The Journey Forward
By Judy Wilkinson

I called Pam Metz on her home phone the other day, and who's exuberant, cheery voice should answer but Ken's! This shortly after my calling his cell phone from Venice to hear his hilarious message: complete with "Woofs." The loss of his larger-than-life presence leaves a huge sadness and silence in our CCB family. See tributes to this dear man elsewhere in this (and the next) BC.

This loss, so soon after his election to the second vice-presidency, cannot but dampen the high of our recent conference and convention. But what a convention it was: from exciting debates about our bylaws, to interesting informative speakers in general and other sessions, to terrific exhibits despite our conflict with CSUN (not a problem next year), to new editions such as the Beethoven and Friends concert, our river walk, a tactile art exhibition, our banquet with its entertainment and awards. And how about Dining in the Dark! We set a classy tone and a high bar for next year! And we had the most convention sponsorships ever (around $15,000) and the lowest deficit ever: (around $2,000).

As I near the end of my first term, here are some of the things on my plate as I return from my wonderful month-long vacation to visit friends in England for three weeks, followed by the dream-of-a-lifetime nine-day visit to Venice with Steve and Carly.

A substantial focus this year is on our major gifts campaign. (See my article in the Spring BC for more details). For projects to be undertaken in that campaign, the Board will frame a request for member input at an important public meeting on June 14.

Though we adopted a resolution to attempt to forge a connection with a like-minded organization in our advocacy efforts, we must plan for Jeff Thom's decision to step back from his work as our legislative advocate. Without Jeff's willingness to serve in this unpaid, nearly full-time position, we could never have had such a meaningful presence in the legislature. Thank goodness Jeff isn't going away! He plans to remain involved as we work on filling his shoes on our Governmental Affairs Committee, and for boots on the ground next year in Sacramento.

Luckily, Jeff has agreed to continue as chair of the Convention Planning Committee for 2019. Last year as an experiment, I chaired the overall convention committee that we assumed would have a number of subcommittees: which turned out to be unwieldy. So this year we return to one convention program committee, but rest assured that when Jeff politely asks, "Madam President, do you have any thoughts?" the usual reply of "When does Madam president not have thoughts!" will be heard.

The Bylaws committee will resume its work in June, and before next year's vote, we plan to have a number of major supporting policies in place so that we can indeed adopt a more streamlined set of bylaws.

I am happy to report that Alameda County paid us for 2016 and 2017 as per our settlement agreement in the Alameda voting machine case, and the mediated part of this ongoing legal matter comes to a close at the end of May. I will be reporting to the Board and seeking their advice as to future efforts in this case. Stay tuned.

In response to the terrific regional meeting of CCB chapters in Southern California in late January, we gained an appreciation of how much we think of, and will miss Ken Metz. We are planning a meeting in Fresno on June 9 with Central California chapters and another on September 15 for Bay Area chapters. I hope we will return soon for another visit to Southern California.

Two Californians will become "angels" at this year's American Council of the Blind Convention. Thanks to our Bay View, Capitol and San Francisco chapters, Al Gil will be recognized, though we may not be in time to have a statement during ACB's opening ceremonies. Donations from a number of individuals means that Teddie-Joy Remhild will take her place as an Angel.

One of my responsibilities as your president is to serve as California's delegate. To that end, I will serve on the Nominating Committee, where several Board and Board-of-Publications positions will be in play. Remember you can text or call me during the convention to make your wishes known. Steve and I also plan to contribute wine to the ACB auction and, as captain of the California Colossals, I'll be seeking your donations in the 10th anniversary Brenda Dillon Memorial Walk, an ACB fundraiser. And remember, 50 percent of what you donate comes back to CCB! The link to donate to this event is acb.donorpages.com/2018ACBWalk/CaliforniaColossals.

I close with my heart-felt thanks for electing me to a second term as your president. I realize however that re-election doesn't necessarily imply unanimity. I understand that fear of change and misunderstanding of what we're trying to accomplish exist. I can only promise that I will keep doing my best to communicate fully, respond to your concerns, and do my utmost to advance the interests of our organization and our members as we journey forward.