Meeting Minutes - LANC Board of Directors
February 14, 2003
Site/Location: Hampton Inn, Goldsboro, North Carolina
Call to Order and Welcome
Pender McElroy, Chairman of the Board of Directors, called the meeting to
order at 10:04 a.m. and welcomed all in attendance.
He asked those persons present to introduce themselves by stating his
or her name and affiliation with Legal Aid of North Carolina.
Members Present:
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Leo L. Allison
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Allyson Duncan
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Rhonda Shepherd
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Glenn A. Barfield
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Mary Flowers
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Charles “CR” Ward
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Susan Cole
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Allen Johnson
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Willis Williams
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Leto Copeley
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Jim Maxwell
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Bonnie Tatum
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Burton Craige
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Pender McElroy
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Sarah Davis
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Pearl Nealey
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Members Absent With Prior Notification:
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Reid “Cal” Adams
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Laura Shofner
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David D. Daggett
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John H. Vernon, III
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Willie Dawson
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Richard E. Fay
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L. Lynnette Fuller-Andrews
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Hada V. Haulsee
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| Frank Queen |
Scott Lewis |
| Robert Riddle |
Ray Owens |
Administrative Office Staff:
George R. Hausen, Jr., President
Dock Kornegay, Director, Public Relations & Development
Chris Marks, Assistant Director of Administration and Finance
Celia Pistolis, Assistant Director, Advocacy & Compliance
Tonya Pruitt-Lyons, Administrative Assistant
Melinda Carver Smith, Human Resource Manager
Paula Spence, Office Manager
Other LANC Staff Members:
Rogers Blount, Domestic Paralegal/Goldsboro Office
Beverly Eason, PAI Coordinator, Wilson Office
Gay Joyner, Paralegal, Wilson Office
Kathy Joyner, Executive Secretary/CRP, Wilson Office
Hazel Mack-Hilliard, Senior Managing Attorney, Wilson Office
John Keller, Staff Attorney, Wilson Office
Richard Klein, Senior Managing Attorney, Wilmington Office
Millie Rogers, Administrative Assistant, Pembroke Office
Jim Wall, Senior Managing Attorney, Wilmington Office
Affiliated Attendees:
Michelle Cofield, NC Bar Association
Mary Hedgepeth, Interim Clients Council Coordinator
Chairman’s Report
Pender McElroy gave the Chairman’s Report.
He reported that Pisgah Legal Services and Legal Aid of North Carolina
continue to work towards an amicable agreement regarding the property settlement
dispute.
Mr. McElroy asked board members to send their nominations for upcoming
officers to Rick Fay, Chair of the Nominating and Board Development Committee.
Local Program Report
Mr. McElroy recognized Hazel Mack-Hilliard to give the local program report.
Ms. Mack-Hilliard welcomed all those present to the Goldsboro/Wilson service
area. She reported on the settlement of the case of Berry,
et al, v. Tarboro.
This case directly resulted from the Hurricane Floyd disaster in
eastern North Carolina. Tarboro has passed a zoning ordinance
restricting multi-family housing after the disaster that adversely impacted the
African American community. A collaborative team of attorneys, including
attorneys from the Justice Center, Land Loss and the private bar
represented the plaintiffs. The team reached a settlement where the defendants
agreed to repeal the discriminatory ordinance and to pay the plaintiffs money
damages. She thanked the support of Executive Director George
Hausen in this case. She praised the team of Legal Aid attorneys and her staff
for their dedication and hard work on this case.
Finally, she noted that even though this case was very involved and took a
great deal of time to litigate, the Wilson office had represented more clients
than last year while still doing this litigation. She further reported that the
core of legal work is consumer, education, employment, housing and public
benefits) handled by a staff of five attorneys and three paralegals.
A copy of the local office written report is attached to these minutes.
Mr. McElroy extended the Board’s congratulations and appreciation on the very
favorable settlement and the fine work being done for clients by Legal Aid
lawyers and staff in this case and many others.
Approval of Minutes
Mr. McElroy asked board members to review the minutes of the December 13, 2002
board meeting. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED
to approve these minutes.
Approval of the Minutes of the Executive Session
of December 13, 2002
Mr. McElroy asked board members to approve the minutes of the Executive
Session of the board on December 13, 2002. Upon motion duly made and seconded,
it was UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to approve these minutes.
President’s Report
George Hausen presented the President’s Report.
He directed the board’s attention to pages 34 and 35 in the board book,
to review a map of the regional structure and an inventory of the entire staff
of Legal Aid of North Carolina.
He explained that the inventory is a tool to be used to organize the
administrative and legal work provided by Legal Aid of North Carolina.
Mr. Hausen further directed the Board’s attention to a statistical
handout used to track all accepted cases and the level of service provided in
each case. He asked the board to review a handout of the poverty
population by county which will be useful in the budget process for the upcoming
year.
Also, this information will be helpful in allocating resources and
evaluating the effectiveness and quality of legal services delivered to clients.
Mr. Hausen reported that Legal Services Corporation proposed funding for 2003
and 2004 fiscal year indicates no increase in revenue for Legal Aid of North
Carolina.
Mr. Hausen reported that the Smithfield branch of our Raleigh office owned by
LSNC since 1978, located at 216 East Church Street, Smithfield, North Carolina,
was condemned and forced to close.
He further reported that the Smithfield office and staff had been
relocated, renting approximately 2,500 space feet an annual rent of $19,200. The
Smithfield property appraised at $140,000 was listed for sale and is being sold
“as is” to an individual who will raze the existing contaminated structure in
order build a new multi-office complex. An offer has been made to LANC to
purchase an office condominium in this complex.
Mr. Hausen stated that there is no comparable office space available to
purchase in downtown Smithfield and the anticipated mortgage payments would be
less than the current rental payments.
In the upcoming year, Hausen anticipates that the Raleigh office will move
into the Administrative Office building space currently housing Prisoner Legal
Services. Recommendations have been made in the past that the Administrative
Office should be housed in the same location as a field office. LANC will
negotiate with Prisoners for an arrangement that would allow that organization
to stay through the end of the year with free rent costing $20,000, which is
one-third of the rent for the property. Prisoners is claiming an equity interest
in the property but said there is no signed document evidencing that interest.
Mr. Hausen asked the board to give consideration regarding these two real estate
matters. Chairman McElroy referred this matter to the Finance
Committee and asked that they review and report their decision at the June Board
meeting.
Mr. Hausen reported that each office has a local advisory council and the
local councils currently do not have specific responsibilities.
Chairman McElroy referred the task of defining these councils’ roles
and responsibilities to the Operations Committee.
Mr. Hausen reported that Charlotte Blake, Director of the Boone office, has
resigned due to personal reasons. An interim plan is in place
to continue the delivery of services provided by that office to its service
area.
Mr. Hausen also reported that regional managers and administrative office
staff are studying ways to improve the delivery of services in the central part
of the state.
Mr. Hausen reported that a complaint has been reported to the Legal Services
Corporation (LSC) against Advocacy of Children’s Services.
A response to the complaint will be submitted to LSC regarding this
complaint in the next few days.
Mr. Hausen reported that a client in Winston-Salem, Mr. Poole, filed a
complaint against the Winston-Salem program with the Legal Services Corporation.
A response was sent to LSC and LANC has not heard the outcome. The
Administrative Office reviewed the complaint internally and found it to have no
merit.
Mr. Hausen reported that Legal Aid of North Carolina has been appointed a new
LSC Program Counsel, Cheryl A. Nolan-Zavala.
Mr. Hausen recognized Dock Kornegay to report on the Access to Justice
Campaign. Mr. Kornegay reported that the campaign is on track
to raise funds keeping in line with the amount of funds raised last year.
Amendments to the Bylaws
Pender McElroy reported that a proposed change to the LANC Bylaws has been
recommended to permit the IOLTA Board of Trustees to appoint a representative of
IOLTA to the LANC Board who was not then sitting on the IOLTA board.
The current Bylaw require the IOLTA Board to appoint “a member of the
IOLTA Board of Trustees.” The amended Article II Bylaw would
delete the language “a member of the” and replace it with the language “person
selected by the” in the LANC Bylaws.
Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to
adopt the bylaw change as proposed.
Chairman McElroy proposed a second change in the Bylaws under Article III.
The change would move the annual meeting of the Board of Directors from
May to June. The Bylaws provide that officers are
elected in June.
This change would permit election of officers at a regularly scheduled
board meeting. Upon motion duly made and seconded, and it was
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to adopt the bylaw change as proposed.
Clients’ Council Update
Allen Johnson was recognized to give the Clients’ Council report.
He reported that a Bylaws Committee has been appointed and is chaired
by Leo Allison. This committee will develop bylaws for the NC
Client’s Council, which has been recently incorporated and is seeking 501(c)3
status.
Mr. Johnson further reported that the Search Committee is in the
process of reviewing nine resumes and will interview three candidates for the
Clients Council Coordinator.
Mr. Johnson reported that the Clients Council will select officers in June for
the upcoming year. He stated that Willis Williams will chair
the Nominating Committee to oversee this process. The next meeting of the NC
Clients Council is June 6, 2003 in Morganton.
Committee Reports:
Nominating Committee:
Chairman McElroy gave the report of the Nominating and Board Development
Committee. He reported that the committee continues to work
and asked the members of the board to contact the chair of the committee, Rick
Fay, with suggestions for persons to serve as officers for the upcoming year.
Finance Committee Report:
Jim Maxwell, Chair of the Finance Committee, reported that the Smithfield
branch of the Raleigh office, located at 216 East Church Street, owned by LSNC
since 1978 has been condemned as a result of asbestos contamination and the
staff has been moved out and relocated. The Smithfield office is currently
renting office space. The Smithfield property has been listed for sale since
July 2002 for $149,900. A buyer has agreed to purchase this
property, raze the existing structure, and build a multi-office complex with the
condition of selling Legal Aid new office space.
The proposed new Legal Aid office space is 2,500 square feet for the
sum of $212,500. The amount of $112,500.00 net would be
applied from the sale of the 216 East Church Street property to the purchase
price. The sum of $100,000 would be borrowed, refinanced at
4.25%, floating prime, five-year balloon, ten-year payment amortization, with 7%
cap, annual principal and interest payments totaling approximately $12,300,
$6,900 less than current rent. Upon a motion made it was
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED by the Board to approve the Smithfield property
transaction.
Personnel Committee:
Glenn Barfield reported that the Personnel
Committee reviewed and recommended the Board adopt the policies listed on pages
57 through 66 of the board book.
Upon a motion made it was
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED by the Board to accept the proposed policies as
recommended.
The approved policies are attached to these
minutes.
Operations Committee:
Leto Copeley, Chair of the Operations Committee, gave the report of the
Operations Committee. She directed the board’s attention to
pages 69-78 in the board book to review the proposed Client Grievance Procedure.
The Operations Committee recommended that the Board adopt the proposed
Client Grievance Procedure as presented.
A copy of the approved Client Grievance Procedure is attached to these
minutes. The matter was tabled to hear the recommendations of Client Grievance
Committee and the Client Affairs Committee.
Strategic Planning Committee:
Glenn Barfield, Chair of the
Strategic Planning Committee, reported that the committee met and discussed
various fundraising efforts to raise additional funds to support the delivery of
legal services in North Carolina.
Following discussion, it was recommended by the Strategic Planning
Committee that a new standing committee be established to focus on fundraising.
The new committee will be known as the Development Committee.
Upon a motion duly made, it was UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED by the Board to
accept the recommendation to establish the Development Committee, as a new
standing committee of the Legal Aid Board of Directors.
Grievance Committee:
In the absence of Willie Dawson, Chair of the Grievance Committee, staff
member, Celia Pistolis, gave the Grievance Committee report. She reported that
the committee had met, drafted the client grievance procedure, and would
recommend that the Board adopt that procedure.
Client Affairs Committee Report:
Pearl Nealey gave the Client
Affairs Committee report. She reported to the Board that the Client Affairs
Committee had reviewed the proposed Client Grievance Procedure and like the
other two committees would recommend that the Board adopt it.
Ms. Nealey directed the Board’s attention to a handout stating the mission of
the Client Affairs Committee.
The mission of the Client
Affairs Committee is attached to these minutes.
Chairman McElroy asked the board to approve the Client Grievance Procedure
recommended by the Operations Committee, the Grievance Committee and the Client
Affairs Committee.
Upon motion duly made it was
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED by the Board to approve and adopt proposed Client Grievance
Procedure as recommended.
The approved Client Grievance Procedure is attached to these minutes.
New Business
Glenn Barfield was recognized and thanked all members for coming to Goldsboro
and for the kindness shown towards the new addition in his family.
Mr. Poole, a client from Winston-Salem, was present with an aide.
The aide was operating a video camera and tape recorder.
He requested permission to address the Board.
Chairman McElroy noted that Mr. Poole had filed a complaint with LSC
against LANC and that such complaint was being investigated by LSC.
Mr. McElroy noted that LANC board meetings are open to the public.
He further explained that addressing the board was another matter.
Mr. Poole was not on the agenda.
Chairman McElroy stated that it would be up to the
Board whether to allow Mr. Poole to speak to the board.
A motion was made by Susan Cole to allow Mr. Poole to address the
Board. The motion died for lack of a second.
Adjournment
Glenn Barfield made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
The motion was seconded. Upon unanimous vote, the meeting was adjourned
at 1:22 p.m.
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Reid C. Adams, Secretary
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Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
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