Meeting Minutes - LANC Board of Directors
June 17, 2005
Site/Location: Sea Trail Golf Resort and Conference Center,
211 Clubhouse Road,
Sunset Beach, North Carolina
Call to Order and Welcome
Leo Allison, Chair of the Board of Directors, called the meeting to order
at 1:20 p.m. and welcomed all in attendance.
Members Present:
|
Leo L. Allison |
Mary Flowers |
Saketta Spivey
|
|
Reid C. Adams |
Allen Johnson |
John Vernon |
|
Leto Copeley |
Nellie Kearney |
Charles Ward
|
|
Burton Craige |
Jim Maxwell |
Willis Williams |
|
Willie Dawson
|
Pearl Nealey |
|
|
Sarah Davis |
Frank Queen |
|
Members Absent With Prior Notification:
|
Glenn Barfield |
L. Lynnette Fuller-Andrews |
Pender McElroy
|
|
David Daggett |
Olga Gomez |
Ray Owens |
|
Michael Colombo |
Hada V. Haulsee |
Robert Riddle |
|
Richard Fay |
Scott Lewis |
Rhonda Shepherd |
Administrative Office Staff:
George R. Hausen, Jr., LANC Executive Director
Bernetta Johnsson, Finance Director
Dock Kornegay, Director, Public Relations & Communications
Chris Marks, Assistant Director of Finance & Administration
Celia Pistolis, Assistant Director of Advocacy and Compliance
Tonya Pruitt-Lyons, Administrative Assistant
Paula Spence, Office Manager
LANC Staff Members:
Mary Hedgepeth, Clients Council Coordinator
Richard Klein, LANC-Wilmington, Regional Manager and Senior Managing Attorney
Jim Wall, LANC-Wilmington, Senior Managing Attorney
LANC Affiliated Attendees:
Angie Goodwin, Romeo, Wiggins & Company, L.L.P.
Evelyn Pursley, Executive Director,
IOLTA
Mastin Simmons, Romeo, Wiggins & Company, L.L.P.
Delsie Williams, Clients Council Member
Approval of Minutes
Chairman Allison directed the Board’s attention to the Board of Directors
general business meeting minutes of February 25, 2005. Following review
and discussion of the minutes, a motion was made, duly seconded, and the Board
unanimously approved the minutes as written.
President’s Report
Chairman Allison asked George Hausen, LANC’s Executive Director, to discuss
the findings of the 2004 audit. Mr. Hausen stated the LANC received a
“clean" audit and directed the Board’s attention to the audit report found on
pages 28-57 of the Board book. He gave a brief overview of the findings
and then recognized Angie Goodwin and Mastin Simmons, auditors from Romeo,
Wiggins & Company, L.L.P., who audited LANC financial records and prepared the
audit report. Ms. Goodwin and Mr. Simmons explained that in addition to a
financial audit, they audited LANC for compliance with LSC regulations. The
auditors confirmed that LANC was managing its finances properly as well as
complying with LSC regulations. Mr. Hausen recommended that the Board accept the
audit report as presented. Following discussion, a motion was made, duly
seconded and the Board unanimously approved to accept the audit report as
presented.
George Hausen directed the Board’s attention to Page 23 in the board book.
LSC’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has notified LANC that it was satisfied
with the LANC response to the OIG recommendations in its audit of LANC’s Private
Attorney Involvement Program. OIG has closed the report in light of LANC’s
proposal to address the minor concerns raised by the audit and that LANC has met
all requirements.
Also, LSC has notified LANC that the Office of Compliance and Enforcement will
conduct a review of our cases service report and case management system during
the week of March 6-13, 2006.
Mr. Hausen reported that the Board of Continuing Legal Education of the North
Carolina State Bar had considered a proposal to allow continuing legal education
credit for attorneys who would provide pro bono representation for domestic
violence victims. The Board did not approve that proposal but did approve a
resolution to be submitted to the NC State Bar, asking the Bar to seek ways to
encourage NC lawyers to provide pro bono representation to persons in need,
especially in the area of domestic violence. A copy of the letter and
resolution is attached to the minutes.
Mr. Hausen recognized Willie Dawson, to present a resolution recognizing the
dedication and extraordinary work of legal services attorney, Deborah
Greenblatt, who died on June 13, 2005. At the time of her death, Ms. Greenblatt
was the Executive Director of Carolina Legal Assistance, a legal services
program devoted to enforcing the rights of mentally disabled children and
adults. She successfully litigated landmark cases on behalf of disabled persons
and successfully lobbied for legislative changes to improve their lives. Her
passion and advocacy have inspired the legal services community. Following
discussion, a motion was made, duly seconded and the Board unanimously approved
and adopted the Resolution as presented. A copy of the Resolution is
attached to these minutes and will be presented to Ms. Greenblatt’s family.
Field Report
Mr. Hausen recognized Celia Pistolis to present the Field Report. LANC
management is overseeing the implementation of a work plan for each local
office. Local office staff along with the Regional Manager and Administrative
Office Staff are reviewing case statistics and other office information and
meeting together in a day long retreat to develop a work plan for the local
office. The work plan includes specific tasks/ projects assigned to certain
staff and projected deadlines for completion. LANC management at local, regional
and administrative levels will monitor the work plan to ensure progress on the
assigned tasks. In addition, each advocate will develop individual work plans.
These office and individual work plans will ensure that offices are operating
within the LANC priorities, will provide a cohesive approach to legal needs in
the community and will ensure the professional development of individual
advocates. It is expected that all offices and advocates will have developed
work plans within the next 18 months. Within the past six months, the
following offices have developed work plans, Boone, Fayetteville and the
Farmworker Unit. Concord is in the midst of the work planning process and
has a staff meeting scheduled for June 21, 2005.
Clients Council Report
Chairman Allison recognized Allen Johnson, who stated that the Client’s
Council had met on June 16, 2005 but had nothing to report at this time.
Committee Reports
Finance Committee:
Chairman Allison recognized Leto Copeley to present the Finance Committee
Report. Ms. Copeley reported that the Finance Committee met and discussed the
2004 audit and the current state of the budget. There is a slight
reduction in revenue, but LANC is not having any difficulty paying its expenses.
Ms. Copeley and Mr. Hausen reported that a support staff salary plan is being
developed and that once that plan is in place, LANC is projecting to provide all
staff with a general cost-of-living/salary increase to be effective July 1,
2005. Mr. Hausen reiterated that the minimum annual salary for support
staff is currently $20,000, an amount within the “living wage” established by
the NC Justice Center.
Personnel Committee:
Chairman Allison recognized Celia Pistolis, who stated that the Personnel
Committee had not met and had no report to present.
Operations Committee:
Chairman Allison recognized Allen Johnson to present the Operations
Committee Report. Mr. Johnson directed the board’s attention to pages
59-64 in the Board book to review the reports of the Local Advisory Boards from
the Wilmington, Wilson and Winston Salem offices.
Mr. Johnson stated that the Committee had reviewed the 2005 Eligibility Income
and Asset Guidelines found on page 64 in the Board book and recommended that the
Board approve those guidelines for 2005. A motion was made and duly
seconded to approve the 2005 Eligibility Income and Asset Guidelines. Without
any discussion, the Board unanimously approved the adoption of said guidelines
as presented.
Strategic Planning Committee:
Chairman Allison recognized George Hausen who directed the Board’s attention
to a template for outlining work to be done for strategic planning. A
motion was made and duly seconded to accept the template as presented to serve
as a formula for planning work to be addressed by the strategic planning
committee. Following discussion, the Board unanimously approved the use of
the template as presented.
Resource Development Committee:
Chairman Allison recognized John Vernon, Interim Chair, who reported that
the committee had met via telephone conference call to discuss restructuring the
Access to Justice Campaign. This restructuring would include hiring a
development person to oversee the campaign. He reported that contacts in
various organizations, in the private bar, and corporations have been targeted
by the committee to assist in the fundraising efforts, however, all contacts
have not been made as of this date.
Grievance Committee:
Chairman Allison recognized Willie Dawson to present the Grievance Committee
report. Mr. Dawson reported that there are no grievances pending.
Client Affairs Committee:
Chairman Allison recognized Pearl Nealey to present the Client Affairs
report. Ms. Nealey reported that the Client Affairs committee met and
discussed the LANC Clients’ Council and its role in LANC. The Committee
recommended that the Clients Council appoint a committee to address this issue.
The LANC Clients Council has authorized its Executive Committee to serve as the
appointed committee to explore the Client Council’s role in LANC. Ms. Nealey
also reported that the client member board training had been held in Raleigh in
April and was well attended. She expressed concerns that additional board
training was needed.
Nominating Committee:
Chairman Allison recognized Burton Craige to present the Nominating
Committee report. Mr. Craige reported that the Nominating Committee had
followed the procedures previously approved by the Board to elect a new client
member from the Triangle area. He stated that Nellie Kearney of Vance
County was one of two persons nominated through that process and that she had
received 100% of the votes submitted by client representatives from the Triangle
Area. Ms. Kearney meets all the LSC requirements to serve as a client
board member. The Nominating Committee recommended Ms. Nellie Kearney to
serve as the client board member from the Triangle area for a three-year term. A
motion was made and duly seconded to approve the Nominating Committee’s
recommendation. Following discussion, the Board unanimously approved Ms. Nellie
Kearney to serve as a Triangle client board member on the LANC Board for a three
year term.
There continues to be a vacant client board member position from the Triad
Region.
The Nominating Committee recommended the following slate of officers for the
upcoming year: Reid “Cal” Adams as Chair, Glenn Barfield as Vice Chair,
Leto Copeley as Treasurer/Finance Chair, and Mary Flowers as Secretary. In
addition to those four officers, the following persons would serve on the
Executive Committee: Leo Allison as At-Large Chair Emeritus, and another
at-large position to be appointed by the selected chair. A motion
was made to approve the Nominating Committee’s recommendations for Officers and
members of the Executive Committee. Following discussion, the Board unanimously
approved the slate of officers and members of the Executive Committee as
presented.
Chairman's Report
After the Board’s unanimous approval of the new officers, Leo Allison reviewed
the Board’s accomplishments during the past year and expressed appreciation to
the Board for the opportunity to have had the privilege of serving as the Chair.
At the close of his remarks, he passed the gavel to the new chair, Reid “Cal”
Adams.
LANC Board of Directors and Staff unveiled the portrait of the Chair to be
hung in the Administrative Office. Also, the Board and Staff presented Mr.
Allison with a gift commemorating his exceptional service as Chair during the
past year.
Transfer of Gavel to New Board Chair
The new chairman, Reid “Cal” Adams accepted his position as chair of the
board.
Adjournment
As there was no further business before the Board, the Chair, Reid “Cal”
Adams, adjourned the meeting at 3:10 p.m.
____________________________
Mary Flowers, Secretary
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