Ms. Buresh, Attached is my reply to your letter of February 10, 2005. I have also attached your letter to me, since you mentioned that I could share it with staff. As noted below, this email is being copied to all NCBVI staff and our Board of Commissioners. Please do let me know if you wish further discussion on the issue. Thank you! Dr. Pearl Van Zandt, Executive Director Nebraska Commission for the Blind & Visually Impaired Our Mission: Empowering blind individuals, promoting opportunities, and building belief in the blind. ec: NCBVI Staff and Commissioners STATE OF NEBRASKA NEBRASKA COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED Pearl Van Zandt, Ph.D. Executive Director February 25, 2005 Amy Buresh, President National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska 1033 O. Street Suite 24 B Lincoln, NE 68508-3621 Dear Ms. Buresh: This letter is in response to your letter of February 10, concerning the behavior and statements made by Jim Jirak, who serves as the volunteer Webmaster for NCBVI. This past year, we paid expenses for Mr. Jirak to attend the state conventions of both the American Council of the Blind of Nebraska (ACBN) and the National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska (NFBN). It seemed like a good way for him to become aware of issues and priorities of both groups and to become acquainted with more consumers in the state. We do the same with new employees of the agency, whenever possible during their first year of employment with NCBVI. We do not actually use many volunteers, so this was somewhat of an unusual arrangement for us. I certainly agree with the concerns you express. We are very sorry that an individual attending a consumer event such as the NFBN State Convention, on behalf of NCBVI, would behave in the manner that he did. Worse, that he would choose to write about the event in such a disrespectful and thoughtless way. I read his “article” in the ACBN Newsletter fairly recently. The issue itself came out sometime after the NFBN convention, and I did not read it immediately. When I did read it, I was quite dismayed at the comments he made, the disdain he showed, and the general lack of understanding of the many valuable components of the convention agenda. Clearly he did not attend with the attitude of being there to listen and learn. Since becoming aware of all this, I have discussed with him that his behavior and writing are unacceptable. This includes the convention-related behavior as well as statements he made during the Commission Board meeting in Omaha, November 20. I did make it clear that if any such behavior occurs again, he will cease to serve as the NCBVI webmaster. I also let him know that we will not be sponsoring him to attend any training opportunities in the future. On rare occasions a member of our staff, or in this case a volunteer, behave in a non-professional insulting manner at public functions. When it does happen, we meet with the person to discuss the situation and to make clear expectations and consequences. We sincerely apologize for the bad behavior and statements. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me. Thank you! Sincerely, Dr. Pearl Van Zandt