Minutes from December meeting

DRAFT
Minutes

Iowa Commission for the Blind
 
December 3, 2009

 
Call to order and determination of quorum. A meeting of the Iowa Commission for the Blind was called to order at 12:00 p.m. with the following members present: Sandi Ryan, chair, Mike Hoenig, member, and Steve Hagemoser, member, present via telephone. Others in attendance: Karen Keninger, Tiffany Bickell, Curtis Chong, Bruce Snethen, Becky Criswell, Tracey Morsek, Beth Hirst, Louise Duvall, Sandy Tigges, Shan Sasser, April Enderton, Michael Barber, Carolyn Hicklin, Joe Van Lent, Lora Van Lent, Roger Erpelding, Elsie Monthei, Vivian Ver Huel, Jackie Wipperman, Kim Barber, Jonathan Ice.
 
Approval of Minutes from September 23rd and October 26th. Mr. Hagemoser moved approval of the minutes. Mr. Hoenig seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
 
Directors Report.
         

Ms. Keninger discussed the 50th Anniversary Celebration that was held in October. She publicly thanked all those who helped with it.
 
Ms. Keninger also spoke about the More Than Words Tactile Poetry event that was held in the library. She gave thanks to the Friends of the Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped for helping to host the event. Ms. Keninger gave background on the event and said that it was a successful event.
Ms. Keninger talked about the new website launch and the exploration of social networking. She told the group that the Department has both a Facebook and Twitter account and that the Department is using both to help with outreach.
Ms. Keninger discussed the impact of the recent budget cuts on personnel and services. She talked about the furlough days that have been mandated for staff. There will be seven furlough days for non-contract employees and five for union employees. Ms. Keninger, along with the management team, would like to close the Department for one day each month due to the staffing issues that the furlough days raise. This action would need the approval of the union and the Governor’s office. Ms. Keninger stated that the budget outlook is pretty grim for the next year. She said that the Des Moines Register is speculating that re-organization is a top priority for the upcoming legislative session. There is no word on what that would involve.
Ms. Keninger discussed the locally produced digital talking book. She said that Iowa is one of two states that has started recording their own books. The digital book is as completely marked up as the NLS books are.
Ms. Keninger asked Curtis Chong to discuss the Field Operations statistics over the last year. He stated that out of the 12 targets for Vocational Rehabilitation, the staff has hit all but two. He said that one area that they did not meet the target was the number of successful closures in VR. He went on to say that in Independent Living, they were one point shy of meeting the goal. Mr. Chong discussed the employment training that the staff participated in. The training will help the counselors with getting employment for clients. Mr. Chong shared a couple of successful stories. Mr. Hoenig said that he was happy to see the trainings start up again. He also had a question about the IL numbers. Becky Criswell gave clarification on this.
Ms. Keninger discussed the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa’s (NFBI) 2009 resolutions.  
Ms. Keninger asked the liaison from the governor’s office, Brian Jennings, to speak on the possibility of re-organization. Mr. Jennings stated that the governor’s office has heard from both consumer organizations. He stated that he was unaware of anything that would concern the Department. He said that he will keep the lines of communication open with the board and the Department.
 
Deputy Director’s Report.
The furloughs will save the general fund $25,000.
For the current year ending September 30, 2010 the Department expects to be far short of meeting the federal statutory maintenance of effort requirement and we have begun to consider pursuing a request for a waiver. This request is subject to approval by the U.S. Department of Education secretary. The tentative plan is to submit the request some time next year after October 1 and after the year end financial report has been filed for the basic support grant. That request, if filed, and, if denied, by law would result in a dollar for dollar penalty charged to next year’s basic support grant. Approval of MOE waiver requests is fairly unusual. If additional operating resources become available that can be used to match the basic support grant, it is possible this waiver request will not be necessary.
Thanks especially to the $879,057 transferred in August from IVRS and to the recovery act appropriations and to the program income received during 2009 the Department carried forward $3.7 million at September 30, 2009. Based on projected spending and existing appropriation levels, this will be in the lower $2 million range in another ten months, and less than $1 million a year later. The general fund appropriation has been reduced below the point of being able to accept further additional resources IVRS cannot match and likely well short of matching all of this year’s basic support grant of approximately $6,000,000, with or without being assessed a penalty for violating the maintenance of effort requirement.
In September the Government Accountability Office release a report to congress after completing a study of the formula used to distribute VR money to the states and territories and illustrated some options for improving the “equity” by which the money is distributed. Among the three options, Iowa stands to loses 18 to 31 percent. That’s $1 to $2 million in this agency.
The revenue estimating conference meets next week and so does the state government reorganization commission. The agenda for the later meeting has not been released.
The gifts and bequest balance is $2,680,596. During the current fiscal year $1,005 has been used. For purposes of generally accepted accounting principles, two loans remain outstanding. Both have current repayment histories with a combined unpaid balance of $3,300.
Work on the remodeling project is practically finished. The appropriation for this purpose contains enough money to pay the remaining retainage due Breiholz Construction, which is approximately $220,000.
Within 30 days or so we will again file the necessary documentation for discounts on telephone and internet access costs for fiscal year 2011. Among other things, this will require a technology plan to be filed with the state library along with some other documentation. The savings from this would be substantial.
There was discussion on what the furloughs mean financially to the Department.
 
Consideration of Closed Session. Mr. Hagemoser moved that the meeting go into closed session and Mr. Hoenig seconded. It passed unanimously and at 1:04 pm the open session was closed.
 
At 1:33 pm, the commission entered back into open session.
 
Mr. Hagemoser moved that the commission raise the director’s base salary by 5%. Mr. Hoenig seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
 
Mr. Hoenig moved that the Department research other salaries of comparable positions in Iowa and other state agencies for the blind for the purpose of benchmarking. Mr. Hagemoser seconded and the motion passed unanimously.
 
Ms. Ryan stated that the reason Ms. Keninger’s salary was in discussion today was that her year review was due as of November 14.
 
Public Comment. April Enderton spoke in support of the NFBI resolutions. 
Louise Duvall spoke on behalf of the Friends group.
 
Time and Place of Next Meeting. After discussion, the commission decided to have their next meeting after the Legislative Breakfast. The date will be announced at a later time.
 
Adjourn. Mr. Hagemoser moved to adjourn. Mr. Hoenig 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