Meeting Minutes - Transition Board
Transition Board of Directors - Legal Aid of North Carolina
April 26, 2002 Meeting (BOD Mtg #12)
Camp New Hope, Chapel Hill, NC
Persons in Attendance:
The following persons were present for this meeting:
Board members: Cal Adams, Leo Allison, Glenn Barfield, Tracy Barley,
David Daggett, Jack Holtzman, Allen Johnson, Pender McElroy (Chair), Caroline
Myers, Frank Queen and Willis Williams.
Guests: Ted Fillette, Susan Gottsegen, Michael Hamden, George Hausen,
Richard Klein, Chris Marks, Celia Pistolis and Gina Reyman.
Agenda (Pender McElroy)
The meeting agenda as presented was unanimously adopted.
Report on Executive Director search (Pender McElroy)
The Transition Board went into Executive Session. In this session, upon motion
and second, the Board voted unanimously to extend to George Hausen an offer to
become the permanent Executive Director of LANC. Caroline Myers held and voted
the proxy from Rick Fay. Cal Adams held and voted proxies from Elizabeth Cox and
Dorothy McHugh.
Approval of minutes of March 28, 2002 meeting
Jack Holtzman moved that the minutes of the March 28, 2002 meeting be approved
as written and Leo Allison seconded the motion. The motion was approved
unanimously.
Approval of minutes of February 22, 2002 meeting
David Daggett moved that the minutes of the February 22, 2002 meeting be
approved as written and Willis Williams seconded the motion. The motion was
approved unanimously.
Report on budgetary and finance matters (Chris Marks)
Chris Marks presented a report on the LANC consolidated budget showing a
six-month budget for July-December 2002 and an annual budget for 2003. The
proposed budget, a copy of which is attached to this summary, shows that LANC
will start with an eight percent fund balance. While funding has remained
relatively flat, except for the IOLTA increase in the LSNC technology grant,
operating expenses have continued to increase. Currently, there have been
announced cuts in United Way funding. For example, East Central Community Legal
Services will suffer a 25% reduction in United Way funding or approximately
$50,000. The state funding, which is no longer part of the legislative
appropriations budget and subject to legislative cuts, has not generated
expected revenues. Collection of court fees is down by approximately five
percent overall, which could translate into a $75,000 loss for the year. The
Department of Commerce contract for LSNC ($449,000) will not be present for the
2003 budget. VOCA funding that pays the salaries of 15 attorneys is not
guaranteed for 2003. While LSNC is paying overhead for the VOCA attorneys, a
reduction in these funds could affect other grants such as Z Smith Reynolds.
The 2003 budget reflects no salary increases for staff or potential increases
for health benefits. If the budget were to include salary increases and
anticipated increases in health costs, then revenue would need to increase by
20%. An increase in revenue may potentially come from an increase in LSC funding
due to an anticipated shift in eligible clients from the 2000 census. Currently,
program directors are reducing expenses by not giving raises, not filling
positions and not making capital expenditures. By incorporating these measures
and others, programs have avoided layoffs. However, these measures negatively
impact on client services. The numbers used to formulate the budget appear to be
accurate. Marks thanked program directors for providing him with complete
information upon which he relied in formulating these budgets.
The Board took no action on this report.
Report on Program Directors’ List (George Hausen)
George Hausen reported on the three subcommittees primarily composed of
program directors and other staff as follows:
Subcommittee 1 is discussing employee benefits and has sought the assistance
of two volunteer attorneys, Bill Whitehurst of Womble, Carlyle and Heloise
Merrill of Parker Poe, to address ERISA questions related to health and
retirement benefits. Also, various health plans as well as a self-insurance plan
are being considered. The NCBA has completed such an evaluation on its own
health coverage and should be contacted for its study. The Charlotte program
would like to keep its health plan in place at least until the end of 2002.
NCLAP, LSNC and LASNNC are being covered by a single health plan now. Also, this
subcommittee is examining a retirement plan for staff. Presently, LSNC is over
funding its retirement plan. A report should be completed within the next month.
Subcommittee 2 is reviewing issues surrounding employee salaries and creating
an equitable salary scale. This subcommittee’s work will not likely be completed
prior to July 1, 2002, but should be completed by the end of 2002.
Subcommittee 3 is reviewing personnel policies, grievances and work standards
and has drafted a preliminary report that is being circulated to other staff for
comment.
The Board took no action on this report.
Report from the Governance Committee (Glenn Barfield)
Glenn Barfield identified the following attorneys who have been selected to
serve on the new LANC Board of Directors:
Pender McElroy, Frank Queen and Glenn Barfield (NCBA)
John Vernon (NC State Bar)
Jim Maxwell (14th Judicial District)
Rick Fay (26th Judicial District)
Leto Copeley (NC Association of Women Attorneys)
Burton Craige (NC Academy of Trial Lawyers)
Scott Lewis (NC Gay and Lesbian Attorneys)
The NC Association of Black Lawyers and the NCBA section of Hispanic Lawyers
have not yet made selections. Greg Davis and Georgia Lewis of these respective
groups have been contacted about appointing members to serve on the LANC Board.
Also, it appears that David Daggett will be the likely choice from the 21st
judicial district and Cal Adams appears to be the likely appointee from the
Insurance Defense Attorneys Association. The NCBA also may select Willie Dawson
and Deborah Ross for its remaining seats on the LANC Board.
The terms for both attorney and client board members will need to be
determined and the committee will have a recommendation at the May meeting.
Also, the remaining Board members will have been selected by that meeting as
well. The Board took no further action.
Report from the Management Structure Committee (Allen Johnson)
Allen Johnson reported that the Clients Council has selected the following
persons to serve on the LANC Board of Directors:
Leo Allison of Orange County (Triangle Region)
Charles (C.R.) Ward of Columbus County (Southeastern Region)
Client board member for the Triad has not been finalized.
Rhonda Shepherd of Wilkes County (Western Region)
Willis Williams of Martin County (Northeastern Region)
Sarah Davis of Wake County, Laura Shofner of Wayne County, Pearl Nealey of
Rutherford County and Bonnie Tatum of Robeson County (At large members)
Allen Johnson of Granville County and Mary Flowers of Guilford County (ex
officio members)
The current members of the Transition Board and the new members of the LANC
Board will meet as part of an orientation for the new board members. Funding for
such an orientation will be sought from NCBA or IOLTA. Also, current funds will
be examined to determine if the Transition Board budget has any funds to finance
in whole or part such an orientation.
The Board took no action on this report
Report from the Real Property Committee (Frank Queen)
Frank Queen reported that a meeting was held in Charlotte with Randi Youells,
LSC Vice President of Programs, and Cynthia Schneider, LSC Program Counsel for
NC, to discuss a proposal for dividing real estate in which LSC claims an
interest between the new grantee (LANC) and the non-LSC-funded programs
currently planned for the west and triad regions. The LSC representatives
suggested that the real property committee send a letter with a detailed
proposal to LSC President John Erlenborn, who is concerned that LSC funded
programs are failing to properly compensate LSC for its interest in real estate.
LSC has already filed litigation against Virginia Legal Services for
transferring real property without LSC involvement. Queen and his committee
drafted a letter to President Erlenborn detailing LSNC’s proposal for the real
property. This letter was signed by or on behalf of the board chairs of LANC,
LSNC, LSSP, LASNWNC and NCLAP, and a copy is attached to the meeting summary.
LSC responded by requesting specifics on how certain figures were calculated,
and Queen will prepare that response. Pender McElroy noted that he had sent a
letter to the Chair of the LSC Board seeking support for the "swap" and had
copied Bucky Askew of that Board because of his connections to North Carolina.
Don Saunders, Executive Director of NLADA, has pledged his assistance to garner
support for the proposal on the LSC Board. The "swap" will need to take place
before July 1, 2002. The Board took no action on this report.
Report from Property Conveyance Committee (Gina Reyman)
Gina Reyman reported that the Agreement has been drafted and is almost in
final form. Lists of the specific property to be conveyed to LANC will be
included as attachments to the agreement. The Board took no further action on
this report.
Announcements (Pender McElroy)
Pender McElroy noted that there are approximately 60 days until the effective
date of the consolidation of the four programs into LANC. He encouraged everyone
to make every effort to meet the deadline.
The next meeting will be on May 31, 2002 in Winston-Salem.
Meeting summary prepared by Celia Pistolis.
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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
to economic opportunity.