustain and build on the confidence and skills obtained by two students who have completed Orientation Center training; the design will be completed and approved by March 1, 2011, and the team will begin working with two students, selected by the team in consultation with the Center’s Director. The final team is the Orientation on the Road Team. This team, comprised of the management team, will carry out a week-long Orientation on the Road event for approximately 12 clients. Mr. Hoenig asked if the teams will change. Ms. Keninger said that the teams will be for one year initially and after the first year, they may want to change them a little by moving members around.
 
f) National and State Election Results. Ms. Keninger said that Governor-elect Branstad has a goal of cutting the state government employees by 15% over the next five years. She expects that there will be a continued effort at reorganization. Ms. Keninger also expects very tight budgets for the next couple of years. On the national level, she doesn’t expect much to happen with the rehab act. She stated that no inflation means no additional funds for rehab. Ms. Keninger said that Commissioner Ruttledge is interested in modernizing Randolph-Sheppard, and is asking for input from all sources.
 
g) Other. Ms. Keninger said that earlier this month, IDB received a favorable decision from the Iowa Court of Appeals regarding the Dohmen case. The 2009 jury verdict was appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court. The Supreme Court then referred the case to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the trial result. The decision of the Court of Appeals becomes final if no Petition for Further Review is filed by December 10th. Scott Galenbeck expects Ms. Dohmen to file for further review; it would be uncharacteristic of the Supreme Court to engage in further review in this type of case where a jury verdict has been affirmed. Joe Van Lent asked if the closures were at the end of last fiscal year or if they were so far this fiscal year. Ms. Keninger said that they were for the last fiscal year. Mr. Van Lent asked how many students were currently in the Orientation Center, and Sandy Tigges said that there are 10 students. Mr. Hoenig asked if the students who have been in the Transition Program have entered the center. Ms. Keninger said that there are students that are coming for training after they have gone through the Transition Program.
 
4) Deputy Director’s Report.
a) At the commission meeting on September 14, Mr. Hoenig asked about the $381,000 in the draft 2012 budget for outside services. The basis for this number was the 2010 budget before the implementation of the ten percent spending reductions pertaining to executive order 19. Specifically, this especially included outside temporary staffing costs, which are the majority of this line item. Other items charged to this category include elevator service, trash collection, payments to the Statewide Independent Living Council, and employees’ driver service. After reassessing the outside services line was adjusted to $107,948 in the 2012 budget submitted with the budget request as presented at the last meeting, along with $1,065,674 for a combination of air handler replacement, repairs to the roof that are needed now, and a possible water line replacement issue next summer. On October 7, the Department also sent to the vertical infrastructure advisory committee a request for the money to fix the roof.
b) The list of personnel transactions since the last meeting omitted the resignation of Tracey Morsek, which was effective on November 5.
c) The information in the packet for today’s meeting regarding fiscal year 2011 does not account for a de-appropriation still expected to be in the area of nine percent this year.
d) Aside from the training grant, the formula grant situation is still mostly subject to continuing resolutions passed by congress until a budget is enacted. The existing continuing resolution ends on Saturday of next week and the Department received the money pursuant to that CR today.
e) The Department recently received a $14,975 Humanities Iowa grant to help with the blindness history project.
f)    On October 20, 16 positions were deleted from the Department’s table of organization. S.F. 2088, which was the reorganization bill passed last spring, stipulated to the elimination of positions vacant for six months. Last Friday, the Department paid 86 permanent full time employees and one seasonal aide.
g) So far this fiscal year donations to the gifts and bequests amount to $8,624, interest income is $5,150, and loan repayments $1,850. Assistance payments total $12,969, including the $5,800 in flood related losses approved after the closed session at the September meeting. After the transfer of $290,986 to the operating appropriation on September 30, the gifts and bequests balance is now $2,455,848.
h) The RSA-15 report for the Business Enterprises Program for the year ended September 30, 2010 will be filed later this month and it will show sales of $3,854,687 are one-third less than ten years ago and seven percent less than last year; total net income to vendors of $926,154 is the smallest in the latest three years; total spending by the Department for the program of $447,960 is the lowest in at least ten years; average net income per vendor was $44,103, which appears to be the all-time best.
i)    Mr. Hoenig thanked Mr. Snethen for getting an answer to Mr. Hoenig’s question from the previous meeting so quickly. Ms. Ryan asked if there was anything that could be done to receive a higher interest rate on the gifts and bequests fund. Mr. Snethen said that the fund is under the control of the State Treasurer’s office and there was nothing that could be done about the interest rate. There was a discussion on the BEP dollar amounts.
 
5) Mr. Hoenig moved that the meeting go into closed session. Mr. Hagemoser seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. At 12:54, the board meeting moved to closed session.
 
6) Mr. Hagemoser moved to enter into open session. Mr. Hoenig seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. The meeting returned to open session at 1:27.
 
7) Mr. Hagemoser moved to respectfully decline application number one for a grant in the amount of $12,928.90 for the purpose of interior and exterior home modifications. Mr. Hoenig seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
 
8) Mr. Hagemoser moved to respectfully decline application number two for a grant in the amount of $10,000 for the purpose of purchasing a back-up generator. Mr. Hoenig seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
 
9) Mr. Hagemoser moved to respectfully decline application number three for a grant in the amount of $5,000 and/or a loan in the amount of $5,000 for the purpose of paying off bills. Mr. Hoenig seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
 
10)      Public Comment. Mr. Hagemoser said that it might be a good idea for vendors to type up a sheet about the necessity of raising prices at their vending areas. Mr. Van Lent said that people would still be likely to go to an area convenience store to purchase those items. There was discussion on the matter.
 
11)      Time and Place of next meeting. The next meeting will be held on January 20, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. in the Director’s Conference Room.
 
12)      Adjournment. Mr. Hoenig moved adjournment. Mr. Hagemoser seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
 
 
Respectfully Submitted,
 
 
Sandi Ryan, Chairperson                       
Commission for the Blind
 
Tiffany Bickell
Secretary to the Board/Administrative Assistant
Department for the Blind
 
/tlb
 
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