Georgia Convention in Gainesville
The Georgia Council of the Blind conference and convention will be held from Thursday, May 3 through Sunday, May 6, 2018 at the Ramada Inn Lanier Centre, 400 E.E. Butler Parkway, Gainesville, GA 30501. To make your reservation, call (770) 531-0907. Room rates are $90 per night plus tax. If you have any questions, contact Dianne Roberts, convention chairman, at (770) 932-1112, or via email at [email protected]. For more information, visit www.georgiacounciloftheblind.org.
ACB of Ohio Scholarships Available
The American Council of the Blind of Ohio offers several scholarships each year. These are available to entering freshmen, undergraduate, and graduate students who are residents of or attending school in Ohio. For more information and an application, go to www.acbohio.org. The deadline for all applications is Aug. 1, so you have plenty of time to pull together your application, three references, transcript, and an eye report (not required for all scholarships). Let us hear from you!
Calling All ACBGE Members
by Renee Zelickson
The ACBGE board has been holding discussions these past few months about the continued viability of this organization. This letter is being disseminated at this time because the board is strongly of the opinion that transparency demands you be given the latest information as you consider whether to join or renew your membership in this organization.
Pursuant to the board’s discussion on Jan. 28, several options have been advanced for consideration, each of which would require approval at the annual business meeting in St. Louis. These options are as follows:
1. Dissolution: While ACBGE is not a legally incorporated entity in any jurisdiction, the board considers that this action can only be taken by the membership at a properly called meeting where previous notice has been given that dissolution is a matter which may be considered. The ACBGE constitution only states the following:
Article IX, Procedures: ... D. In the event of this affiliate dissolving, any remaining funds in the treasury shall revert back to the parent organization, the American Council of the Blind.
Of course, this would not preclude our placing restrictions on such remitted funds.
2. Dissolution, with the assets of the organization and such members as would be interested in being placed at the disposal of ACB’s employment committee and/or the rehabilitation task force: John McCann has discussed this possibility with president Kim Charlson, who indicated that she would be favorably disposed to considering expressions of interest from ACBGE members respecting appointment to the above-referenced committees.
3. Merger with another special-interest affiliate: Here again, this presupposes that another affiliate would be interested in such a merger, and no such exploratory discussions have been held to date.
4. Rechartering ACBGE as an affiliate with the purpose or mission of addressing employment concerns generally: While this plan did gain some traction during the board’s most recent discussions, there was some skepticism about the viability of this course of action, given the current leadership crisis and low level of participation in our organization. This plan was superseded by option two above.
Given the state of our organization, ACBGE will not hold a mixer or a luncheon at the 2018 convention. We will hold an annual business meeting to consider the options set forth above and to address any additional matters that may come before the meeting.
Thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration of the matters set forth in this communication.