North Carolina Council of the Blind
November 13, 2021
Board Meeting Minutes
Attendees
Chris Bell, outgoing president
Becky Davidson, First Vice President
Allen Moore, Second Vice President
Jo Talliferro, Treasurer
Jane Ferrita, Assistant Treasurer
Lawrence Carter, Membership Chair
Peter Crumley, Member At Large
Bill Graham, Member At Large
Belinda Collins, Secretary Elect
Kolby Garrison, Assistant Secretary Elect
Jo opened the meeting with a prayer.
Chris gave his President’s message.
The new board was sworn in.
Lacey called for the treasurer’s report.
Jane gave the treasurer’s report. Wells Fargo checking. Wells Fargo Savings. Membership dues $926.53. Total income $2711.46. Expenses $175. State convention. Legal services $425.00 Scholarship $1500. Telephone $17.52. Website $152. Total expenses. Deficit of $171.46. Net loss $500.
Jo reported that the NCCB is having trouble getting its taxes straight. Jo and Jane are looking for someone who can assist with doing the NCCB taxes. Bill Graham posed the question of will the assistant treasurer be bonded? Chris was not sure of the answer. Lacey will look in to that. Lawrence stated he believes because Jane was added in, he does not think that Jane is bonded. Lawrence believes that the oversight could be corrected. Allen stated that bonding could be easily fixed. Jane asked when the bonding insurance runs out? Peter asked about additional accounts. Chris stated that the Fidelity savings had gone up. The treasurer’s report was motioned for acceptance by Allen More and seconded by Lawrence. All were in favor.
Kolby read the secretary’s report from the August 28 meeting. Anthony Yallow motioned for acceptance of the report as read. Jo Talliferro seconded. All were in favor.
Lacey called for committee reports.
Lawrence Carter gave the membership committee report. Nothing has changed since the convention in September. The committee is putting things in place and getting ready to start a new year.
Jane Ferrita asked about the policy committee writing up a new policy for scholarship applicants. Jane, Allen, and Ricky Scott agreed to meet about that. Jane wants to check on the bonding insurance. Jane wants to come up with a procedure for moving money from PayPal to the Wells Fargo checking account. She also wants to write up a documentation policy for something else that I did not catch.
Jo commented that the scholarship committee should be reporting now that everyone who is a winner has received their check for the first semester in the school year. The second check will be sent out in mid December for the second semester. There have been talks about sending the whole amount of $1,000 at the beginning of the school year, but a decision was not made about that that Jo was aware of.
Bill Graham asked the membership committee if the membership committee report included two membership committee reports. Lawrence Carter stated that the NCCB Next Generation committee was on paper but not in official existence yet but would be beginning in 2022.
Lacey mentioned that the scholarship committee should become official and ask that that be completed by the next board meeting in February 2022.
Lacey then went over the list of people who would chair committees.
Legislative and Advocacy Affairs Committee Chair Tim Snyder
Environmental Access Committee Chair Becky Davidson
Policy and Procedures Committee Chair Allen More
Bill Graham asked about combining the publicity and fundraising committees. Lacey will track down the bylaws. Lacey stated that the Resolutions Committee has a lot of work to do. Tim Snyder requested that the secretary send him the resolutions and constitutional amendments separately to make sure that the committees are on task.
Peter Crumley requested a review of all committees in order to match up the bylaws and constitution. Becky requested that the constitution and bylaws be sent out. Lacey asked Bill Graham and Peter Crumley to send out the constitution and bylaws to the NCCB mailbox. Bill Graham will send out information to the board.
Chris requested to be on the Legislative and Advocacy Committee.
Peter Crumley requested that a committee members list be sent out. Lacey agreed. Bill Graham requested that committee chairs have the right to add members to committees. Lacey stated that members could be added. Lacey stated to Peter that committee chairs could structure the committees as they see fit. Chris Bell provided a point of information that at the national level, some ACB committees are appointing vice committee chairs. Bill Graham stated that in the current Constitution and Bylaws that all committees shall have a chair and a vice chair. Lacey stated that she was fine with chairs selecting their vice chair. All were in favor. Lacey requested that all committee chairs let the board know whom their vice chair are.
Chapter Reports
Allamance was given by Anthony Yallow. Nothing to report. Someone stated that they would be meeting with their membership individually to inform them of what is going on and that their meeting space would be reopening in January. Anthony was congratulated on his marriage. Jane Ferrita added that Anthony just purchased a house.
Charlotte chapter report was given by Kenny Durden. They meet on the first Monday of the month.
Durham chapter report was given by someone. Beginning in January, they will have one member talk about themselves in biography form stating what they would like to do.
Greensboro chapter report was not given.
Raleigh/Wake chapter report was given by Lawrence Carter. They meet on the second Thursday of every month. Elections will be held in December.
Peter Crumley gave the at large report. They meet on the fourth Monday of the month at 7:00 PM via Zoom. Attendance for those meetings is usually around a dozen members. Mae Davis is working on a Braille Revival League group for North Carolina. Guest speakers will be speaking at the next two meetings. Bill Graham added that the Braille Revival League group will be having their first meeting on November 18 at 7:30 PM ET. They will be deciding whether to associate with the NCCB or remain with the Braille Revival League. Bill would like to see the group become a North Carolina affiliate.
Old Business
Jo reminded everyone that at a previous board meeting, she thought that it was decided that the calendar year begins in January and not October. Chris clarified that the officer elections and fiscal year should be aligned. Jane Ferrita asked about reporting to the IRS and changing the calendar year. Chris and Lawrence discussed changing the year cycle. Lacey requested that Jo, Chris, and Jane check in to making everything official for the transition. Jo brought up that new officers should be installed immediately after their election during state convention. Jane brought up a point of clarification for getting the incoming treasurer’s name on all of the accounts. Chris moved to table the discussion to the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. Peter Crumley suggested that the outgoing officers mentor the incoming officers.
New Business
Bill Graham proposed a motion to establish a quarterly newsletter. Content would be provided by committee chairs; chapter presidents; and other parties. Bill motioned that the newsletter be established. Lawrence Carter seconded the motion. Lacey asked for discussion. Becky stated that the commitment needed to be there for editing and keeping the newsletter going. Bill Graham proposed to make the newsletter the responsibility of the publicity committee. HTML is the proposed format with distribution in other formats being possible. Jo Talliferro requested the provision of having the newsletter emailed out, along with braille copies upon request. Lawrence suggested Mae Davis could help with providing braille copies. All were in favor of starting the newsletter.
Jane Ferrita explained that the taxes for 2019, 2020, and 2021 need to be done. The taxes cannot be completed due to missing information from Fidelity investment account. Once she receives the missing information, the taxes can be completed. Taxes were prepared for 2018 to 2019, but Jane is concerned that the tax preparer did not receive requested documentation for the 2018 taxes. Jane suggested to submit the 2019 and 2020 taxes and let the IRS request any missing information or documentation. Lawrence Carter suggested that the board empower the treasurer today to contact the IRS to see what needs to be done. Becky Davidson suggested submitting the 2018 taxes to the IRS just in case. Lacey agreed with doing so. Peter Crumley agreed to be proactive by sending in the 2018 taxes and reach out to the IRS about getting everything possible from the IRS in writing. Jo will reach out to the IRS to see what needs to be done. Jo will also request everything in writing. Lacey asked for any additional discussion about the IRS. None was put forth.
Becky Davidson suggested that all NCCB meetings be moved to Zoom. Lacey, Kolby, and Peter provided advantages of Zoom. Jo motioned to use the Zoom platform going forward. Becky Seconded the motion. Committees can decide on how they wish to hold their committee meetings. Bill Graham pointed out that a motion might not be needed for moving to Zoom. The board agreed to hold board meetings via Zoom. Jo moved that the board use Zoom for board meetings and allow committees to use their preference. Lawrence Carter clarified that the previously made motion should be voted down. Bill Graham clarified that a re-vote should occur. Peter moved to reconsider the motion. Jo seconded. All board members were not in favor of the motion. The motion was reconsidered.
Bill Graham recommended that a special committee chairs meeting be held in early December to bring everyone up to speed. Lacey suggested the second Saturday of December as the meeting date at 9:00 AM. Jo requested that meeting minutes be sent out to the board no more than 30 days after each meeting. Lawrence clarified that this procedure was in the Constitution.
Lacey moved to adjourn the meeting. Jo Talliferro seconded. All board members were in favor. The meeting was adjourned.