I wonder how many other non-blind, non-VI related friends, Barbara will ask to
log onto TABI and tell us how they're going to tell us what really happened or
what we need to do? We don't have a "like" button on TABI, so I guess this is
the best she can do.
Chip
-----Original Message-----
From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Owen Mccaul
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2015 7:41 PM
To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tabi] Re: What is the lighthouse of the big bend trying to hide
Wow. I'm so glad someone came along to set all of us ignorant blind
folk straight.
Am I the only one that found this condescending?
-----Original Message-----
From: ROBIN.MCDOUGALL <ROBIN.MCDOUGALL@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: tabi <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Fri, Sep 4, 2015 3:56 pm
Subject: [tabi] Re: What is the lighthouse of the big bend trying to
hide
Hi Folks
I don't get a chance to be on e mail very often, just every few days.
I've just had the chance to read the e mails that have arrived in the
past 24 hours or so.
Norine, I respect your decision to remain in a role of supportive
counseling to blind people, particularly those at the Lighthouse.
There is always a risk of liability when serving on a Board, and your
decision reduced that risk.
I understand fundraising is not the mission of the Lighthouse.
However, the State does not provide all of the funding necessary for
the delivery of services to the Blind, and fundraising is a key
component to longevity in the not for profit world. Another function a
board provides is long term planning. The article I attached cautions
against taking a board arbitrating personnel issues and recommends it
serve only as a court of appeal in the rarest of circumstances. If
there are good policies and procedures and grievance protocols, hiring,
developing and releasing staff is left to the director. Rarely, about
one or two times a year, I do read about directors who embezzle
(mentioned by Robert in a query to me). I joined this thread because I
understood you to be debating the role of a board in governing an
agency. I don't believe there has been any accusation of embezzlement,
so I am puzzled by that question.
Robert made a statement that the services provided by the Lighthouse
used to be provided without the non profit agencies and were provided
better is interesting. If that's a scenario that can be documented,
maybe that's a model that could be adopted. How were services
delivered at that time? Were they still funded by the State? Were the
funds available then more or less what is available now? I asked that
because I wonder what happened when there wasn't enough money for the
blind folks who needed services.What do you feel would be a better
model for delivering services? When I worked at the We Care Network,
we filled a gap where services were disorganized and rarely effectively
delivered to our clients. Without our agency, thousands of people
would not have received services at all.
At our agency, our director did not need to know about being ill or
uninsured to run a good organization. She needed to know how to
provide administration, represent our organization to the larger
community, fund raise, work with contracts, hire and fire people,
maintain the physical plant, and negotiate with vendors. It was
important that she hire good staff. It sounds like you are saying the
Lighthouse here in Tallahassee is not staffed well and that the people
who work there are not qualified. Does that mean, the people who are
delivering the services to the blind community are not trained and
qualified to provide those services?
When I was at the We Care Network, we served visually impaired people
who could not access the medical care they needed. In private
practice, I provide counseling to a number of individuals who are
visually impaired, although their blindness is often only one of the
issues with which they are dealing.
Lynda, you stated what the Lighthouse needs is a Director with good
administrative skills and a knowledge of blindness. To me, that is one
of the most sensible things I have read in this thread. I believe one
of the earlier emails indicates the position was advertised for only
one week. Actually, it was advertised for a full month, from July 24th
through August 24th. That's a very good thing; it means a wide variety
of candidates have had a chance to reply.
Robert asked if Barbara and I are friends. Yes, we are both friends
and colleagues. I did not and will not be applying for the job. I
believe I explained I am a psychotherapist in private practice. In
fact, I agreed with you that it makes sense for the position to be
widely listed in some of the forums you mentioned. In my earlier e
mail, I suggested you might approach the Board at the Lighthouse about
re-advertising the position in case likely candidates were overlooked.
I am not writing in defense of Barbara. I saw the subject line in this
set of e mails, and it caught my interest. The statement: "What is the
Lighthouse of the Big Bend trying to hide" is inflammatory, and I was
curious about WHAT they ARE trying to hide. But, when I read the
string of e mails, I realized the conversation seems to indicate a lack
of understanding about the boundaries between:
1. a board and an agency
2. a board and the staff
3. the director and the staff and
4. the boundaries between any employee and the community at large.
I am writing in hopes that, with my experience, I can help the group
better understand the functions and boundaries of each of these
components. I joined the list serve yesterday because someone I know
in the blind community was talking about it in a private dialogue.
That person was concerned about the inflammatory nature of the comments
what sort of impact that could have on services to the blind community
as a whole. Our state government continues to cut funding for human
services of all kinds, and education and health are greatly affected.
I hope you will consider how you can best support the organization
which delivers services to make it the very best one we can have,
strong and diverse and long lived, with or without state funding.
Thanks all, for listening. I hope the attached article is useful.
Robin
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