Sunday, September 15, 2017BECC MEETING

9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Hilton Hotel66 E. 6th Avenue

Eugene, OR 97401

Conference line: 404-443- 6397 Participant code: 943611#

Agenda1. CALL TO ORDER – Chairman Hauth

a. Roll callb. Disposition of minutes

2. PUBLIC COMMENT — Chairman Hauth

3. ELECTIONSa. Salem 2 – Nominee, and currently held by Art Stevensonb. Portland 1 – Nominee, and currently held by Steve Jacksonc. Outlying area – Nominee, and currently held by Steve Gordon

4. FINANCIAL REPORT – Director Morris

5. NEW BUSINESS – Chairman Hautha. Committee Reportsb. Fiscal Impact Committee Position Papersc. Public Hearing - BEP Rules Updated. Upcoming Trainingse. Satisfaction Surveyf. Discussion of Minutes from September 7 Commission Meeting

6. OLD BUSINESS – Chairman Hautha. BEP Rules Updateb. Self Service Operations-Updatec. Address Previous Assignments/Motionsd. Other

7. OTHER – Chairman Hauth

8. DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS – Director Morris

9. NEXT MEETING – Chairman Hauth

10. ADJOURNMENT – Chairman Hauth

Verbatim

[Starts at 00:00:00]

Hauth: We’ll go ahead and call the meeting to order and I’ll grab the agenda here. Okay. Call the meeting to order and we’ll go ahead and do introductions. We’ll start up here at the head of the table with Mr. Jerry Bird.

Bird: Jerry Bird here. [Inaudible.]

Hauth: Steven.

Gordon: Steve Gordon, North Santiam Distributors, Willamette Valley.

Hauth: Randy Hauth, Elected Committee Chair.

StevensonA: Art Stevenson, Salem 2 rep and Vice Chair.

Jackson: Steve Jackson of Portland.

Morris: We gonna go around the room?

Hauth: Sure.

Morris: All right. Good morning, everybody. My name is Eric Morris. I am the Business Enterprise Director.

Pileggi: Thomas Pileggi, Business Enterprise Operations Specialist.

Marshall: Art Marshall, contracts, BPA… BEP, I mean.

Ewing: Kathy Ewing, BE training.

Riesmeyer: Mark Riesmeyer.

Barraza: Sal Barraza, Salem.

SmithK: Karen Smith, Roseburg.

SmithG: Gordon Smith, Roseburg.

[Laughter.]

Hauth: Is that it? Must be more exciting things going on somewhere else. Anyway, so we’ll go ahead and dispose of the minutes. Do I have a motion to accept…? Well, let’s make sure… How about the phone? There must be somebody on the phone.

StevensonD: Derrick Stevenson.

Jaynes: Lin Jaynes.

Hauth: Lin Jaynes and Derrick Stevenson.

Kinney: Carole Kinney. Carole Kinney.

Hauth: Hey, Carole. Anyone else?

Jaynes: Lin Jaynes, Oregon Coastal Vending.

Hauth: Lin Jaynes, okay. Anyone else? [Silence.] Is there any guests on the line? [Silence.] Okay. We’ll go ahead and take a motion to adopt the previous minutes. Do I have a motion to do so?

StevensonA: I make a motion we adopt the last special meeting minutes.

Hauth: Okay. Motion’s been made. Do I have a second?

Gordon: I second it.

Hauth: A second’s been made. Any… Any discussion around that? Okay, we’ll call a roll call vote, yea or nay. Jerry Bird?

Bird: Yea.

Hauth: Steve Gordon?

Gordon: Yea.

Hauth: Art Stevenson.

StevensonA: Yes.

Hauth: Steve Jackson.

Jackson: Yes.

Hauth: And I so move yea as well.

StevensonA: Derrick Stevenson.

Hauth: Oh, Derrick. I’m sorry.

StevensonD: Yea.

Hauth: And I also, yea. So those are approved. Moving right along, we will move on to public comment. Open the floor for public comment. Do we have any public comment this morning?

SmithK: Yeah, where is everybody?

Gordon: It’s a revolt.

SmithG: I think they had a party.

Hauth: Or they had one. Any… Any public comment?

StevensonA: Chair Hauth?

StevensonD: Yeah, this is Derrick.

StevensonA: Go ahead, Derrick.

Hauth: Derrick, go ahead.

StevensonD: Yeah, I just wanted to thank everybody that... that was part of the fiscal impact committee. I thought everyone did… did a great job. I thought some good points were brought up. Hopefully they hit… hit home and we’ll get these rules written so that it benefits the managers in our program.

Hauth: Thank you, Derrick. Any other public comment?

StevensonA: Chair Hauth?

Hauth: Yes.

StevensonA: Yeah. I want to make a comment. Yesterday during the in-service training we were talking about the rules and negotiating. And having been a manager and also a member of the Elected Committee we have a responsibility, members of the Elected Committee, and that is to represent our constituents but also to protect their rights. And, as a member of the Elected Committee and a long-time person in the program, I know that the members of the Elected Committee do not have the right or authority to negotiate away any of blind licensed managers’ rights. We’re here to work with the agency, in accordance with the Randolph-Sheppard Act. But when it comes to the rights and the responsibilities of the blind licensed managers – I didn’t get a chance to talk to it but I know it was distributed to all of the blind licensed managers – that the Elected Committee most definitely has a role to play since we represent blind licensed managers. But when it comes to us working with the agency in whatever we’re doing – writing rules, regulations, you know, in-service training or stuff – we do not have the right or authority to vote or negotiate away the blind licensed managers in this program, in accordance with the laws and rules and regulations. So I just wanted to make that… that comment because I think

it’s very important that not only we as managers, members of the Elected Committee, but also the State Licensing Agency realizes, you know, those facts.

Hauth: Thank you. Any other public comment? [Silence.] Okay. Any other public comment?

Jackson: Steve Jackson.

Hauth: Steve.

Jackson: I’d just like to comment that I’m a little concerned that not all of the managers are here because this is a program for all of us. And I just want people to be aware and listen and be knowledgeable and understand that the rules are pretty important.

Hauth: All right. Well, thank you. Any other public comment? [Silence.] Okay. Hearing no further public comment, we’ll move into elections. The agency will be handling this portion of the agenda as they’re responsible for elections. But I’ll identify Salem 2 nominee and currently held by Art Stevenson, Portland 1 nominee and currently held by Steve Jackson and Outlying Area nominee and currently held by Steve Gordon. So Eric, I know there were no other nominees so I’m not sure but how do you guys want to handle this? I guess this is your bailiwick. So have at it.

Morris: Okay.

StevensonD: Mr. Chairman?

Hauth: Yes.

StevensonD: Yeah, this is Derrick Stevenson. I’d like to make a motion that we, due to the fact that there’s only one per… one person per area that we agree to them… well, how do you say it? Acclamation, I guess.

Hauth: Okay. Well, I will accept a motion and we’ll… if we get a second we’ll open it for discussion. Trying to work through this. So a motion’s been made. Do I have a second on it?

StevensonA: Second.

Hauth: A second’s been made. Let’s open it for discussion. So, Eric.

Morris: Chair Hauth, I would say that it’s cleaner just to go through with the vote. I mean, obviously, it’s kind of a predictable result but it’s also cleaner to do it that way. Voting by acclamation, that kind of thing, I don’t know if that… I’m sure that’s legitimate. I just have no experience with that.

Hauth: Any other discussion?

StevensonA: Hey, Mark?

StevensonD: Yeah, this is Derrick.

Hauth: Derrick?

StevensonD: Yeah, we’ve done… done it by acclamation almost every time we’ve only had one person that ran for that office. I don’t see why we need to waste time going through… through votes.

Bird: I agree. It kind of seems senseless but I’d say we’re here, he’s passed out the paper. Let’s do it and [inaudible].

StevensonA: Yeah, let’s just go ahead and go through it.

Hauth: So board members, what’s your… You know, there is a motion on the table.

StevensonA: Is there a second?

Hauth: Yep, there’s a second.

StevensonA: Okay.

Hauth: So I don’t know, Derrick, if you want to withdraw your motion or if we want to take an action on it. Either way.

StevensonD: I’ll withdraw it, I guess.

Hauth: Okay. Okay. Thank you. So, that motion’s been withdrawn. Let’s go ahead and do the vote. I think there’s ballots that have been handed out.

SmithG: This is Gordon. There’s only, besides you guys on the board, there’s only three of us here.

Hauth: Yeah, that… I think…

Morris: There’s no ties.

Hauth: … I think that’s fine. Yeah, it doesn’t have to be a majority, it just has to be…

SmithK: And you don’t have to vote.

Gordon: No, you don’t.

Bird: They can vote if they’re not gonna be here but a lot of them was here last night.

Hauth: Maybe some of them already voted. I don’t know, Mark… people have voted…?

Riesmeyer: I have received two electronic votes so far.

Hauth: Okay. Thank you. Do you have a pen or what…?

Riesmeyer: Yes. I gave it to Jerry.

Bird: I have one.

[General inaudible chatter.]

StevensonA: Derrick, did you vote?

StevensonD: No.

StevensonA: Huh?

StevensonD: No, I did not.

StevensonA: You can…

SmithG: Randy?

Hauth: Yes.

SmithG: I’m in the… I am in the outlying thing. That’s the only person I vote for?

StevensonA: No, you vote for all them.

Hauth: Everybody.

SmithG: Okay.

Hauth: All three of them. I mean, really, there’s only three nominees and nobody else is nominated, but…

SmithG: Okay. Got it.

Hauth: It’s just, I think, more of a procedural matter. But, yeah, all three of them.

StevensonA: Mr. Chair?

Hauth: Yes.

StevensonA: Derrick… Derrick has not voted yet and is not, you know, right near a computer. So Derrick, you made a motion to vote them in by acclamation. If you don’t have any problem with

that I’m sure you could say whether you want to vote for those individuals or not and it would still be valid.

SmithK: Char, all the tables are open on that side and they’re doing voting right now.

Riesmeyer: Char, Cathy and Celyn have just joined us.

Hauth: Okay.

StevensonA: All right.

Hauth: So, just so you guys know, we are… so there’s three nominees for the Elected Committee. There are only three that were done but still we’re… the agency suggested we go through the process of identifying those by an official vote.

StevensonA: So hey, Derrick?

StevensonD: Yeah?

StevensonA: Do you want to vote?

StevensonD: Yeah, I’ll vote once for each… each area, for the person who was nominated.

SmithG: Cathy, here’s a pen.

Colley-Dominique: Oh, thank you.

StevensonA: So that’s a legitimate vote.

Colley-Dominique: Oh, hey that’s cool.

StevensonA: Hey, Mark?

Riesmeyer: Here’s a pen.

Ewing: Just one second.

StevensonA: I guess he’s not in the room.

Riesmeyer: Okay, I’m available. Did somebody call?

StevensonA: Yeah. Derrick… Derrick voted verbally on the phone for all three of the candidates.

Riesmeyer: Okay. Thank you.

StevensonA: So could you mark that down?

Riesmeyer: Will do. Thank you.

[General inaudible chatter.]

StevensonA: So, Carole and Lin, are you on the phone?

Jaynes: Yes.

StevensonA: Did you guys vote? Or… electronically? ‘Cause…

Kinney: I did not.

Riesmeyer: Lin did, Carole did not.

Kinney: I did not vote and I’m not near a computer.

StevensonA: Do you want to?

Kinney: Yes.

StevensonA: Okay. So you want Mark to mark… mark each individual that’s up for the vote?

Kinney: Yes, I do. One for each one, please.

StevensonA: Will you do that, Mark?

Riesmeyer: Yes, sir.

StevensonA: Okay. Thank you.

Hauth: Are there any Russians on the line?

[Laughter.]

StevensonA: Oh, that’s funny! Hey, Mark?

Riesmeyer: Yes, sir.

StevensonA: Did you get Lewanda’s vote? ‘Cause I talked to her and you said you got two electronic ones.

Riesmeyer: That’s right.

Hauth: I don’t know… I don’t know…

StevensonA: And one had been turned in, right?

Riesmeyer: Lewanda gave her vote verbally to Kathy.

StevensonA: Okay.

Riesmeyer: But I have not received it electronically. I don’t know if that counts.

Hauth: Yeah, I think it’s just… just a technicality.

StevensonA: Yeah.

Riesmeyer: I don’t think her vote is going to swing things either way.

[Laughter.]

Riesmeyer: So I’d be happy to take your ballot.

Hauth: Please do. So just let us know when you’re all done.

Riesmeyer: All right. We’re just taking care of the late-comers.

[General inaudible chatter.]

StevensonD: Tic toc. Tic toc. Tic toc.

Riesmeyer: We are counting. We appreciate your patience.

Morris: Polls are closing.

Hauth: What’s that… What’s that accounting firm that does the votes?

Morris: Oh…

Hauth: I forget the name.

Morris: Something with…

Jaynes: Waterhouse.

Riesmeyer: Lewanda did send me her electronic vote.

StevensonA: She what?

Riesmeyer: Lewanda just sent me her vote electronically.

StevensonA: Oh, cool!

Riesmeyer: She voted for all of the incumbents.

Hauth: Is my position up yet?

StevensonA: [Laughs.] Next year, dude!

Morris: I think that’s what he was saying…

Hauth: Dammit!

[Laughter.]

SmithG: I [inaudible] with Randy.

Hauth: Gordon, you can’t talk because you’re not a business person, okay?

[Chuckling.]

Hauth: A little levity while we wait for the results.

SmithG: I got you.

Riesmeyer: Okay, we have the results. Ladies and gentlemen, with 15 people voting we have 13 votes for Art Stevenson – Salem 2 and no other votes for that position, 13 votes for Steve Jackson of Portland 1, no other votes for that position and 13 votes for Steve Gordon in Outlying Areas, no other votes for that position. Congratulations, gentlemen.

StevensonA: So there was 15 votes?

Riesmeyer: 15 votes, including two abstentions.

StevensonA: Okay.

Hauth: All righty. That concludes the elections. Okay.

StevensonA: Congratulations.

Hauth: Yeah. Yeah.

StevensonA: Does anybody want to make a speech?

Hauth: Okay. Moving right along, financial report. Eric Morris.

Morris: Hey, good morning, everybody. We talked about the financials for second quarter during yesterday’s meeting. Third quarter should be coming out, that we’re hurtling towards the end of October, which will bookend the rest of the reports for July, August and September. So I should be building that… Well, what’s today? Is today the 15th? Today’s the 15th, right?

Hauth: Yes.

Ewing: Yes.

Morris: I should be building that report next week. Yeah, next week. I was gonna ask some questions about the report and the information that I’ve been providing you guys. Is… You know, there seems to be a lot of focus around the budget to actual piece. So, you know, at the front of that report, at the first tab, it shows all of the sales information at a high level for the program. Is that… Is that information helpful to you guys? Nobody… Nobody ever asks me about it so… I put it in there, frankly, so I can see it too… see, over a three-month period, are units within the program trending up for sales or down for sales. Is that a helpful thing for you guys? Or…?

SmithK: It’s helpful for me.

Hauth: If I may, I personally think, while there’s a lot of information on the report, it would be helpful for us to carve out an hour or so and have a work session around questions or answers to the financial report. Linda and I go through those and there are a couple of things that we’re not sure exactly how they’re calculated and those type of things. But, you know, obviously, some of the information is probably more of interest than others but…

StevensonA: Chair Hauth?

Hauth: … that’s my… that’s my request. Yes.

StevensonA: I do know that you had submitted a request on which account certain expenditures were being made from. And did you ever receive that information?

Hauth: Not yet.

StevensonA: Okay. And… And so, in all actuality, I do believe that the actual account that it came out of, you know, on the report… then you wouldn’t have to ask the question anymore. Do you think that would be most helpful? And… And I know you asked from past reports and you should receive that information. But it, obviously, is something that we’re interested in. So should we include in those or the actual accounts that it’s coming out of?

Morris: Art, I think on the budget to actuals it shows an account number. That was one of the questions I was gonna ask. When you say “the account it’s coming from” are you saying the account number or are you looking for basically what type of funds?

[00:14:50]

Jackson: I think we want a description of where it went and how it’s spent. Isn’t that…?

Hauth: I think our request was… if you’re talking about the recent request for the AG expenditures and what… what codes those were being paid out of. Yeah, again, I’ll go back to saying I think it would be more helpful to have a special meeting around… around this discussion so that we can find a way to…

StevensonA: Along with Gail, right?

Hauth: Yeah, sure.

StevensonA: Yeah. That was…. Okay.

Morris: I… I can tell you, Gail’s gonna ask you the same question. 'Cause you have the account numbers right now. If somebody says account… what account did it come from, do you want to know that it’s a VR-110 grant or do you…?

Hauth: Yeah. Yeah. If it’s from general funds or VR funds or… I think we want more detail behind it, you know. And I’ll tell you, quite honestly, Eric, my concern is that… and my understanding is that, if the agency is using set-aside monies and/or federal monies, any monies other than general fund monies to litigate or to… relative to a complaint or litigation, that is improper. And my evaluation and Linda’s evaluation of the historical budget pretty much shows that I believe the agency’s been using those funds. And the discussions I’ve had with, you know, with folks that know… it… it’s a concern. So the agency’s using those monies to support their position in a complaint. That’s what we’re trying to get to: is the agency doing that? And also, on the Title 1 money I know that Susan just… in her review said that Title 1 money shouldn’t be used for…. If Title 1’s money is used for initial stock and inventory…

Morris: I’m not sure… I’m not sure what Title 1 money is.

Hauth: Yeah, that’s… I think those are kind of conversations that maybe we can…

Morris: Are you talking about, like, VR-110 grants?

Hauth: I think it’s the federal money and I don’t know exactly how it pieces in. But that’s why I’m thinking that it would be good for us to start to learn more about…

Morris: Okay.

Hauth: … you know? And if there are things of concern, let’s find a way to address them.

Morris: Yeah, to your point about federal versus state money and legal battles and stuff, RSA has not weighed in on that. Jesse talked about it briefly in Nashville but did not weigh in on it. He said, you know, there’s concerns about it but RSA hasn’t said anything about it.

Hauth: Yeah, I think the DOJ… I think they’re going to… I’ll tell you, I asked Jesse a question, 'cause I know we had breakouts, right?

Morris: Sure.

Hauth: They talked to you guys and they talked to us. And I said this is of concern and he said, “Yes, it is.” And we are… we are looking into that. And he said, quite frankly, why isn’t a manager allowed the same availability to defend themselves, in theory, to defend themselves through the complaint process using managerial services, if an agency does? So he said – and I’m summarizing…

Morris: Sure.

Hauth: I don’t have it verbatim but, as I recall, it doesn’t… it doesn’t make it a fair and complete process if an agency… and I’m not just talking about Oregon Commission for the Blind…

Morris: Yeah, no, I know.

Hauth: So that’s… I think the more that we learn about where those monies are being used…. It’s pretty clear to me that when I start doing the math and Linda sits down with me and we start doing the math, federal monies and set-aside monies appear to have been used in those venues. And so we’re trying to get to that. And if that’s happened, try to address it. So.

Morris: So my question is, on that specific tab, which is the budget to actual tab, is that too much information or just not the right type of information?

Hauth: Not the right type of information.

Morris: So…

StevensonA: Budget to actual is good to know.

Gordon: I think it’s good…

StevensonA: But additional information, like Randy and I just said, would be helpful. So we’ll work on that. We’ll work the logistics out.

Morris: Art, I’d just like to get a little specific… specificity around it because literally I’m going to be doing it in just a few days. So…

StevensonA: Yeah.

Morris: So you’d like an account description, break out between state and federal monies, VR versus set-aside…?

Hauth: Like, which ones are being paid to… to AG, you know? Where are those…?

Morris: Is that the only account you’re worried about? 'Cause I…

Hauth: Yeah, you know, it’d be nice to know also, on managerial services, to get a more comprehensive breakdown so not necessarily only the funding stream. That’s one that we could talk about specifically, for the reason that I shared. But I think managerial services and the breakdown of that has always been a bone of contention for information that managers wanted… want to know.

Morris: Like what types of things are being put into that bucket? Or…

Hauth: Yeah.

Morris: … what type of money.

Hauth: Yeah.

Morris: Yes to both of them.

Hauth: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think the more information… the more information the better, you know? I don’t think it’s too bad to give more information.

Morris: No, I… Well, I can tell you from my own experience, if somebody buries me in a mound of work, that does me no good.

Hauth: Yeah. And I don’t think that’s our intention. And that’s why I was suggesting maybe we have a work route to sit down and say what actually makes sense here, you know?

Morris: Okay.

Hauth: I know Linda’s part of the… even though it hasn’t been completely active all the time, Linda’s been part of the financial subcommittee as well. So maybe, you know, she could be on the line, we could be on the line and Gail, you know. And without it being a “gotcha” thing we could try and get more information. And so…

StevensonA: [Inaudible.]

Morris: So, one last thought on that is, the thing that I find helpful when I’m looking at a report or an enterprise or an agency is an executive summary. And I find that helpful because then, if I’m curious about something specific, then I can dig into the details and the account numbers and the spending and all that. Would that be something you guys would be interested in?

[Silence.]

Morris: Have you guys ever seen anything like that?

Hauth: No. No, I don’t really know what that is.

Morris: Okay. Basically, it’s like a snapshot of whatever document you’re looking at. So, like, in our case, you know, you guys are always interested around set-aside, obviously the AG stuff. I’m just not quite sure how to do it on the fly. Ones I’ve seen, like for a city budget or school board budget, shows you high level stuff, stuff that’s good stuff, stuff that’s areas of concern, overspending if we’re trending over on a budget. If the financial forecast is death and destruction which, like, for most public agencies, January and February when the first budget memos come out, it’s like the world’s gonna end in June and then by, like, March or April hey, things are much better. So… But they always like to, I think, put people on notice in the early parts of the year that, “Hey, there’s some concerns about the budget projections.” So I could definitely work on some kind of an executive summary. The thing I was… I was… I got an email from Terry Smith about the… I don’t know if I sent it out to you guys or there was some chatter on email but he said the stuff that you guys were getting was some of the most detailed stuff that he’s seen nationwide, which I thought was interesting. I didn’t solicit that. So, just FYI.

Hauth: Yeah. And, I mean, you know, that’s great. I mean, you know, let’s just try and…

StevensonA: Well…

Hauth: … fine tune it to make it, you know… Go ahead, Art.

StevensonA: And what could be helpful… I mean, I know Gail does the OCB part of the vending program and then there is a… the way I’m understanding it, then the Department of Administrative Services does some of the stuff. And then they send you a report. Is that a fairly accurate synopsis, Eric?

Morris: I… I’m not sure, Art, to be perfectly honest with you. Gail controls all of the finances within the Commission. A lot of basic services – lights, power, rent, all that kind of stuff for our building – all that’s billed through DAS, the Department of Administrative Services. The financial system is not… the OCB system is the state system. So I’m not quite sure… DAS doesn’t… I’m not sure where you think DAS plays a role in that. But Gail… Gail’s the master of all that that is the finance department.

Hauth: Yeah, one of the other things I wanted to mention, if you’re done Art, with the next question…

StevensonA: Well, I…

Hauth: Go ahead.

StevensonA: Yeah. Okay. And DAS isn’t a cog. And then the reports… the reports that you generate, Eric…

Morris: Mm hm.

StevensonA: … is… is from a report that Gail gives you? Just so I have an understanding and clarity of it.

Morris: Yeah. So that’s a good question, Art. So what I do is… there’s, like, what six tabs in that Excel spreadsheet that I send you guys? The budget to actual tab is literally a report that Gail creates, budget to actual. So I cut and paste that right from one of her reports. Most of the other information, almost all the other information is pulled from System 7, our case management system, because a lot of it revolves around, you know, specific information pulled off your guys’ reports, specific information around authorizations and that type of thing. So it’s a combination. It takes a little bit of time to pull that all together.

Hauth: Yeah. You know… Go ahead.

StevensonA: Right. And… And, you know, as state statute says, of course, you know, our program is in an account that is separate and distinct and I was trying to imagine just exactly how that operates. And then also, you know, it also says interest, you know, on the account will be credited to the account. And so, obviously, that was put in there for a specific reason and one of the things that I would want to know is, okay, who is actually in charge of where this account is set up at and…

Morris: Like, which bank?

StevensonA: Well, and… and… and also, you know, how that decision is made and is there options on setting up that account so that you possibly could… because obviously it’s in the law for a certain reason… Is there a variety of different accounts available and can we generate some extra income by collecting interest and stuff. And so I’ve always been curious on that. And, you know, it’s… I’d like some answers about that. ‘Cause, obviously, if we’re an account… and I don’t remember ever seeing in your reports, you know, interest earned. And so, you know, me wanting to make as much money for the program, obviously, you know, wanted to know if there is options that we could do to make more money.

Morris: Well, Art, I can… I can give you two reactions to that.

StevensonA: Okay.

Morris: One: we could find out. And two: I don’t think there’s any options when it comes to what banks we’re using. ‘Cause my impression is the state does a procurement for that and we use the bank that they tell us to use. Now, that… that may not be true. But my instinct is, it is true.

StevensonA: Well, and… and… and Eric, truthfully, yeah, I hear what you’re saying on that. But because in the state statutes… I mean, we may be doing it…

Morris: Yeah, I don’t…

StevensonA: … we may be doing it out of convenience but we may also be able to, because of the state statute, you know, do a little… because the law says we can… we’re supposed to have a separate and distinct account. And…

Morris: Sure. I don’t think that’s like investment…

Hauth: Guys, this isn’t… These are the types… It’s 9:40 and I know we’re having a good discussion but these are the kinds of things…

StevensonA: Yeah, okay.

Hauth: I do want to say a couple things in closing, Eric. Is like professional services. You know, when we went through the budget to actuals it’d be nice to know what those were. And also, coming and looking at the analysis of late pay and not late pay, I know Linda Haseman went in and met with Gail Stevenson… Stevens…

StevensonA: Stevens.

Hauth: Stevens.

Morris: Yeah.

Hauth: So, you know, it’s my understanding, correct me if I’m wrong, but people are being marked as late even if they’ve submitted they’re report and mailed their check or whatever would be by the 20th as postmarked, which was our long-standing practice and which, if you go back and look through the records, has been supported by the commissioners and adopted. And, I mean, I think there’s been times where you’ve even acknowledged that that was…

Morris: Well, I can tell you what my recollection’s about, Randy, and every talk we’ve had about on-time versus not on-time has been around reports, not payments. So that’s the difference. The actual reports… and, quite frankly, people have been doing pretty good, as of the last quarter. So.

Hauth: All right. Well, maybe that’s something we can work around, you know, try and get some clarity on it. The other thing is, when I look through of the profit percentages, there’s units in there that I’m going, “This does not even make sense.” What, you know… and I’m thinking to myself, “So….” And I don’t mean from your point, but when I look at the reports I go, “How does this make sense in, you know, the ranking and in the percentage?” And sometimes people are running in the negative and some, I mean… So I think there’s discussions that we can have to kind of clean that up. So that’s just my two cents worth.

Bird: I got a question.

Hauth: Jerry.

Bird: You know, what’d we get from our federal funding? Was it three million, four million? I don’t know.

Morris: I think it was 3.4 for the… for the….

Bird: Okay. Are we receiving interest on that? That should be a nice little chunk.

Morris: I… I don’t know, Jerry. Interest rates are real low. Interest rates are at an all-time low. So I’m sure we’re probably getting something.

Bird: $3 million, one percent’s not bad. Well, hopefully those are the types of things…

Morris: If that’s what you guys are interested in digging into I can dig into it.

SmithG: Question from the floor, Randy.

Hauth: Yes, Gordo.

SmithG: Is everybody current in set-aside?

[Silence.]

Morris: I’m just trying to think for a second, Gordo. I’m going through the list. I would say yes. And I would say that, as of the last report that I saw, we’re at a historic low for the amount of money that’s past… quote unquote past due, like, in repayment agreements and stuff. But the addition of the month… [Loud horn from passing train] I didn’t give my cell phone speech this morning, as I’ll check my own cell phone. People are doing a good job on that.

SmithG: That’s great. That’s nice.

Hauth: Okay. Can we go ahead and move on? Anything else? Okay. Thank you. Moving right along to new business it is committee reports. And I know I talked about this the other day, yesterday or whenever it was, or even Friday night. But I know we have some subcommittees. However, there’s been a lot of activity that the Elected Committee has taken on. But, you know, we need to… we need to share the responsibilities and so anybody who wants to sit on a committee can function in that capacity. I think right now we have a finance committee, we have a training and education committee, we have a facility development committee and I don’t know if we have another committee or not. But is there any committee, subcommittee chairs that want to give an update or report on their committee?

[Silence.]

StevensonA: Yeah, Randy.

Hauth: Okay. Go ahead, Art.

StevensonA: Obviously, the Training and Education… not the Training and Education, the Vending Facility Development Committee is supposed to be working with the agency on vending facility development and being a… having a conversation about what’s going on. And there seems to be a gap that the Elected Committee and the committee itself is not getting what I feel is information on a timely basis. And so I believe there needs to be – we were talking about the ten characteristics of a successful program – more information sharing, more openness, more “Hey, we’d like to know what’s going on.” Active participation so we can give our input. And so, how do we get there? Eric, I believe, you know, that we need… in order for us to know what’s going on and to give our input we need to know and have information. Like, let’s say, for instance, 'cause we’re having a discussion… Well, what’s going on right now is the State Capitol. And so how do we automatically get the information from you instead of, you know, either finding out second-hand or that kind of thing? I know you had received a letter in response to the state cafeteria and in my opinion we should’ve kind of – we being the Elected Committee – and, obviously, you know, it’s nice if the blind licensed managers know what’s going on. They can either read the email or delete it at your will. But how do we get that information on a regular basis. What do you need from us? Because, as a member of the Elected Committee and, of course, as the Chair of the Vending Facility Development Committee I would like that information in a timely manner. In the letter you received from SAIF, you know, I had to ask for it. You had had it for… I can’t remember how much time. But instead of having so much controversy all the time, how can we make that happen?

Jackson: Why don’t you let him answer?

StevensonA: Yeah.

Morris: Are you done?

StevensonA: Yeah.

Morris: Okay. So, Art, you know, you’re the member… you’re the chair of many subcommittees and…

StevensonA: Two.

Morris: I thought it was, like, three or four.

StevensonA: No.

Morris: Okay. I’m not keeping…

StevensonA: Training and Education and Vending Facility Development.

[00:29:38]

Morris: Gotcha. Okay. I guess my instinct is to say you can call me and just ask. And, you know, as much as I don’t want to say it, the subcommittees of the Elected Committee aren’t… You

know, I have lots of priorities. Everybody’s the same. You walk in the day and you’re like, “What am I gonna accomplish today?” And if I get something in an email and I read it and go, “Okay, I need to follow up on that” my first instinct – and maybe it should be, and it’s hard to change habits – is to blast you guys with, “Hey, this is what just happened.” And, frankly, the way we’ve been meeting, we’re meeting every other week. So that… a lot of the stuff you’re talking about right this second, I was gonna talk about today. It’s on my list. So I… you have to prioritize stuff and figure out what you’re gonna execute. So that’s how I look at it. Now – and I’ll talk about the specifics of the stuff in my Director's Report – otherwise, I don’t have anything to talk about. So… But I’d encourage you… You have my number, give me a call. I’m always there. I’m… I’m always there. I mean, unless I’m in a meeting, like one of these meetings or a staff meeting or whatever. So most people know that I’m pretty darn good about calling people back. And… yeah.

Hauth: Okay…

StevensonA: So… And… And that’s good enough. So I’ll call you on a frequent basis. But, you know, obviously… hopefully things are going on and we’re doing surveys all the time and, you know, being privileged to that information, you know… and… and maybe you don’t have to do the email. But, like, when Art does a survey of a building and he turns in a report to you concerning a survey, why can’t that information automatically, you know, be given to the Elected Committee so we know what’s going on? So we, too, can be aware but also, you know, be able to talk about it, to work together collaboratively in… in all of this stuff? And so, yeah, is that something…? Well…

Hauth: Let’s go ahead and move it along.

StevensonA: Let’s go ahead and…. So anyways, that’s, you know, we’ll just stop.

Hauth: Is there any other… any other committee reports or any other committee chairs that… that want to…?

StevensonD: Randy?

Hauth: Yes.

StevensonD: Yeah, this is Derrick. I just kind of… I just kind of wanted to touch a little bit more on the conversation that we’re having. ‘Cause a lot of my main concern is because I don’t… I don’t really know what… how the Commission staff… or what… what their m.o. is as far as renewing existing agreements. And what’s the game plan? Are we gonna just sit back and wait until people… people call us and say they’re… they’re doing things? Or are we gonna go actively pursue places? I don’t really know what… what the game plan is or how… how that system works. And I think it’d be helpful if we had some kind of idea on what OCB’s plans are for the future and building up the program. Because, you know, right now, the way I see it is, like, the only time we do anything is if someone contacts us. I think, you know, if we can get a little bit more pro-active and go after these sites, the sites that aren’t in our program, I think that would be… be better.

Hauth: You’re… You’re absolutely right. That was one of the reasons that I reached out to Executive Director Johnson because we invited her here to join us this weekend. Specifically, not only to work through some of the rules but also, what does the future look like, right? So, House Bill 3253, how are we going to work with the agency on procurement and development and those type of things? Because, yeah, I don’t think it’s a constructive way – and I’m not suggesting the agency does this – but just to wait and be contacted, right? So I don’t understand, exactly, either the strategy moving forward. I know Director Johnson said her focus is the rules right now. I think House Bill 3253 and job creation and the rules are, you know, next of kin. So they’re kind of designed. I don’t know, Eric, if you can give just a real brief overview of your… you know, your current system of, like, location development or retention and/or what, you know, if and when we get the rules done, what we will do as far as outreach? Have you given any thought to that? So.

Morris: Yeah.

Hauth: Go ahead.

Morris: I was gonna talk about that in my Director's Report.

StevensonA: Okay. Let’s move along and….

Hauth: Okay. Hey, would you mind…? So… we talked about the budget, right? And everybody’s… or people are interested in learning more and understanding about it. So we do need to work around that. I would like – just for the record, so people know – I would like to… Mark, I don’t know if you’re in the room, if you could read this. But this report here is pretty simple, one page, and it’s the Executive Summary of 2017-19 budget development schedule. So, just so we all know what the timelines are looking like.

Riesmeyer: Sure. Turn on mic. 2017/2019 Budget Development Schedule, Executive Summary. March 4th, 2016: Actuals audit transmittals due to SABRS, which is an acronym for something I’m not aware of. March 15th, 2016: Agency budget kickoff meeting at the Cascade Hall, Oregon State Fairgrounds. March 18th, 2016: February sessions/actions, including input of spreadsheets, due to SABRS. You really want me to go through all this? There’s a lot here.

Hauth: Just a… Just a basic, you know, just a basic… first maybe ten items, just to let us know how and when this is starting.

Riesmeyer: So these are all 2016 dates.

Jackson: Is there a second page?

Riesmeyer: The second page does not have any dates. It is an executive summary which includes changes from the prior biennia budget instructions.

Hauth: Okay. Well, I think the first three or four that you read there gives us an idea that that process starts in March – and thank you – starts in March. So, even though March seems a ways away, we’re going to need to develop a subcommittee or expand upon that subcommittee, get more people involved and start planning and working around that process. Because, you know, it’s our responsibility too, right? So, we need to step up and get involved in that, work with the agency on that. So. So next on the item is fiscal impact committee position papers. I think that’s a moot point right now. You know, we had the fiscal impact committee meeting yesterday and we’ll await the report from the agency on that and deal with that as we need to, as we need be, if need be. Public hearing, BEP Rules update. So the 23rd will be the last day to receive public comment and, I believe – Eric, you can… you can speak to this if you’d like – but I believe Eric Morris, Director of BEP will be heading that meeting and I’m not sure exactly the structure of it. So, again, Eric, if you want to just overview us on that. But after you do I am… I am interested in, like, if that’s the last day for accepting comment how, if need be, we’d be able to actively participate with the Elected Committee through the rules.

Morris: You want me to speak to that now?

Hauth: Sure, if you would.

Morris: Okay. So, the hearing itself, I… I… I haven’t done one of those before, just like I hadn’t done one of those… what we did yesterday. So the exact tempo of it, I’m not positive how much time we’re gonna allow for. And that’s one of the things on my list to get set up. The hearing is, I believe, at one o’clock that day, which is a week from this coming Monday. And we’ll take public comment during that meeting and then public testimony or written documentation, basically, can be received through 5:00 pm that day. And then, to your question about actively participating after that hearing, I think it’s going to be tough. Because of… in the sense of… not in the sense of “Can we do it?” But any changes that are made after that hearing … I mean, I definitely want the Elected Committee to look at it after… if we have to make any changes, I don’t have any experience with that piece of it but I’m not sure how that factors in. And I’ll obviously talk to the AG and look in the APA. But the idea is that you have a deadline for making changes. And then my instinct… you guys look at it, the Commission board’s gonna take action on it, I think it’s the… I want to say… I was looking at the calendar to remember what day it was.

Hauth: I think it’s early, like the 2nd or the 4th or something like that.

Morris: Yeah, I think you’re right. I think it’s November 2nd is when it’s scheduled for the commission to take action on it. But that means that we have a little leeway but that’s already set up. So, yeah, that’s why… another thing I was gonna talk about in my Director's Report today. You know, we’re… time is spooling down. So, yeah.

Hauth: Yeah. Okay.

StevensonA: Well, and I’m having difficulties with the fact that the agency, under the law, and it was even talked about in their last monitoring report, that you can’t adopt rules or policies until you’ve [inaudible] from RSA. And I know you have said you tried to get ahold of Jesse and talk

to him. I actually tried to get ahold of Jesse and talk to them. But as… as far as that goes, Eric, how can the state licensing agency move forward when, you know, you’re supposed to have the blessing of the federal entity that oversees the state licensing agency?

Morris: So… So your question is, “What happens if RSA doesn’t approve them?”

StevensonA: Well, my question is, how can you move forward with the rules and adopt them, you know, when they say, federally by law you have to get their blessing.

Morris: Yeah.

StevensonA: How can you move forward in the process? I mean, how can you actually adopt rules as a state…

Morris: Uh huh.

StevensonA: … when that hasn’t occurred?

Morris: Well, Jesse gave me his commitment that RSA would give us the approval by the deadline.

Jackson: Is there a chance to file for an extension? {Inaudible] of the law? The deadline?

Morris: I don’t know how that would be done, Steve. It’s part of the statute, so….

Hauth: Let me… Let me ask a question, if I could, just on what you said, Eric. So Jesse gave you his commitment that they would provide you their suggestions before… or the recommendations before that date? Is that what he said?

Morris: Yes.

Hauth: So what if there’s a…

StevensonA: Before the 23rd?

Morris: Not before the 23rd, necessarily; before we had to put them into effect.

StevensonA: Well, and what I’m… what I’m trying to understand is, when you’re having a public hearing on the 23rd and you’re supposed to take public comments, if you haven’t gotten a… yeah. If you haven’t got a final document and… and… Well, if you haven’t got…

Morris: It doesn’t have to be a final document on the 23rd, Art.

Jackson: But [inaudible].

Morris: [Inaudible] file.

StevensonA: Huh?

Morris: It has to be a final document [inaudible].

Jackson: Can I say something really fast? I think that what he’s trying to say is it would be better to turn in a more revised handbook/rules that… so that there would be less controversy and comments and things would run a little more smoother. So, I think that’s what he’s trying to say. Shouldn’t we, you know, have the discussion on the stuff that [inaudible].

StevensonA: [Inaudible.]

Jackson: Yeah. Well, we need to do it, like, chop chop. So we don’t have any time [inaudible]. We need to hammer out [inaudible] subcontract…

Hauth: Hey, if you could find out, Eric… if you could find out from, I guess, Gretchen… so, how the 23rd plays into continuing active participation. ‘Cause the way I was kind of reading was that that was the last date to be able to receive or to participate, you know. So if we… if the Elected Committee could better understand that… and we’re continuing, you know… things haven’t changed from yesterday. We’re still working as diligently as we can to get you, you know, I believe, a proposed version as soon as we can. So.

StevensonA: Well… Chair Hauth?

Hauth: Yes.

StevensonA: So, now that the fiscal impact committee has met and made recommendations as required by law, when does the agency make comments or changes or any of that kind of stuff before the 23rd? So, obviously, the agency said there was no fiscal impact. Obviously, during the fiscal impact committee meeting there was general agreement that there was fiscal impact. And so, how does that… how does that affect things, Eric, concerning the rulemaking process and stuff? I mean…

Morris: That things and stuff are you talking about?

StevensonA: Well, I’m talking about… I’m talking about the rules. Obviously, you… OCB made a fiscal impact statement that there was no fiscal impact.

Morris: I think we said it was undetermined. I believe that’s what it said. Anyway…

StevensonA: So… So anyways, I mean, now that we have the fiscal impact committee…

Morris: Sure.

StevensonA: … you know, obviously, the agency is going to take some action concerning that information.

Morris: Uh huh.

StevensonA: So when does that officially happen?

Morris: Probably as soon as possible.

StevensonA: Well, so it…

Morris: But not tomorrow.

StevensonA: Right. But are you… are you issuing a statement on the fiscal impact committee input? How… How is that… How is that done?

Morris: So, if you remember from yesterday, and the actual hearing itself and what I was reading, is that the fiscal impact committee is to comment on the fiscal impact of the rules, correct? So what it said is that the agency would take that testimony into consideration around the fiscal impact statement. That’s what the hearing was all about yesterday, was the fiscal impact statement. Now, how that statement versus the rules themselves… I know, reading in the APA you’re supposed to take comment about fiscal impact and reduce fiscal impact where it’s… where it’s feasible. So, like, if you were…

StevensonA: You’re supposed to reduce it?

Morris: Supposed to take it into consideration, is how I recall it. I don’t have the AG with me and I didn’t memorize it, so…

StevensonA: Oh, okay.

Morris: But the idea is that if there’s a way to reduce the fiscal impact then the agency should do that. So, like, one of the examples I read somewhere is that if you’re at DEQ and you tell people, “Hey, you’ve got to report whatever every single month to the DEQ” is there a way to mitigate that [inaudible]. Those records should be kept on location for inspection. I mean, those kind of things. So that’s… that’s… I think that’s one of the examples I read.

Hauth: So, Director Morris said, you know, Art, he’s going to… the agency’s going to give that report as soon as possible. And I certainly understand your comments and concerns. You know, I think we… personally, I think we focus on, you know, the product at hand and addressing it through getting the revisions that Susan and that Terry and that we as a board have suggested previously. We get that package together, we get it to the agency through active participation and we take an official position on it and then we deal with the other implications that may occur, you know. So.

StevensonA: Well, and I hear what you’re saying, Randy. And I also know, you know, the active participation part and their responsibility and… and so I do also think not only do we, you know, make our recommendations in the rules but, as Eric just said, you know, the agency needs to do

whatever… and he didn’t [inaudible] but we definitely look at what it says. We can also make our recommendations, I believe, on what should be done in the rules to absolutely minimize…

Hauth: Sure.

StevensonA: … the fiscal impact, especially to the blind licensed managers.

Hauth: And there’s some other… you know, hopefully, you know, hopefully we can get there. There’s some other options…

StevensonA: Mm hm.

Hauth: … through the APA to address concerns that we may have. But, again, hopefully we’ll get there. Anything else on that? Again, the 23rd… a notice has been sent out. So. Public hearing… upcoming training. I don’t recall how this got on there, if that was something that you had asked for, Art, or not. But is there any discussion around upcoming training.

StevensonA: [Inaudible], Mr. Chair. And, truthfully speaking, it’ll probably come to me after the meeting. But let’s go ahead and move on.

Hauth: Okay. Satisfaction survey. So I think I put this on there and…

SmithG: Randy, question from the floor.

Hauth: Yes.

SmithG: What kind of training?

StevensonA: Yeah, we were trying to… we were trying to figure that out.

Hauth: Yeah, I don’t know how it got on there. I mean, one of the trainings, obviously, is some of the discussion we’ve had around the budget and the reporting and that type of thing, you know.

SmithG: Okay.

Hauth: But I don’t recall who asked for this to be put on or how it got on there. But.

SmithG: Okay.

Hauth: So, satisfaction survey. You know, the agency, the Commission for the Blind does surveys of their clients or consumers. And so one of the things I thought may be helpful in the future is to do a satisfaction survey with the managers and maybe identify some key complaints and see where we are with that and what… We can use it as a tool to improve, if there are any deficiencies, use it as a tool to improve those. If there aren’t then that’s great, too. But any discussion around that? What does the board think about that? How would we do that?

StevensonA: Mr. Chair?

Hauth: Yeah.

StevensonA: Obviously, on Friday evening we talked about the ten characteristics of a successful Business Enterprise Program and I… you know, we got through five of those and I believe that a satisfaction survey could be, you know… some of those things can be coordinated into that survey and that might be helpful. So that was just a thought, when you said… But I… I’m in agreement that we need to consistently communicate so that we know what problems exist.

Hauth: Okay.

StevensonA: It definitely could do that. And I would suggest we do it, like, on Survey Monkey so… so that, you know, it’s confidential and all that kind of stuff. ‘Cause it’s kept confidential from actually the… the person who’s doing the survey also, if I remember right. Is that right, Kathy?

Ewing: Yeah. We use Survey Gizmo and it’s confidential.

StevensonA: Right. So that would be my thoughts. And perhaps… I don’t know which committee would be appropriate or maybe we can develop a questionnaire between now and the next meeting…

Hauth: Yeah, and it might be helpful for Eric too to give us some ideas on what, you know, not only what we might think is important to survey but maybe the agency can provide some input for our consideration, too. And then we can… You know, obviously the rules are the priority right now.

StevensonA: Yes. Yes.

Hauth: But once we get past that I just wanted to entertain this as a discussion topic. I know Lewanda has commented on wanting to be more involved and possibly heading up a subcommittee or participating in…. So I know she’s busy trying to get her self-service locations, you know, rolled out. But hopefully we can – I don’t know if Lewanda’s on the line or not – but hopefully we can get her engaged in that, you know. She’s good at the administrative type of… and I think that’d be right up her alley. So.

Morris: So you guys are gonna staff this?

[00:46:37]

Hauth: Pardon me?

Morris: Do you want us to staff it? Or do you…?

Hauth: Well, know what? Thinking through it – again, this is gonna be probably a little while because our focus is the rules – but our thoughts are maybe work on developing the survey and then, you know, we can decide, it goes out through the Survey Monkey that you guys have or how, you know, how best that would work.

Morris: Well, I’m just keeping in mind, like Kathy said, Survey Gizmo is accessible.

Hauth: Okay.

Morris: That’s why we use Survey Gizmo.

StevensonA: Yeah.

Hauth: Okay. So anyway, I notice there wasn’t any other, as usually there is, and I may have missed that when we put the agenda together. But we talked yesterday about the federal vending machine income and a vote for that and amending the agenda. So I don’t know if we do that under New Business or we take a motion to amend the agenda to include that or what the board’s preference would be. So.

StevensonA: So, yeah. Yeah, we probably should’ve done that at the beginning. But you can say any other new business and I would say, yeah, this is an appropriate time…

Morris: There’s an Other under Old Business.

StevensonA: Huh?

Morris: There’s an Other… actually, there’s an Other cat… there’s two Other categories, under Old Business and just an Other under Chair Hauth.

StevensonA: Yeah, so…

Hauth: What do you guys want to do? Move ahead and take care of it under that or…?

[Multiple unclear voices.]

Hauth: Okay. So, moving along, Old Business: we have… make sure I didn’t miss anything here. Old Business, we have BEP rules update. Well, we might… again, let’s… let’s talk briefly about the subject again. My thoughts are, we get the draft completed ASAP and those suggested revisions contained within and others that may be appropriate and we get that to the agency for active participation and then we, if the board so chooses, we call a special meeting and we take a position on [inaudible].

StevensonA: Chair Hauth?

Hauth: Yes.

StevensonA: On the rules, real quickly, we had a discussion yesterday on the cafeterias and snack bars in the rules automatically being allowed to have the choice whether to contract or do those facility types, you know, or to do them theirselves, whichever was best for their particular situation. And so I… I want to make a motion that that definitely be incorporated into the rules because, you know, I do think, as I said yesterday and as Terry Smith said, that that was a no-brainer. If they’re working full-time in a cafeteria or snack bar they should have the right to choose. So I’m gonna make a motion that… that we make sure that that is definitely incorporated in the rules.

Hauth: So a motion’s been made. Do I have a second?

Jackson: Second.

Hauth: A second’s been made. Any discussion?

Bird: I got a discussion.

Hauth: Sure.

Bird: I’m… kind of see Art’s little bit of point there for the thing on the reasoning why we want to maybe say that cafeteria and that automatically just services… have them serviced [inaudible]. I still… which, you know, I still got a problem with it because why does it work for all vending facility, so why does the cafeteria and that get a special break? I know you’re concern is because of working full-time but still, I believe it was Terry who said that, like, you can’t give one person something different than the rest of us. So I kind of disagree with that, that we all ought to, you know… I see your concept on, you know, if they’re already working. But, jeez, if they’re in the building, that’s the no-brainer. You fill them yourself because you’re right there and you have to have a store room or something. Now, if they’re hard to get to and that, that could be a little different. But just wanted all… we all… there shouldn’t be special rules for special facilities. Thank you.

Bird: Mr. Chair?

Hauth: Yes.

StevensonA: Okay. And I’m not talking about special rules for special things. I’m saying that a vending route is a vending route, Jerry. You and I both have vending routes and I agree with you 100% that… that we should have choice also and that we definitely need to work on that. However, the vending was attached specifically to enhance the income of cafeterias and snack bars, completely different than the vending routes. And… And so it is a different situation. And… And so, that’s why I made that motion, that… because what we’re talking about, okay… The state statutes, 3253, you know the “Hey, these people got to prove they’re working… that they’re working their facility.” Well, there’s nothing in the statute about the cafeterias and the snack bars having to prove that… it… it just relates to the vending routes. And so that’s why I’m making this motion. Of course, you know, Terry has said that… that it was a no-brainer, that

they should be allowed to make the choice whether they want to keep the machines or subcontract. So I respectfully, my friend, disagree with you because we’re talking about apples and oranges here, in regards…

Hauth: Let me… Let me make a comment, if I may. I think that might be included in one of Terry’s recommendations. I’m… I’m with Jerry. I’m a little bit, you know, and I know, Art, you and I have talked about this. Everybody should have the choice.

StevensonA: Yeah.

Hauth: And I mean, that’s the position that I want to take and I don’t know if incorporating that, you know, takes away…

StevensonA: Well…

Hauth: … or add to that. And I get where you’re going, you know. And I don’t know why the agency wouldn’t have automatically included that in there…

StevensonA: I know.

Hauth: … you know, but…

StevensonA: Okay.

Hauth: Anyway…

StevensonA: I will… I will… I would like to change my motion a little bit.

SmithG: Question from the floor.

Hauth: Hold on.

StevensonA: Wait a second, Gordo. To… To include the vending routes. That way, we’re definitely taking a position on both aspects. And I will… I hear exactly what you’re saying, Randy and Jerry. And so because that was…

Hauth: Well, go ahead and amend it.

StevensonA: So anyways, I make the motion, if the Elected Committee supports it in the rules, that all blind licensed managers – vending routes, snack bars, cafeterias – should have the right in our rules to choose whether they service their machines or use a subcontractor or a teaming partner.

Hauth: Okay. So that was an amended motion?

StevensonA: Yeah. That’s what I want to say…

Hauth: You accept that, Steve? You seconded it, right?

Jackson: Yes, I do. I second that, yes.

Hauth: Okay. Discussion?

Bird: Discussion. I still don’t see… I still don’t understand… I still don’t see how you think we can make a motion to put something in the rules as a committee right at this time. I mean, rules are… supposed to be working together on them, so I just don’t see how… I mean, if we’re… if we have the authority to sit here and say, “We want this put in the rules now” then there’s a lot more stuff I’d like to have changed in the rules, if we had that authority. I just don’t think we have the authority to make a motion and vote on ourselves to change the rules. It’s [inaudible].

StevensonA: We’re voting to put it in the rules.

Bird: The rules are already… we’re already trying to negotiate rules. We can’t do that as a body, I don’t think. We’re trying to get a letter brought out and it state… and if you want that to be part of your letter, I guess, maybe the recommendations on how we would like the rules tweaked a little bit, like you say. But I just don’t see where we as a body of a committee have any authority to just make a rule change.

Jackson: How about we make a recommendation?

Hauth: Yeah, I… Jerry, I think – and correct me if I’m wrong, Art – but you were suggesting that it was part of…

StevensonA: Incorporate it into… into…

Hauth: Incorporate it into…

StevensonA: … into…

Hauth: The draft that we’re going to submit…

StevensonA: … the draft rules, that we’re gonna be submitting, Jerry.

Jackson: Pretty much already…

StevensonA: ‘Cause that…

Bird: I disagree. You guys can do what you want. [Inaudible.]

Hauth: Any other comment?

Jackson: I feel like it’s already in there. I kind of feel like we’re saying something we’re already [inaudible].

Hauth: Any other comment? Okay. Gordon, I know you wanted to say something. Go ahead.

SmithG: No I think you… between Jerry and Art and yourself, I think you answered my question. What… It’s been bouncing around so much that I’ve lost track of what you’re actually trying to do. Now, does this have to do with the powers that we’re supposed to put in on our business?

Hauth: Yes… Yes and no. It has to do with… yes, both unemployment and the choice to utilize a subcontractor, a teaming partner and incorporate that allowance within the revised draft rules that we’re going to submit to the agency for active participation.

SmithG: Okay. Thank you.

Hauth: Don’t feel too confused because most of us are. Okay, I will go ahead and call the vote on yea or nay. Jerry Bird.

Bird: Nay

Hauth: Steve Gordon?

Gordon: I’ve got a controversy with it, too. {Inaudible.]

Hauth: Derrick Stevenson. [Silence.] Derrick, are you on the line?

StevensonD: Yeah, I think it’s something that we’re already doing but I’ll vote yea for it.

Hauth: Okay.

StevensonD: Just to make sure.

Hauth: Art Stevenson.

StevensonA: Yea.

Hauth: Steve Jackson.

Jackson: I vote yes.

Hauth: I vote yes as well. So go ahead and that motion’s passed. And, you know, not a perfect scenario. I know there’s… like Jerry said, we’re going to address. So let’s go ahead and move forward if there’s nothing else on this, on the BEP rules update. Self-service operation update. I don’t know if Eric you want to give us an overview on that or if you have that contained within your Director's Report. But wanted to see specifically for the volunteers… 'cause I know there

was, like, seven volunteers that had stepped up and said they wanted to do whatever we call it, “direct service.”

Morris: Sure.

Hauth: And I believe Harold was one, Char was one, Lewanda was one. I don’t…

StevensonA: Those are the only ones I know of.

Hauth: Yeah.

Barraza: I didn’t hear my name. Sal.

Hauth: What is it? Anyway, so I know that… Anyway, can you give us an update? Just fill us in on what’s going on with that? And if there’ve been any sticking points, why. How those are getting, you know, resolved.

Morris: Yeah, I wasn’t really prepared to but I can… I can give you a brief update. Char… Char’s here, right?

Hawkins: Yeah.

Morris: Char can speak for herself. With Char and Harold, as far as I know, things are going well. The big hiccup we had with Lewanda was procuring a truck. You know, buying vehicles… I bought a lot of vehicles. I haven’t bought any commercial vehicles. So that was a much bigger task than I had anticipated in the sense that getting the right… I mean, you can just go out and buy anything. You know, we wanted to get the right thing. So that’s taken a long time to do and that’s kind of held her up. The good thing is, the check is in the mail to get that done. So that’s kind of where we’re at right this second.

Hauth: Okay…

StevensonA: So, Eric?

Morris: Yes, Art.

StevensonA: I’m trying to wrap my head around that. I know Char was on the list. Char has her vans.

Morris: Yeah.

StevensonA: And Lewanda was on the list and she was supposed to be number one. There was no hiccups with Char; she has her van.

Morris: Yep.

StevensonA: And… And Lewanda doesn’t. I… I’m trying to understand that. Because, obviously, one van has been purchased but, from what I understand, it’s going to be another two months…

Morris: Yeah, they got to build it.

StevensonA: … for Lewanda. And so that… that kind of… And, no offense to Char, okay? She’s a…

Morris: What… What’s…

StevensonA: She’s a restaurant.

Morris: What’s your question, Art?

StevensonA: Well, I just want to know why, you know, one manager got it and then what was the controversy with that? Now, I…

Morris: I don’t think there was any controversy, Art. I think… The van that Char needed is significantly different from what Lewanda needs. So…

Bird: Lewanda’s vending route…

Morris: Yeah, Lewanda’s vending route is over a massive territory so that vehicle needed to be a little different animal. So it took longer to figure out the right type of… basically, the right truck. So…

Bird: Have you secured her vending machines while they’s sitting there waiting?

Morris: Yep.

Bird: [Inaudible.]

Morris: Yep.

Bird: How many vending machines is Char taking care of?

Morris: [Inaudible.]

Hauth: It’s not 100% though, right?

Morris: What?

Hauth: Char can weigh in if she’d like to but the question was, is Char servicing 100% of…

Hawkins: I am.

Hauth: … her vending.

Hawkins: I will be as soon as we can get in the prison. But that takes… You know, somebody dropped the ball, not on the Commission’s side but the prison side.

Hauth: Okay.

Hawkins: We’re now waiting for our fingerprints and when they come back we can get into the prison and I will be doing 100%.

Hauth: Okay. Well, thank you. Hey, Art, I got a… Eric, so where is the funding stream that’s buying the vehicles for the managers that volunteered, like for Char and/or Lewanda? Where is that money…?

Morris: It’s coming out of VR.

Hauth: Coming out of VR?

Morris: VR-110.

Hauth: Okay.

StevensonA: Was that for the vans?

Hauth: So, yeah. So I know Lewanda’s not here and I’m not going to speak for her but I’ll speak to the concerns that I have heard, is one: she moved over to La Grande in anticipation of self-servicing because that’s her choice, that’s what she wanted to do. And it seemed like, you know, the cage… the cages were an issue and the machines were an issue and now the van is an issue. But it looks like you guys are working through that and trying to get that resolved. When will her… When will her van be here? And does she only need one van? ‘Cause I understand she’ll need more than one. So.

Barraza: Randy, can I…?

Hauth: Hold on just a sec, Sal. Please. And right after Eric.

Morris: I don’t have an exact delivery date for the van. They told us it’s gonna be a couple of months. I think they said eight weeks. January. So… and I don’t understand why it takes that long but that’s what they said. So what was the other question?

Hauth: A recommendation. I understand she will need more than one van so is that in the process? Or has that been a discussion topic?

Morris: We talked about that. It’s been a long time since we talked about that. The one that we’re getting is significant. So, yeah, I don’t know the answer.

Hauth: Okay. Salvador, go ahead.

SmithK: Your turn.

Hauth: Was that Sal?

SmithK: Yeah.

Hauth: Okay.

[00:58:55]

Barraza: I just want to make it simple. I do take over a few cafeterias and inventory, orders cost so much and I have to pay for it. And it’s not in there. I know Harold’s not here, but that’s okay. When I take over the cafeterias, you know, the inventory was so high, I had to pay so much money for the set-aside [unclear]. And then I had to pay for the inventory too when it’s not right, well done, for people who is not there to do it. And I don’t want to say who or whatever. But I know I have, you know, when I take care of the dining cafeteria, it was nothing there, [unclear]. Rats.

Jackson: Oh no.

Barraza: Yeah. Mm hm. I clean it up and everything myself and nobody pays me for anything. I clean it up and… and I had to pay Harold almost $3,000 or more, you know. And there’s nothing there.

Hauth: Sure.

Barraza: It was not even two hundred. And Art was here when I pick up [unclear].

Hauth: So what can we do to help you?

Barraza: I’m paying Harold money back for the inventory wasn’t there. And I pay for inventory and I take it in the past, long time ago, and you know that.

StevensonA: So… Okay. So, Salvador, in order to clarify this…

Barraza: Now nothing has happened.

StevensonA: Right. You…

Barraza: [Unclear.]

StevensonA: Yeah. You went in there…

Barraza: I went in there, but nothing [unclear].

StevensonA: There was some inventory.

Barraza: There was nothing.

StevensonA: Nothing?

Barraza: There was nothing there.

StevensonA: And… And…

Barraza: [Unclear.] When I take over a long time ago, about 36 years ago, Randy, you was there. And you left and I went there and you left me nothing and I…

Hauth: That might’ve been like 23 years ago.

Barraza: It is. Yeah but....

Hauth: [Unclear] I don’t recall.

StevensonA: So are you… are you saying, so I understand, that you’re supposed to…

Barraza: You don’t understand nothing.

StevensonA: … pay $3,000 for product that… $3,000…

Barraza: I’m not paying it right now. [Unclear.] I pay monies…

Hauth: So what can we… what can we help you with, Sal? Your comments, while we care about them…

Barraza: What I… What I mean, you know, I mean you take advantage of my position. You guys.

StevensonA: Yeah.

Barraza: ‘Cause what I’m doing, I try to help you out [unclear]. All right?

StevensonA: Mm hm.

Barraza: Okay? Okay. I know what I’m doing and I help you guys. All of you. And you never appreciate that.

Hawkins: Wasn’t there a representative from the Commission there? There’s supposed to be during inventory. So this kind of thing doesn’t happen.

StevensonA: Salvador?

SmithK: He needs a van, is what he’s telling me. He has to do his own shopping, do delivering and whatever and he has to use his own vehicle. He’s back there buying vans for whatever.

Hauth: Well, again, let me…

Barraza: Somebody…

Hauth: Hey! Ho ho ho ho! Let me take this meeting back over, okay? That’s my duty. Salvador, what can we do to help you? That’s what I’m trying to figure out. [Silence.] What’s your request? Is your request that the board can consider to help you with?

Barraza: I don’t need anything right now. Like I said, I [unclear] myself.

Jackson: You should be paid…

Barraza: What I need for you guys to do is, why you charge me too much for set-aside? I’m always paying set-aside. A lot! When I give you a black [unclear], a favor, to take over all that’s there…

Bird: Well, I say, Sal, I am your rep. So if you have some problems, please…

Barraza: You never call me.

Bird: … and I’ll try to work with you, if I can.

Hauth: So… Well, I’m sorry you feel that way, Salvador. But please reach out to your rep or the board. And if we can work through some of those issues we’d be glad to. So.

StevensonA: Um.

Colley-Dominique: Well, he shouldn’t have to buy his own van for…

StevensonA: Yeah, Salvador? Let’s make arrangements to do a call and… and talk about this. And we’ll get it resolved for you.

Barraza: To who do I call? You?

Bird: Call me. I’m your rep.

StevensonA: Call Jerry first. Yeah, he’s your rep. And… and then we will help you resolve your issues.

Hauth: Yeah and, you know, Salvador, I can tell you, I care about you the same way I care about any other manager here and so do the other board members. We’re all blind vendors. So even

though sometimes we may have differences of opinion, we’re here to advocate and support you. So.

StevensonA: Yes.

Hauth: Please know that. So we were in the discussion of self-service. So is there any other…? You know, Char, are things going okay with you?

Hawkins: Yeah…

Hauth: Is there any…

Hawkins: Yeah. Just waiting for the prison and…

Hauth: Waiting for what? I’m sorry.

Hawkins: Just waiting for the…

Hauth: Okay.

Hawkins: … to get in the prison. That’s basically…

Hauth: Okay. And if you don’t mind…

Hawkins: …two-thirds of my business is at the prison.

Hauth: Sure.

Hawkins: I’ve got all the little kind of junky stuff now, like $50 a month for soda machine and stuff. And I think Tom Pileggi… We’re talking about maybe removing some of the machines in areas that, you know, if you don’t use it then, I’m sorry but, you know, it’s a business decision. So. So other than that, yeah, I think things are going well.

Hauth: Can I ask you… So the vehicle that you got…

Hawkins: Yeah, it was just a Ford Transit van…

Hauth: So it’s not a box van?

Hawkins: No. Well, it’s a box van. It’s just…

Hauth: So will you be able to function in the prison with that?

Hawkins: Yes.

Hauth: Okay.

Hawkins: You know, as far as the bottles, yeah, it’ll be...

Hauth: So have you gotten all the VMS or what… other racking or anything for your warehousing? Or have you gotten anything…

Hawkins: No. I don’t have racking. I didn’t request it. We’re still kind of working out the situation in the van, as far as things sliding. I mean, we have a cage but we may put rubber on the floor or something 'cause when you stop real quick you usually have a can…

Hauth: Yeah, it’s fun… it’s fun to have all your pop fall over.

Hawkins: It is, especially cans ‘cause they usually explode.

Hauth: Well, again, let us know if we can do anything or…

Hawkins: Thank you.

Hauth: … if you run into any issues and we can work with the agency on that.

StevensonA: So Char, are you all ready to take over the scrip vending and stuff too? You’re clear on what you need for that and…?

Hawkins: No, I’m not. But the [inaudible] stuff is just getting our… I mean, I still have to give notice to my teaming partner. And so I’m figuring we’re probably not gonna get in there till January. But I intend to find out about… I believe that I need to talk to this prison. It’s an individual thing, as far as I’m concerned and we will deal with it any way we need to. So…

StevensonA: Well…

Hawkins: … I think it’s discrimination when they just want one company to run everything around the state. That’s not really fair and it’s not, you know, the law right now, either. So they’re gonna have to work with us. I’m sorry but…

StevensonA: Well, no, I… I’m hearing what you’re saying and I was a part… I was back on the Elected Committee when the contract was developed with the prisons concerning the scrip vending.

Hawkins: Okay.

StevensonA: And they wanted one… one individual doing it because of the administrative part of it and realized at that part… at that time, everybody was subcontracting and that’s what the prisons wanted. And… And so, you know, that was what was developed in the contracts and everything. And so, obviously, with the scrip vending you have to buy the scrip. You sell it to... to the prison.

Hawkins: Right.

StevensonA: And… And then when you collect it, you know, they… they reimburse you for the scrip that goes through the machines. So…

Hawkins: I know. But Lewanda’s prison in… at Snake River is not the same as Canteen’s here. So they obviously are using different companies already.

StevensonA: Well, no, there is two because Canteen wasn’t there. But…

Hawkins: Oh, I know.

StevensonA: … here where all the prisons… There was quite a few prisons.

Hawkins: Okay.

StevensonA: That’s why it was all together. And so, why they wanted to go with one company, because of the administration of it. Because obviously, if they’ve got ten different accounts and, you know, it’s ten different separate accounts.

Hawkins: I guess we’ll kind of cross that bridge when they tell us…

StevensonA: No, I was just curious on where you were on that.

Hawkins: No, I haven’t. I mean, we need to go in and meet with the person still that… They had a turnover in staff and that’s kind of how the ball got dropped, as far as the… We’ve done all our classes and we’re – our online classes – and we’re just waiting to get our fingerprints and get them back and then we’re good to go 'cause so far we’re approved. So, yeah, unless somebody [inaudible] between now and then [inaudible].

StevensonA: Okay. So… So… Is Randy here or…?

Hauth: Yeah. Yeah, I’m here.

StevensonA: Okay. ‘Cause I don’t have the agenda in front of me to… So…

Hauth: Where are we at right now?

StevensonA: We’re still on the self-service.

Hauth: Okay. Can I ask a question or are you in the middle of a discussion?

StevensonA: Who… Who were you gonna…? I just… Eric?

Morris: Yes, Art.

StevensonA: Want to know where I’m at. I have a vending route and obviously we had talked about my machines. I had been told that they were gonna be purchased and I haven’t gotten one new machine yet. And also, the upgrading of my machines at the Safety Academy to put credit cards capabilities, that hasn’t occurred. And… And so… what… what’s going on? I mean, you know, I haven’t been contacted once that any machines have been ordered. And… And so I just… It seems like things aren’t getting done.

Morris: Well, plenty of things are getting done. But I… we… you and I haven’t talked about that since…

Jaynes: Can’t hear.

Morris: … May or June?

StevensonA: Well…

Morris: So we need to have a conversation about that.

StevensonA: Well, I… I mean, machines were supposed to be ordered. We’d already talked about them. I gave you a list.

Morris: You gave me a list but I didn’t say, “Hey, we’re willing to trigger an order.”

StevensonA: Well, now… now… Okay. And… And… see this is… this is… this is replacement of machines that are old, antiquated. They don’t have the credit card capabilities and… and… and stuff. And... And there shouldn't be a conversation. I should… The machines should be ordered and… and they should be on their way. And… And…

Morris: So you’re telling me to order the machines?

StevensonA: Well…

Morris: Is that your directive?

StevensonA: Now see… Hey, Eric…

Morris: That’s how it sounds to me.

StevensonA: Well… Well, listen! You told me, okay…

Morris: Sure.

StevensonA: No, what I’m saying is, you told me that the machines were gonna get ordered. My existing machines are old and antiquated. They don’t have credit card capabilities.

Morris: Uh huh.

StevensonA: Okay? You said you were gonna order them. You’re supposed to… under… under the rules, you’re supposed to replace old, antiquated machines and… and, you know, there shouldn’t be any controversy about that, that those machines should’ve already been ordered.

Morris: Art, I don’t think there is any controversy.

StevensonA: Well…

StevensonD: Point of order, please.

Hauth: Yeah. Yeah, go ahead, Derrick.

StevensonD: I think… I think this is kind of like a personal thing, that if Art doesn’t feel like things are happening, I think maybe… maybe file a complaint or… or something. I don’t think this is the venue for this.

Hauth: Okay. Thank you. Eric, so can I ask you why the machines haven’t been ordered?

Morris: Well, like Derrick said, to get in the gruesome details of it, Art sent me a list of machines that he wanted replaced and then we need to go out and take a look and see if that’s… what’s there, what needs to be replaced with what type of machine. And that hasn’t occurred yet.

Hauth: Okay. And I don’t know all the details but I… just listening, if a manager’s requesting machines, you know, they should be… they should be provided, I would expect. But I don’t know…

Bird: I got a question.

Hauth: Yeah. Yeah, go ahead.

Bird: I’m kind of wondering why, Eric, we don’t get our own warehouse from the agency and [inaudible] machines to put them in there. They’re there in stock. And then when a person needs them they [inaudible]. Why do we have to keep ordering individual machines? [Inaudible due to other voices in background.] Why not [inaudible]? Get a hundred of them each and as they go down, replenish them. Then we have a central place that could be distributed as necessary. Wouldn’t that make a little more sense?

Morris: I think it’s a different strategy, Jerry, is what it amounts to. And I think… Part of the thing that I’ve learned over time now, talking to different machine manufacturers or different distributors, is a lot of times, if you go out and look at the machines that are out in locations now, you know, it’s a four-row smaller snack machine or it’s a big snack machine. And you ask yourself, well, why… when it’s not apparent why it’s a big snack machine, you’re like, “Why is this big snack machine…?”

Bird: More people there.

Morris: Exactly! So… and I’ve talked to some people who kind of know the business from that angle and I’m like, “Well, they came in and said, ‘We’re gonna get you a snack machine.’” And it’s whatever they had sitting in their warehouse. So as we roll this program out we tried to make some logical decisions about usually replacing what’s there or saying, “Wait a minute. This is a giant snack machine.” So…

Bird: … necessary.

Morris: … customizing it a little. Yeah, in the places where it needs a big one, of course! But in the smaller places, kind of like Char said, some of these places we’ve put in machines and I think we did it 'cause we could force the subcontractor to put in a machine that wasn’t necessarily the best for profitability. But if you’re running the machine yourself you don’t want to go there for 25 bucks a month. So that’s… As we’ve ordered them we try to take the approach that we’re going out and looking at what’s there, specifically. And if it works good and doing well, hey, we’ll get another one like that, usually a better version of whatever that is.

Bird: But why wouldn’t you get an assortment of them in a warehouse? You have little ones, big ones…

Morris: I’m sure we could do that. It’s just a matter of… you know, one philosophy versus a different philosophy. I don’t disagree that that’s a bad philosophy…

Hauth: I did see… I did…

Bird: They just want machines, you got 50 of them sitting in a warehouse…

Hauth: I will… I will say I did see an email exchange like… it looked like Art was almost, like, begging for some machines and ended up having to go out to his subcontractor/teaming partner because those weren’t being provided. And I saw some dialog from that agency where he was providing those and they weren’t… they weren’t happy with why it hadn’t been provided. So, again, I don’t know all the details but I don’t think a manager should have to jump through all kinds of hoops to get their machines provided, if that’s in fact the case. So I don’t know, Art, if there’s anything that the Elected Committee can do to assist or if you can work with Eric on that or, you know. But….

StevensonA: Well, Mr. Chair, I sent a list of machines that I needed for these locations to replace the existing machines that were there that would have credit card capabilities, gave a description of exactly what I needed. And this was several months ago and nothing has evidently happened. In fact, the one location, you know, they wanted credit card capabilities and stuff. And… And so, you know, it was on that list. Eric was talking about the emails and I got an email from them saying, “What’s going on?” And… And, of course, I found out this was a month and a half ago, that the machines hadn’t been ordered and I didn’t know what was going on. And the email also said, “I’ve copied the Director of the program. Perhaps he can let you know when the machines are coming in.” And he didn’t even respond to them. He didn’t even contact them and say, “Hey, we’re in the process of ordering machines.” Or “Hey, we’re coming

out to survey it.” Of course, they really didn’t need to survey it 'cause I told them exactly what kind of machines I needed. And… And… And so I don’t know how much conversation I got to continue to have with the agency. But it was embarrassing as heck to get a quote unquote email from one of our purveyors who happened to be a part of the Department of Administrative Services and they go, “Wow, we thought we’d have our machines by now.” And they still haven’t even been ordered. And…

Jackson: So what can we do, Art?

StevensonA: Well, I… I mean…

Jackson: Should we ask Eric [inaudible]?

StevensonA: That’s what I’m trying to figure out because…

Bird: I got a suggestion.

StevensonA: … I gave, you know, I gave the list of machines I needed…

Hauth: Okay.

StevensonA: … because I know what’s existing there…

Jackson: [Inaudible.]

StevensonA: … and, you know, that’s not complicated. We know what machines we have.

Hauth: Okay. Let me…

StevensonA: So…

Hauth: Let me ask Eric 'cause I think we know your story right now, you know? So, Eric, I know Jerry wanted to make a suggestion.

Bird: I just wanted… I wondered… sounds like they don’t have a process put together yet on how to remedy this. I think [inaudible] machines that are needed. Now whether Tom should go out or maybe go with Art and you need to go to them particular machines that’s asked for, identify them and do the little survey to see if all the ones there are good enough to be for what’s needed, need a bigger one, a smaller one, so you could… You know, we need a process [inaudible] because it sounds like Art sends a letter so now he’s waiting for you guys to do something. You’re saying, “Well, we don’t know [inaudible] these machines. We don’t know if they’re the ones that’s necessary.” So get someone to go up there. Have someone go out… It just sounds like you’re not gonna take what the vendor thinks they need to verify that that’s what’s proper equipment necessary to run this place. And then he go back and order them.

Morris: It does, Jerry, it makes perfect sense. And I think… The thing that I didn’t do was tell Art that he didn’t… just because he emailed me didn’t move him to the top of the priority list. And I think that’s the piece that I did not do. Because staff is busy doing lots of things, you know, the things we’ve talked about already. So that’s the piece, when somebody comes in and says, “Hey, I need this.” And it’s not… it’s not like it’s Sal’s freezer goes down, like an immediate emergency kind of thing. If it’s… we’re gonna stack it in the queue of list of things that come in by time that we’re gonna prioritize. I needed to communicate that to Art better, say, “Hey….” I understand where you’re coming from and I thought I’d kind of done that and say, “We’ll get to you when we can.” And a time estimate, say, “Hey, it’s gonna take a little time.” But, you know… and I think… I won’t go into a bunch of excuses. I think that’s the piece that I didn’t do correctly and I will do that in the future to say, “Hey…”

Bird: [Inaudible] so it runs a little smoother so we don’t have these problems.

Jackson: [Inaudible.]

StevensonA: What… What is higher priority than, you know, providing me with the equipment that I need to operate my facility? I don’t… I… I’m not…

Morris: Art, if we just had one person in the program, you would be the highest priority. But there’s many managers, 15 managers in the program. So can I give you a breakdown of who was higher priority of things we were working on at the time? I cannot because it was a few months ago. And, frankly, like right this second, my highest priority is working on the rules. Not that you’re not important, and I appreciate that. But, you know, every time… every time you have some kind of a beef, complaint or anything else, you never, ever call me and say, “Here’s my concern.” You shoot me an email or you bring it up in an Elected Committee meeting. So, as we talked about the other day, and I’m just… constructive criticism, the relationship piece is so important. And you and I used to talk every single day, every single day for, like, a year straight. And then, as soon as we didn’t come to an agreement on something, I haven’t talked to you since. I’ve talked to you probably a handful of times since then over a couple of …

StevensonA: Eric… Eric... Eric…

Morris: So…

StevensonA: I got an email from you on this situation, okay?

SmithG: Randy?

StevensonA: And you said… you said…

SmithG: Randy, this needs to be taken care of in private.

StevensonA: “We’re going to replace your existing machines and… and we’re gonna take… we’re gonna order the existing machines that you’re….” That was six months ago, Eric.

Morris: I don’t think it was six months ago.

StevensonA: Yeah, ugh! [Heavy sigh.]

Hauth: So anyway, let’s… let’s move on. Obviously it needs to be resolved but Eric, is there a way to get to yes? I mean, is there a way to fix this?

Morris: Yeah. [Inaudible.]

Hauth: Huh?

Morris: He needs to just give me a call and talk through it. What the… people need to understand is, just because you’re on the Elected Committee, when it comes to this kind of stuff, doesn’t move you up in the priority list.

Hauth: I don’t think anybody’s suggesting that, Eric.

Morris: I’m just telling you from a…

StevensonD: Mr. Chair!

Hauth: Anyway. Let me… Let me also, you know, I don’t think anybody’s suggesting that because they’re on the Elected Committee… Obviously we’ve got to work through it. I would suggest also, Eric, an email should be as valuable, if not more valuable, than a phone call. And I get what you’re saying. But it shouldn’t be about the relationship when the vendor needs equipment. So anyway, a couple other things, you know. I hate to move on but we have to because this is going in a circle. So Cathy… Cathy Dominique I believe was a volunteer. I don’t know if she’s still in the room but did you volunteer to direct service, Cathy?

Colley-Dominique: At the time I did volunteer to direct service when I was gonna take over Edith Green because there were only four… about four machines in there. Three or four.

StevensonA: She was going to take over Edith Green and there was only four… four machines and…

Hauth: So you’re not in the volunteer queue right now?

Colley-Dominique: I… no.

Hauth: Okay. I got to wait for Eric 'cause I want to ask him…

Morris: You need me?

Hauth: Hey, that bathroom’s locked. But.

Morris: Is it?

Hauth: I mean, give it a try but I’ve tried it a couple of times.

Colley-Dominique: No it’s not…

Jackson: There’s one down there.

Hauth: I want to… want to find out, Tom, if you can kind of elaborate. So Tessa Brown, I know that she was a volunteer, too, that wanted…

Morris: I’m just gonna stand for a while.

Hauth: Eric, there’s a bathroom over… at the back of this room.

Morris: Is there really?

Jackson: Straight, on the right of the door over there.

Morris: Musical bathrooms.

Hauth: We’ll take a… We’ll take a little of an adjournment for a minute.

Morris: No, go ahead. I’ll hold it.

Hauth: So the question is, I know Cathy initially was a volunteer to direct service and she’s chosen not to be a volunteer right now.

Morris: Uh huh.

Hauth: Tessa Brown, who we never hear anything about…

Morris: Okay.

Hauth: … I know she was a volunteer. Has that… Has that started to unfold? Has there been a rollout on her at all?

Morris: No, I think you’re right about where she’s at, like in the queue, but we have not started that piece of it yet. But I believe she’s up next, as I recall.

Hauth: Yeah. Okay.

Colley-Dominique: Randy? Chair?

Hauth: Yes.

Colley-Dominique: I… At the Multnomah County Courthouse I think there are… Is it six machines, Art?

StevensonA: What?

Riesmeyer: How many machines at the County Courthouse?

Pileggi: Multnomah County?

Riesmeyer: Yeah.

Colley-Dominique: There’s six, I think.

Pileggi: I think.

Colley-Dominique: Anyway, I’m not doing those. Art’s doing those for me because I don’t have storage.

Hauth: Right. But I think there’s some other vending assigned to your location too, right?

Colley-Dominique: Oh, yes.

Hauth: Okay.

Colley-Dominique: Definitely.

Hauth: Just wanted to get…

Colley-Dominique: And there’s a lot, I mean, a lot of…

StevensonA: Cathy, your plan…

Colley-Dominique: … all over the place.

StevensonA: Yeah. Your plan is to continue subcontracting for the…?

Colley-Dominique: Yeah. Unless… Unless, let’s say, if I could just do part of it. Let’s say… Actually, if you decided I don’t want to do these machines at the courthouse any more, I might be persuaded to take them over. But I’d need storage. But there’s no way I could do… All my vending is from Woodburn…

Hauth: Well, that’s… you know, that’s one of the things… Eric’s not in the room right now, but that’s why we continue to say it’s not a one size fits all.

Colley-Dominique: Right. Right.

Hauth: When we had initial meetings with Representative Keny-Guyer and the agency we… when we all said, “Lookit, this is a choice, right? If vendors want to do their own, more power to them.” And in some instances they may be able to be more profitable, but not in all. And everybody has a different… So it’s, again, it’s not a one size fits all. That’s why it should be the choice of the blind vendor using their business savvy to determine that. Or what they have as support or not, you know. So I just wanted to get a follow-up on that. So, is there anything else before we move on? On the…? Anybody on the phone?

BrownC: Chair?

StevensonD: Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Hauth: Yes, Derrick.

StevensonD: Yeah, I just kind of want to comment. There comes a certain time when things don’t get done that managers, you know, are gonna take it personal. I think… I think the dragging of the feet… This is just my opinion: I think Eric’s been dragging his feet and whatever because he… he had a problem with Art. And it’s evident the way, you know, sometimes they… they go back and forth. I think, you know, he… he gives the excuse that he’s been working on the rules and that’s why this stuff hasn’t been done. Well, he has staff and a part of his job is to delegate things… things out. And if he doesn’t have the time to do it then he needs to push it off to people on his staff. We’re not talking, you know, this takes a phone call. This takes a, you know, putting out a purchase order. I mean, it’s not something that takes an elaborate amount of time. I think, you know, the excuses that Eric’s been giving, to me, are just not acceptable. I think… think they should be doing these things, especially if a facility has asked that it be taken care of because they’re tired of dealing with old machines and breakdowns and aren’t able to use credit cards, whatever. These things… These things are priorities when… And it makes us look bad, as an organization, to not take care of these things in a faster manner. So that’s just my two cents.

[01:19:30]

Hauth: Thank you. Any other comment?

BrownC: Yes, I have a question. Celyn.

Hauth: Yes, Celyn.

BrownC: So we’re talking about vending machines and so I do have three vending machines at my location and I haven’t asked any information about those. I don’t know if they’re new or old or what. I mean, they’re working. So do I… I don’t know what I need to do. I mean, I guess… So you didn’t mention my location specifically but we seem to have talked about everyone else and I was just curious. Eric, do you have any…?

Morris: Yeah. I think they look about 2.75 years old. I… I don’t know. They look brand new to me. They’re Canteen machines, is my understanding.

Colley-Dominique: I think… You weren’t even sure who was serving them?

BrownC: No, I’m not even sure who’s servicing them.

StevensonA: Have… Have those machines been turned over to you, Celyn? There… Are you receiving any money?

BrownC: No.

StevensonA: And… Okay. Eric, all that takes is one phone call.

Hauth: Well, let’s ask Eric if they have been turned over yet. Do you know, Eric?

Morris: So Celyn’s been in there two weeks. And have I made that phone call yet? No, I have not. So she took over… what day was it?

BrownC: The sixth of September.

StevensonA: No, Eric… it hasn’t been two weeks. She was…

BrownC: [Inaudible.]

Hauth: Hold on, you guys! Let’s… Let’s not all talk over each other. So Eric said no. I think, Celyn, were you asking a question?

BrownC: [Inaudible.]

StevensonA: So, Eric? Eric?

Morris: Yes, Art.

StevensonA: Okay. Celyn was awarded that location in what month?

Morris: I believe it was July.

StevensonA: Okay. And… And Celyn at that time was the manager of that location and so it hasn’t been two weeks. In fact, I know during an Elected Committee meeting we talked about the vending. In fact, I believe I mentioned that she should receive the commissions for the actual month 'cause I… of July. So to say it’s only been two weeks is an inaccurate statement because I know we talked about it in the Elected Committee meeting and this is now… so, July, September, October. So it’s been a lot longer than two weeks.

Morris: Well, Art…

StevensonA: And she is entitled to that money.

Hauth: Okay. Let’s hear from Eric.

Morris: If you would’ve listened to what I said, Art, she’s been operating that location for two weeks. So I remember what you were talking about. It’s on my list of things to do. Because I agree. I think since she was assigned that location that she should get those vending revenues. But I haven’t done it yet.

Hauth: Well, if you’d work on that, Eric, that’d be great.

StevensonA: So… So I believe that’s being operated by Canteen?

Morris: I believe so. But if it’s not, then I… you know, it’s not an intentional misinformation. But I believe when I looked at that machine that they were Canteen machines.

StevensonA: Okay.

BrownC: Does it say Canteen on them?

Morris: I think so. But I would not testify in a court of law to that.

BrownC: Okay. Is there like a little sign that says…

Colley-Dominique: Yes.

BrownC: Oh, all right. I didn’t know. Okay. Okay. So I don’t need to… I just need… I don’t need to worry about that right now.

Morris: I’ll take care of it.

BrownC: All right. I’m good. Thank you for doing that.

Hauth: You bet. Anything else on that? Oh, I did want to ask you, Eric, real quick, before we move on. The VMS, what’s going on with the VMS procurement? And I…

BrownC: What does VMS stand for?

Hauth: Vending… Oh, I’m sorry, vending management system.

BrownC: Okay, thank you.

Morris: So we’re right in the middle of scoring and the whole scoring team’s got their scores done except for me. So I turn my scores in next week then we’ll meet with procurement and then finish up that process.

Hauth: Okay. And I know you said…

StevensonA: So…

Hauth: I know you stated during the last meeting that, even though you were going through… the agency was going through the procurement it was still going to be the choice of the managers on – and you can correct me if I’m wrong when I finish – but it was going to be the choice of the managers on what VMS system they wanted to use. That was one question. And then the other one: did the agency agree to pay for the first year of service charges for VMS… I guess, out of… paying out of set-aside? Is that what I heard? Or what I remember? Or can you give me an overview on what the agency’s position is on that?

Morris: We talked about… We talked about this at several meetings, about the VMS system. And if the managers want to use VMS they will need to use the one that we procure. If they don’t want to use it, that’s fine too. But in regards to the fees and stuff, I did say that we would pay for that first year’s fees for the VMS system.

StevensonA: So, Eric, how many companies?

Morris: Two.

StevensonA: So that would be GreenLite and…?

Morris: No.

StevensonA: Not GreenLite?

Morris: There was two companies that put in for the procurement. And I’m not gonna talk a whole bunch about it 'cause we’re right in the middle of procurement…

StevensonA: No, I just want to know the names of the companies.

Morris: Like I just said, I don’t know if I’m at liberty to say who… who did. ‘Cause I don’t know if that’s public knowledge until it’s done with the procurement process. Two companies applied and so we’re right in the middle of scoring them.

Hauth: Okay. Okay. Let’s go ahead and move on, if we can. The next item… and I’ll do an update. It’s 11:12 so we’re doing fine on time. We have address previous assignments/motions. I put this on the agenda and it’s a bone of contention with me that over the last, I don’t know, year, year and a half or so that the agency… and I know some of this dealt with, at least their position, the agency’s position was some of it dealt with HB 3253 and the whole subcontracting thing and we’re still mumbling through that process. But the concern was that locations such as when Char left the Lottery, that that assigned vending with that ended up getting directed into the agency. And also I know we addressed L & I and those funds being paid to the agency for that location. We talked about Joe Bassett’s former location and those funds going into the agency. We talked about White City and so forth and so on. And I know that the Elected Committee entertained and made an adopted motion and submitted those motions to the

agency to assist in assigning those revenues instead of going into the agency, going to the managers, which I believe is the right thing to do. The agency denied that motion. And so where we are right now is, how do we best address that, right? So, to file a complaint just to file a complaint, in my opinion, is not as significant as if you choose to file a complaint on grounds and merits that are valid and moving it forward, either with an advocate or an attorney, is probably the only way that you’re going to get the attention of the agency, I believe. So we have a number of people that are being negatively impacted by this and I think that we’re under those motions. I believe it was… I know it was Steve Jackson and Steve Gordon and Derrick Stevenson and maybe Lin Jaynes and Carole Kinney. I forget. There was a… There was a number of them. But… So, what do we do about that? How do we address it? Do we just take the no as a no and allow that to still continue? Or do we find a way to strategically address it and collectively address it? I know Derrick had talked about addressing the White City issue and he may be working on that as we speak. But how do we collectively get what we feel is intended by this program, and that’s those monies going to the managers? Do we strategize around supporting a complaint with legal advocacy to, you know, to make this happen? Or… Or is the agency’s position still set in stone that no, that you guys can’t have those, they’re ours? Or, you know… So I did want to hear from – after the board members – I did want to hear from Eric and his thoughts on is there a way to resolve it outside of some kind of, you know, formal action. So go ahead, Art.

StevensonA: Well, the state statute, as I’ve said time and time again, is very specific. The Commission for the Blind only provides for the continued operation of an established vending facility if a blind licensed manager’s not available for assignment, until one is. And I know for a fact that, through the Elected Committee and actually through managers… 'cause I know Derrick has contacted Eric and said, “Hey, I’m available.” And I don’t care if it’s temporary or permanent, it’s your choice. But it needs to be done. And it’s been totally, totally ignored by the agency, which is obviously a quote unquote violation of the state statute, a direct violation. Because the agency has been informed that a manager is available for assignment. And I know that the rules allow for temporary operating agreements or permanent operating agreements. And all that needs to be done is for the Director to decide, “Am I going to assign it to him permanent or am I going to assign it to him temporarily?” And I know this conversation’s been going on for months. The state… The state is still in non-compliance with the law. The Director’s been notified and… and has not taken action. Why he hasn’t taken actions? Well, I now know he has a priority list on what he’s doing and how he’s doing and, as a member of the Elected Committee, I’d like to make a formal request that…

Barraza: I’m back.

StevensonA: … we provided with that priority list so…

Barraza: Art!

StevensonA: Huh? What was that?

Hauth: Somebody yelling in the back of the room.

StevensonA: Oh. So anyways, you know, we made recommendations. Managers have made pleas and it hasn’t… it hasn’t been done. Obviously, filing a complaint by a blind licensed manager is a possibility. There’s no doubt about that. But there are also other entities that… state entities that we can inform that the Oregon Commission for the Blind is out of compliance with the law. And then they can take appropriate action.

Hauth: So…

StevensonA: So, you know, again…

Hauth: Let me hear from a few of the managers that are actually, you know, like Derrick, Steve Gordon, Steve Jackson, what are your thoughts on it? I know Jerry wanted to make a comment. But you guys have any suggestions on what we need to do? And we’ll hear from Eric too. So.

StevensonD: This is Derrick.

Hauth: Derrick.

StevensonD: Yeah, I… I’m just gonna say that, you know, I think it’s sad that Eric has decided to take the stance. I’m kind of really taking it… taking it personal. And I am in talks with an attorney. I do plan on filing… filing a complaint. Just how… how deep that complaint will go, I don’t know. I’m thinking it’s probably gonna go clear back to the 1990s as far… as far as I’m concerned. Like I told you guys before, I filed a grievance and the Commission, you know, is supposed to be working on getting me new locations. You know, I lost my rest… one of my rest areas and I’ve… I’m definitely in… in need of a boost. And, you know, at this point I’m not… I’m just… I’m just kind of confused about the whole thing. I mean, the excuses that were… that were supplied to me is just that, an excuse. I mean, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be doing what the law says they should do. So I’m… basically that’s it. But, you know…

Hauth: Thank you.

StevensonD: I plan on filing this and then I plan on possibly inviting other managers who have the same complaint to join on. So.

Hauth: Thank you. Any other comment?

Jackson: Steve Jackson.

Hauth: Steve.

Jackson: What I’d like to ask Eric, I guess, is if we made these motions in January or February of this year [inaudible]…

Jaynes: Can’t hear.

Jackson: … taking more consideration into assigning that vending? Because maybe… maybe he could show us that priority list and where we might be on that. ‘Cause if Derrick could hold off on his complaint maybe we could talk things out. Because that should be the last step, is the complaint. Because if that’s the law and someone in the staff doesn’t realize it maybe we just need to have that conversation that [inaudible] and say that if a manager is able to do it, why is he not doing it? I guess… Can you answer that, Eric? Why are you guys not assigning the vending?

Morris: I’ll wait till everybody’s done talking.

Hauth: Yeah. Thanks.

Jackson: Well, that’s what I want to know.

Morris: Yeah, I gotcha.

Hauth: Any other comment? [Silence.] Any other comments from anybody?

Bird: I do.

Hauth: Jerry.

Bird: Art’s right; it is in the state statute that… Because that’s what this program’s about, is about us, the licensed vendors who licensed with Randolph-Sheppard. We have the priority and preference, not the agency. It’s kind of looking like maybe they’re trying to say, “We kind of have the priority and we’ll just keep it and have the money come to us,” instead of giving it to… especially when the board makes a recommendation to… for you to follow the state statutes that are very clear that a blind person will have priority. And if one’s available he has priority over the Canteens, over anybody else. That’s what this program’s about. So I’m really confused why, when we do something like this and we try to help our fellow vendors to get them some vending machine income, that it’s just… it’s like [inaudible]. And, once again, I’m amazed how you can say that other than… okay and I believe they’ll have to… If that’s your attitude, is that this agency has priority over the blind vendors, then we do have a big problem. And Derrick’s right. I think they’re gonna have to… because you’ve had plenty of time to do it. We’ve requested you do it, we’ve many motions you do it. And for some reason you say no, like you have some kind of power over even the state statutes. I mean, they’re not even questionable that we have rights. I don’t know how many of you [inaudible]. So to me the only thing… because you won’t do it and it goes on for months and months and these people keep not having the income for their livelihoods is… So now they’re getting… now they got to get… start filing complaints, which is their only choice when this happens but that’s where they need to have their Director and their Administrator is gonna have to tell them why they’re not following these state statutes. You know, we’re changing them now from preference and that and they don’t follow the ones that we want. I mean, it just blows me away how a person… just like Gordon Smith and them, we had to beg to get them some vending back 'cause Eric said no. And I hate to keep getting on Eric but dangit, Eric, you told me today that… that everything go through you, that you got all these other people on your staff that needs to go out and look at

these machines and do something. It’s like you have to go out and do it. I just… I’m so… I will not get upset. But it’s just… it just goes on and on, month after month and that don’t pay their bills. You tell us, why do you think you are able to subcontract and leave a blind person out? Do you believe you have a priority over us?

Morris: Chair? Is that everybody that’s gonna comment?

Hauth: Thank you. Any other comment?

Gordon: I have a comment. And I don’t like to just talk about myself, but I’ve been in really heavy need for quite a long time and I’ve filled out two financial request forms over the past four years. I’ve mentioned it to Dacia Johnson just last week about my financial situation. And I know four years ago or more the board passed the assignment for post offices and sorting centers in my area, you know, Corvallis, Linn, Benton counties, where I service and nothing’s been… nothing’s been done about that. That’s gone on for years. You know, and that’s just a permit. But, again, it depends upon the facility, the amount of people and, you know, the logistics of it. But still, you know, I think basically the last thing that had helped me and Art Marshall and we worked on probably five years ago, getting two Coke machines placed at the Oak Grove rest areas, south- and northbound. And other than that there’s been no other… no other [inaudible].

Hauth: Okay…

Gordon: And then when I did ask Dacia, she says, “Well, that’s not my… I can’t do anything about that.” So I don’t know where it goes, you know, out in thin air, I guess.

Hauth: Anyone else?

Kinney: Yes, Randy.

Hauth: Yeah, Carole.

Kinney: This is Carole.

Hauth: Go ahead.

Kinney: Yes. I too have asked for financial assistance by email… [connection breaking up].

Multiple voices: Can’t hear, Carole!

Hauth: I don’t know if you’re on speaker or not but we can hardly hear.

Kinney: Okay. And so I haven’t asked too much or said too much in the past few months, mainly because I’m more interested in the rules and getting through this process. So I’ve kind of let things go. But, you know, I do… I do have a lot of financial responsibilities in the cafeteria and also that coffee cart. And the coffee cart does cost me quite a bit of money and it doesn’t make

money and I [connection breaking up]. Because I do understand all of the managers there are in need of more money because, you know, that’s what makes life better and we all have bills. And that’s really all I have to say.

Hauth: Thank you, Carole. Anybody else?

SmithK: Karen Smith, speaking…

Hauth: Karen.

SmithK: … for Gordon.

Hauth: You bet.

SmithK: We need to thank the BECC board, all of you guys, that tried to get our vending back. When we retired we retired only from the cafeteria. And at that time we asked to have part of the vending continued for us. He’s still a blind vendor. And Eric informed us at that time that that was not a possibility, but when this bill thing was in the process of being whatever, if that bill passed that possibly we would be in line to possibly have the vending back that we had asked for. As soon as that bill passed Eric Morris called Gordon directly and said that the bill had passed and he would work on getting a portion of the vending back to us. So we need to thank the Commission for the Blind and our BECC board for all the hard work that they’ve done for us.

Hauth: Well, thank you both. And we’re happy. Those are the good stories, right?

SmithK: Yeah.

[01:35:38]

Hauth: So those are the kind of wins.

SmithK: Yes.

Hauth: I’ll give Eric – I know he doesn’t want credit – but I’ll give the agency…

SmithK: Yeah.

Hauth: … credit for that. Now we need to get some other wins, right?

SmithK: Yes.

Hauth: Another win was getting a sighted purveyor out of the Edith Green and getting a blind vendor in there, right? That’s another good win.

SmithK: Right.

Hauth: So, again, let’s find a way to get these other wins so we can keep, you know… Nobody really wants to [inaudible] legal but that’s sometimes the only thing that managers have to their disposal.

SmithK: Right.

Hauth: And so, you know, let’s get some other wins. Let’s get those monies going to the managers. And let’s have the agency support our recommendations and assignments.

SmithK: We really appreciate everybody’s help.

Hauth: Yeah.

Jackson: Thank you, [inaudible].

Hauth: I know Eric talked the other day about… about, you know, motions that are made and [inaudible] dealing with those. And so we can just hope that, you know, the agency will support those. And, if not, then I think something similar to what we did with the Susan Gashel review, the managers need to pool their resources to get our managers some help through this process. So, go ahead, Eric. Thank you.

Morris: Well, I think… I think Art was… at the very beginning Art was going to say something about my priority list. I… I just… He kind of got cut off on that. So, you know, from a practical standpoint, if you set aside all the issues we just talked about, we’re talking about one issue, which is the assignment of vending. If that… and the Elected Committee, frankly, you guys need to figure out what’s important. Everything can’t be the same level of importance. I’m just saying that as a constructive criticism. Everything that you guys do cannot be… Like, we talked about the budget training, that that’s hey, we’re gonna do that probably, you know, November/December. So obviously that’s not as high on the priority list. Now if this is the top of your guys’ priority list I would be stupid not to focus on that. But literally every time we have a meeting everything… and I… I’ve asked you guys before, “What’s the most important thing?” Not because I don’t think it’s all important but you have to be able to prioritize. So if this is the top of the mountain – you know, besides the rules – then we’ll loop back to it. But I thought we had talked about this issue in June when we talked about the fair minimum return. Fair minimum return is in the handbook, in the rules. And I haven’t heard anything about fair minimum return for, jeez, months. So that’s… that’s my perspective on it.

StevensonA: Good. Now, Mr. Chair?

Hauth: Yes.

StevensonA: Okay. Eric, the law’s the law and the rules are the rules. And obviously compliance with the law should be… should be your top priority, your top priority. Now, you throwing it back at us and saying, “Hey, you know, every time I turn around there’s a different priority” and… and throwing the blame on us…

Morris: Not blaming, Art. Just saying…

StevensonA: No. You’re… No. No. You said… You said, “Hey, guys, you keep telling me things to do, want done, and make recommendations.” Well, that’s our job. And… And we’re supposed to work with the agency.

Morris: Yep.

StevensonA: Okay. And… And… in this stuff. So I remember… I don’t remember exactly, we started this conversation months ago, Eric.

Morris: Probably years ago.

StevensonA: Well… getting in compliance with the law. And okay, we made our recommendations. Well, actually, there was a couple recommendations several times. But the main recommendation was getting to compliance with the law. Your choice, whether you do it on a temporary or a permanent, which is in the administrative rules and… it’s basically ignored. In fact, I remember the conversation about just one part of giving Derrick something and that was the washing machines at the Rogue Valley Park, okay? And when we had that discussion you hadn’t… you hadn’t given it to anybody. And…

Jackson: [Inaudible.]

StevensonA: No, let me finish, Steve.

Jackson: [Inaudible.]

StevensonA: No. Let me finish this because I want to say it. So the recommendation of the Elected Committee at that time was, “Hey, give it to Derrick. He’s a blind licensed manager. He has priority/preference.” And I’ll be danged if you didn’t turn around and you gave the contract I believe to the guy in charge at the park. Now, not only, you know, is that a violation of the law, because Derrick’s a blind licensed manager and he has priority, you turned around and… and you gave it purposely to somebody other than a blind licensed manager. And… And…

Hauth: Well, let Eric…

StevensonA: And… And…

Hauth: Let Eric respond to that.

StevensonA: And so, you know, the simple fact of the matter is, the law’s the law and… and… and it… when… when you’re out of, in my opinion, you’re out of compliance, you need to get in compliance. Not yesterday or the day before, you know.

Hauth: Let Eric respond to that. I mean, I know it’s easy to lecture. I mean, I do it myself. But let’s… let’s try and stay away from that.

StevensonA: I’m not.

Colley-Dominique: Yes, you are.

Hauth: Well, sometimes…

StevensonA: I’m not trying to lecture…

Hauth: I don’t know if you want to respond to that. And I have a couple of follow-up questions too.

Morris: Knock yourself out.

Hauth: Okay. So the question is, is it still your position…? Well, let me… let me preface it with, in talking with Terry Smith, whose name comes up, you know, sometimes comes up when the agency says, “Well, Terry said this.” But sometimes when he says this it doesn’t come out relative to that. So. Initially, we were trying… we did not believe the agency should be collecting vending… state vending income, like the locations we’ve mentioned. And we addressed that and I believe the agency’s position was about 3253 and [inaudible]. And so we made motions to assign vending to managers and that was dismissed. And so I took on the chore of how can we get these people some help and work with the agency that, in my mind, appeared to be resistant to assigning the vending? So I said maybe we can do that through a fair minimum return. And actually the board wasn’t that supportive of it but I suggested that maybe this would be a way that we can actually get people help. And so you and I and I think the board had discussions about it and we created an idea around fair minimum return. And I don’t know that everybody was totally sold on that. Terry Smith did identify that assigning vending is the best way, that’s what he supports. He doesn’t even support a fair minimum return. And I think in his comments he suggested that a fair minimum return probably should not be included in the rules. Nonetheless, it was included in the rules. So, while a fair minimum return is an option, has the agency’s position changed relative to assigning vending? Because I believe that’s… that’s a priority. And I know you say we throw a lot of priorities at you but I think that’s a priority for Steve and Carole and Steve and Derrick. And so as the… Is there a way to fix this? Is the agency’s position the same or what?

Morris: Well, I don’t think the conversation has changed since we talked about it in June. A fair minimum return addresses the issue you brought up. And I thought we… I thought we kind of came to an understanding about that. So was I prepared to have some big, massive discussion about this today? No. So, but… from my perspective we were waiting on House Bill 3253 to go through and it doesn’t become effective till January. So… yeah.

StevensonA: But… I’m… I’m… Eric, I’m trying to understand this, okay? And I’m really trying to be patient with you.

Morris: Thank you, Art. I appreciate that.

StevensonA: Yeah. Okay. But just because there’s a new law doesn’t mean there isn’t existing laws. And it doesn’t mean you can ignore the existing laws that are in place. And I… And I’m trying to… I’m trying to understand the logic of why nothing has happened. We… Yeah, we talked about… The fair minimum return came up because all the managers that we talked about, every one of the managers that we talked about, we had assigned vending to and nothing had happened. And so we were trying, because they needed the money, to find a way to get money going into their pockets. And you… you knew what was going on. You know what we were trying to do.

Morris: Yeah, and I…

StevensonA: But! But!

Morris: Whoa, don’t yell at me.

StevensonA: I’m not yelling. But the specifics… the specifics were that we made a recommendation that you, the agency, get in compliance with the law. And… And we said it several times. And that was way back in June.

Hauth: So let’s…

StevensonA: And nothing’s been done.

Hauth: So what…

SmithK: It’s twenty minutes to twelve.

Morris: So, Randy, I… to answer your question, you’ve done a good job of saying, “How do we get to a solution with that?” I… I thought we were at a solution, with fair minimum return. And so, like, yesterday’s conversation around the handbook, I need to put that back on my list of things.

Jackson: Can I say something? Steve Jackson.

Hauth: Steve, yes.

Jackson: So I think you’re talking about fair minimum return and we’re trying to ask you is, Why is it okay for you as the Commission to say no to us as the Elected Committee about assigning vending? Why is that… Why is that a problem?

Morris: Well, Steve, to be… to be perfectly…

Jackson: We don’t need a fair minimum return…

Hauth: Let him answer.

Morris: Well, the issue that Art was talking about is getting money in the hands of people that need it, right?

Jackson: Yeah.

Morris: That’s the issue. Well, there needs to be some structure around that that makes sense. And fair minimum return has a structure that does that.

Jackson: Okay. Can I say something else? If everybody’s supposed to be treated uniformly and I don’t have a vending route, I don’t have the capability of having excess money to make my business grow. We have all these other people that are getting back payments and lots of other money. And I’m now finally saying, because it’s unfair. And they all have the ability to do their business and I’m asking to do my business better by getting more work. Why… Why is the Commission not assigning me anything?

Bird: Randy?

Hauth: Yeah, Jerry. Let’s…

Jackson: Are you going to get back to us on that? Because I don’t understand why you would not follow the law? Who is telling you not to assign vending? It doesn’t make sense to me. So, you…

Hauth: Jerry… Jerry wanted to make a comment. It’s a quarter to noon and…

Jackson: [Inaudible.]

Hauth: No, those were good questions. So… obviously.

Bird: We don’t need a… my thing is, you know, a fair minimum return… you’re right that we started working on that but only, like they said, for one reason is… that should be, to me, and I think the rest [inaudible] only if we have no other way of sending them income their way.

Jackson: Right.

Bird: I would rather a vendor get vending machines that he’s in charge of, whether he subcontracted or not, he’s responsible for that place they’re in, he has something to do. If we’re out of vending machines and there’s no more places then we got to kick in on our fair minimum return. Your theory to give them… or our theory or whatever theory was to give them the free money on minimum return. How much is that different from walking out and getting a check out of the mail that you guys get upset about? I mean, it’s like… that money is supposed to go for our different things for us. So why would you want to use that instead of you guys controlling the vending and coming to you and then we have to divvy it out in a different way? ‘Cause that’s against the law. We’re not the ones that… We’re the ones with the priority. So I still can’t see why you want to withhold the vending and then tell us to do a fair minimum return, which is your duty to make sure the facility is producing an average income. So I just

can’t quite see that other than it’s a last resort 'cause they need help, that’s cool. But I don’t think we should… you should keep the vending machines instead of assigning them to people because they’re available?

Hauth: I mean I believe Jerry makes a good point. I think, Eric, if you could take this all into consideration, I believe it’s the preference of the board is our motion that was denied at this time. And I do know that there’s talk around addressing this through official action if we can’t, you know…. We hope we don’t have to do that but if we’re not getting anywhere with it I don’t know that there’s any other choice. So just think about it and see if there’s a way that the agency can find within the process to maybe reconsider our motion. So… you know. And I know we’ll address this again soon. But please do that, on behalf of the managers. So. So let’s go ahead and move ahead. Under other business and old business we talked about the vote for federal vending machine income. And I don’t know, Eric, if you have any comments around that or the process as you see it or if any of the board members have any comments around that. I do have some information I do want to read here to you, basically the numbers that have been collected. So this is… end of year federal vending machine income monies are reported on the historical RSA-15 reports, submitted to RSA by OCB. So in 2010 there was $11,027. 2011 there was $11,386. And 2012 there was $11,513. In 2013 there was $14,313. In 2014 there was $15,827. In 2015 there was $16,919, which 537 of that was expended on maintenance of equipment, 24 was spent on managerial services and 295, I think, was spent on managerial services. 2016 there’s been $22,426. So, based on the above information, OCB has accounted as of end of 2016 here 22,426 in federal vending machine income. So, again, I don’t know, Jerry, you’re pretty familiar with this. I know Art is too. But, you know, the talk is and the talk by Terry Smith is you guys should be taking a vote to distribute that vending machine income. And, you know, we can do… we can do so. And like I said yesterday we could take a vote to have vacation pay submitted, you know, each year, annually or…. But I want to open that discussion.

Bird: Yeah, I believe that is correct. And I believe it’s also in the previous handbook, it’s current right now, our opportunity is supposed to be, like, today. Fall in-service is when you’re supposed to take this action and if we don’t take the action then we’re letting them have it. An they’ll use that, “You guys didn’t want it.” ‘Cause what we don’t spend goes to them. And so if we don’t think it’s necessary, we don’t want vacation pay or whatever, you know, we’ll vote to say no and let them use it as they feel wish. So today’s the day, if we’re gonna do it. It’s fall in-service. I believe it is to be… put it out there for a vote and that’s the way it is. That’s what our rules say.

StevensonA: Well, and…

BrownC: Chairman? Celyn.

Hauth: Hold on just… Celyn, just a second. Let me hear from Art and then I’ll get with you.

StevensonA: I’m a gentleman. Ladies first.

Hauth: Okay. Go ahead.

BrownC: Thank you, Art. Question: so those… that was federal vending. So does that include the three machines at the federal building where I’m located?

Hauth: It would not include vending that’s assigned to you. This is federal vending income that is not assigned to a manager.

BrownC: But it wasn’t… But those numbers, though, there wasn’t a manager assigned to those locations.

StevensonA: No. Celyn?

BrownC: What?

StevensonA: Your… Your building, according to the federal code, we’re building… when there’s machines that are in your building that are in direct competition to you then you’re entitled to that money either up to the state average income of the managers on federal, you know, income, whichever is lower.

Bird: [Inaudible.]

StevensonA: And so… And so the vending in your machines in your building goes to you.

BrownC: All right.

StevensonA: Now, OCB has to have a permit for it, I believe, and so the vending income comes to you. This is the stuff that is not in direct competition and has not been assigned to a manager.

Hauth: So do you have anything on the vote?

StevensonA: I did want to say something about Jerry’s comment 'cause I don’t want it to be on the record that if we don’t vote to spend the money on something then it’s, you know, just the agency’s. Because that’s a little bit… a misnomer. They can use that money for set-aside purposes but they have to deduct that money used for set-aside purposes off of our… off of our set-aside.

Hauth: Yeah.

StevensonA: … set-aside…

Hauth: We’re playing some catch-up here. I know this is a never-ending…

StevensonA: Right. And… And so I just wanted to put that on the record, Jerry. Because we don’t… we don’t give the agency the quote unquote, “Hey, you can do whatever you want with the money now 'cause we haven’t voted.” ‘Cause that’s not true, we still get the money. So I… I

would like to propose, make a motion that this year’s federal vending machine income be designated and distributed to the blind licensed managers as vacation pay.

Hauth: Okay, a motion’s been made. Do I have a second?

StevensonA: Steve did.

Jackson: I second.

Hauth: Okay. Second’s been made by Steve Jackson. Any discussion around this?

StevensonD: This is Derrick.

Bird: Make it clear that it will be…

Hauth: Hold on just a second, Derrick.

SmithK: Mr. Chair?

Hauth: Hold on just a second.

StevensonA: Hold on!

Hauth: So Jerry, go ahead.

Bird: Yeah, [inaudible] but that it will be… whatever the amount is will be… say there’s ten of us and it’s divided ten…

StevensonA: No no no…

Bird: … get an equal amount, no one gets any more and it’s only vending that’s coming in that’s not affecting you now.

Hauth: Yeah, I think that’s…

SmithK: I just… I just did that. I thought there were 17 managers into 22,000 – that would be $1300 per manager.

StevensonA: Well, it’s… yeah.

Hauth: Than a manager can, if the vote is successful, a manager can use that for to offset their health or retirement. They can use it for vacation, whatever. So I think I heard Derrick on the line.

StevensonD: Yeah. Just kind of like a point of order: I… if this vote has to be a vote of all managers or is it a vote for… by… just by the board?

StevensonA: No, it’s all the managers. It’s all the managers.

Bird: Present, that’s at our meeting.

StevensonA: Yeah. The ones that… the managers that are here.

BrownC: The present ones. [Laughs.]

Colley-Dominique: Well, does that mean the others [inaudible]?

BrownC: I guess not.

StevensonD: Well, I… I don’t know. I think it’s supposed to be done by all the managers, so I don’t know…

StevensonA: Derrick? Derrick? Derrick?

StevensonD: … motion and…

StevensonA: And I’m going to… I’m going to address that issue in a second. We’re gonna take the vote.

Hauth: I do want to propose a friendly amendment.

StevensonA: Okay.

Hauth: That’s me doing a friendly amendment.

StevensonD: Yes, I do.

Hauth: I don’t want to state “this year’s.” I want to… I’d appreciate you to include the accumulated federal vending income. So that’s the vending machine income that the agency has on hand. ‘Cause this year’s may not even result in any… you know. So.

Jaynes: Chairman Hauth?

Hauth: Hold on.

StevensonA: Okay. Hold on. Hold on a second. So how far do you want me to go back, Randy?

Hauth: Just…

StevensonA: [Inaudible.]

Hauth: What they…

StevensonA: What was in the report?

Hauth: What they have in the federal accumulated income that should be going to the managers. So. Is that 22,000? I don’t know. If it’s…

StevensonA: So you want me… you want me to amend my motion…

Hauth: To the accumulated… not… I think you stated this year’s.

StevensonA: Yeah.

Hauth: So we could do the accumulated federal vending machine income. I would appreciate that very much.

StevensonA: For how many years, Randy? Because, I mean…

Hauth: What they have. What they have. What they have right now.

StevensonA: What they have on hand now?

Hauth: Yep.

StevensonA: Okay. Okay. I’d like to amend my motion to include all the federal vending machine income that has… is accumulated in the state coffers.

Hauth: Do we have a…?

StevensonA: No. Steve seconded. Do you accept it?

Jackson: I’ll accept. Yeah.

Hauth: Any discussion around that? I will tell you that, in talking with Terry Smith, again he suggested and encouraged that this type of action be taken on the federal vending income and wondered why it hadn’t been done. And in discussions with him, as I recall, not stating word for word, but he had stated that the vending that was on hand….

StevensonA: Yeah. Okay.

Hauth: Open for discussion. Further discussion?

StevensonD: This is Derrick.

Hauth: Derrick.

StevensonD: Yeah, I’m kind of not clear to the motion. If the motion is that the board votes to have it done on… go towards vacation pay, I think that’s improper. I think the motion should be that the board have… have, you know, submits the question to all members and then call for a vote of all members. I don’t think the board can vote…

StevensonA: Derrick.

StevensonD: … just the board can vote on it.

StevensonA: Okay. I made a motion that we do that. We are gonna take a vote of the existing managers, Derrick, that are here that… that… if they want the money to go to vacation pay. And then… And then we will poll all the other managers. I believe Lewanda has already voted, even though she’s not present and left. And… And then we will provide the opportunity for the rest of the managers to vote. But we’re gonna start the process right now with who is here.

SmithK: Chair? [Inaudible.]

Jaynes: Vice Chair Stevenson?

StevensonA: Hold it! One person at a time.

Hauth: Lin, I know you’ve been trying to get on there. Let’s hear from Lin and then I think Karen was asking to comment. Lin, go ahead.

Jaynes: Thank you, Chairman. One of the… I… This is more of just an opinion and a comment than it is anything…

Hauth: You’re hard to hear, Lin.

StevensonA: Speak in!

Jaynes: [Inaudible.]

Jackson: Speak up, Lin.

Jaynes: Can you hear me now?

Jackson: Barely.

StevensonA: Barely.

Jaynes: Can you hear me now?

Jackson: Yeah.

StevensonA: There!

[Silence.]

Jackson: Start talking. Go ahead.

Morris: Famous last words.

Colley-Dominique: We can’t do…

StevensonA: Go ahead, Lin!

Jaynes: Can you hear me now?

StevensonA: Yeah!

Jaynes: Can you hear me now?

StevensonA: Yes!

Jaynes: Okay. This is just a comment or opinion. It has nothing to do with the motion that the Vice Chair put forth. But in regard to the vacation, the federal money spent on vacation, there’s a lot of our managers who are really severely hurting. They’ve got bills to pay. You know, not everybody can just say, “Okay, I’m going to take a vacation.” They have family ties, they have other things that are… other issues that are more prevalent than a vacation. So I just wanted to say that I think tying it in just strictly to vacation and not allowing an even distribution split among all the managers to make their own choice how they wish to spend that money would be far more appropriate than just pigeonholing it into a vacation only. So, that’s my thought.

Hauth: Lin?

Jaynes: Thank you.

Hauth: Lin? Lin?

Jaynes: Yes.

Hauth: If I may, the reason that it was identified as vacation is because that is the simplest way. It does not restrict you from using it in whatever manner you wish to use it in. Or any manager.

Jaynes: All right. Thank you.

Hauth: Any other comment? Karen, you wanted to comment.

SmithK: I was just, I mean, we got the $22,000 figure. What is the accumulated figure back to however far back you’re going? What is that figure?

Hauth: I don’t know. Maybe it’s the 22,000. That’s what the agency will have to determine. We requested the information… and the 22,000 is the information that I have but…

SmithK: Okay. Thank you.

StevensonA: Current information.

Hauth: Any other comment before we move forward to take a vote?

Riesmeyer: Chair, it is 12:01.

Hauth: Okay. I do believe the Elected Committee also should probably state conflict of interest when we… when we have the vote taken. So the motion’s been made, second, ample discussion…

StevensonA: This is not an Elected Committee vote. This is a vote of managers.

Hauth: Managers. Okay. But you made the motion.

StevensonA: I made the motion as a manager, not as a member of the Elected Committee.

Hauth: Okay. So what do you want to do?

StevensonA: Take… Take a roll call vote…

Hauth: Okay.

StevensonA: … of the people that are here.

Jackson: And then we vote also, yeah?

Morris: No.

StevensonA: All the managers vote. So…

Hauth: Eric, do you have any input on this?

Morris: You know, I… the conflict of interest thing, I… I don’t… I don’t know about that.

StevensonA: There isn’t a conflict.

Hauth: Okay.

StevensonA: Because we’re doing this as…

Hauth: That’s fine.

StevensonA: … blind licensed managers.

Morris: I’m just saying, you’re literally voting on something you’re gonna benefit from. So, I’m not an expert on conflict of interest but my experience has always been that if you benefit you should not vote. But that would mean that everybody couldn’t vote. So I think it’s called for… So I think you’re fine.

Hauth: So we’re gonna go ahead and call a roll call vote then?

Morris: I think that would be appropriate.

Hauth: Okay.

SmithK: So the spouses vote. [Chuckles.]

Hauth: Let’s go ahead and call a roll call vote.

Morris: Of licensed vending facility managers.

Hauth: Vending facility managers. Art.

StevensonA: Yes.

Hauth: Steve Jack… Gordon.

Gordon: Yes.

Hauth: Jerry Bird.

Bird: Yes.

Hauth: Steve Jackson.

Jackson: Yes, please.

Hauth: And Gordon Smith?

SmithG: Yes.

Hauth: Who’s back there?

Riesmeyer: Cathy Colley-Dominique.

Hauth: Cathy Dominique.

Colley-Dominique: Yes.

Hauth: Char Mckinzie.

Hawkins: Yes.

Hauth: Celyn Brown.

BrownC: Yes.

Hauth: Is Sal here still?

Riesmeyer: No.

BrownC: No. He left.

Hauth: Who else is back there?

BrownC: That’s it.

Hauth: That’s it.

StevensonA: Derrick!

Hauth: Derrick.

StevensonD: Yes.

Jaynes: Lin.

Hauth: Lin Jaynes.

Jackson: Carole, too.

Hauth: Lin?

Jaynes: Yes.

Hauth: Carole?

Kinney: Yes.

Hauth: Anybody else?

StevensonA: Okay. Those votes have been recorded. Eric?

Morris: Yes, Art?

StevensonA: Can you please…? We can do it or you can do it, however you prefer…

Morris: Yeah.

StevensonA: … send an email. Wait a minute. Lewanda voted. Well, we’ll just get the vote from her.

Morris: I think it passed.

StevensonA: Well, I… I think it passed but we just have to allow them the opportunity to vote and register it. So I agree that it passed but we have to allow them the opportunity to vote. If they choose not to. So, you know…

Ewing: Art?

Haseman: Hey, I’m not sure that Randy voted. And make sure to state conflict of interest.

StevensonA: No, we don’t have to say conflict.

Hauth: Eric doesn’t think we had to.

StevensonA: It’s not an Elected Committee vote.

Hauth: Yeah. I didn’t vote. I’m sorry. I vote yes as well.

StevensonA: Okay. There we go.

Hauth: Let’s go ahead and move on, if that’s okay.

SmithG: Randy, we’re leaving.

Hauth: See you later. Safe travels. So, Director’s comments. Let’s finish it up with Director’s comments and we’ll go from there.

Morris: So Mr. Chair, I… I probably have quite a bit of material to cover. I could submit a written report to you guys if you would prefer. Or… [inaudible] how you guys want to hang in.

Hauth: To me, that’s fine. You guys?

StevensonA: Yeah.

Hauth: But…

StevensonA: Yeah.

Hauth: You guys want to go ahead and do some closing comments here and adjourn the meeting. Hey…

Morris: I think the one thing I did want to talk about just briefly is the timeline for this next [inaudible]. So I’m taking the day off tomorrow, allowing for the fact that I’m going to be working on Saturday at the ACB convention. So you guys think you’ll have your comments packaged up to me by, like, Tuesday? The 17th?

Hauth: I would… I don’t think so. No. I would say…

StevensonA: Thursday.

Hauth: Thursday morning.

Morris: So when… when would… when would you guys…?

Hauth: Probably Friday.

Morris: So you’re going to submit it to me on Thursday and we’re gonna have the discussion about it on Friday? I’m travelling Friday.

Hauth: Right. Let me… I can’t answer that right now. Let me… You know, my mind has been wrapped around the in-service and our discussion. And so let me make some phone calls and try and see where we are with that. So.

Morris: Okay.

Hauth: ‘Cause again, that’s why I shared with you that at least a template for what Susan said and what Terry said will at least get us going in that right direction, you know. So.

Morris: I gotcha.

StevensonA: And we’re going to… we’re going to – diligently, like you are – getting some comments from RSA 'cause, you know, there may be some other stuff that we need to address.

Hauth: So anything else, Eric?

Morris: No, thank you.

Hauth: Anyway, thank you everybody for taking the time out of your life to come and…

Colley-Dominique: Mr. Chairman? This is Cathy.

Hauth: Yes, Cathy.

Colley-Dominique: I’m sorry to interrupt but I did want to say that I really… I really thought this hotel was a really good hotel. I liked the service.

Hauth: Yeah, it was nice. Yes it was.

Colley-Dominique: And I just wanted to…

Hauth: Anybody else want to say anything before we adjourn the meeting?

Riesmeyer: Chair?

Gordon: Yeah, I’d like to make a comment. I think that it was really, really nice to have the amount of staff here for our…

Colley-Dominique: Me too.

Gordon: … BECC meeting. And I’ve seen really great progress in all that each one of them individually does. And for myself I appreciate it and it’s seemingly that we are coming more collectively together and as time goes on we can resolve a lot of these issues. Just… When I talked to Dacia Johnson over the last week there was things she didn’t even know about my business and how I claim my overhead and things like that. And again, it just goes back to open communication. Anyway…

Hauth: Thank you. Any other comment?

Riesmeyer: Chair Hauth? I double-checked Lewanda’s email. She did vote yes for vacation.

Hauth: Great. Thank you. I do want to say, just in closing, believe it or not, the last thing any of us want to do is spend our time in conflict with the agency. As ten… As nicely as I can suggest it, I do believe that the administration of the agency needs to have a different mindset, more progressive and inclusive mindset. That’s my opinion of some I’ve talked to. So hopefully, like Steve said, we can get to that point, you know? We have better things to do than be in conflict with the agency and I’m sure you guys do too. So let’s find a way, you know, to get around that and get through that. So. Let’s go ahead and… Nobody else? Let’s go ahead and adjourn the meeting. Thank you everybody.

[02:00:23]

Motions Passed During October 15 BECC Special Meeting

1. That the minutes from the previous BECC Special Meeting (October 5) be adopted. Proposed: Art Stevenson. Seconded: Steve Gordon. Passed unanimously.

2. That the BEP draft rules include language allowing licensed blind managers to use subcontractors if they so choose.Proposed: Art Stevenson. Seconded: Steve Jackson. Motion passed.

3. That all federal vending machine income in the agency’s possession be distributed to the blind licensed managers as vacation pay. (Chair Hauth clarified that vending facility managers would be able to use the money not just for vacation, but in any way they see fit.)Proposed: Art Stevenson. Seconded: Steve Jackson. Motion passed unanimously among those vending facility managers present.

Transcription: Mark Riesmeyer