KCB Board Meeting – June, 2015

The monthly meeting of the Kentucky Council of the Blind Board of Directors was held via conference call on Monday, June 15, 2015. President Deb Lewis called the meeting to order at 8:09 PM Eastern Time. Members present were Deb Lewis, Joey Couch, Rick Boggess, Carla Ruschival, Bill Deatherage, Debbie Deatherage, Gerry Slusher, Natalie Beyers, Elaine Weisbard, Adam Ruschival, Deb Trevino, “Cisco” Slusher, Matt Selm and Bill Roberts. Patti Cox, Bill Wright, and Frank Campbell were absent.

President Deb Lewis informed the board that her new email address is debralewis1227@gmail.com.

President Deb Lewis called for reading the May 18 board meeting minutes and summary. Since a copy had been given to board members in advance, Joey Couch made a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes and summary and for their approval. The motion was seconded by Elaine Weisbard and unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Carla Ruschival presented her report for May. Elaine Weisbard made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report. The motion was seconded by Gerry Slusher and unanimously approved.

Carla Ruschival reported that the CD was combined with money from checking to purchase a fund in the Cornerstone family. This will show up in the June report.

Chapter Reports

Eastern Kentucky Christian Council – Joey Couch reported that 13 people attended the picnic on May 30. A date for the next meeting has not been set.

Northern Kentucky Council – Gerry Slusher reported the chapter has received a couple of calls about services and has made the appropriate referrals. Team captain “Cisco” Slusher will be setting up the chapter’s e-Racers walk page shortly. The chapter plans to donate $25 toward the walk and there have been some personal donations. In response to a question from Gerry regarding pledge deadlines, Carla Ruschival reported that pledges need to be received by June 30 to be counted in totals announced at the ACB convention. However, pledges will be accepted until late July or early August. Gerry will discuss recent ACB accomplishments at a disability rights conference on October 3.

Greater Louisville Council – Since Debbie Deatherage had not yet checked in, Carla Ruschival reported on GLCB activities. The chapter has had three Friday night events over the last month; the June 5 meeting was cancelled due to the KSB alumni meeting. There will be a dine out at Rocky’s in southern Indiana on June 20. GLCB Friday night activities will not be held on July 3, 10 and 17. Several members attended the Governor’s press conference at KSB on June 8. Natalie Beyers reported she is team captain and will be signing up to support the e-Racers shortly.

Tri-State Library Users – Adam Ruschival reported the chapter has not been active the past few months. However, they hope to begin planning some activities. Updates will be provided as plans develop.

Guide Dog Users of Kentucky – Deb Trevino reported that several members participated in the Guide Dog Users International election. The group held its monthly phone conference call meeting on May 25 and 10 people had their guide dogs’ eyes examined by Dr. Tolar on May 22.

Support Alliance of the Visually Impaired – Bill Roberts reported that 29 people (20 members and 9 guests) attended the chapter’s June 9 meeting which included lunch and a presentation by O&M specialist Katrina Berry. Rick Boggess reported that he has signed up to support the e-Racers and that $55 has been pledged. The Facebook page, which has been up about three weeks, has 31 “likes”. The page can be found at www.facebook.ccom/owensboro.savi .

KCB Next Generation – Matt Selm reported the chapter was unable to have its in-person meeting on June 13 so they met on Facebook. If plans can be worked out, they hope to have an in-person meeting at United Crescent Hill Ministries on July 10. They are exploring the possibility of having an activity on July 25. More details will be made available as plans develop.

Committees

PR/Membership – Rick Boggess reported the committee met on June 3. Considerable time was devoted to discussing the kit list which has since been distributed to board members for future consideration. The calendar and webpage are being updated regularly. Newsletter distribution continues to increase and includes 159 people who receive it electronically.

Carla Ruschival provided an update on the webpage move. There is still a problem with the page footer displaying correctly. It is believed the problem is related to the responsive theme being used for the page so Larry may change the theme back to a nonresponsive theme until the problem can be resolved. If this works, it is hoped the page can be moved shortly. Every chapter will have an entry page and the ability to add additional pages. Webpage path extensions and email addresses will follow a similar naming convention. Ex.: SAVI is www.kentucky-acb.org/owensboro and owensboro@kentucky-acb.org; GLCB is www.kentucky-acb.org/louisville and louisville@kentucky-acb.org. This should make it easier to find chapters. For right now, the KCB lists will remain on the ACB site since each subscription will have to be manually moved.

Old Business

Carla Ruschival reported she will be providing updates to the ACB Facebook page from the convention and encouraged Joey and others to monitor the posts and place the information on the KCB email list. The number of “likes” on the ACB and KCB Facebook pages continues to increase. Sound Prints subscriptions are up to 95.

In response to a question from Gerry Slusher, Carla Ruschival reported that the Kentucky e-Racers currently has $655 in pledges. As of Monday (June 15) the e-Racers were in 9th place for the amount raised. On the donation page website, it is possible to view the amounts raised by the 16 participating teams; however, it is not possible to view the amount of national sponsorships. It is hoped that donors will share information about the walk to attract external sponsorships. People may contribute by using the links on the website or give checks or cash.

Carla Ruschival made a motion that KCB donate $500 to support the e-Racers team. The motion was seconded by Gerry Slusher. This really amounts to a $250 contribution since KCB will get 50% back. The motion was unanimously approved.

New Business

President Deb Lewis indicated that KCB will be hosting a one-day Crossroads Leadership Conference on Saturday, August 15 at United Crescent Hill Ministries. Carla Ruschival pointed out that those needing a hotel room for that weekend can get rooms at the Ramada Inn on Zorn Avenue at $72 per night. KCB will help arrange transportation to and from the hotel. Deb Lewis indicated she will be setting up a planning meeting in the near future.

Adam Ruschival indicated that he attended the Kentucky Office for the Blind Kentucky Business Enterprises committee meeting in Frankfort on June 13. This 11-member committee makes suggestions on how the program should be run. There is concern about the need for a planned consultant to study the program and the fact that there appears to have been no attempt to seek a competitive bid.

President Deb Lewis reported that she was recently involved in a meeting with OFB director Allison Flanagan. Due to budgetary concerns, OFB will be going back to having only one category open. Carla Ruschival expressed concern about the impact of the governor’s recently announced minimum wage increase on the OFB budget since part of the funding will come from OFB’s funds, not the state’s general fund.

In response to an inquiry from Elaine Weisbard, the board decided to have its meeting on July 20 as scheduled. President Deb Lewis indicated she will not be in attendance since she will be involved in job training that evening.

Announcements and Adjournment

Carla Ruschival made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Natalie Beyers and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:14 PM.

Submitted by Rick Boggess, KCB Secretary

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