AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND
Board or Directors Conference Call
April 30, 2002
The conference call meeting was called to order by President Chris Gray at 8:25pm CDT.
President Gray asked the secretary to take roll call. Mr. Sanford Alexander and Mr. Sandy Sanderson were absent. Mr. Charlie Crawford was also present.
President Gray stated that Mr. Charlie Crawford had written a letter to Maxi Aids per the Board’s instructs. When Maxi Aids received the letter, ACB board members were contacted and asked to reconsider the decision made during the mid-year meeting.
At President Gray’s request Mr. Steve Speicher, Mr. Brian Charlson, Mr. Mitch Pomerantz, Mr. Paul Edwards, Mr. Oral Miller and Mr. Charlie Crawford formed a working group to investigate the Maxi Aid issue.
Mr. Speicher brought the board up-to-date on what the working group had done. He said they had met and a vote was taken on whether or not to give Maxi Aids another opportunity to state their case. The vote was three to three. Half of the group wanted to reconsider and the other half disagreed.
Motion 1: Mr. Edwards moved to rescind the motion in February pertaining to Maxi Aids. A Roll Call vote was taken. Those voting in the affirmative were: Mr. Edwards, Ms. Schmitt and Mr. Speicher. Those voting against were: Ms. Bazyn, Mr. Annunzio, Mr. Beatty, Mr. Bradley, Mr. Charlson, Ms. Christensen, Ms. Grubb, Mr. Miller, Mr. Pomerantz and Ms. Seliger.
President Gray determined that the Maxi Aid attorney should be called and asked to discuss their side of the issue. The secretary was asked to take roll call. Those voting in the affirmative were: Ms. Bazyn, Mr. Beatty and Mr. Speicher. Those voting against were: Mr. Annunzio, Mr. Bradley, Mr. Charlson, Ms. Christensen, Mr. Edwards, Ms. Grubb, Mr. Miller, Mr. Pomerantz, Ms. Schmitt and Ms. Seliger. (The vote on this issue was taken before Motion 1.)
Both Mr. Edwards and Mr. Pomerantz thought the ACB convention committee should look into the policies of exhibitors as they relate to Resolution 99-30.
Ms. M. J. Schmitt took charge of the meeting at 9:15pm as President Gray left the call and Mr. Speicher left to call the Maxi Aid’s lawyer.
Mr. Speicher returned to the call at 9:20pm at which time he assumed the chair’s position.
After some discussion, it was decided that Resolution 99-30 needs to be revisited and possibly rewritten.
Motion 2: Mr. Edwards moved that this board authorize the president, executive director and chair of board of publications to jointly draft a document that would outline the process the board undertook which would only be disseminated based on a decision made by a majority of those three. The motion passed by consensus.
Ms. Winifred Downing was concerned about reporting to the Braille Forum the results of this conference call. It was decided that she should draft an article and forward it to Ms. Kathy Megivern with approval from President Gray.
Motion 3: Mr. Pomerantz moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:40pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Seliger, Secretary