Meeting Minutes

Governor’s Council on Disability

January 20, 2006

Council Members Present/Participating:    

Karen Benson, Stanley Brown, Dan Card (Chair), Joe Colagiovanni, Edward Duff, Kathleen Fagin, Matthew Hughes, Mary Ellen Jenison (by phone), Todd Mayfield, Susan Orton, Dawn Renee Powell, Dr. Hani Soudah, Molly Tallarico

Council Members Not Present/Participating: 

Michael Esser, Mikael Fredholm, Pat Gallagher, Stephanie Logan, Sarah Olson, Donna Pavlick, Joseph Sartorius

Department Liaisons: 

Jim Brinkman (for Mike Fester – DSS), Walter Johannpeter (for Dave Mosby – OA), Phyllis Lanius (Office of State Courts Administrator), Jackie O’Dell (for Nancie McAnaugh – DHSS), Lowell Pearson (DOR), Robin Rust (for Linda Roebuck – DMH)
 
Staff:   Robert Honan, Linda Baker, Donna Borgmeyer, Claudia Browner

Guest:   Jeanne Hunt

Real Time Captioner:  Debbie Reithmeyer

The meeting was called to order by Chair Dan Card at 10:10 AM.  Rob Honan took attendance and announced that we had a quorum.  The council staff members and department liaisons introduced themselves.

The agenda for the day and the minutes from the December 2, 2005 meeting were approved.

Chair Dan Card gave his report:

He reported about the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruling that the fee for removable, permanent disabled parking placards will be waived.  Lowell Pearson (DOR) confirmed that as of January 19, 2006, the Department of Revenue will no longer charge this fee for permanent placards.  He stated, however, that the Department will still require the $2 fee for the temporary placards since the ruling did not address temporary placards.

Rob Honan handed out the Executive Committee (EC) meeting minutes.  Dan Card mentioned that some of the EC members used a laptop and online real-time captioning via an Internet website for the EC meeting.  Dan Card wants to use this method for council meetings as well.
Dan Card handed out a listing of the Governor’s Councils on Disabilty of all 50 states.

Dan Card asked that Rob Honan and Todd Mayfield continue to work on updating the Governor’s Council on Disability’s (GCD) website.

Action Item:      Rob Honan will e-mail the EC meeting minutes to Mary Ellen Jenison.
Rob Honan will check into the possibility of having online real-time captioning for upcoming council meetings.
Rob Honan and Todd Mayfield will continue to work on updating the website.

Rob Honan handed out his report on the Council staff’s activities since the last meeting and summarized the report on the following topics:

Missouri Youth Leadership Forum (MYLF)
Fundraising activities are underway.  The MYLF committee is in the process of recruiting speakers/presenters and planning the activities. Rob Honan asked the council members to let people know about this training opportunity for students with disabilities.

Inclusion Awards
All four 2005 Inclusion Award ceremonies have taken place and council members were present at each of the ceremonies.  The last award to be presented was the Bob Aldridge Advocate of the Year Award and the ceremony to honor Doris Weber took place on Tuesday, January 17th, 2006 in Independence, with Edward Duff, Pat Gallagher and Rob Honan attending.
The program committee will select the 2006 Inclusion Award winners in the fall.

Committee work
Rob Honan summarized the committee meetings that took place since the last Council meeting.

Annual Report
The annual report was submitted to the Governor’s office on December 2005 and mailed to the Council members and department liaisons before the Council meeting.

Business Leadership Network (BLN)
Rob Honan gave a summary of BLN activities. The Council discussed possibilities to expand BLN activities statewide and strategies to make the BLN more “visible” to agencies and employers.

Poster and Journalism Contest
This year’s theme for posters and essays is “Inclusion Leads to Opportunity”.  Deadline for submissions is February 1, 2006.  Donna Borgmeyer asked for volunteers to judge the entries and determine the prizewinners.  The following council members/liaisons volunteered:
Essays: Karen Benson, Mary Ellen Jenison, Sue Orton, Renee Powell
Posters:            Phyllis Launius, Renee Powell, Molly Tallarico
The winners will receive their prizes at the Power Up Conference in Columbia on April 11, 2006. The conference brochure was passed around.

Committee Meetings
The council members/liaisons divided up into two groups to conduct a 30-minute committee meeting for the Legislative Committee and the Programs Committee.

Committee Reports

Programs Committee (Mary Ellen Jenison reporting)
            The Programs Committee identified the following three priorities:

1. Special Needs Task Force (for Disaster Preparedness) to send a speaker to the next Council meeting on April 28, 2006.  Karen Benson will line up the speaker.
2. Participation of Council staff at the BLN fall event in October 2006, either in person or via videoconference.  Joe Colagiovanni and Mary Ellen Jenison will check into videoconferencing possibility and work with Linda Baker.
3. Invite a speaker on Health Care Issues for the July 21 Council meeting.

Action Items:    Line up speaker for April 28 (Karen Benson)
Check into videoconferencing for BLN event in October (Joe Colagiovanni and Mary Ellen Jenison)
Invite speaker on Health Care Issues for July 21 Council Meeting

Legislative Committee (Karen Benson reporting)
The Legislative Committee handed out a list of legislative priorities and will follow the bills that fall in the areas of interest as identified by the legislative survey.

The Legislative Committee made a motion to adopt a new process on how to bring topics before the council for a resolution or position paper.  Motion carried. (see Attachment 1)

Stanley Brown asked that the Council develop a position paper on the tobacco tax issue. The Council members had a discussion about the Council’s purpose or role in the legislative process and whether or not the Council should publish a position paper on any political issues.  Dan Card motioned to table the tobacco issue. The motion was carried.

Edward Duff reported that the C.I.T. (Crisis Intervention Team) for people with mental disabilities received appropriation as a line item for Mental Health in order to make it available statewide.
Edward Duff made a motion to make employment for people with disabilities a top priority for the Council.  No seconds.  The motion died.

Action items:     Rob Honan will prepare the document outlining the new process on bringing topics before the council and send it out to Council members/ liaisons.

Financial Committee (Joe Colagiovanni reporting)
The Financial Committee is tracking the sources and uses of revenue on a monthly basis. The committee is looking at ways to increase revenue, for example by partnering with charitable organizations and educating 501(c)3s to direct their resources to employ people with disabilities.

Strategic Planning Committee (Kathleen Fagin reporting)
The Strategic Planning Committee developed a draft vision statement and a Strategic Planning Worksheet (Attachments 2 and 3).  Both documents were handed out to the attendees.  The strategic planning documents will be finalized by or before the next Council meeting.

Old Business
Jeanne Hunt was present during this part of the Council meeting.
Mary Ellen Jenison recommended putting the Resolution to Protect Children’s Health and Development in Missouri in the official format.
Edward Duff recommended changing the language of the resolution to include adults.  After discussion, the Council decided to work on a separate resolution for adults.
Dan Card made a motion to adopt the resolution. Joe Colagiovanni seconded. The Council adopted the resolution by unanimous vote.

New Business
Stanley Brown handed out a proposed resolution in support of the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.  He presented the resolution to go into the new process for review by the Council.

Public Comment
Phyllis Launius reported that the Office of State Court Administrator’s website is being updated to be more accessible.

Robin Rust gave an update on the transformation grant.  Her staff is currently in the process of developing a strategic plan.  She invited comments from the Council members/liaisons and provided the website for the grant: www.dmh.mo.gov/mrdd/transform/transformation.htm

By unanimous vote, the meeting was adjourned at 2:15 PM.

Minutes by Claudia Browner, Executive I
2/9/06