Governor’s Council Members

Jessie M. Baginski, Mayfield Heights, director of public relations for Laketran
Second term: Sept. 2001 -Aug. 2004
GCPD first vice chair; Health and Welfare Committee chair; 2003 Ohio Youth Leadership Forum co-chair.

C. Michael Beetner, Powell
Second term: Sept. 2001-Aug. 2004
GCPD second vice chair/Access Concerns Committee chair/Instrumental in gas station campaign

Wayne P. Cocchi, Columbus, director of disability services at Columbus State Community College Second term: Sept. 2001-Aug. 2004
Immediate past GCPD chair; 2003 Ohio Youth Leadership Forum co-chair

Robin Moore-Cooper, Huber Heights, coordinator of disability services at Sinclair Community College
Second term: Sept. 2001-Aug. 2004
Education Committee co-chair; active in Ohio Youth Leadership Forum

William G. Crum, Columbus, business consultant
First term: Sept. 2000-Aug. 2003
Liaison to Ohio Brain Injury Council; Ohio Legal Rights Services appointee

Kim E. Dittman, Toledo
Second term: Sept. 2001-Aug. 2004
A founder of the Ohio Business Leadership Forum and the GCPD’s annual Employer of the Year awards; active in Start on Success program

Mark Driftmeyer, Reynoldsburg
First term: Sept. 2001-Aug. 2004
Employment Committee member; arranged presentation on Ticket to Work and Benefits Planning for April 2003 council meeting

Eric Duffy, Columbus, director of the Ohio Federation for the Blind
First term: Sept. 2002-Aug. 2005
Health and Welfare Committee member; Help America Vote Act Commission appointee

Paul L. Huttlin, Ashley, executive director and CEO of Recreation Unlimited Foundation and Recreation Unlimited Farm and Fun
First term: Sept. 2002-Aug. 2005
Health and Welfare Committee member; parent of a child with a disability

Steven Jacobs, Hilliard, owner of Ideal Group
First term: Sept. 2002-Aug. 2005
Web Site Committee chair; Access Concerns Committee member

Robert D. Jenkins, Beverly
First term: Sept. 2002 to Feb. 2005
Access Concerns Committee member

Robert D. Knight, Marietta, director of AT Ohio’s Computer Refurbish and Recycle Program at Washington State Community College
GCPD Chair
First term: Sept. 2001 to Aug. 2004
Instrumental in bringing High School/High Tech program to Ohio

Lisa M. Marn, Willowick, service provider, Cleveland Center for Independent Living
Second term: Sept. 2000 to Aug. 2003
Education Committee co-chair; active in all five Ohio Youth Leadership Forums

G. “Marty” Martinek, Youngstown, consultant/advocate
First term: Sept. 2001-Aug. 2004
Employment Committee member, Olmstead Task Force member; active in the Ohio Choices Project

Michael E. Murman, Lakewood, attorney in private practice
First term: Sept. 2002-Aug. 2005
Health and Welfare Committee member

Virginia M. Pendleton, Springfield, works for Springfield-Clark Joint Vocational School and attends college First term: Sept. 2000-Aug. 2003
Nominations Committee chair; Education Committee member

Roseselle Qualls, Canton, social worker for Summit County Children Services
First term: Sept. 2000-Aug. 2003
Employment Committee member; Nominations Committee member; author of “Walking Free: The Nellie Zimmerman Story”

Bruce I. Roth, Columbus
First term: Sept. 2002 - Aug. 2005
Access Concerns Committee member; Web Page Committee member; liaison to Ohio Multiple Sclerosis Society and Statewide Medicaid Buy-in Taskforce

Nadia Webster, Columbus, student
First term: Sept. 2000-Aug. 2003
GCPD third vice chair; Education Committee member; Web Site Committee member; implemented GCPD listserve; active in Youth Leadership Forum

Allen M. Weidringer, Sabina, computer programmer
First term: Sept. 2000-Aug. 2003
Employment Committee member; Nominations Committee member; liaison to Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission Consumer Advisory Council

Rob Whitaker, Spring Valley
First term: Sept. 2002-Aug. 2005
Health and Welfare Committee member; served as Goodwill Ambassador for the National Muscular Dystrophy Association

Governor’s Council Staff

Executive Director Lucille Walls joined the GCPD in November 2002. She previously worked on 10 Indian reservations as the lead epidemiologist and served as director of an Independent Living Center in southern California.

Marcella Eblin, secretary, began her career with the State of Ohio in 1987. She’s been with the GCPD for seven years. She achieved an associate’s degree in law enforcement and is a student and teacher of martial arts.

Maureen Fitzgerald spent 17 of her 32 years with the State of Ohio as a program specialist with the GCPD. She achieved a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation counseling and a master’s of education from Kent State University.

Leslie Alloway, program specialist, holds a master’s degree in counselor education from Ohio University. During her 26 years with the Ohio Rehabilita-tion Services Commission, she worked directly with consumers in several capacities before joined the GCPD.

Council leadership changes for 2003

During the last year, the Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities (GCPD) experienced many changes. In September 2002, Gov. Bob Taft announced the appointment of Robert Knight as Chair of the Ohio Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities. Knight is a Marietta resident and the father of four children, one of whom has a learning disability. He works for Assistive Technology of Ohio and has a wealth of computer knowledge. During 2003, he worked with Washington State Community College to secure donated computers that could be recycled into the homes of Ohioans with disabilities.

In December 2002, GCPD Executive Secretary Karla Lortz retired after more than 15 years of service to the Council. Her leadership and collaboration with its members brought about many changes at both the state and federal levels. Most notably, she was involved with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.

During Lortz’s tenure the Council published “Access for All,” a guide to building accessibility, and established the Governor’s annual Employer of the Year awards.

In November 2002, Lucille Walls was hired to succeed Lortz as the council’s Executive Director. She previously served as director of an independent living center in Southern California, and is also an experienced grant writer and public speaker. Walls educational achievements include two master’s degrees. The first is from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, where she studied community organization and social policy. The second is from the University of South Carolina, School of Public Health, where she studied in the areas of injury and violence epidemiology.

Another long-time staffer, Maureen Fitzgerald, GCPD program specialist, followed Lortz into retirement in July 2003, after wrapping up the fifth annual Youth Leadership Forum (YLF). Fitzgerald and the GCPD Education Committee devoted many hours to creating this memorable experience for high school juniors and seniors.

Fitzgerald was involved in numerous activities which enhanced the lives of people with disabilities. Her positive attitude was recognized in the work she did with information and referral calls. She also was involved in the Deaf Blind Census Project, the Statewide Transportation Task Force, and the Mental Health Sexual Assault Planning Committee.

Leslie Alloway became the new GCPD program specialist, transferring from a similar position with the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission’s Consumer Advisory Council. Alloway also has 21 years of experience in RSC’s vocational rehabilitation field bureaus – as a counselor, vocational development specialist and rehabilitation teacher. She completed a master’s degree in education with an emphasis in rehabilitation counseling at Ohio University, and is working on her doctorate in Counselor Education. Alloway will be coordinating the 2004 YLF, handling information and referral calls and working with the Statewide Transportation Task Force.

Youth Leadership Forums support community action

The fifth annual Youth Leadership Forum was held July 21-25, 2003, at the Radisson Airport Hotel. Twenty-three delegates were selected to participate in this training and 21 former delegates attended as staff. Council members Jessie Baginski and Wayne Cocchi served as co-chairs and welcomed assistance from GCPD members Robin Moore-Cooper and Lisa Marn, as well as returning volunteers Derek Mortland, Shawn Dunaway and Reggie Smith.
More than 1,080 volunteer hours were donated for this event.

Delegates were assigned to interactive small-group sessions led by council members, past
delegates or volunteers. Daily large group activities involved presentations by individuals or panels of speakers covering topics that included life beyond high school, transportation and independence. Guest Speaker Karla Lortz discussed legislative changes created by “politically active” people with disabilities. Nearly all of the YLF presenters have disabilities and openly discussed their own issues.

A highlight of the 2003 event was Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Bradley’s inspirational talk about public service. Another was the YLF five-year reunion for all past forum delegates.

Jessie Baginski presented a retrospective that included statistics prepared by Wayne Cocchi on the number of previous delegates entering and/or completing college and entering employment. According to Cocchi’s report, 72 percent of the 1999 delegates are now completing bachelor’s degrees and beginning their careers or continuing their education with graduate studies. As a group, YLF delegates from the preceding forums have done extremely well in moving from school to work or further education and are continuing to develop their leadership skills.

Sterling Jewelers, Incept honored at Annual Meeting

Sterling Jewelers Inc. of Akron has demonstrated leadership toward a diverse work force by hiring more than 50 employees with disabilities in its corporate office. Incept Corporation of Canton has shown how much its employees are valued by providing innovative and flexible reasonable accommodations to workers with severe disabilities. Both companies were recognized as an Employer of the Year by the Governor’s Council at its annual meeting on Aug. 15, 2003.

Sterling was first recognized as a leader by one of its own employees, Norman LeBarre, who nominated his employer for the GCPD award. LeBarre has been at Sterling Jewelers for more than four years. “It’s a great place to work and I feel like I’m part of a big family,” he said.

Sterling offers free computer training to employees and an exercise room with adaptive equipment. It holds “Talk with the Team” sessions on a regular basis to encourage employees to voice concerns and recommendations. The company’s also very involved with charitable giving. Employees at Sterling donate more than a million dollars annually to Saint Jude’s Hospital. Lisa Stouffer, human resource director at Sterling, makes sure that the company’s supervisory staff are trained and knowledgeable so that they can respond to the questions of employees with disabilities who may seek assistance. Each supervisor is provided with American Sign Language software to enhance communication with employees who are deaf.

Incept Corporation also has an outstanding record of working with and for people with disabilities. The company has signed on to two programs through the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission to support employment
opportunities for vocational rehabilitation participants. In addition to hiring qualified workers with disabilities, Incept staff have
participated in job-seeking and interviewing workshops for college-trained applicants with
disabilities. As for reasonable
accommodation requests, CEO Jeff White noted that “help is a mouse click or phone call away.” Incept was nominated for the GCPD award by Sam Falleta, the company’s vice president.

The GCPD meeting also included information about The Adaptive Adventure Sports Coalition and a performance by Cleveland’s Dancing Wheels.

Council structure

The Ohio Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities is comprised of 21 members appointed by the governor to advise his office on issues affecting Ohio’s citizens with disabilities. Members are appointed to three-year terms with the opportunity to be reappointed a second time. Appointments are made on a staggering basis, so that terms of only seven members expire each year.

The governor selects one member to serve as Chair for a one-year term. The council’s administrative staff, including an Executive Director, is paid for, housed at and supervised by the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission. Several other government agencies provide liaisons to the council, which meets six times per year in Columbus.

Mission Statement

The Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities exists to:

• Advise the Governor and General Assembly on statewide disability issues

• Educate and advocate for: partnerships at the local, state and national level; promotion of equality, access and independence; development of employment opportunities

• Promote the value of diversity, dignity and the quality of life for people with disabilities

• Be a catalyst to create systematic change to promote awareness of
disability-related issues that will ultimately benefit all citizens of Ohio

Ohio Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities

www.gcpd.ohio.gov

1-800-282-4536, ext. 1391

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