Easy Does It
Board of Directors Meeting
Minutes for July 25, 2002

Present: Jonah Markowitz, Felix Knauth, Peter Trier on telephone, Winston Ching, Jesse Townley; Jonathan Gold, Hale Zukas, Leslie Gordon
Not in attendance: Todd Groves, Daniel Drake, Dina Valicenti, Kyle Eminger, Rose Acampora

Meeting started at: 6:50 pm

Public Comment:
Jonah: donation of an electric wheelchair; August 31 1 –4 Alzheimer’s Conference; Berkeley Dispute Resolution Service has moved to 1968 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley 94702, 510 548 2377
Felix: anniversary of ADA tomorrow, get a copy of the Daily Planet

Approval of Minutes:
Leslie: President’s report letter was sent out about fee increase, not pay increase
Jonah: My public comment: the word abusive was left out, as in verbal abuse
Hale: should say Public Authority is switching to another agency (Public Authority is switching from Rapid Response to a different agency, but not EDI)
Jonah makes motion to approve; Jesse seconds. Minutes approved unanimously.

Bill Goebeler - EDI website is up and running and is up to date.
Felix: you have to know EASYLAND to get to the site;
Bill: two issues – 1. The address is a domain and Easy Does It and EDI are both taken. Can be changed to easydoesitdisabilityassistance.org is available as is edia.org
2. To come up first or near first on search engines is matter of time and amount of visitors to site; we are dealing with a small geographic area
Jesse: keep easyland.org and get edia.org;
Bill will get it rolling; need a privacy policy; do clients sign a form?
Jesse: yes
Bill: need to post it on the web that we are collecting data. When there is another worker of the month, get them to sign a release in order to put them on the site; on the old website there was a bulletin board, no longer active; if EDI wants to reactivate we need a release form crafted by an attorney.
Jesse: isn’t there a boiler plate release form we could use?
Jonathan: most people use anonymous names
Jonah: Board member email addresses are posted
Bill: but not phone numbers.

Consent Calendar
Went over what the consent calendar is, again.
Jesse: Executive Director Report included job safety, transportation, midnight thru dawn services, disaster program, contract status; Executive Section – client who refused to co-pay.
Leslie: pull out Presidents Report
Jesse: motion to approve consent calendar; Jonah seconds; Motion approved

Agenda
Jonah: move items A & G into Executive Session along with update on co-pay problem
Hale: I don’t think A & G should not be in public.
Jonah: naming names must be in Executive Session
Hale: I don’t think moving G into Executive Session is legitimate
Peter: it’s about giving compensation to a client
Jonah: move medication policy from I to A because it’s fast; add AB 524 as A under discussion
Jonah: motion to approve agenda as amended; Jesse seconds; Motion approved.

Presidents Report
Leslie: Please have 4 names of potential donors and their addresses by the next board meeting
Hale: one of the responsibilities of board members in some non profits is to raise money but I don’t feel comfortable about asking people for money. I’ll be frank, EDI is not one of my causes and therefore I don’t want to ask people.
Leslie: you don’t need to ask them, just give us your list
Felix: a letter will be sent out
Jesse: would like to approach them personally
Jonathan: not comfortable with asking people
Jonah: agrees
Leslie: we have a large deficit this year and we need to raise money but I respect your decisions
Jonathan: Ken Crow Fund currently has $1000 in it. Has not been advertised in over a year.
Jesse: asking for names is not a requirement. As a member of the Board of Directors part of our responsibilities will be to raise money.
Felix: it is your responsibility and you hired me and I’m committed to raising money any way we can. Can we move on?

Executive Director’s Report
Felix:
? need to set time for next meeting for Executive Meeting
? Job Safety Program is in place, one more major injury could send this organization under; proposal to amend/extend contract with city
? distributed info on van vouchers and summarized what it said

Jonathan: gave history of program before Measure E was passed; used to get $25 per voucher; see if you can get $25
Felix: not making policy, just need ideas to take to City Council
Hale: charge more than voucher; charge for two vouchers instead of one
Jesse: ask for $25
Felix: restricted to a wheelchair user
Jonah: when did it become wheelchair only?
Felix: contract reads wheelchair; I want to change it.
Felix: Midnight to dawn—costs too much, but we have a moral obligation. Would like to provide a dispatcher and male and female between 12 to dawn
Hale: have you thought about dispatcher taking the call?
Felix: when we out source we lose control and our response time is slower.
Peter: Hale is asking the right question; I have no idea how we’re going to pay for EDI; I believe we are okay for this year.
Hale: with the deficit we can’t afford to be so high minded; by the way; we are going to have to see you cut something sometime and the sooner you start to look at the options the better
Felix: if the board wants me to contact Rapid Response I will.
Jesse: At this meeting I don’t think that we should ask Felix to do that; I’m not convinced that cutting direct service is right; I’d like us to squeeze the blood out of this stone; come back with specific ways to cut and save. We have to have more choices of where to cut.
Felix: I’ve been pursuing controlling cost of workmen comp insurance premiums: 50+ non-profits that could pool their assets; will make a proposal in Sept. EDI is vital enough to be included in the city’s insurance.
Jonah: I’m not opposed to including Jesse’s ideas for cost cutting; I think we should make a motion that we explore a variety of ways including Hale’s suggestion for cost cutting measures; I feel that it is important from the client’s perspective to maintain control over our 24 hour emergency service. When we resource out we don’t have good experiences.
Felix: we have to cut costs to FY04. Any ideas put out on the table should be pursued. Peter makes motion to agree by next meeting on August 22 that we will get a report by ad hoc committee about cost saving proposals. Jesse seconds; Motion passes.

Action Items
Client Medication Policy: Jesse: it’s in the employee handbook
Mission Statement: Tabled until next meeting
Newsletter: have ED put it in his report for next meeting
Board Policy Manual: Winston asks for what the policy and guidelines are for being a board member; Peter will work on for next meeting.
Update and reformat the employee handbook: Jesse – two years old and there have been numerous changes since then; Jesse volunteers to help Felix update this
New Transportation fees: already discussed in ED report
September Elections: passed out Application Form; Jonathan: we decided to redo it. Jonah: who do we send it to?
Jonathan: it says where to send it on the last page; is this the application we want to send out?
Jesse: can we circulate? Not enough time before elections.
Jonathan: look at it for NEXT year
Leslie, does anyone have nominations? If so let her know.
Jonathan: it needs to be posted on our website and on the disability community website.

Discussion:
AB524: Jonah has been looking in to what has been happening. From talking to Ian Barlow, (who has left and gone to law school) it appears that the language we wanted didn’t get in. I’ve left a message with Sherri. Donna Spring has instructed her lobbyist to lobby for it. Hale: it was vetoed last year. Jonah: Dion Aroner is out, Lonnie Hancock is in; Jonathan: IHSS clients can use funds for our services; Attendants who cannot lift more than 50 pounds are put on modified duty

Jonathan makes motion to move to Executive Session; Jonah seconds; Motion passes.
Jonathan makes motion for Felix to stay. Motion passes.