[Waiting for meeting to start]
Good morning this is Sara Grivetti the chair of the statewide independent living Council, it's now 10:00 a.m. and we are going to commence this special meeting that we have called for the statewide independent living Council to do a final approval of the fiscal year 17‑19 state plan for independent living.  Thank you everybody who joined us today.  I assume we will get a few more beeps as people jump in at this point.  I would like for Tracy could you do a roll call please?  Of the Council to determine if we have a quorum.
   >> Tracy:  Robin Bennett?  Gabriella Burman?  Lisa Cook‑Gordon?
   >> Sara:  I want to pause you if you are on mute Council members we are not hearing your indication of being on this call, so please unmute your phones as Tracy does this roll call and so I don't know, I know she has called Robin, Gabriella and Lisa and we have not heard your indication you are on the call at this point so you can go ahead, Tracy.
   >> Mike:  Hi, what is going on?
   >> Sara:  Trying to do a roll call vote but so far we've got people I think are on mute and we have not heard
   >> Mike:  Okay, I'm here
   >> Sara:  Tracy will call your name in a minute.
   >> Mike:  Okay.
   >> Michael Hamm, here, Kelsey Kleimola, she has been excused, Steven Locke?  Has been excused.  Diana Maddox, here, Rebecca Parten?  Here.  Dawn Reamer?  Who has been excused.  Mia Smith?  Wanda Travis?  Jim Whalen?
   >> Mike:  Wow.
   >> Sara:  Is that all the Council members.
   >> Tracy:  That is all the Council members, yes, I heard another beep though.
   >> This is Sara from Salle up in the UP.
   >> Sara:  Hi Sara, Sara Grivetti and we are trying to get a quorum but doesn't look like it at the moment, Robin Bennett are you on?  Rodney, have you heard from Robin?
   >> Rodney:  I have not, Sara.  She from the last meeting stated that she would be here.
   >> Sara:  And Gabriella?
   >> Rodney:  Same.
   >> Sara:  Lisa on?  Okay, how many more do I need to have a quorum, Tracy?
   >> Tracy:  Three.
   >> Sara:  I'm going to recommend that we hang tight, listen for a few more beeps and attempt to get a quorum here, so every so often I will pop in and ask if anybody has joined us.
   >> Jim Whalen just joined.
   >> Sara:  Jim, thank you, we are a few short of a quorum right now
   >> Jim:  Okay.
   >> Sara:  Is Lisa, Gabriella, Wanda Travis, Gabriella, those are the four that have not indicated they would not be able to join us, correct, Rodney?  They indicated they would be here?
   >> Rodney:  That's correct.
   >> Sara:  Okay, so I'm going to continue to hang tight.
I will check in every so often.  This is an important opportunity to do this so I want to give us an opportunity to see if we can get a quorum.  And, Rodney, if you would like to mute and maybe call any of those folks or text them or e‑mail them, you know, feel free to do so.
   >> Rodney:  Okay, I'm trying to right now.
   >> Sara:  Thank you.  So while we are waiting for a quorum of the Council to save time why don't we take a check in on who else is here, I heard Sara Pirkowski from Salle other individuals on the call that would like to announce themselves?
   >> Joe Hartz.
   >> Sara McCantor.
   >> Eleanor Cantor
   >> Sara:  Anybody else?  Anybody representatives from the designated state entity on the call?  Rodney feel free to jump in if you have heard from anybody or have made any progress
   >> Rodney:  Madam chair Lisa is calling in momentarily.
   >> Sara:  Were you able to get ahold of anybody else?
   >> Rodney:  I'm making another call.  I will keep you posted.
   >> Sara:  We will be one short once Lisa calls in.
   >> Madam chair I'm only counting three members.
   >> Sara:  I will have Tracy confirm a roll quorum here shortly, Joe.
   >> Joe:  I believe it is eight and we have supposed to have 15 members but anyway.
   >> Sara:  Could I ask the person who just called in to identify themselves
   >> Hi, it's Gabriella.
   >> Sara:  Hi, Gabriella.  If you could hang tight we are waiting to establish a forum.
   >> Gabriella:  Okay.
   >> Sara:  Rodney or Tracy could you indicate for me the number of voting Council members we have on the phone to establish a quorum today?
   >> Tracy:  Currently we have seven members on the phone going off of a 15 Council member we need eight, we need one more
   >> Sara:  Could you please reiterate for me on the phone, Mike Diana, Jim Whalen, Gabriella.
   >> Tracy:  We will have Lisa when she calls in.  Let's see Rebecca, Diana
   >> Sara:  Who just called in?
   >> This is Lisa.
   >> Sara:  Hi, Lisa.
   >> Hi.
   >> Tracy:  We currently have seven and we need one more.
   >> Sara:  Okay.
   >> Rodney:  Madam chair seven is a quorum, you have a 13 member, voting member composition at the time, there are two vacant seats
   >> Sara:  Tracy just said it was 15 member count.  So Rodney you are confirming that the 13 member voting member vacancy and two seats that are vacant
   >> Rodney:  That is correct.
   >> Sara:  Tracy for the purpose of the record and members of the public please indicate do one more roll call, I apologize I just feel like we need to be more organized on that so if we can do one more
   >> Tracy:  From the beginning.  Robin Bennett, Gabriella Bureau man, here, Lisa Cook‑Gordon, here, Sara Grivetti, here, Michael Hamm, here, Kelsey Kleimola who has been excused.  Steven Locke has been excused, Diana Maddox, here, Rebecca Parten, here, Dawn Reamer, who has been excused, Mia Smith?  Wanda Travis?  Jim Whalen, here.  You have a quorum.
   >> Sara:  Okay, thank you.  Given that we just established a forum of the 13 member Council and I just want to indicate too that the agenda states there is going to be a CIL goal director roll call, just to clarify all CIL directors except for Sara Pirkowski on the phone signed the SPIL last week so those that signed the SPIL do not need to join this call today so thank you Sara for joining us and when we get to CIL vote I hope you will be on the call to give us your vote.  So first of all the common goals we are now going to commence public comment we have three individuals that I believe that are going to do public comment today each of those individuals will be given five minutes to address the Council so I will interrupt once we get to the five minute point if you have not completed your public comment so do I have any members of the public that would like to do public comment today?
   >> This is Darma.  Can you hear me?
   >> Sara:  Go ahead Darma.
   >> Darma:  I'm Darma‑Cantor, I am a 68‑year‑old woman with a significant disability and I live in Muskegon, Michigan.  I urge the Council to reject proposed state plan.  It is part independent living, it's about individuals having the power to act in their own interest.  CILs are about supporting and mentoring the individuals to be self determined.  The SPIL states its purpose as empowerment and self determination through the practice of peer support.  Will is nothing in the work plan that addresses either empowerment or peer support.  Needing and using services, needing and using services is a constant challenge to our sense of self and physical and psychological energy to assert ourselves and opposition that dictates of the provider system.  Disability services teaches us to be dependent because service providers assume they know best and refer to them and require compliance with their plan.  IL as a movement is the answer to independent living because it fosters identity separate for the need from services and provider services.  IL teaches us that our lives belong to us.  Not the parent or doctors or case managers.  Our voice is equal that every other person on earth seeks a family and professional support  You don't know this from a personal experience or from meaningful interactions with disability individuals and to understand the function of myself, that contradicts the social construct of disability  Independent living is hard and what we need most from the network and centers for independent living is support from our peers.  We need a community who knows oppression and brings us together to collect and challenge our oppressors.  This is the plan for independent living actually partnered in the system that op press us.  This plan has nothing to do with living the disability experience.  The plan separates people from their own IL movement.  Isolates the voices of advocates with disabilities and reenforces professionals in our lives.  This bill is not based on IL history or philosophy and I urge you reject the plan, thank you.
   >> Sara:  Thank you Darma.  Do I have somebody else that would like to do public comment today? .
>> Eleanor I would like to give a public comment.
   >> Sara:  Go ahead you have five minutes.
   >> It was kind of hard to hear Darma's public comment because there is some background noise going on from somewhere so if you could mute yourselves that would be great.  Okay, the new executive order defines a quorum as a majority of voting members but that is not actually legal.  The rehabilitation act requires a majority of members not employed by CIL or the state to establish a quorum of this Council.  I do not believe you have a quorum today.  The Michigan SILC does not meet the requirement to be composed of a majority of individuals with disabilities not employed by the CILs or the state  And I'll be sending you evidence I've collected to prove that.  This Council which is not consumer controlled does not have the consent of the disability community to approve or implement this state plan.  This SPIL does not in any way address the need for improved or expanded independent living services for Michiganders with disability, consumer input was taken as required by law but no consumer input made it into the SPIL.  The reason is clear  Because Michigan CILs are not consumer controlled and are aggressively opposed to independent living philosophy, consumer input on improving Michigan's independent living program was completely ignored by the SPIL writing team which featured the nondisabled executive director from Michigan's worst CILs.  In Muskegon Tamara Colier and Mike Hamm hopefully treat consumers with content and extreme disrespect  People with disabilities in Muskegon have no access to the core services disability West Michigan collects over one million dollars in taxpayer money annually to provide.  It is fraud and nobody cares because everybody is getting paid not to care.  I specifically object to the refusal of Michigan CILs to provide the best core service.  Youth transition is a core service which was specifically designed by Senator Harken to break the sheltered work pipeline  Michigan CILs are implementing the youth transition requirement by partnering directly with sheltered workshops, this partnership is functioned by MRS so everybody wins except consumers.  The State of Michigan is leading an attack on independent living values and principles.  Michigan's independent living program will soon be completely over taken by vocational rehabilitation.  Advocates are no longer welcome at the CILs in SILC, if we do not document and oppose what is happening we will lose an entire state of CILs to vocational rehabilitation and Michiganders with disabilities will continue to suffer without access to IL services including disability‑led advocacy  We cannot let this happen.  The independent living community has always been home to me.  We will never accept CILs dominated by departments of state Government and run for the enrichment of the businesses exploiting consumers.  Thank you.
   >> Sara:  Thank you Eleanor.  Does anybody else want to provide public comment today.
   >> Joe Hartz.
   >> Sara:  You have five minutes.
   >> Joe:  I would urge people to vote against this but it's already a done deal.  You know, it's like everything else that has been going on  This SILC and our CILs operate in secret.  That's totally the opposite of what independent living is supposed to be about.  We have my center for independent living actively recruiting people to work in sheltered work and then saying that's not ‑‑ that is integrated competitive employment.  My center for independent living actively denies people with disabilities including yours truly access to their meetings which are supposed to be open to the public including people with disabilities.  We've got a secret Government going around here.  We've got Federal and state money going around a merry go round with no accountability and absolutely no transparency.  This is the absolute worst state plan for independent living I've ever seen.  There are no real measurable ‑‑ measures in here.  There are total vagaries.  The thing has not even been spell checked but it was hatched up in the dark again to echo what Eleanor said nobody has taken public comments into account  When I talked to you Ms. Grivetti more than a year ago you said you put in the SPIL making our own centers for independent living accessible to everybody.  We got places that literally bar people from coming to their meetings.  Which are supposed to be in public which is a violation of the ADA, violation of 504 and a violation of independent living philosophy  Nothing about us without us means something.  But nobody really cares  That is shown by the lack luster turn out for this meeting.  The lack luster turn out for this meeting.  When we can't even hardly get seven people SILC members.  The other thing I'd like to know is how does the new executive order impact anything.  You know, we put the cart before the horse over and over and over again when the state Government run by our wonderful governor Snyder who thinks that these programs are just play things for them and for MRS to squeeze out some money and make back room deals.  That isn't independent living ladies and gentleman, that is not even open and transparent Government.  When we have our centers for independent living and this SILC openly, openly deny the civil rights of 25 people with disabilities at our so called state ADA celebration and take an active role because they didn't like the words on pamphlets, an active role in denying our fundamental civil rights, we know how wrong this is.  Everybody knows how wrong this is.  When we have the SILC going around wanting to take over that phony employment first operation from the state rehab Council and saying, well, we got this in our state plan, that doesn't go to employment first principles.  Sending people to work in the garment center even if it's above minimum wage it is sheltered work.  It is not integrated community‑based setting.  It is an exploitive operation run by people that have stolen millions of dollars from the feds to exploit people with disabilities including those clowns in the source area.  Are you trying to say something, Mike?
   >> Sara:  You have about 14 seconds left.
   >> Joe:  I'm just ‑‑ let's put it down to this I'm disgusted for the state plan for independent living.  It's not a state plan for independent living.
   >> Sara:  Joe, your time is up.  Anybody else on the phone that would like to do public comment?
   >> Mary Ann Robinson.
   >> Sara:  You have five minutes.
   >> I probably won't need to take five minutes because I think Mr. Hartz and Eleanor Cantor expressed themselves eloquently and concerned about the regressive steps the CILs have taken in our state, they have taken the power and the input and control out of consumers.  I'm president of the national federation of the blind human service division and I'm very, very concerned about the regression that has occurred.  I've worked in mental health field for almost 30 years and written a lot of treatment plans and we use the model that objectives need to be specific and measurable, they need to be attainable and they need to be realistic and they need to have timelines.  The state plan as I've read it has objectives that are so, so general that it's hard to even see what things will be measured.  We need to put the hands of the state plan back into consumers who are disabled because we care about our rights and about our services and I think if more disabled people were in power the state would be in a much better place because we are the ones that care.
From what I've seen, our nondisabled peers have not done a great deal to advocate for us and we need to have the power restored and returned to us and we need to treat, be treated with the respect that we deserve.  We are equal to our nondisabled peers in every way and we need to be treated with equality and respect and with the direction the CILs have gone and the states' position on working with sheltered workshop that certainly does not indicate any form of respect for people with disabilities at all  Thank you very much.
   >> Sara:  Thank you.  Anybody else on the phone that would like to do public comment?  Ask one more time anybody else on the phone that would like to do public comment?  Okay hearing none thank you those that called in for your comments today.
    I do want to add another addition of a Council member Robin Bennett are you on the call now.
   >> Robin:  Yes, I'm here.
   >> Sara:  Did any other Council members join while we were hearing public comment?
   >> Wanda Travis, I joined
   >> Sara:  Wanda thank you for calling in.
   >> Wanda:  Yes.
   >> Sara:  Okay, so at this point we are going to move for approval of the state plan for independent living.  I would like for Tracy since you've got the official list of who is on the call of Council members could you please we are going to be calling your name and I do believe we need to enter a formal motion so if somebody could enter a motion I'll call the vote and Tracy can do a roll call.
   >> Lisa:  I'll call the motion.
   >> Sara:  Motion, can you clarify what the motion is?
   >> Lisa:  To call a vote for the approval of the state plan.
   >> Sara:  Thank you, Lisa, do I have support for that motion?
   >> I'll support that, this is Travis
   >> Sara:  Thank you Robin and we will do a roll call vote and you can indicate yes, no, or if you choose to abstain so Tracy could you please call a roll call.
   >> Tracy:  Sure.  Robin Bennett, here, yes, no or abstain
   >> Sorry yes.
   >> Tracy:  Gabriella Burman, yes, Lisa Cook‑Gordon, abstain, Sara Grivetti, yes, Michael Hamm, yes, Kelsey Kleimola who has been excused, Steven Locke who has been excused, Diana Maddox, yes, Rebecca Parten, yes, Dawn Reamer who has been excused, Mia Smith, Wanda Travis, yes, Jim Whalen, yes, that is everyone
   >> Eight yes votes, 0 no votes and one abstention, out of 13 voting members that means we have a majority that voted yes to approve the state plan, that motion carries, thank you Council members  As I indicated at the beginning of the call that the CIL directors last week all of them except for Sara Pirkowski were able to sign the state plan and because Sara you have been able to join us today I'm going to ask if you're going to be also signing the state plan.
   >> Yes, this is Sara from Salle and I am in support of the plan
   >> Sara:  100% of Michigan CIL directors have signed the state plan, Federal regulations and WIOA requires a minimum of 51% so we have 100%.  Do I have any members on the designated state entity that have joined the call since it began?  Okay, Rodney could you please provide an update on your meetings or your discussions with the designated state entities on their decision or their indication to sign the plan since it's for the record?
   >> Rodney:  For the record Madam chair I've had conversations with both Ed Rogers from Bureau of services for blind persons and Sue Howell from Michigan Rehabilitation Services and both are in support of the state plan, both reiterated to me they will be signing the plan and have not expressed any issues with the resource plan which they would sign for.
   >> Sara:  Okay, thank you Rodney and I'm assuming you will follow‑up with them in the next week to get the signatures on there.
    Okay, thank you, everybody.  So we now have official approval of the FY17‑19 state plan for independent living.  I want to thank everybody for their input, their hard work on this, the research that went into it and I think that we've got one of the better plans that I've seen in a long time.  I know that writing the state plan is a rigorous process, it is never perfect but I am excited that I think in the next three years you will see improvements in all areas that our members of the public have expressed concerns with as well as the improvements in areas around advocacy and youth transition services and just overall services, employment services to people with disabilities so thank you everybody for that
    With the next agenda item is we are taking advantage of the fact we have a quorum today because the next Council meeting I believe was scheduled on a date that there is a conflict for several Council members and therefore we are making a recommendation to move the September Council meeting to September 30th.  Rodney I believe you secured Disability Network southwest Michigan for the location of that meeting in Kalamazoo is that correct?
   >> Rodney:  That is correct.
   >> Sara:  So I'm looking for a motion to move that meeting date to September 30th.
   >> This is Robin, I make a motion to move the Council meeting to September.
   >> Sara:  Thank you.
   >> Gabriella, support.
   >> Sara:  Thank you Gabriella.  All those in favor indicate by stating aye, never mind we are on the phone so I do need to have you do a roll call vote Tracy so members of the public know how Council voted and it seems like a minor issue it is needed and if you can please do that again Tracy.
   >> Tracy:  Sorry I was on mute.  Absolutely  Robin Bennett, aye, Gabriella Burman, eye and I have to hang up now and go to a meeting, good‑bye, thank you, Lisa Cook‑Gordon, aye, Sara Grivetti, aye, Michael Hamm, aye, Kelsey Kleimola who has been excused  Steven Locke who has been excused, Diana Maddox, aye, Rebecca Parten, aye, Dawn Reamer who has been excused, Mia Smith, Wanda Travis, aye, and Jim Whalen, aye.  That is everyone.
   >> Sara:  Okay, thank you everybody for supporting that meeting date.
    Do members of the Council have anything additional they would like to add today at the subject of other on the agenda?  Okay hearing nothing we have reached the end of our agenda, therefore I'm calling for adjournment at 10:37 a.m., I want to thank everyone for joining us and hope to ‑‑ hope you all have a wonderful summer and I will see you all in September, thank you, have a great day.
   >> Thank you.
   >> See you later.
    [Meeting concludes at 10:37 a.m.]