STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING COUNCIL
May 15, 2024
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
FULL SILC Meeting
IN-PERSON AND ZOOM

Members and Ex-Officios Representatives Attending: Chair Carrie Dudley, Secretary Sarah Sweeney (Remote), Member Ryan Donnelly (Remote), Member Erin Hall, Member Michelle McConaghy, Member Deborah Ritcey, and Member Ryan Witterschein  
Staff: Jennifer Beaulieu (SILC Assistant), Amy Clark (Interim DSE Representative), and Scott Vittner 	
Guests: Matthew Greenwood (Member of the Public, Remote), Andrew Harmon (Member of the Public), and Lorrie Ripley (Client Assistance Program, NH Governor’s Commission on Disability)

The SILC (Statewide Independent Living Council) meeting was called to order at 1:10 PM by Chair Carrie Dudley.  

*Quorum was reached. 

Approval of Minutes of 3/20 Full SILC Meetings
*Member Deborah Ritcey made a motion to approve the minutes. 
Second: 				Member Erin Hall
Discussion: 				Andew Harmon mentioned a few typos and wrong information.  
All in Favor: Yes			Abstention: Members Ryan Witterschein and Michelle McConaghy
Motion Carried.

Andrew Harmon mentioned he sent an email to Jennifer Beaulieu about his suggested edits to the minutes. All the suggested edits were listed under the agenda item titled “Question-and-Answer Session and Vote on Applicant”. The first suggested edit is that Andrew Harmon was labeled as working “for” Fable Tech when he works “with” Fable Tech as an independent contractor. The second suggested edit is the coalition should be titled “Visually Impaired” not “Vision Impaired”. The last suggested edit would be to remove a few words from the sentence regarding the bills Andrew Harmon is tracking to make the sentence more understandable. 

Discussion on Officer Status
Carrie Dudley noted that she had Jennifer Beaulieu look into how we held elections last year.  Due to the elections happening in September last year, Carrie Dudley wonders if her term as Chair would last till September. The problem is that for her first term as Chair, she was elected in June. Deborah Ritcey noted that Carrie Dudley wasn’t a Chair for a few months because she was awaiting reappointment. Deborah Ritcey reported that in the bylaws, it mentions that a person can’t run for Chair after 4 years of being the Chair. Erin Hall noted having the election occur on the same day every year. Carrie Dudley mentioned that she has talked with Randy Pierce about the possibility of taking over the Chair position. What she got from her conversation is a question on if it is possible that there be a position to cover the Chair if the Chair can’t attend a meeting. It was mentioned that that would be the role of the First Vice-Chair. It was unclear of if Randy Pierce would be able to take on a chair or first vice-chair position. 

Andrew Harmon asked about having a plan to fill officer positions, so we don’t face this problem in the future. Deborah Ritcey mentioned that one of the reasons why Randy Pierce included SILC development in the SPIL is to prepare members for such positions. 

*Member Erin Hall made a motion that Carrie Dudley will stay on to finish her term up till August 31st, 2024, elections will happen in September for the new Chair and her position will stay till June 30th, 2025. 
Second: 				Member Deborah Ritcey 
Discussion: 				See approve paragraphs 
All in Favor: Yes			Abstention: None
Motion Carried.

Discussion on the Role of the Older Blind Program Representative and the DSE being Incorporated into the Bylaws
Scott Vittner noted that he will take on the role of the DSE representative and Amy Clark will be the Older Blind Program Representative. He just needs to submit the application for the appointment of the DSE to ACL. They didn’t submit the application yet because they didn’t know who the SILC wants to sign as the DSE Representative on the SPIL. Discussion ensued. It was mentioned that they should submit the paperwork as soon as possible so the DSE Representative would be official in time to sign the SPIL. Erin Hall noted that the DSE position is already in the bylaws and being too specific about the DSE wouldn’t be a good idea because of the changes that can occur in that position and within that agency. The Older Blind Program Representative would be a non-voting ex-officio position. 

Committee Updates
Membership
Ryan Witterschein reported out for the Membership Committee. He noted that the committee has been working on changing the application to make it less daunting and shorter. 

Deborah Ritcey mentioned the importance of the interviewing process over the application because writing can be difficult for some individuals. They could ask the questions that used to be in the application during the interview process. 

Deborah Ritcey noted the need to be careful with the SILC composition. She noted that with Ryan Donnelly., he applied as a person with a disability because the bylaws prohibit three or more members to be from the same agency. It was noted that some individuals may not be comfortable with identifying as a person with a disability. 

There were a few suggested edits for the application during the meeting. The first edit would be to change the language in the application from “person with a disability” to “person living with a disability”. The second edit was regarding a typo of a misspelled word. The third edit was to make the sentence regarding the contact for assistance more visible. 

There were questions on if the resumes should be required or optional. Discussion ensued. Andrew Harmon noted that requiring a resume could be an impediment to some individuals. 

Ryan Witterschein noted that the committee is working on a mentorship program to help new members. He has created a document regarding the mentorship program and will send it out for everyone to fill out. Deborah Ritcey noted that she has a template that she uses for her board that lists out skill sets that she can send to Ryan Witterschein. She noted the need to hold the mentor accountable to their mentor commitments.  

Deborah Ritcey recommended that when the SILC votes on a new member that the person is not the room. There were questions about if it would be an executive session. It was mentioned that if the council goes into executive session, members of the public, ex-officio representatives, and Jennifer Beaulieu would need to leave the meeting. Discussion ensued. The council could have meeting like the executive session but only the individual being voted on would need to leave. 

Advocacy 
Advocacy Committee had nothing to report due to the last meeting being cancelled. 

Governance
Deborah Ritcey reported out for the Governance Committee. She noted that the committee is currently working on the 2024-2027 SPIL. Jennifer Beaulieu will send out the notes from the three public input sessions on the 2024-2027 SPIL. Deborah Ritcey noted that she will work on creating a slate of officers. 

Adjournment
*Member Deborah Ritcey made a motion to adjourn.  

Second: 				Member Ryan Witterschein 
Discussion: 				None 
All in Favor: Yes			Abstention: None
Motion Carried.

Meeting adjourned at 2:12pm. 

Minutes Recorded by Jennifer Beaulieu