Meeting Minutes - LANC Board of Directors
December 13, 2002
Site/Location: Durham Wyndham Hotel, Durham, NC
Call to Order and Welcome
Pender McElroy called the meeting to order at 10:09 a.m.
and welcomed all in attendance. He asked people present to introduce
themselves by stating his or her name and affiliation with Legal Aid
of North Carolina.
Members Present:
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Reid "Cal" Adams
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Willie Dawson
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Pender McElroy
|
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Leo L. Allison
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Richard E. Fay
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Pearl Nealey
|
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Glenn A. Barfield
|
Mary Flowers
|
Ray Owens
|
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Susan Cole
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Hada V. Haulsee
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Frank Queen
|
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Leto Copeley
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Allen Johnson
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Robert Riddle
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David D. Daggett
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Scott Lewis
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John H. Vernon, III
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Sarah Davis
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Jim Maxwell
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Willis Williams
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Members Absent With
Prior Notification:
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Burton Craige
|
Laura Shofner
|
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Allyson Duncan
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Bonnie Tatum
|
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L. Lynnette Fuller-Andrews
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Charles "CR" Ward
|
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Rhonda Shepherd
|
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Administrative Office Staff:
Mary Lee Hall, Managing Attorney, Farmworker Unit
George R. Hausen, Jr., President
Bernetta Johnsson, Finance Manager
Dock Kornegay, Manager, Public Relations & Development
Chris Marks, Assistant Director of Administration and Finance
Celia Pistolis, Assistant Director
Tonya Pruitt-Lyons, Administrative Assistant
Melinda Carver Smith, Human Resource Manager
Paula Spence, Office Manager
Other Staff Members:
Barbara Degen, Senior Managing Attorney, Morganton Office
Gina Reyman, Senior Managing Attorney, Durham & Hillsborough Offices
Richard Klein, Senior Managing Attorney, Wilmington Office
Affiliated Attendees:
Delsie Williams, Client Representative
Approval of Minutes
Mr. McElroy asked board members to review the minutes of the
October 11, 2002 meeting. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to approve the minutes with one change to include
that the self-insurance plan was recommended for 2003.
Chairman’s Report
Chairman McElroy gave the Chairman’s Report. He proposed that
the Board approve moving all current LANC bank accounts to Branch Banking
and Trust Company because of its favorable rates on lawyers’ trust accounts
paid to IOLTA. These accounts include the operating account, the cafeteria
plan account, the health insurance plan account, client trust and impress
cash for all Legal Aid offices. Upon motion duly made and seconded,
it was UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to approve and adopt the form bank resolutions
for each of these accounts and authorizing signature of the Resolution
and Agreement for Deposit on Account approving the proposed move and
opening of bank accounts at BB&T.
Mr. McElroy reported that LSC President John Erlenborn had sent a letter
to Executive Director Jim Barrett of Pisgah Legal Services in Asheville,
requesting that he to surrender the keys to his office building to Legal
Aid of North Carolina. Mr. Erlenborn contends that LSNC owns the Pisgah
office building and will not approve the addition to the real estate
swap that LANC has proposed. Mr. McElroy and Mr. Hausen along with the
Queen Committee will continue to work on the real property transaction
in hopes of securing the required approval or negotiating an acceptable
alternative.
President’s Report
George Hausen reported that a team from the Legal Services Corporation
investigated thoroughly a complaint that LANC had violated LSC regulations.
The Board reviewed a letter from Danilo A. Cardona, LSC Director of
Office and Compliance and Enforcement, that stated that the investigation
has been concluded and the investigative team found no violations.
Mr. Hausen reported that independent consultant, John Tull, was evaluating
Legalfiles case management system. Mr. Tull will submit a written report
of his findings and a full report of this evaluation will be presented
to the Board upon its completion.
Mr. Hausen recognized Dock Kornegay to give a report on the Legal Aid
of North Carolina website. Mr. Kornegay reported that the website
is designed for both public use and for staff use. The Internet site
is for the public to get information about our offices and services.
The Intranet site is for employees and is password protected. The Intranet
has information about policies, benefits and forms that employees can
use.
Mr. Hausen recognized Mary Lee Hall, Managing Attorney of the Farmworker
Unit. Ms. Hall reported that the Farmworker Unit works with migrants
statewide and its advocacy can be challenging because the majority of
clients are from different countries and speak various languages. Also,
Ms. Hall reported that a favorable settlement of a case involving approximately
seventy migrant laborers had been filed in Puerto Rico.
Local Office Report
Mr. McElroy recognized Gina Reyman to give the local office report.
Ms. Reyman reported that her office formerly, North Central Legal Assistance
Program, an independent office separately funded by LSC, had been directly
involved in the transition of four separately funded LSC programs into
LANC and that the transition had gone very smoothly. Also, Legalfiles
case management system has been installed in the Durham office and is
running well. The Durham office has a staff of twelve members that covers
Durham, Franklin, Granville, Person, Vance and Warren counties. There
is a small office in Henderson that currently houses a paralegal. Ms.
Reyman further reported that she is also the Managing Attorney for the
Hillsborough office. She explained that the management for these two
offices has progressed well and that staffs in both locations are working
together successfully to serve client needs.
Committee Reports
Clients’ Committee Report:
Allen Johnson, Chair of the Clients Council, reported that the
Clients Council met recently and unanimously elected Pearl Nealey as
Chair of the Client Affairs Committee. Mr. Johnson recognized Ms. Nealey,
who gave the report of the Client Affairs Committee. Ms. Nealey reported
that a mission statement is currently being prepared for that committee
and will be presented to the board upon completion.
Finance Committee Budget Report:
Jim Maxwell, Chair of the Finance Committee, presented the proposed
LANC budget for 2003. This budget is for the total operation of LANC
(central office and all programs). He reported that the Finance Committee
met, reviewed and discussed in detail the proposed budget. Mr. Maxwell
pointed out and discussed various line items noted in the 2003 proposed
budget. He particularly noted a new line item in the amount of $145,000
to be used for which is an equalization line item to support all regions
in salary equity for staff that currently are not at the same level
as other offices. He further reported that each office will receive
a 9% increase, and that the budget also allows a 26% increase to the
Clients Council. Following discussion, upon motion duly made and seconded,
it was UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the proposed budget as presented by
the Finance Committee be approved and adopted. A copy of the approved
budget is attached to these minutes.
Jim Maxwell presented a resolution to the board for approval to borrow
funds to replenish its fund balance and also to initiate an annual savings
of approximately $71,891.64 by refinancing its existing mortgages, with
a net savings of approximately $22,739.64 on its current annual debt
load. LANC would contract with BB&T, or other lending institution that
may offer more favorable terms, to borrow $400,000 for the purpose of
replenishing that portion of the LANC fund balance that was used to
finance technology improvements. The LANC contract with BB&T, or other
lending institution that my offer more favorable terms, to refinance
the mortgages on its properties in Raleigh (Administrative Office),
Ahoskie, Morganton, and Sylva in the amount of approximately $673,258.05.
The total loan package would be approximately $1,073,258.05, financed
at a 4.25% variable interest rate, with a 7% interest cap, with payments
for five(5) years, amortized on a ten-year schedule with a balloon payment
at the end of the five year payment period. Following discussion, upon
motion duly made and seconded, it was UNAMIMOUSLY RESOLVED to approve
the resolution as presented. The resolution is attached to these minutes.
Nominating Committee:
Rick Fay, Chair of the Nominating & Board Development Committee reported
that the terms of some Board members would expire in June 2002. He also
reported that the Committee would recommend persons to fill those terms
as well as officers at the June Board meeting. The mission statement
for the Nominating & Board Development Committee will be presented to
the board for approval once it is established.
Personnel Committee:
Cal Adams, Chair of the Personnel Committee reported that the health
insurance enrollment is underway and asked Chris Marks to update the
Board on the status of that process. Mr. Marks stated that the health
benefits trust has been established, that the enrollment to the new
plan is almost complete and the self-insured health plan will be effective
as of January 1, 2003.
Operations Committee:
Leto Copeley, Chair of the Operations Committee, reported that the Committee
had established a mission statement and had discussed the office evaluation
protocols. The Operations Committee would be involved in evaluating
three offices in the upcoming year. These offices were Wilmington, Lumberton
and Sylva. The Committee had also reviewed the Boone Office Evaluation
and would present its recommendations during Executive session.
The Operations Committee also had reviewed priorities, an asset ceiling
policy, an appeals policy and certification of program integrity. The
recommendations would be presented later during the Meeting.
Strategic Planning Committee:
Glenn Barfield, Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee reported that
the committee met and established a mission statement that was presented
to the board. He explained the mission, goals, and priorities of the
committee.
Grievance Committee:
Willie Dawson, Chair of the Grievance Committee. He reported that at
the current time there are no outstanding grievances. Mr. Dawson further
reported that the grievance committee will hear grievances from clients
and that the Personnel Committee will address employees’ grievances.
A mission statement will be presented to the board once established.
An employee grievance procedure was drafted during the transition period
will be given to the Personnel Committee. The Grievance Committee will
draft a client grievance procedure for the Board to review at its February
meeting. The Chair suggested that Operations and Client Affairs also
review the draft client grievance policy in advance of the next Board
Meeting.
Operations Committee: LSC Policies
George Hausen directed the board’s attention the page 34 and recognized
Celia Pistolis to present the policies listed below for approval. Ms.
Pistolis explained that the Operations Committee had reviewed all four
of the Regulations and the Committee recommended adoption of the priorities,
the appeal policy, the asset ceiling policy and the certification of
program integrity.
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Regulation 1605, Appeals – The Policy regarding Appeals was presented
and recommended for adoption as presented. In B-1of the Draft, language
("or federal appellate courts) was added to the end of the first
sentence in that section and the "or" between Court of Appeals and
the North Carolina was deleted and replaced with a comma. Following
discussion, upon motion duly made and seconded, it was UNAMIMOUSLY
RESOLVED to adopt the Policy Regarding Appeals with the revised
language as stated.
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Regulation 1611, Eligibility Guidelines – The asset ceiling policy
were presented and recommended for adoption as presented. Following
discussion, upon motion duly made and seconded, it was UNAMIMOUSLY
RESOLVED to adopt the Asset Ceiling Policy.
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Regulation 1620, Annual Review of Priorities – The Annual Review
of Priorities were presented and recommended for adoption as presented.
Following discussion, upon motion duly made and seconded, it was
UNAMIMOUSLY RESOLVED to adopt the Priorities.
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Regulation 1610, Certification of Program Integrity – The Certification
of Program Integrity Policy was presented for approval by George
Hausen. Frank Queen pointed out that the ownership of the properties
was still titled in the corporate name of Legal Services of North
Carolina and recommended that the report be modified to include
appropriate language, such as LSNC, predecessor of LANC, to reflect
that ownership. Following discussion, upon motion duly made and
seconded, it was UNAMIMOUSLY RESOLVED to approve the Certification
of Program Integrity with appropriate revisions reflecting that
the ownership of the properties was LASNC, predecessor of LANC.
The approved policies are attached to the minutes.
New Business
The bylaws will need to be changed to allow former IOLTA Board
members to serve as an ex officio member of the LANC Board. Also, the
bylaws will need to address changing annual meeting from May until June.
These changes will be addressed at the February meeting of the board.
Executive Session
The Board went into Executive Session to discuss the Boone Office
Evaluation.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 1:51 p.m.
__________________________________
Reid C. Adams, Secretary
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Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
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