OREGON COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND535 SE 12th ST

Portland, OR 97214BECC (regularly scheduled meeting)Thursday, April 24, 2014 at 3:30 PM

Conference line: (712) 432-1500Participant code: 312353#

AGENDA

1. CALLED TO ORDER- Chairman Young.a. Roll call- Lewanda Mirandab. Disposition of minutes- Feb. 27, 2014.

2. FINANCIAL REPORT- Director Morris.3. NEW BUSINESS.

a. “Reconsideration and potential reinstatement of vote taken at January 21, 2014 BECC meeting to appoint Art Stevenson and Charlotta Mckinzie to the BECC.”

b. 2014 Spring In-service.c. OCBB/BECC strategic planning meeting.d. RSA opportunity.e. RFP for vending- Art Stevenson/Director Morris.

4. OLD BUSINESS.a. White City.

5. OPEN DISCUSSION/OTHER.6. NEXT MEETING.7. ADJOURNMENT.

VERBATIM

[started at 04-06]

Young: All righty, I call, I call this meeting to order. Lewanda, could you go through the Agenda?

Miranda: Uh, January 24 at 3:32pm, and we’ll start with Board members. Harold Young?

Young: Here.

Miranda: Art Stevenson?

Stevenson, Art: Here.

Miranda: Charlotta Mckinzie?

Mckinzie: Here.

Miranda: Cathy Dominique?

Colley-Dominique: Here.

Miranda: Tessa Brown? Tessa Brown?

Gerlitz: On a train…

Male voice: [inaudible]

Miranda: And Lewanda Miranda’s here. Okay, managers. Jerry Bird?

Bird: Here.

Miranda: Derrick Stevenson?

Stevenson, Derrick: Here.

Miranda: Gordon Smith?

Smith: I’m here, too, Derrick.

Stevenson, Derrick: Hey, Gordo.

Smith: That’s an inside joke with Derrick and I.

Stevenson, Derrick: Yeah.

Miranda: Okay. Ken Gerlitz?

Gerlitz: Good to go.

Miranda: Lin Jaynes?

Jaynes: Present.

Miranda: Steve Gordon? Randy Hauth?

Hauth: Present and accounted for.

Miranda: Sal Barraza? Steve Jackson? Ann Wright?

Wright: Here.

Smith: Hi Ann. Gordo.

Wright: Hi.

Miranda: And Oscar just called Tessa, so she’ll be here in a minute. And from the Agency?

Morris: Eric is here.

Miranda: And Kathy Ewing?

Morris: Nope, just me.

Miranda: Oh, just… Little old you, huh? Okay, and Tessa is calling in just now.

Gerlitz: [inaudible] just said Kathy’s… Eric, didn’t you just say that Kathy was with you today?

Morris: Cathy Dominique is with me today. Sorry.

Gerlitz: Oh, I’m sorry.

Miranda: Yeah, that, that was my misunderstanding, too.

Young: All righty. Go ahead, Lewanda, with the agenda.

Stevenson, Derrick: Do we have any visitors, by the way?

Haseman: Linda Haseman.

Miranda: Is that Tessa Brown joining us?

Brown: Yes, that is. Sorry, guys, I got tied up with something. Sorry I’m late.

Miranda: Thanks. Disposition of minutes, February 27th, no wait a minute, let me see that. [computer reading] Yeah, that’s right, February 27th, Harold.

Young: Okay, all right, I’d like to make a motion that we accept the February 27 th 2014 minutes as recorded. Do I have a second?

Stevenson, Art: Second.

Brown, Tessa: I second.

Young: Art seconded it. Is there any changes or corrections that need to be made to the minutes? All righty, so a simple yes or no. Art Stevenson?

Stevenson, Art: Yes.

Young: Lewanda Miranda?

Miranda: Yes.

Young: Tessa Brown?

Brown: Yes.

Young: Cathy Dominique?

Colley-Dominique: Yes.

Young: Charlotta Mckinzie?

Mckinzie: Yes.

Young: And Harold Young, yes. So the minutes have been accepted as recorded. Okay, Lewanda, what’s the next item?

Miranda: Number 2 is “Budget Report”, Director Morris.

Morris: Good afternoon, everybody. I do not have a financial report prepared for today. We had some reports straggling in. And some other reports that we’re trying to get the accuracy dialed in. So I’ll have that for the next meeting.

Young: All right, thank you.

Miranda: “3” is New Business. Reconsideration and potential reinstatement of vote taken at January 21, 2014 BECC meeting to appoint Art Stevenson and Charlotta Mckinzie to the BECC.

Young: All righty, it was brought to our attention that in that meeting, we did not have an official quorum. So we’re going to go ahead and redo that vote today. And so, in Salem 1 area, it’s Char Mckinzie, Jerry Bird, and Salvador Barraza. Do we have any one of those who would like to take over that Board position until the election this Fall? All righty, well then, I’ll go ahead and I’ll nominate Char Mckinzie to that.

Bird: Second. This is Jerry Bird. I’ll, I’ll nominate myself.

Young: Okay. So, we have Jerry Bird. Do we have any others?

Colley-Dominique: I nominate Charlotta Mckinzie.

Young: All righty. Charlotta Mckinzie. So, I’ll just go through the committee members again, and you can vote yes or no. Lewanda Miranda, who would you vote for? Jerry Bird?

Miranda: Charlotta.

Young: Charlotta. Okay? So we have one for Charlotta. Harold Young will vote for Charlotta. Tessa Brown?

Brown: I’m also voting for Char.

Young: Mm-kay. And who have I missed? Char…

Brown: You missed Cathy.

Young: Cathy. Okay, Cathy Dominique.

Colley-Dominique: I also vote for Charlotta.

Young: All righty. And Charlotta, you are that Board member until the Fall Election.

Mckinzie: Thank you.

Young: All righty. And the next one is the Salem 2 area. For the Salem 2 area we have Art Stevenson, Ann Wright, and myself. So, I’m going to open up that for whoever wants to take over that position for the duration, which will be a year from this coming Fall election. Do I have any [inaudible]…

Mckinzie: I nominate Art Stevenson.

Stevenson, Derrick: Mr. Chairman?

Colley-Dominique: I second.

Mckinzie: Sorry.

Young: Yes. Who? Was that Derrick?

Stevenson, Derrick: Yeah, it’s Derrick.

Young: Okay.

Stevenson, Derrick: I, I was wanting clarification, I don’t want to be a pain in the butt, but when, when we were found not to have a quorum, is that still the same case since they’re not current, but, those few people are not currently on the Board? We’re still short two people? Do you need to, like, assign someone to fill in temporarily for this election, or not? I’m just wondering.

Stevenson, Art: Mr., Mr. Chairman, this is Art.

Young: Yes, Art.

Stevenson, Art: In accordance to our by-laws, a quorum, and the state laws, a quorum is four members of the Board. There’s four members present. Harold, Char, not Char. Harold, Cathy, Lewanda, and Tessa. That is a quorum of the Board, and so we can conduct the business.

Stevenson, Derrick: All right, I was just checking, making sure.

Mckinzie: Yeah, good, good idea.

Miranda: And the last time Tessa wasn’t, Tessa wasn’t…

Young: Wasn’t present.

Miranda: Yeah.

Ewing, Kathy: Steve Gordon.

Stevenson, Derrick: All right, thanks for clarifying.

Young: So, I believe I had a nomination?

Wright: I nominate Art Stevenson, Mr. Chairman.

Young: Thank you, Ann.

Bird: I nominate Ann Wright.

Young: Okay. Ann Wright has also been nominated. All righty, so, Ann Wright and Art Stevenson. Tessa Brown, who will you vote for?

Brown: Art.

Young: Art, okay.

Brown: Yes.

Young: Cathy Dominique?

Colley-Dominique: Art.

Young: Art, okay. Lewanda Miranda?

Miranda: Art.

Young: Okay. And Harold Young also votes for Art, so… It passes. Art Stevenson, you are that committee member until the Fall election of 2015. Thank you.

Morris: Mr. Chair?

Young: Yes?

Morris: Steve Gordon’s joined me here at the Commission, so just FYI.

Young: Oh, okay. Okay. Hey, Steve.

Gordon: Hey.

Young: All righty, what’s the next agenda item?

Miranda: B is 2014 Spring In-Service.

Young: Okay. Would you like to take that, Eric?

Morris: Uh, yeah. I’m like, drastically, quickly getting over to my calendar. So the Spring In-Service is scheduled for May 30th. Yep, May 30th which is a Friday afternoon, and then all day on the 31st, which is Saturday. And that’ll be up here at the Portland office like we did last spring. The BECC will be having some training which is open to all members, but specifically targeted for BECC members on Friday afternoon. I believe we set that for 3 to 6. Terry Smith will be coming out to present to the Board and do some training on Friday. And Terry will also be presenting on Saturday in the morning. And I want to say, I’m not positive, but there’s some talk of having Nicky Gacos coming out for that Saturday presentation also. So we’ll, we’ll do like a 9-4 on Saturday, you know, and 4pm is a good time to get everybody out the door for those traveling or if they need to stay over. And yeah, I think we should have a couple of good days of training.

Young: All right, thank you. How about, how’s it going with people that need rooms and stuff for that, for the out-of-towners?

Morris: Yeah, Kathy was able, Kathy Ewing was able to identify the Residence Inn at Lloyd Center. It sounds like there’s been several people we’ve had, several different Agency people staying there, and it’s a pretty good accommodation. It has free breakfast, free parking, it’s right there in the Lloyd District which has a lot of different options for, you know, eating dinner…

Mckinzie: I’m going to bring my car.

Morris: I’m sorry?

Mckinzie: Never mind.

[laughter]

Morris: Hey, when they tell me…

Miranda: Keep your day job, Char.

Morris: When they tell me it’s free parking, I figure that’s good for somebody!

Smith: Somebody was being funny, Eric.

Morris: Yeah, okay, I gotcha. I gotcha. So that, that was one of the benefits. But it sounds, Residence Inns are pretty nice places, the ones that I’ve stayed in, at least. I haven’t stayed at the Lloyd Center, but that’s kind of what we’re targeting for accommodations. I know Kathy’s working on that as we speak, along with lunch orders for Saturday.

Young: All right.

Gerlitz: So we just let Kathy know and she’ll make the reservations, or we make our own?

Morris: No, we’ll have Kathy take care of it for you guys.

Young: That’s great, thank you. Appreciate that.

Colley-Dominique: She’s awesome.

Morris: She is awesome.

Young: Okay, Lewanda, next item?

Miranda: C is OCB, BECC Strategic Planning meeting.

Young: Mm-kay. The whole Board attended that. That was Thursday the, I believe it was the 3 rd of April. And I really did appreciate the Commission going to the effort of meeting with us and discussing things. And I know it was, there were people that were allowed to be on the phone listening, so anybody that wanted to could call in and listen to the, to the whole thing, so… I felt it went very well. It looks like we’re, we made some progress on working together and moving things forward. And anyhow, do, does any other Board members have anything to add to it, or…

Stevenson, Art: Mr. Chairman.

Young: Yes, Art.

Stevenson, Art: Yeah, I’d, I’d, I’d like to say a couple things. First of all, it was a very constructive meeting dialing in on what’s going to happen during the process of the budget and identifying where OCB and the vending program would focus on. I believe there was discussion about trying to get legislation and in the budget that the state of Oregon at least contribute the same amount of money that the blind licensed managers are contributing from set-aside, the payments of set-aside. And those kind of things were discussed. I’d also like to say that I’m, I’m really excited that year, this year at our In-Service training, we have at least three of the OCB Board members going to attend that training so that we continue to further the positive relationships with the OCB Board. Were there any more, Eric, that said they were coming? I know Carla McQuillan and the…

Miranda: Patricia Kepler?

Stevenson, Art: Yeah, and uh, and uh, oh gosh, I can’t, I can’t pronounce his name very well? But the new Vice Chair of the OCB Board?

Morris: Oh, Prateek, Prateek Dujari?

Miranda: Yeah.

Morris: Yeah, Prateek?

Stevenson, Art: Right. And I believe Jodi had a prior engagement, but she is going to be kind of represented by her Vice Chair now. And I, I was pleased to see that the OCB Board now does have a Vice Chair to, to help do that, that job, and to, I think represent, you know, the Board a little more.

Morris: Yeah, Art, I haven’t heard of anybody else. In fact, I hadn’t heard Prateek was coming, so you’re, you’re ahead of me on that. For the Spring In-Service.

Colley-Dominique: Oh.

Young: Yeah, I know one item that they did also discuss was more BE staff. That was a topic of discussion, too, so… I’ve been working for that stuff, too.

Stevenson, Art: Yes, indeed.

Colley-Dominique: I, this is Cathy, and I’m really excited about the training. I think it’s going to be really interesting and educational.

Young: Terry, Terry Smith is a very good presentator, so I’m sure it’ll be very good.

Colley-Dominique: Mm-hm, he’s really good.

Young: Yep, so any other comments about the planning session with the Commission?

Morris: I thought…

Young: All righty, Lewanda.

Morris: I thought it was good…

Young: Next item.

Miranda: RSA opportunity.

Young: Okay, that is Eric.

Morris: Is it me, really? Okay, it doesn’t say that on here, but I, I was kind of scratching my head trying… I think this is the, this is the Randolph-Sheppard buying group? Is that what we were talking about with this…

Miranda: Yes.

Morris: Okay, good, because I, I kind of drew a blank when I was reading it. I’ve had several, I’m on somebody’s email list with this, with this cooperative group now, and I just… I, I sent it out to Board members. I think I pushed it out to the entire group of managers before. And, you know, it seems like a good thing. I just always kind of scratched my head because I figured there’s something going on in the background, but it has to do with receiving rebates from items you’ve purchased. So, yeah, I wish I could give more distinct presentation on it. RSA, this RSA buying group is out there pitching it all the time. So, all these…

Brown: I could give a little more information.

Morris: Did, did they finally get back to you, Tessa?

Brown: They did. And I guess the, the, the catch that I ran into is it only works if you’re signed up for Coke and Pepsi, which is great. They really push Sam’s Club, which I don’t think we have out here?

Morris: No.

Brown: And then there was a couple other big companies that I wasn’t familiar with. So, they said that with me only having a Coca-Cola account, they couldn’t really help me. But maybe some of the other guys [inaudible]. And I guess what they do is they, they get your account information and contact companies and then they just, they combine all these orders to get a bigger, better discount.

Morris: Yeah, because didn’t you ask them about Costco? And I’m trying to remember back to February when you, when we were at the meeting there. It seems like you were chasing them down about Costco?

Brown: Yeah, and that wasn’t one of the accounts that they were affiliate, affiliated with, there we go.

Morris: Gotcha.

Miranda: I know that it used to be Frito-Lay, Otis Spunkmeyer, and there was some others, but it’s been a while.

Morris: Yeah, they had a giant list of people that [inaudible], organizations that are involved with it, or companies they’re working with. But it’s, it’s getting those accounts where you’re actually purchasing from. If you’re buying direct, it seemed like it was pretty easy, but you know, probably not everybody’s buying millions of dollars from Otis Spunkmeyer or whatever, whatever [inaudible]…

Miranda: Do you have a list of those companies, Eric?

Morris: I, I think that was in a couple of the emails. I could chase it down and push it back out to you guys, if you want.

Miranda: Yeah, would you do that please?

Morris: Yeah.

Miranda: Thanks.

Young: All righty.

Stevenson, Art: Mr. Chair?

Young: Yes, Art.

Stevenson, Art: They also, Vistar is definitely a part of it, so if you buy products from Vistar. But I would encourage everybody to sign up. And the more members that are signed up, and, and we push for the buying group to get accounts… If you have an account number, like say with some of the places you’re buying your products from and they can get locked in to your account number, then the products that

they’re getting rebates on, you could also qualify. You just have to, you know, show the numbers to get the rebates back from the companies.

Smith: This is Gordon. Art, is that like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, type thing?

Stevenson, Art: Yeah, and there’s, there, there’s other products. Hostess, oh gosh, I can’t think of all of them on the top of my head. But they’re getting, they’re getting rebates from a lot of companies and the more people that get signed up, then we’ll get more companies involved in, in giving rebates back and getting the purchase information is what is really required. So, I would encourage everybody to, to sign up. It isn’t going to cost you any money, and then as an Elected Committee and blind licensed managers we can push the company to, you know, accepting, you know, getting in touch with those places like Costco or whatever, and getting the information and getting us rebates.

Young: Yeah, I wish that Sysco had those rebates going, because my 15-lb box of bacon in three weeks has gone from $58 a box to $75 a box.

Miranda: Whoa!

Morris: Jeez!

Young: That’d be nice if they had those rebates on that stuff, but a lot of times it doesn’t cover some of those commodity items.

Stevenson, Art: Yeah. Well, the more pressure you put on the companies, you know, to get involved in, in, in these kind of situations, then you know, they’ll get involved. Obviously you buy a lot of products and you know, you talk to your guy at Sysco, Harold, and say, hey, I want you to get involved in this because I’d like to receive rebates on products that, that qualify. I’m, I’m sure, they’ll get a hold of them and say, hey, we want to be a part of this.

Colley-Dominique: Sysco and McDonald’s would be both be good…

Wright: Mr. Chairman?

Young: Yes, Ann?

Wright: I was… A few years ago we used to actually receive rebate sets from Pepsi. I was wondering, do we need to sign up for that again? I haven’t received one in a good two or three years.

Smith: No, it’s been a while [inaudible]…

Young: You have to sign back up for it again.

Wright: Okay.

Young: I think you can do that sometimes as an individual member, RSVA, but also as a group.

Mckinzie: Mr. Chairman?

Young: Yes, Char.

Mckinzie: Pepsi, Pepsi actually, if you check the price of a bag-in-the-box, they are actually giving us a discount for Randolph-Sheppard already.

Young: Yeah. They’re…

Wright: No, they’ve, they’ve already, they’ve always given us a discount, but they also used to send rebate sets to both the blind manager and the, it was RSVL back at the time.

Mckinzie: I never got any.

Young: Yeah.

Mckinzie: I never, okay, I didn’t ever get any of those.

Young: All righty. What’s next on the agenda, Lewanda?

Miranda: RFP for vending, Art Stevenson and Eric Morris.

Young: Hey, Art.

Stevenson, Art: Okay, am I off mute?

Young: Yep.

Miranda: Yep.

Stevenson, Art: Okay, well, Eric and I were discussing that he’s putting out an RFP to get a preferred vending for the Oregon Commission for the Blind. And he’s working on that and going to be putting it out real soon. And so, just wanted to make the managers know that that’s coming up. And also we most definitely want to provide feedback to Eric as blind licensed managers who are involved with these different vending companies on what kind of service we’ve been getting, and, and those kind of things. So, the Commission for the Blind picks the best third party contractor to do the vending for the Commission. Ain’t that right, Eric?

Morris: Yep, I couldn’t have said it better

Stevenson, Art: [laughter]

Young: So, do, do we have some kind of a timeline that we’re looking at, or...

Morris: I wish I could say, like, tomorrow or the next day. Hopefully in the next week or so, I, I really want to get it done. And doing, doing the RFPs and contracting and stuff like that is definitely something you become more proficient the more you do it? So, yeah, if people have input and suggestions and stuff to help create that, that RFP I would definitely welcome that over the next week or so, and then I’m going to try to get it out very soon.

Hauth: Yeah, Mr. Chairman?

Young: Yes, Randy.

Hauth: Yeah, I don’t really understand what Art basically just generalized what’s going on? And we really, quite honestly, most of the managers that I’ve talked to haven’t been receiving information relevant to agenda items, including this. And so, Eric, if you could explain exactly what the RFP is going to be and how it would impact managers that currently have contracts with vending companies, or you know, what like, I’d sure appreciate it.

Morris: Yeah, no problem. The, the thing about the Agency is the Agency has, you know, we’re supposed to be following, state agencies follow procurement standards and policies and procedures. So, as, as different things come up, and then, like unassigned vending that’s out there, not that there’s a whole bunch of it, but as we’re working, like… If we’re working with Canteen, then we should have agreements in place with them. So, going through a formal process, like, kind of like selecting a teaming partner, it, it’s important that we go through the right steps to do that the right way. And the, by doing this kind of a proposal… You know, I’ve seen some of the reports for vending where the percentages being received vary widely, so I think as an Agency, it’s important that we go through the process, we hear from all the campers out, all the, all the vendors out there that can provide this service. And if we need it, then we have it on the shelf to say, this is a person we went through the right procedure with, to do business with in this sense.

Hauth: Well, and, that’s what I was trying to get at because, I mean, obviously I haven’t heard about this. I did hear about it through the grapevine. But a couple of things that concern me if I could share is first of all, we really shouldn’t be having unassigned vending out there, you know. That’s my position is that vending opportunities are supposed to go to licensed blind vendors unless they’re not available to operate that. And secondly, most of the managers that I know, including myself, have legal and binding contracts with our providers. So, I think you’re, you know, unless I’m missing something here, I think you might be entering into tortious interference with contract and some other things like that. And so that’s what I’m trying to gather some other information. And I would think other people on the line would want to also understand more fully that.

Jackson: Can I just say Steve Jackson’s here listening to the meeting. I missed the intro. Did you guys get that?

[laughter]

Several voices at once: Hi Steve.

Smith: I’m getting a horn and a doggie.

Jackson: Sorry about that, sorry about that, that’s my daughter. Hold on.

Bird: Jerry.

Young: Hi Jerry, go ahead.

Bird: Yeah, I’m, I, I think the point is, is, is, are you saying, Eric, that the ones that aren’t, how do I put this? It’s not assigned yet, which is another discussion. I agree with Randy. According to, to the statute it has to go to a blind person. You can only maintain it until one’s available, but anyway… So therefore, it’s always been that the manager gets to, gets to choose their, whoever they want to do their service. So I think what we’re wondering, or I am now after hearing is, if you’re trying to get a provider that will agree with the Blind Commission’s for when you guys need them to fill in, you’re going to have a preferred one, but after it’s assigned to a licensed blind vendor, they have the opportunity to keep them or change? Is that…? Or are they mandated because you picked the one for them now, so now we have no choice… You know, I’m not saying it’s a good thing, bad thing, but that’s the questions I have.

Morris: No, and those are, those are good questions, Jerry. And that’s all the things that I’ve been trying to go through. And I, I don’t see this impacting anybody’s current contracts by any means, but there are times where, you know, I feel the Agency should provide a quicker service than we do when it comes to installing some of these vending sites. And the ones that I’m most concerned about are the little sites that nobody’s interested in, that there’s a… I don’t know, maybe you guys all realize that I’m just new to the game. There’s a, a large population of people that really want vending, but that, you know, a lot of places are, are reluctant to serve, because they’re small locations. So I think by putting out a proposal saying, hey, this is what we expect, you know, that you would take on the smaller sites, and at a, at a competitive percentage paid as a commission, then my, my thought process would be that either the, once it’s assigned out through the right process, that, yeah, the manager could keep that provider because they are providing kind of a niche service, or they could, you know, go out and try to find something better. You know, I think one of the big things in my, back of my head is that the percentages are kind of all over the board, as I’ve seen even with, you know, some of the bigger companies. They’re paying a variety of percentages. And, and maybe there’s a whole background of why they’re paying what they’re paying, but I think, you know, we could probably leverage that on a bigger scale by doing a competitive RFP for it.

Bird: Yeah, and if I may brief comment is I agree with that, and I know, I know even my, even though I may have one doing my candy, I have different percentages, you know, which basically is because, like you say, the ones that they don’t make much money on, they don’t want to have to pay much because that’s why people, other people don’t want to do them and they, they give them to the Blind Commission because it’s not worth the person’s time, the gas and that, to go fill them and that, and pay someone a commission. It’s not even worth their time to do it, and if they don’t have to pay people commission. So, that kind of puts the other people in a bind to where now you want us to take some, and I understand maybe some small with [inaudible] good, but the thing is is, then they have to, and if they pay too much then, because I’m having this happen, too, then they start… They got to set the prices depending on that. Now all of a sudden we got, you know, people saying, why are we paying such a high price? And they say, well, because the Blind Commission wants a high percentage. So it turns around and makes us look bad. So, I, I’m a little troubled on how… I think a good even one could, but if, if you have skills to convince your provider that, you know, if he wants your business he, he’s going to pay you more or not, that’s, that’s kind of what business is for, I’m kind of thinking. I’m trying to, see that we’re starting to kind of go like, you know, tell us how to run our businesses and we’ll pick theirs and that. And so, that’s where I’m getting just a little bit, because these are supposed to be our own businesses that are set up. We run them the way we see fit. So there I’m starting to weigh why, how, how it’s going to work, so… Thanks. Smith: Eric, this is Gordon.

Morris: Hey, Gordon.

Smith: Are, are you saying that like a place that only has one or two machines, says, Coca-Cola or Pepsi or something like that, wouldn’t want them? Or…

Morris: No, a lot, we, we, no, Gordon, we’ve had several places, like, smaller, like nonprofits and places like that reach out to us and say, hey, we have, like, 30 or 40 people on average here and most, most of your, you know, Canteen operations won’t take anything under 60 people average. So they, you know, there’s that niche market that they… A lot of people, you know, to say they’re desperate for vending, they just want some options, so that’s, that’s my thought process.

Smith: Oh, what I was trying to get at, I’ve got an acquaintance in Reno, Nevada that is private and they’re going around and picking up all those small places. And not handicapped people is what I’m trying to say. And they have 60 machines now.

Morris: Wow.

Stevenson, Art: Mr. Chairman?

Young: Yes, Art.

Stevenson, Art: Yeah. One of the things, too, also that we all need to remember, yeah, we definitely do have to run our businesses and stuff, but there’s always strength in numbers and once the Commission has a preferred vendor, a program may be set up where we take vending, the vending machine income and put it all into a big pot and that way we get better percentages that go back to the blind licensed managers. And if we decide that, or if some vendors want to decide, hey, I’m going to put my vending machines into the big pot, so we have one contract so we get better percentages on our vending, like Washington does, then we have the opportunity to do that. And also remember that the state statutes say that the Commission for the Blind has to provide, you know, for the continued operations of vending facilities. And if situations arise, like the Joe Bassett thing and stuff, then they have in place the different avenues that they can do to do what they’re supposed to do under the state statute. So, I, I think this is a positive thing. It opens up some opportunities and quite frankly, if I was running a cafeteria now, or a snack bar, and I could get 25% because we all put our, our vending in one pot, then, then as a business man I would make that, or woman, I would make that decision because I like to make more money. And this would provide a possible avenue for us to do that.

Hauth: Yeah. And if I may say, Harold, if I can just make one more comment?

Young: Yes, go ahead, Randy.

Hauth: Yeah, I’d just like to share. You know, if there’s a good opportunity out there for [inaudible] to make money, for people to make more money, because the purpose of these laws are to provide remunerative employment opportunities, which in sum means quality employment, if that choice remains, because that choice by law has to remain with the manager. It clearly identifies that the manager’s supposed to be responsible for that. Now if, if the committee decides to work with the Agency and identify some vending out there that maybe they want to bring in through a fund to pay back for set-aside as required, you know, for vacations, and pensions, and health and that, I believe that some states do that. The only thing that I can tell you is I believe it still really by intent is supposed to go

to the managers. The state said do it like Tennessee and a few of the others. They’d never really been challenged or questioned on that. And I know a lot of those states do that to pay back to the manager’s benefit. But I would, I would tell you, I think it’s great if there’s opportunities out there for people to make more money, but it’s absolutely treacherous to try and impose any limitations on the right of a manager to manage their business, or select contracts, you know, for them. So I just wanted to share that. Thank you.

Stevenson, Derrick: Eric, this is Derrick.

Smith: Eric, this is Gordon again. Could I just… Did you understand, and I’m sure you did, what I was saying?

Morris: Yeah, Gordon, I understood.

Smith: Now, is that what you are trying to do in a sense, picking up the smaller vending to go to our set-aside instead of letting a private person come in and pick up one here and one there, and, and pretty soon they have a, you know, 60, 70 machines that are building themselves a pretty good income.

Morris: Yeah, I think it’s important to try to, to hit the markets that are out there that are, you know, people asking for stuff. And it’s… If we can get more things into our program by leveraging, you know, the, the power of the Commission, you know, in any of these vending RFPs. People can say, yeah, I’ll do it, or I, or I won’t, but any time you put out a proposal that says, hey, this is what we’re asking for, it provides companies the opportunity to step up and say, we could do that, you know, based on, you know, based on their commitment. So, I, that’s kind of one of the things I’m targeting with that is trying to make some of these people happy and really tap into the, I think like you were saying, you know, some markets that are just, they’re just kind of small, but it’s, it’s… You know, it’s one more thing to bring more income in.

Colley-Dominique: $35 here and $15 here, and all together…

Young: And I believe Derrick had something to say, didn’t you, Derrick?

Stevenson, Derrick: Yeah, yeah, this isn’t unlike, like the Board, you know, a while back wanted to have a preferred vendor when we were having all that trouble getting our money and stuff, and the Board voted to have a preferred vendor. But this is just doing it more properly and I think it’s a good idea. I don’t think it’s going to affect the managers’ decision making process at all. I think it’s a good thing.

Young: All right.

Colley-Dominique: I didn’t have the sense that it was going to…

Young: Okay, Lewanda, got the next agenda item?

Miranda: 4 is “Old Business” and A is White City?

Young: Any Old Business out there?

Miranda: Mr. Morris, White City.

Bird: Just a minute, I got some old business!

Young: Okay, Jerry.

Bird: Yeah, I, I, I see you have White City and then, and that’s proper, too. But I’d like to know still what’s going on with the Dam? It been going on for four or five months. Well, actually it’s been going on for a couple year. Still don’t know nothing on that. The U of O, don’t know nothing on that. I’m kind of, and the Joe Bassett thing, what, what are we doing with that?

Miranda: Okay, Jerry, do you, Jerry… Let’s…

Bird: Yes.

Miranda: Let’s finish this A here for White City and then we move, then we move into Open Discussion and Other, and then we can bring up those.

Bird: Okay, thanks.

Miranda: Mm-hmm.

Morris: White City, just real quickly. Ken kind of stole my thunder there at the beginning. We’re expecting an answer back from the Department of Ed by the 17 th of this month. “Expecting”, quote unquote. Ken was able to get a commitment from, what I understand, from Senator Walden’s office, that if the Dept. of Ed isn’t going to be responsive, that they would be willing to put pressure on it. And, you know, am I speaking to that correctly, Ken?

Gerlitz: Yeah. That’s, that’s correct. I wanted to talk to them to see if he would help maybe negotiate a settlement so we wouldn’t have to go through, you know, federal litigation and since I wasn’t named on the suit, they couldn’t talk to me about it. But he did say if, if they weren’t timely in their response, then they could get involved and give them a push.

Morris: Yeah, so we’re, we’re in a hurry up and wait status. Which is all, which is all part of the building the pro—building the case for the federal fight on that, and that’s what the attorneys have determined is the correct path is to get that response, or note the lack of response from the Dept. of Ed before we press to the federal district letter.

Gerlitz: Cool. Correcto.

Smith: Hang in there, Kenny.

Gerlitz: Oh yeah, yeah. I’ll, I’ll be dead before this [inaudible] is resolved. [laughter]

Morris: Let’s hope not.

Young: All right, Lewanda.

Miranda: 5 is Open Discussion and Other. There you go, Jer!

Bird: Well, yeah, I just, you know. I’m just wondering a little bit where these old ones are at that particular time. Just, I know they’ve been brought up, in the past, but they still haven’t been accomplished. So, I’m still out there on the limb, just still wondering, so I was hoping maybe you’d have any, some information?

Morris: Yeah, Jerry, I can go over a couple of those. I was going to provide a written document out to the everybody, like, probably tomorrow on outreach stuff. Bonneville, I, I think you and I talked about that, that I talked to the tri—their attorney the other day who’s been tied up in trials. And he said he knows he owes me an answer. Not quite sure why he hasn’t gotten me an answer yet, but they have a revised permit in place with, you know, he has it. So we’re just waiting for a response back. University of Oregon, I’m sure everybody’s heard that the newspaper released that they’ve awarded that to Bigfoot Vending. I sent a note to Bigfoot’s person last week and haven’t heard back from him yet. So he’s on my list to give a holler to tomorrow.

Bird: Okay, and I’d like to make a little comment on that. Because yeah, of course, probably you guys know he, had been over eight months, so he was supposed to do that RFP, and in the RFP they agreed to partner with the Commission for the Blind. And it’s looking pretty close to me like Bigfoot, you know, pays out $5 million to get the pouring rights and I seen a whole list of stuff, that what they’re giving to the college, but they never once said a word about, look at us, we’re partnering with the Commission for the Blind, we’re helping them out, too. So I, I’m pretty sure, and he hasn’t commented back like, “You bet,” you know. We’ve, you know, you’d think it would be a good thing to show that, you know, we’re doing this. But what, I’m afraid how it’s going to turn out, because they used us for, to get, help get pouring rights. They paid them off and now they’re throwing us away, so… Once again, another, another thing that been given out as far as to kind of help on my stuff that was given, that I didn’t get, like the College and… And the hospital being cut down and I’m still not even to where I was before, but… So I’m, I’m concerned on where they’re at, so… That’s all.

Hauth: Let me, this is, this is Randy, if I can share?

Young: Sure, go ahead, Randy.

Hauth: I [inaudible] like to share that actually Bonneville Dam Lock and Key, a federal installation, absolute priority, has been on the books for four years. I know Eric has taken some efforts to try and get that secured. However, if they wanted to have the Blind Commission in there doing vending, the simplest thing to do is to write a permit. The other thing with University of Oregon, that same company was the company that bid against the Oregon Commission for the Blind, I believe on Central Oregon Community College, and was awarded that, so I wouldn’t hold my breath relevant to getting any kind of compensation back from them. In closing, what I want to share with you guys is my concerns relevant to the recent Chemeketa Community College arbitration panel decision. Susan Kearns was on there. Gina Nolan and Tom Levak. The Agency and Tom Levak and Peter Nolan spent close to $100,000 to fight against the rights of a licensed blind vendor to have a preference for vending. And if you guys take the time to read that ruling, you will find that these folks are not your friends, not your supporters, no matter how much you want to sit down and clap your hands and think that it’s going to be all okay because you’re being nice to them, read that ruling. They spent $100,000 to squash the rights of the licensed blind vendor, and unless people stand up and address this issue, it’s not going to get better. So I just wanted to share that with you. And you know, the AG, Serena, errr, not Serena Hewey, I mean, they’re basically all the same. But Rosnik said we’re lucky to have what we have. So, remember that as

your agreements come up and if these other agencies get wind, and they know they’re going to go after where the money is, so… That’s what I wanted to share, thanks.

Stevenson, Art: Mr. Chairman.

Young: Yes, Art.

Stevenson, Art: I’m, I might say that I agree that the Chemeketa Community College decision was not appropriate. And the Elected Committee has received copies of all of that, and we’ve read it. And we also are working at having a discussion with all parties concerned during the In-Service training when Terry Smith comes out here. He’s already weighed in on his thoughts concerning that. I can also tell you that the Executive Director of the Commission for the Blind had a meeting with Terry back at NCSAB to discuss, you know, what’s going on. And the Elected Committee does plan to sit down with all parties concerned and pound out a reasonable way to approach this situation and hopefully get it resolved. So just so you we’re we’re, we’re doing things. And I believe that with the new relationship with the Commission Board, the positiveness that there’s going to be a better working relationship and some things are, are, are definitely going to get done.

Hauth: Yeah, just remember, Art, they spent $100,000 to squash the blind rights here in Oregon, so just keep that in your pipe, okay?

Gerlitz: Well, Mr. Chairman…

[in the background]

Young: Art, Art, [inaudible]. Hey, Art, [inaudible]… Whoa.

Smith: This is not… Let’s not go there, Art.

Stevenson, Art: Mr.—Randy, I, I know what’s going on. I know there’s a lot of stuff that has been in disagreement, and that the time has come to work together and resolve the issue. And, and that I can tell you the Elected Committee is dedicated to do, but do it in an open forum, discussing, and then figuring out the proper strategy to finally resolve this issue which has been going on way too long. So, I believe positive steps are being taken, and we’ll, the proof will be in the pudding. I think that people are going to start working together and seeing what’s going on. And people are going to get educated and the pressure will be put on the proper people to do the right things.

[several at once]: Thank you, Art.

Young: All right, Ken, did you have something to say?

Gerlitz: Well, yeah, I think Randy’s right in terms of we have that really aren’t caring for our program and aren’t really that interested in making sure we get our rights. But I think one of the main clogs in this, this, this whole pipe is the Attorney, is the AG’s office. And until we can get the AG office to interpret the laws the way they were intended to be interpreted, I’m not so sure how we could ever get over this [inaudible].

Smith: Kenny, this is Gordon. I don’t think we can, and the attorneys that I’ve been involved with in the county, they have said they’re, until we get some kind of legislation that empowers us and not the county or the state, we’re in trouble.

Haseman: Uh, this is Linda Haseman. I would like to also say that, you know, I’ve been observing this program for over 10 years, and really adamantly for the past two and a half to almost three years. And what I can say is, “We’re gonna” is the topic of the day, always. There’s never any action. It’s always the “We’re gonna”. And I sat through an administrative hearing and I can tell you, sitting and listening to the AG’s office, it’s very clear they continue to say you’re lucky to have what you have, and you better be ready to competitively bid as your contracts become available. And good luck to all of you.

Young: All right, Lewanda, what’s the next item?

Miranda: Thanks, Linda. Hey, I wanted to bring up something in, in open session, other. I’m going to be gone for a couple of weeks to Guide Dog School. I’ll be gone April 27th to May 10th, so I’m going to try to be available for anything that might come up, but just in case you can’t get a hold of me, I’d like to ask Ken Gerlitz to fill in for me, if for some reason I, you know, I’m busy and you can’t get a hold of me? Would you accept that, Ken, since you’re in my area? Ken?

Smith: Lewanda, this is Gordon. Thank you for the email list. If you’re going to be gone I want to get that in before you’re out again.

Miranda: Okay, you got it. Ken Gerlitz, are you still there? Okay, well, anyway. I’ll deal with that later.

Bird: Before we go I’d like, I got one more little, something I’d like to add, add, state, please? Jerry.

Young: Hey, Jerry.

Bird: Yeah, I’m… I want to talk a little bit here about these last biddings, these last assignments. And I been to the other ones, I’ll go into the one that was assigned to me. I, where we are at? Apparently, what, what troubled me, I got assigned it. Are you, was you guys aware that one floor, are we starting to compete by floors now? Because I, I go out there and Steve Gordon’s got the top floor, but I got the bottom floor. So I was awarded the bottom floor and he got the top floor. Now, it never says nothing like these, this building was going to be split between, between two blind vendors. I mean, I’m, thought I was a Salem vendor more or less. And it’s, it’s not no super big account or anything. But, I’m, I’m confused on why had that happened, and why is it happening? And if I missed something that now we’re going to fight over floors… And also they are very upset out there because they was, they intended the Blind Commission in the first of January, signed a contract wanting some, wanting these five machines. And that’s, I don’t even know why, [inaudible] today if they’re in there. They’re, they been there for two weeks, there’s no power hooked up right, there’s no water line. They, they are upset because they wanted them, they, they had to contact the Blind Commission in January and they’re saying, “Where is our machines?” I asked Marshall about that because he done the survey, supposed to done the survey. Should make sure that utilities and proper stuff is there for machines to be hooked up. If not, who’s going to do them and at whose expense, and, you know, that, that’s business, I would think. The, kind of, don’t make him look so bad, but he says that they didn’t know who they was going to assign it to, so it just set there with no machines for four months because they wasn’t sure, the Board didn’t, wasn’t sure who to assign it to. So my question is, is well, I’m more concerned with these people, as, as us looking pretty bad when we finally get people to say, okay, [inaudible] you got our stuff. And

then they’re, they have to wait four months. Over four months, almost five months to get a vending machine installed by the Oregon Commission for the Blind. That does not make us look good; we’re trying to raise our image. So I’m a little concerned with that. Why that happened? Is it a one-time thing, or is this stuff that’s going to start happening now? So, that’s, that’s what I’m wondering. Thanks.

Gerlitz: Uh, Mr. Chair?

Young: Yes, Ken.

Gerlitz: Yeah, I’m sorry, Lewanda, I was there. I just, this muting kind of gets me confused. You know, I agree with Jerry, but Jerry, are you, are you saying that the Commission is purchasing the equipment themselves? Or…? I thought they were kind of out of that business right now.

Bird: Well, when, when did the Blind Commission get out of buying equipment? Although they’re not their equipment, but Canteen’s doing it. But the building is not owned by Canteen. The Canteen will not take responsibility to drill a hole through a cabinet and run a water line. If it floods, they got to put in a shut-off valve. They wanted coffee. That was their biggest thing. They need a water line. And, and if Canteen does it and it floods, they’re responsible. So…

Gerlitz: The, the, the buildings that I’ve had experience with usually want to do it themselves and then we reimburse them for the cost and [inaudible].

Wright [?]: That’s up to the building…

Bird: Whatever’s got to be agreed to. Why did it take four or five months for to finally do that? And I don’t even… Machines have been placed for two weeks. And it still ain’t done. So that’s what I’m getting at. And, and why did it take so long to get assigned? Why did we make, a state agency wait four months for service from the Commission for the Blind? It makes me look bad. That’s the first thing everyone said to me, “God, we been waiting four months for the Blind Commission,” you know, and I have to apologize. And you know, I’m out there as soon as I knew it happened. So, I don’t know, I…

Gerlitz: That’s why we need, that’s why we need field reps, I mean that’s exactly…

Bird: Well, duh! And I mean, we got a guy going out doing surveys, but that’s not a survey. He had no idea… I mean, why wasn’t it in, when the bid come out, that the first floor is already being taken. I mean, I don’t understand it. Can the Board explain why they put out a, something, making two vending routes fight over, we’re not fighting, because, you know… But why do we have to, why did you put out that, floors? And why did it take so long?

Miranda: Well, I can speak to that, Jerry. The Elected Committee wasn’t aware that Steve Gordon was in that building.

Hauth: No, because you guys have your head in the sand.

Miranda: You don’t have to be rude, Randy.

Stevenson, Art: Hey, I, I, I beg to differ with you on that. Steve Gordon’s, some of Steve Gordon’s people moved into that building. And Steve put, went ahead and put machines in, didn’t inform OCB of what

was going on concerning that. So don’t, don’t blame OCB or the Elected Committee, Randy, for something that a blind licensed manager did, and didn’t keep in communications with the Commission.

Gordon: Art, Art, I [inaudible], Art!

Bird: Art, didn’t, didn’t our agency, Art Marshall, do the survey, go out to that, physically to that building, he told me he did. So how could he tell me that, and I asked him to, he says, “Well, I didn’t go up the fifth floor, because I didn’t, you have to have a key, I didn’t ask them.” You know, and that’s a bunch of bull that they didn’t know someone was in there. Maybe the Board didn’t, but… That’s my problem is, why, I mean, Art, I know you want to say, well, God, don’t blame the Agency. Who would you blame? They’re the one that’s supposed to do the surveys. And if Marshall ain’t doing his job, let’s get someone to do a survey. That’s going to hurt us all. There’s [inaudible] surveys is the first thing you do. And that should show exactly where the machine’s going to go, there’s, how, how much space is needed, is there enough space in the vending machines? He told me I had six machines or so, and then when I went to go put them in, he, he says, “Oh, no, Jerry, there’s only room for five now.” And the contract said six, so I like, you know, I don’t even know if he had a tape or what. But it’s disgusting. And, and once again, I don’t think you [inaudible] the part about that it’s hurting our program by having this type of stuff happen. So if I don’t bring it up, then you guys didn’t, thought everything was cool, so… You know, four months to get vending machines from the Blind Commission. And they’re not the Blind Commission’s, their machines are subcontracted to them. But anyway, I’ll shut up. Thanks.

Stevenson, Derrick: This is Derrick.

Young: Hey, Derrick.

Stevenson, Derrick: Yeah, I, I agree with Randy, I mean, with Jerry, that this is, does sound kind of embarrassing for us, and I wouldn’t blame them if they went out and got somebody else. But as far as the electrical and stuff, well, I mean, that’s their building maintenance responsibility to supply that. It’s not the Commission’s job to, to necessarily pay for, have the electrical and stuff done. They should have, they should have had that all figured out, how they were going to take care of the electrical before they even bothered calling us. But as far as the rest goes, you know, four months is, is an awfully long time.

Young: Yep.

Stevenson, Derrick: And it is kind of embarrassing.

Gordon: Mr. Chairman?

Young: Yes, Steve.

Gordon: Yeah, Art Stevenson is unaware that I had made a phone call to Eric and the lady of the building, whichever floor it was, I had no idea at the time, they had moved over from the DHS building, which was the old Ernst building in Keizer, which I’d had for probably 10, 12 years. She requested vending and I sent my guys out and they put them in. Jerry and I don’t have a beef about it. It’s just the way it was handled. That it went out for bid and here we are, we’re two different vendors, so… It was all in the part of the survey was not correct. That’s all I got to say.

Young: Thank you, Steve, for that clarification.

Stevenson, Derrick: Yeah, I’d like, I’d like to hear what Eric has to say about it, myself.

Young: Yep. I would, too. Go ahead, Eric.

Morris: Well, I know the, the mixing of accounts and stuff was an issue we brought up at the Fall In-Service. And I’m trying to remember Steve’s phone call now, as he sits here and says that. So it’s obviously, the intent of the Act is not to have people mixed up in the same building. That’s not the, not the way it should be done. So, I need to go back and look at my phone records to see when Steve called and stuff. But that, that’s one of the things we need to keep track of, because I think there has been shifting of accounts by Canteen and some other places that not everybody was aware of. So, you know, is four months a good thing? Of course not, so that’s, that’s what we look at constantly to see how we can speed things up. But you know, our, our interagency agreement is not a cookie-cutter interagency agreement because we have some very specific things that we want in that agreement. So sometimes that slows things down. And yeah, it’s not a good thing. And the power, and the water, and all that kind of stuff? Not, not an optimal thing at all.

Young: Okay. Any more comments? Okay, Lewanda, what’s the next item?

Miranda: Next meeting. And June 26th is the last Thursday of June. Two months out.

Young: All righty. I would say June 26th [inaudible].

Miranda: Yeah. At 3:30.

Young: Yep, sounds good to me.

Miranda: So, are you going to adjourn this meeting, Chairman?

Young: I’m going to officially adjourn this meeting. Thank you, everybody.

Miranda: Thanks, everybody.

Smith: See you, Harold. Gordo.

Young: You bet, bye.

[meeting adjourned]