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Easy Does It Disability Assistance

A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

1744 A. University Ave., Berkeley, Ca 94703-1514
Office: 510-845-5513 24-Hr. Service 510-704-2111
Email: edi@easyland.org
Please note our new street address

 


Easy Does It
Board of Directors Meeting
Minutes for April 21, 2003

Directors Present: Peter Trier, Jesse Townley, Hale Zukas, Leslie Gordon, Winston Ching, Jonathan Gold, Karyn Hernandez, Jonah Markowitz
Staff Present: Felix Knauth
Not in attendance: Dina Valicenti, Todd Groves, Kyle Eminger
Minutes by Jesse Townley
Meeting started at: 6:30pm; Peter Trier, President

Public Comment:
- Peter has heard understandable comments from staff critical of Felix Knauth due to changes mandated by the Board. Staff should understand that these changes are the Board’s responsibility, not the Executive Director’s responsibility.

Confirmation:
Karyn Hernandez was appointed to the Board by the President. The Board confirms her appointment (Jonathan motioned/Jonah seconded/Motion passed).

Approval of Minutes:
3-27-03 minutes tabled (Jonah motioned/Winston seconded/Motion passed)
2-27-03 minutes approved (Jonah motioned/Winston seconded/Motion passed)

Consent Calendar:
The following item was pulled from the Executive Directors report. EDI expenses for a particular client. Consent calendar passes (Jesse motioned/Winston seconded/Motion passed).

Executive Session Minutes:
Minutes from Executive Sessions will be sent to all Board members (Hale motioned/Jonah seconded/Motion passed).

Agenda:
We passed the agenda as written with the understanding that we may re-structure the Personnel Committee portion of the meeting (Peter motioned/Jonah seconded/Motion passed).

President’s Report:
- Peter Trier, Felix Knauth, and Jonah Markowitz met with Assemblymember Loni Hancock about invasive care legislation. We also mentioned skyrocketing workers comp costs to the Assemblymember.
- The trial period for the budget FY 2004 savings has begun.
- From Felix: None of the employees laid off were laid off solely due to “at will” status. All layoff decisions involved seniority, budget, and other reasons. All laid-off employees will be eligible for unemployment. The longest-running employee worked for EDIDA for 12 months.
- From Felix: We laid off one person because s/he was unable to complete her/his job duties due to health reasons.
- From Felix: A specific fired employee will be sent a letter granting her an extra 30 days to file any appeal to the Judicial/Personnel Committee due to the employee’s personal situation.

Executive Director’s Report
- EDIDA has provided voice mail service for a specific client for reasons related to the client’s case management needs. This service was initiated by a former Executive Director. Do we continue to pay for this service (currently it costs $48/year)? After discussion we passed the following: If the Executive Director doesn’t think that EDIDA should pay for the voice mail, we will attempt to pay for the voice mail through the Ken Crow Fund before discontinuing payment for the voice mail. If the client’s service is to be paid for by the Ken Crow Fund, the client will be informed of this switch in funding. If the client’s service is to be discontinued, the client will be given 2 month’s notice before EDIDA halts payment on the voice mail (Peter motioned/Jonah seconded/Motion passed, Jonathan and Jesse abstained).

Secretary’s Report
Jonah will continue to improve the minutes process.

Executive Committee Report
None

Fundraising Committee
The Fundraising Committee requests input from the Board on for what the Committee should raise funds. The Executive Committee will consider these and other ideas and provide a prioritized list to the Fundraising Committee. The Board provided the following ideas.
1. Case Management
2. Helping low-income clients
3. Keep co-pay lower
4. Restore cuts in services due to budget cuts
5. Expand our service to other cities over the long-term
6. Outreach to other cities/communities about our services (documentary?)

Personnel Committee
The planned meeting with Felix was cancelled because of rain. The Personnel Committee will set up a meeting with Felix to review the Personnel Committee’s versions of the Employee Handbook and the Employee Bill of Rights. The Board shall hear the results and intends to take action at the next Board meeting.

Action Items
1. AB 524 report (Jonah): He will follow up with the Assemblymember’s office as appropriate.
2. We’ve begun the evaluation of the Executive Director. If people wish to give information to the Evaluation group, please contact Peter, Jesse, and/or Leslie. Jesse and Leslie have the same authority as Peter has (as President) to examine confidential files.
3. Cece Weeks resolution (Peter): in process.
4. Board Policy Manual (Peter): in process.
5. We will have a discussion about Article 6 in the by-laws in May. If a Board member does not have a copy of the By-Laws, please contact the office and a copy will be sent to the Board member.

Adjournment
Meeting adjourned (Jonah motioned, Winston seconded, motion passed).

 




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