by Charles S.P. Hodge
When the 2003 mid-year meeting of the ACB board of directors was called to order by President Gray around 1:45 p.m. on Sunday, February 16 at the Westin Convention Center Hotel in Pittsburgh, all board members were present, as well as executive director Charlie Crawford, chief financial officer Jim Olsen, editor of "The Braille Forum," Penny Reeder, membership and affiliate services coordinator Terry Pacheco and approximately 25 guest observers. Preliminary business included approval of the meeting agenda and adoption of the minutes from the September 2002 board meeting.
Convention site selection coordinator Carla Ruschival indicated her intention to present on the following day proposed bids for the 2005 ACB convention from Phoenix, Ariz., Las Vegas, Nev. and Reno, Nev., as well as for the 2007 convention from Louisville, Ky., New Orleans, La., and Minneapolis, Minn. In addition, she said that there would be one proposed bid for the 2008 convention from Orlando, Fla., and that she expected to present other bids for that year at a future board meeting. Ruschival then made a motion containing several stipulations: first, that when the board accepts a convention bid for a specific year, the bid is accepted conditionally; second, that any proposal accepted by the board must be inspected by both the convention coordinator and the site selection coordinator before being finalized; third, convention bids which are accepted must subsequently be confirmed with signed written contracts before being deemed final; and fourth, that in considering and accepting bid proposals, the board should rank the bids into priority order so that if the first choice does not become final, the convention coordinator and site selection coordinator will be empowered to automatically go to the second priority choice to negotiate a contract. The motion was adopted.
Paul Edwards, chairman of the American Council of the Blind Enterprises and Services (ACBES) board of directors, indicated that ACBES had made only approximately $361,000 last year and had, therefore, been forced to remove approximately $300,000 from its reserves in order to meet its 2002 commitment to ACB. Edwards reported that this action had virtually stripped ACBES of its cash reserves, and had led the ACBES board to decide in mid-January that it could commit to support ACB's financial needs only in an amount of $500,000 for the 2003 budget year, which is considerably less than has been traditionally provided by ACBES in recent years. Edwards said the ACBES board has begun to take management steps which it hopes will enable the enterprise to increase its financial commitment later during the year. In addition, Edwards said, because its traditional telephone solicitation system for donated goods has become less viable in many markets, ACBES has been exploring alternative methods for gaining saleable goods, including procuring returned and surplus clothing products from major department store chains for resale in ACBES thrift stores. Edwards reported that this strategy has shown promising results in several stores. The board accepted the ACBES report.
In her treasurer's report, Ardis Bazyn reported preliminary 2002 ACB budget year results as follows: revenues totaled $919,000 and expenditures totaled $1,365,000. Thus, ACB found itself in a deficit position of approximately $446,000 for the 2002 budget year. However, because ACBES had transferred an amount of nearly $301,000 from its cash reserves, ACB's deficit was actually only approximately $145,500 which would have to be removed from ACB cash reserves. Bazyn then moved to designate PriceWaterhouseCoopers as ACB's public auditor for the 2002 fiscal year. Jim Olsen indicated that PriceWaterhouseCoopers had submitted a written proposal to conduct the 2002 audit for ACB for $10,700, and that ACBES had already accepted PriceWaterhouse's proposal to conduct its own 2002 audit. The motion to designate PriceWaterhouseCoopers as ACB's 2002 public auditor was adopted by the board. The board accepted the treasurer's report.
In introducing the report of the budget committee, Gray recalled that the board had worked very hard during three telephone conference calls to understand and take preliminary action upon the budget committee's original and revised budget notes. At the request of board member Carla Ruschival, Gray provided a quick review of all of the budget notes indicating the disposition of each. (See summaries of the board's January 16, February 2, and February 11 telephone conference call meetings in the March and April 2003 Braille Forums.) Gray then called upon budget committee chairman Brian Charlson to lead the board through the remainder of the committee's report.
Charlson began by describing the priority categories for both the revenue side and the expenditure sides of the proposed budget and indicated that the proposed budget was limited to only priority one and priority two items on both sides. On the revenue side, priority one items are funds that ACB is virtually guaranteed to receive during the budget year, and priority two revenues are those funds which ACB has traditionally received or is very likely to receive during the budget year. On the expenditure side, priority one items are those outlays which ACB is legally obligated to make, such as rent for the national office space, and priority two expense items are those expenditures which fund ACB's core programs and initiatives. Priority three items, which are not included in either side of the proposed budget, are those revenue items which might materialize but which ACB has no previous record of receiving in the past, and expenditure items, which although desirable or new initiatives, constitute items for which the budget committee was unable at this time to identify a reliable supporting funding source.
Charlson proceeded to go through the revenue side of the proposed budget line item by line item. When he reached the revenue item for contributions from individuals, which was zero, a number of board members raised questions regarding this item. Based upon suggestions from board members, the committee agreed by consensus to move revenue items acquired as a result of fund- raising letters and individuals' monthly monetary (M&M) giving program into this category. Regarding the line item of income from the annual national convention, which the budget committee had estimated at $10,000, a number of board members expressed the view that it was not realistic to anticipate any income from the 2003 national convention. After considerable discussion, the board adopted a motion to reduce the amount in this line item to zero.
Regarding a grant request to support ACB Radio which the budget committee had estimated at $60,000 of revenue, some board members felt that there should be an identical amount on the expenditure side of the proposed budget. The budget committee explained that even if this grant revenue did materialize, there was no guarantee as to exactly when and to what level or degree these funds would be expended during the 2003 budget year. The board considered a motion to insert an item of identical amount in the expenditure side of the proposed budget, but the motion was defeated. The line item for fund-raising from bequests, which the budget committee had conservatively estimated at $18,000, was increased, by motion, to $28,000.
In light of these changes, Charlson indicated that proposed revenues for the 2003 budget year now totaled $1,344,683.33. A motion was then made and seconded to approve the revenue side of the budget, and the board adopted the motion.
Charlson then began his presentation line item by line item of the expenditure side of the proposed budget. As a result of ensuing discussion, the board made the following changes to several specific line items:
Because the board had just approved selecting PriceWaterhouseCoopers as ACB's auditor at an expense of $10,700, that line item was revised upward by $700.
A discussion of directors' and officers' liability insurance premiums led to approval of a change in ACB's insurance coverage which will involve splitting the cost between ACB and ACBES, leading to additional coverage for Internet liability as well as workplace violence, and an increase in the ACB budgetary line item for insurance premiums of $193. This change was adopted via a roll-call vote of nine in favor and six opposed. Those voting in the affirmative were Alan Beatty, Ed Bradley, Paul Edwards, Billie Jean Keith, Mitch Pomerantz, Carla Ruschival, M.J. Schmitt, Donna Seliger and Pat Sheehan; those voting in the negative were Jerry Annunzio, Ardis Bazyn, Dawn Christensen, Chris Gray, Oral Miller and Steve Speicher.
After a protracted discussion of recommended increased expenditures for the ACB history committee, the board adopted a complex motion to authorize a total of additional expenditures of $9,000, splitting this amount for accounting purposes between end-of-year expenditures for 2002 and budget committee projections for 2003. The board also agreed by consensus to revise downward the budget committee's line item for professional fundraising by $2,500. With respect to Floyd Qualls Memorial Scholarships, the board voted to reduce the amount of available scholarship money to $10,000, and to offer only four rather than eight Qualls scholarships in the 2003 budget year.
A motion was made to reduce to zero the budget line sub-item for board travel and per diem reimbursement which had been estimated by the budget committee at $3,910. After some discussion, the board voted by a roll call vote of eight in favor and seven opposed to adopt the motion. Those voting in the affirmative were Alan Beatty, Ed Bradley, Billie Jean Keith, Oral Miller, M.J. Schmitt, Donna Seliger, Pat Sheehan and Steve Speicher; those voting in the negative were Jerry Annunzio, Ardis Bazyn, Brian Charlson, Dawn Christensen, Paul Edwards, Mitch Pomerantz and Carla Ruschival.
Then Paul Edwards made a motion to add an expense line item to the expenditure side of the budget in the amount of $5,000 as a contribution toward the ACB board-designated cash reserve. After some discussion, on a roll call vote of seven in favor and eight opposed, with one abstention, the board defeated the motion. Those voting in the affirmative were Alan Beatty, Paul Edwards, Oral Miller, Carla Ruschival, M.J. Schmitt, Pat Sheehan and Steve Speicher; those voting in the negative were Jerry Annunzio, Ardis Bazyn, Ed Bradley, Dawn Christensen, Chris Gray, Billie Jean Keith and Mitch Pomerantz, with Donna Seliger abstaining. This created a seven to seven tie vote with one abstention. Presiding officer Brian Charlson then cast a tie- breaking vote in the negative, thereby defeating the motion. A motion was then offered to adopt the expense side of the 2003 ACB budget contingent upon only those few expense line items which were scheduled to be deliberated and decided upon at the board's executive session the following morning. This motion was approved by the board with Steve Speicher requesting that his "no" vote be written into the record.
A motion was made and debated to suspend the board's previously adopted policy that all revenues in bequests in excess of $28,000 received in any particular budget year be placed in ACB's board-designated cash reserves, but the motion was defeated by voice vote.
A final report of the day was given by newly appointed membership committee chair Sue Ammeter, who told the board that she and her committee intend to work hard to put together and implement the ideas which came out of the wrap-up session of the affiliate presidents' meeting. AfterAmmeter's report was approved, the board recessed its meeting until the following morning.
When the meeting reconvened around 8:15 on Monday morning, with first vice president Steve Speicher presiding, the first order of business was Cynthia Towers' report on proposed revisions to ACB's reasonable accommodation guidelines for disabled people who attend ACB conventions or other ACB-sponsored events. Because several board members had not yet accessed the e-mail which outlined the proposed policy changes, the board approved a motion to defer further consideration of recommended revisions until the next anticipated board telephone conference call meeting.
When President Gray arrived at the meeting, the board went into its scheduled executive session. When the board reconvened its open meeting, Gray reported that the board had had under consideration some sensitive and confidential performance-related budgetary and employee matters. He indicated that the board had adopted motions during the executive session which resolved the matters under consideration. In light of the board having disposed of without change the final remaining outstanding expenditure line items for the 2003 ACB budget, a motion was adopted to approve the 2003 budget as amended during the board's consideration. Once again, Steve Speicher requested that his "no" vote be reflected in the minutes of the meeting. This resulted in the adoption of a 2003 annual budget for ACB which contains $1,344,683.33 in revenues and $1,355,424.73 in expenditures, resulting in an anticipated paper deficit of $10,741.40. This anticipated deficit is expected to increase when an additional amount of approximately $25,000 in depreciation expense of capital assets is also figured into the 2003 budget year calculus.
After listening to presentations from Reno and Las Vegas, Nev. and Phoenix, Ariz., all vying for selection as the site for ACB's 2005 convention, the board selected the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as its first preference for hosting that convention. A motion was then made to designate the Reno Hilton as the board's second preference if an acceptable final contract could not be concluded for the Las Vegas bid. The motion was approved on a roll call vote of seven in favor, five opposed with two abstentions. Those voting in the affirmative were Ardis Bazyn, Alan Beatty, Brian Charlson, Dawn Christensen, Oral Miller, M.J. Schmitt and Pat Sheehan; those voting in the negative were Jerry Annunzio, Ed Bradley, Chris Gray, Billie Jean Keith and Mitch Pomerantz. Donna Seliger and Steve Speicher abstained, Paul Edwards did not vote since he had already left the meeting, and Carla Ruschival did not vote in her capacity as presiding officer.
Details from the presentation of the representative from the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas included: a guaranteed per-day single and double room rate of $77 plus applicable room taxes; the availability of multiple outside guide dog relief areas, to be housed underneath a tent, and including paved, grass, and absorbent chip surfaces; an opportunity for all convention events to be housed under one roof; and the availability of seven restaurants and a food court offering a wide variety of food choices and a wide variety of price levels as well as access to over 120 shopping outlets within the hotel.
Next, three spokespersons for hotels in Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Louisville vied for the board's selection for the 2007 ACB convention. The board selected the Minneapolis, Minn. proposal as its first preference for the 2007 ACB national convention site. A motion was then made to make the Riverfront Hilton Hotel in New Orleans the board's second 2007 preference, but the motion was defeated on a voice vote. Thus, the Galt House in Louisville was selected as the board's second choice for the 2007 ACB convention.
The Minneapolis Hyatt Regency proposed a per-day room rate of $86 plus applicable room and sales taxes and indicated, further, that if a contract can be negotiated within the next 45 days, that rate will decrease to $81 per day. The Hyatt Regency is offering a room block of 530 guest rooms with any overflow requirement being satisfied at the Millennium Hotel, which is across the street from the Hyatt Regency, at a per-day room rate of $84 plus applicable room and sales taxes. The Hyatt Regency has sufficient meeting space to house exhibits, general sessions and most breakout meetings at no cost to ACB, with additional complimentary meeting space being made available at the Millennium Hotel, if needed.
A final event of the morning was the drawing of the convention raffle sponsored by the National Education and Legal Defense Service for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NELDS). The first prize of two round-trip airfare tickets to the 2003 ACB national convention in Pittsburgh was won by Sharon Lovering. The second prize of five nights of lodging expense at the 2003 ACB national convention was won by Jane Kardas from California, and the third prize of two banquet tickets at the 2003 ACB national convention was won by Sandy Sanderson from Alaska.
As the meeting wound to its conclusion, Dodge Fielding of Fundflow, Inc. presented a report to the board on the progress he has made toward achieving the deliverables outlined in his contract with ACB. Plans were made to deal with budgetary and other matters which the board had not had the time to handle during the mid-year meeting at a future conference call meeting scheduled for early March, and the board concluded its business at approximately 12:35 p.m.