February 10, 2005
Amy Buresh, President
National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska
1033 O. Street Suite 24 B
Lincoln, NE 68508-3621
Dr. Pearl Van Zandt, Executive Director
Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually
Impaired
4600 Valley Road, Suite 100
Lincoln, NE 68510
Dear Dr. Van Zandt:
I am writing to you as the President of the
state affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind (NFBN). This letter is
in regard to the behavior and public statements made by Mr. James Jirak while
apparently functioning as a representative of the Nebraska Commission for the
Blind and Visually Impaired.
As you are aware, we held our annual NFBN state
convention in Lincoln during the weekend of October 8th through the
11th of 2004, and Mr. Jirak was among those in attendance. We were
not aware that Mr. Jirak would be attending our convention or we would have
made an effort to introduce him to some of our members as we normally do with
our guests. We would like to encourage you and your staff to introduce any new
member of the NCBVI staff or clients to the officers and board members of our
organization. We welcome the opportunity to have guests come to our conventions
to learn about our concerns and efforts, especially those that are working for
or with the Commission. However, our not being aware that Mr. Jirak was
attending our convention and his apparent disinterest in our convention
activities limited our ability to provide him with an accurate understanding of
our views.
Although Mr. Jirak states in his article that
the Senior Division and Transition workshops were “quite interesting and
imaginative”, he provides little detail as to the quality of information and
positive effect these workshops have for blind persons and agency employees.
For example, the Transition workshop was
attended by parents of blind children, blind children and youth themselves, and
professionals in the field of Special Education. Commissioner of Education,
Doug Christensen, was the keynote guest at this workshop and provided important
information regarding the current status of Special Education in our state. As
a result of his attendance at our convention, a subsequent meeting was held
with him to discuss in greater detail our concerns regarding the education of
blind children in Nebraska. Among the
concerns that are now being considered by the Department of Education are
Braille literacy and reading rates, teacher certification and training- parents
rights and choices. Also, a joint workshop with professionals representing the
National Federation of the Blind and Nebraska Center for the Education of
Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired is in the beginning stages of
planning for teachers of the visually impaired. Also, for the first time, there
is a real possibility that blind consumers, as well as the Nebraska Commission
for the Blind and Visually Impaired, will be represented on the State Committee
for Special Education (SEAC).
During the Senior workshop, the partnership
between the Computer Options program sponsored by the NFBN and the City of
Lincoln’s department on Aging and it’s director, June Pederson, was discussed.
This program, which was initially established by the NFBN through a grant from
NCBVI, is designed to teach blind seniors the computer skills that can enhance
their quality of life. This new partnership will help to assure that this
important program will continue. June
Pederson was also presented an award for her efforts and partnership with the
Federation.
While it is not clear from Mr. Jirak’s article,
it would appear that he did not attend the state board meeting. If he had come
to this meeting he would have had the opportunity to learn about the NFBN
scholarship program and this year’s 5 outstanding winners, each of which are
currently receiving services from NCBVI. Mr. Jirak would also have gained
important information regarding the newly established Merchants Division and
the important impact this will have in the development of a stronger Business
Enterprise Program here in Nebraska. He would also have been made aware of the
resolution being prepared to recognize the efforts of the Honorable Coleen
Seng, Mayor of Lincoln, and June Peterson, Director of the Department on
Aging, in forming an effective
partnership between Computer Options and the Department of Aging for the City
of Lincoln.
Mr. Jirak also chose to avoid involvement in the
social activities on Friday evening. As representatives of NCBVI, we would hope
that new members of the Commission team would be interested in getting to know
their consumers as people as well as clients. We are sorry that Mr. Jirak
missed out on this opportunity.
By his own report, Mr. Jirak’s attitude toward
the Federation, fueled by apparently negative preconceptions of our organization,
began to shift from disinterest to expressions of dissatisfaction by the
morning of the second day of the convention. Mr. Jirak, according to his own
admission, either avoided or arrived late for scheduled events. It would seem
that he found much of our convention to be of no real interest or nothing more
than a means of spreading propaganda. By that evening’s convention banquet, Mr.
Jirak apparently felt compelled and apparently somehow justified in attempting
to disrupt our banquet.
Among the things Mr. Jirak apparently found to
be of no particular interest were the welcome from the Honorable Coleen Seng,
Mayor of Lincoln; the National report, which included an update of progress on
the Jernigan Institute, which promises to significantly influence technologies
for blind people well into the future; our state affiliate report discussing
the roles that Nebraskans are taking at the national level; the establishment
of a Blind Parents Division and the new Merchants Division; the successful
efforts of the Omaha chapter to have local television and radio stations play
public service announcements that promote the use of Braille; the partnership
between our Lincoln chapter and the Lincoln Public Libraries known as “The
Kernels in a Basket” reading project to help educate the public about blindness
and blind people; the “Walk for Independence”; the “Meet the Blind Month”
project in which NFBN members marched in the Apple Jack parade in Nebraska
City; and our legislative efforts which included helping the little Randolph
Shepherd bill to become law and helped to prevent budget cuts that would have
significantly impacted the services provided by NCBVI. Also, the NFBN’s
involvement in forming the Computer Options partnership, taking a leading role
in assuring that the new Nebraska Information System would be accessible to
blind state employees, the Nebraska Association of Blind Students participating
in the College workshop with NCBVI, and raising the money to bring MoPix-
equipped theaters to both Omaha and Lincoln.
Although Mr. Jirak apparently found the report
from Commissioner Barbara Loos to be of interest, he does not appear to have
found anything interesting in your report (the report from the agency’s
Executive Director). He also made no effort to attend the student luncheon, in
spite of the opportunity to learn more about the concerns of blind college
students, the relationships we are building with educators, and members of the
legislature and Congress.
Mr. Jirak tells us that he intentionally arrived
late for the afternoon session, so it is difficult to determine how much of the
information provided by Dave Oertli from Talking Book and Braille Services he
missed. Mr. Jirak apparently had no real interest in the partnership of an NFBN
member, NCBVI, and the Information Management Services that have assured that
the Nebraska Information System will be accessible to all state employees. In
fact, it is difficult to find anything that Mr. Jirak approached during the
convention with an open mind, and should there be any question regarding his
bias and ill will toward the National Federation of the Blind, his behavior
during the banquet should remove any doubts.
Mr. Jirak sat through most of the banquet
program wearing headphones and listening to a football game with the volume
loud enough to be heard throughout much of the room. He proceeded to do so in
spite of several polite attempts to request that he either turn down the volume
or leave the banquet hall. He made no effort to acknowledge or show even common
courtesy toward our guest speakers, our board of officers, or the membership of
the NFBN. By exhibiting this egregious
behavior, Mr. Jirak represented himself and the Commission poorly in front of
distinguished honorees, friends and longtime supporters; Senators Chris Beutler
and Pat Engel and retired Department of Labor Research Supervisor Floyd
Colon. These three individuals have
partnered with the Federation and the Commission to help employ blind
individuals, introduce Braille legislation, fund Newsline for the Blind® and
save the Commission budget.
To be perfectly honest, since we did not know
specifically who was creating the problem, or that person’s intent, we chose to
continue the banquet activities in spite of the distraction. We have never before
experienced this sort of inappropriate behavior at one of our banquets, and
given our uncertainty regarding the situation, we did not feel it would serve
any good purpose to press the issue at the time.
It was not until sometime after the banquet that
those of us at the head table learned that the source of the disruption was Mr.
Jirak and that he was there as a part of his training as the Webmaster for
NCBVI. We were angered by this realization; however, we felt that our making a
direct response to Mr. Jirak’s inappropriate and unprofessional behavior would
likely be dismissed by him and perceived by the membership of the American
Council of the Blind of Nebraska as an unfair and unwarranted attack upon one
of their members. We also expected that those members of the NCBVI staff
responsible for supervising Mr. Jirak’s work as a volunteer and who were
present at the banquet would appropriately address his behavior following the
convention. Based upon the article Mr. Jirak wrote for the membership of the
ACBN, it is apparent that whatever actions were undertaken by his supervisor to
correct Mr. Jirak’s behavior in regard to our convention were either entirely
dismissed or completely misunderstood by him.
Mr. Jirak’s opening remarks in the article leave
little question of the venom behind his writing, and if it is intended to be
positive, what must be the true feelings he holds toward the NFBN? He clearly
has little or no respect toward the beliefs of others, the employees of the
Commission, or any sense of responsibility toward the taxpayer dollars used to
provide him with the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the
consumers served by NCBVI. Any claim by
Mr. Jirak that he was not aware that his attending the NFBN convention as the
NCBVI Webmaster and with his expenses paid by the Commission carried with it an
expectation of objective, open-minded, and professional behavior, is simply
beyond reason.
We are neither asking for nor do we expect an
apology from Mr. Jirak. At this time we do not believe that it is within his
character to apologize with any real sincerity. We, however, do believe that an
apology is owed to us from the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually
Impaired for the inappropriate and unprofessional behavior of one of its
representatives.
We also believe that, while we do not have any
direct say in the personnel issues of the Commission, that a strong action in
response to Mr. Jirak’s behavior should be taken. The bias and open hostility
that Mr. Jirak has obviously displayed toward one of the organizations of
consumers served by NCBVI clearly demonstrates his inappropriateness to serve
in the position of Webmaster. We recognize that he is serving in this position
as a volunteer and we certainly applaud NCBVI for choosing a blind person to
serve in this important role.
Nevertheless, we are now convinced that Mr. Jirak’s continuing service
to NCBVI represents a serious threat to the positive relationship that the
agency must maintain with all of its consumers and the quality of services the
agency provides that results from this positive relationship.
Should you wish to discuss this matter further,
please feel free to contact me. We would appreciate a response to the concerns raised
in this letter in the very near future. We sincerely wish to maintain the
positive and effective relationship we now have with NCBVI and we want to work
with you to resolve this issue. Also, please feel free to share this letter
with the staff of the Commission.
Sincerely,
Amy Buresh, President,
National Federation of the Blind of Nebraska