1 1 BEFORE THE STATE OF INDIANA 2 CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION 3 - - - 4 5 PUBLIC MEETING OF NOVEMBER 17, 2017 6 7 8 - - - 9 PROCEEDINGS 10 in the above-captioned matter, before the Indiana 11 Civil Rights Commission, Alpha Blackburn, 12 Chairperson, taken before me, Lindy L. Meyer, 13 Jr., a Notary Public in and for the State of 14 Indiana, County of Shelby, at the Indiana 15 Government Center South, Conference Center, 16 Rooms 1 & 2, 402 West Washington Street, 17 Indianapolis, Indiana, on Friday, November 17, 18 2017 at 1:03 o'clock p.m. 19 - - - 20 21 William F. Daniels, RPR/CP CM d/b/a ACCURATE REPORTING OF INDIANA 22 12922 Brighton Avenue Carmel, Indiana 46032 23 (317) 848-0088 2 1 APPEARANCES: 2 COMMISSION MEMBERS: 3 Alpha Blackburn, Chairperson Sheryl Edwards 4 Adrianne L. Slash 5 INDIANA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION 6 By Gregory Wilson, Director/Secretary Indiana Government Center North 7 100 North Senate Avenue, Room N300 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 8 On behalf of the Commission. 9 OTHER COMMISSION STAFF PRESENT: 10 John Burkhardt 11 Bradford Shockney Brionna Arnold 12 Anehita Eromosele 13 OTHERS PRESENT: 14 Margo J. Carrancejie 15 Karen Celestino-Horseman 16 - - - 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 3 1 1:03 o'clock p.m. November 17, 2017 2 - - - 3 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Good 4 afternoon. The Indiana Civil Rights Commission 5 is now in public session. I will entertain -- I 6 can't entertain much of anything at this moment. 7 We are without a quorum for the moment. Are we 8 expecting Comm. Ramos? 9 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Good afternoon, 10 Chairperson. We have not received communication 11 leading us to believe that we should not expect 12 Vice-Chair Ramos, so -- 13 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: In light of 14 that, I think that -- can we make am attempt to 15 reach him by phone? 16 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Yes. I'd be happy 17 to do that right now, but in terms of the 18 meeting, maybe some initial matters could be 19 addressed now while I seek to contact him, and 20 then I can report to you here shortly whether 21 he'll be joining us. 22 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Okay. 23 Well, while we wait for a moment to see if 4 1 we can achieve a quorum, there is something 2 exciting and wonderful that we can entertain at 3 this moment, and I think that now is as good a 4 time as any to make more official our 5 appreciation for the years of service that Brad 6 Shockney, more correctly, Bradford Shockney, has 7 given to the Indiana Civil Rights Commission. 8 Forty years is a long time to do anything, 9 anything at all, and to have someone who has 10 shown the kind of dedication to his career, and a 11 career that demands more of you than it 12 compensates, I think, is something worthy of 13 celebration. So, we are pleased to -- if 14 Bradford would come forward -- 15 (Cell phone rang.) 16 MR. WILSON: We have music. How 17 appropriate? 18 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Who's got a 19 phone? 20 JUDGE BURKHARDT: I've got one. 21 (Mr. Shockney came forward.) 22 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: We talked 23 about you last month, but it occurred to me -- 5 1 I'm going to come around. It occurred to me that 2 that was sort of like writing it into the 3 Congressional Record. Unless they give you a 4 copy of it, it doesn't seem official. 5 MR. WILSON: Can we move you just a 6 little bit in front of the flag? Yeah, like 7 that. That looks very good. 8 JUDGE BURKHARDT: One, two, three. 9 (Picture taken.) 10 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: I tried to 11 get them to frame it for you -- 12 MR. SHOCKNEY: Oh, okay. 13 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: -- but you 14 know the budget around here. Thank you. 15 MR. SHOCKNEY: Thank you very much. 16 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Thank you. 17 We could move from the tail end of our 18 agenda forward and delay the vote until we can 19 get Comm. Ramos or someone to join us. So, under 20 tab 4, you have, I think, in your folders the 21 case of Cassandra Seyler, Complainant, versus 22 Window World of Fort Wayne. I do have the 23 findings of fact, conclusions of law and order. 6 1 I would entertain a motion to be consummated 2 after we get one more vote to accept and adopt 3 the findings. 4 COMM. SLASH: So moved upon having 5 another vote. 6 COMM. EDWARDS: Second. 7 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: And you may 8 record mine as the third vote. This is an 9 awkward situation, but I think that in the 10 interest of time and in that we have some public 11 people here, this will expedite matters while we 12 try to get the third -- at least the fourth 13 Commissioner on board. 14 You have also Cassandra Seyler, 15 Complainant, versus Window World of Fort Wayne. 16 That proposed findings of fact and conclusions of 17 law, I would entertain a motion to accept and 18 dismiss without prejudice that case. May I have 19 a motion to accept that? 20 COMM. EDWARDS: So moved. 21 COMM. SLASH: Second. 22 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Okay. Thank 23 you very much. And add my consent to that as 7 1 well. 2 Moving forward from the back of your 3 folders, the complaint of discrimination that the 4 appeal was continued at the last meeting, it is 5 Margo Carrancejie -- I hope that pronunciation 6 is -- 7 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Carrancejie. 8 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Carran -- 9 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: -- cejie, 10 Carrancejie. 11 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: The case has 12 been recommended for dismissal, and I would ask 13 if there's someone here to speak with regards to 14 this case. If you have a statement you'd like to 15 make, we can swear you in. 16 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Thank you, 17 Madam Chair. My name is Karen 18 Celestino-Horseman. I'm going to be the attorney 19 representing the good doctor. I have just -- I 20 have not seen the original paperwork, so what I 21 would like to ask is perhaps if I could take a 22 look at that, if you could give me ten minutes, 23 and then I can step up here and answer that for 8 1 you. 2 As I understand it, it was a procedural 3 question that was appealed by Noell Allen 4 regarding whether the case should have been 5 dismissed in the calculation of the days, and the 6 days show -- is that the issue? 7 MS. CARRANCEJIE: Yes. 8 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Yeah. So, 9 as I understand it, your recommendation deals 10 with whether this was timely filed or not. I 11 know that Ms. Allen, who was a former ALJ here, 12 said that the date actually began later than what 13 was used to calculate for the dismissal, so if I 14 could take a look at that, and perhaps you could 15 give me ten minutes. Would that be possible? 16 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Yes. 17 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Thank you. 18 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Can you dig 19 it out for her? 20 JUDGE BURKHARDT: I'm sorry; I just 21 stepped in the room. I was able to obtain 22 contact with Vice-Chair Ramos, who expresses his 23 sincere apologies for not being able to make it 9 1 today, but thanks you for understanding. So, he 2 looks forward to picking up with any business we 3 can defer until the December meeting for some 4 decisions and votes, but he cannot join us today. 5 So, with what can I assist now? 6 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: So, did he 7 indicate that he cannot be on teleconference for 8 the period of the meeting? 9 JUDGE BURKHARDT: He had inquired 10 about that, and I advised with no specific 11 electronics communications policy currently 12 adopted, we would defer any such participation 13 for the future as well, so -- 14 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Okay. It 15 renders our work here paralyzed by having not 16 gotten a quorum. So -- but yes, do try to find 17 the case that Noell made recommendation of 18 dismissal, and I think it is in this huge folder, 19 but I can't find it. 20 COMM. SLASH: I think it's the 21 first -- 22 JUDGE BURKHARDT: My understanding, 23 there's a request from a complainant who has 10 1 submitted a -- 2 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: She needs 3 time to review it. The attorney has not had an 4 opportunity to review it. 5 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: If I may, if 6 it would be more convenient, since you're not 7 going to be able to vote on it today, and so it's 8 going to have to be held in abeyance, I take it, 9 anyway, to get a quorum for next meeting, I can 10 come and address it at the next meeting, which 11 then you could move on to your other things that 12 you can do, or head home and enjoy a beautiful 13 day. 14 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: That's 15 gracious of you and a good suggestion. 16 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Okay. 17 JUDGE BURKHARDT: And I would simply 18 mention the provisions of the Indiana 19 Administrative Code regulating this appeals 20 process mention that when appeals are submitted, 21 within that 15-day window, there will be the 22 submission of the -- of whatever evidence is to 23 be considered, and then also Respondent, if 11 1 notified of a potential reversal, then has the 2 same 15-day window to submit evidence. 3 I don't see in the Indiana Administrative 4 Code provisions regulating arguments before the 5 Commission on the appeals themselves. Those oral 6 arguments are contemplated to be once something 7 makes it through the probable cause gauntlet and 8 makes it through a hearing on the merits. So, 9 I'd simply point out that the appeals process is 10 contemplated to occur on paper within -- that's 11 submitted within that 15-day window. 12 Any questions in that regard? 13 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: So, in other 14 words, what you're saving is that the Commission 15 cannot take comment before they vote to dismiss 16 something? 17 JUDGE BURKHARDT: No, not in terms of 18 public comment. I was speaking primarily to the 19 appeals process in the Indiana Administrative 20 Code -- 21 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Right. 22 JUDGE BURKHARDT: -- which describes 23 the time frame and the procedures for submitting 12 1 additional evidence. 2 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Okay. 3 (Discussion off the record.) 4 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Any questions about 5 that? 6 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: You know, I 7 guess what I'll do is take a look at that, then, 8 because I can see the dismissal or the opinion -- 9 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Uh-huh. 10 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: -- that 11 they're going to be voting on; right? Is that up 12 today? 13 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Well, a vote would 14 not be -- 15 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: They're not 16 going to vote on it today, I know that, but 17 there's been a recommendation of dismissal, so I 18 understand that there -- is there an opinion that 19 accompanies that as to the basis of the 20 recommendation of dismissal? 21 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Well, the 22 Commission will, upon the recommendation of the 23 assigned Commissioner, vote to either adopt the 13 1 findings or remand for further investigation, or 2 even reverse with notice given to Respondent, 3 so -- 4 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Okay. So, 5 the -- so, the findings are not made public, 6 then, until after the vote; is that -- 7 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Well, no, the 8 post -- so, upon the completion of the agency's 9 investigation -- 10 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Uh-huh. 11 JUDGE BURKHARDT: -- they then mail 12 by Certified Mail the findings to the -- 13 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: See, this is 14 not a full-out investigation of discrimination. 15 This was a procedural issue as to when you began 16 to count the date for -- to calculate the time 17 within which you have to file the complaint. 18 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Okay. 19 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: So, there's 20 no evidence as such that has been taken other 21 than what's filed on that behalf, on -- 22 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Okay. 23 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: -- that 14 1 procedural issue, which is -- that's why I'm 2 trying to -- 3 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Okay. 4 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Noell Allen 5 was doing this, and now she's gone -- 6 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Sure. 7 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: -- so, I'm 8 trying to get this worked out, so -- 9 JUDGE BURKHARDT: So, is your concern 10 that there is additional information to support 11 this appeal that has not been yet heard or 12 accepted? 13 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Potentially. 14 I mean as I understand it -- 15 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Uh-huh. 16 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: -- is there 17 a report that has been written, findings that 18 have been made? Do they make findings on the 19 procedure issue as well? 20 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Any decision at 21 this point would be contained in the notice of -- 22 it sounds like an administrative dismissal. That 23 would -- 15 1 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Right. 2 JUDGE BURKHARDT: That would provide 3 the statement supporting that decision. 4 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Okay. All 5 right. So -- and so -- and then the time for 6 responding to that and everything -- I mean the 7 time for the appeal and everything has been put 8 forward on that? That's all closed? 9 JUDGE BURKHARDT: The 15? 10 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Yes. 11 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Right -- 12 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Okay. 13 JUDGE BURKHARDT: -- yes, 15 days 14 from service of that notice. 15 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Okay. All 16 right. 17 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Does that make 18 sense? 19 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Yes, it 20 does. 21 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Okay. 22 (Discussion off the record.) 23 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Have we 16 1 settled that issue? 2 MS. CELESTINO-HORSEMAN: Yes. Thank 3 you very much, Madam Chair. 4 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Okay. 5 Having no further official business to be 6 conducted at this meeting, I will ask for any 7 comments from our Executive Director. 8 MR. WILSON: Thank you. Good 9 afternoon, everybody. 10 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Good 11 afternoon. 12 COMM. EDWARDS: Good afternoon. 13 COMM. SLASH: Good afternoon. 14 MR. WILSON: Well, one is I want to 15 thank everybody for coming out. We appreciate 16 the work of the Commission, what you've been 17 doing. We're glad that we're able to get these 18 Commission meetings going again. That's been a 19 long time, and Chairperson, you know, and that's 20 one of the first things that was on my agenda 21 when I became the Executive Director was to get 22 the Commission back up and operational. 23 And we're still working to try to make 17 1 sure that we actually have enough members as per 2 the requirement of the Commission, so -- and not 3 with just this Commission, but some of the other 4 Commissions that are housed in the Indiana Civil 5 Rights Commission. 6 So, anyway, I just want to give you a 7 brief -- at the end of the year, our last 8 Commission meeting, we'll give you more of an 9 overview of what we've done this year and what 10 we're going to do in 2018, because right now, the 11 focus has been a couple of things. 12 One is getting the Commission up and going 13 again, which we feel we've done that, and then 14 also looking at some of these cases. That was a 15 priority. The first thing I did was, coming in, 16 I wanted to know about what we had, what kind of 17 cases were more or less in the backlog, and what 18 did we need to get them out and moving forward. 19 That was very important. 20 But even before I could do that, I had to 21 put leadership in place, and that leadership was 22 promoting John Burkhardt, Judge John Burkhardt, 23 to Administrative Law Judge, which I think was a 18 1 very good choice. John is very passionate about 2 the law and about ensuring that people are 3 treated fairly under the law, so we appreciate 4 that. 5 And then it was promoting Doneisha Posey 6 to Deputy Director and General Counsel, again, 7 another great choice, because I need Doneisha to 8 be able to lead the Operations Team, and we'll 9 talk a little bit more about what that means. I 10 won't go into a lot of depth, because I want to 11 do at the end-of-the-year report, kind of talk 12 about the nuts and bolts pieces. 13 But the other piece was I needed someone 14 in Communication and Marketing, to help me with 15 the vision that I had to make sure that we get 16 the information out to people, that we kind of 17 look at what we've been doing in the past and 18 find ways to meet people where they are. You 19 know this. You communicate with people in 20 various ways. Social media's good for some, but 21 some of those people who need the information 22 don't necessarily follow or are part of social 23 media. 19 1 So, we hired Lesley Gordon to be Deputy 2 Mayor -- Deputy Director of External Affairs. 3 I'm promoting her to Deputy Mayor. But Deputy 4 Director of External Affairs, which is over 5 Communication, Education and Outreach, which 6 plays a big role, and when we do the end of the 7 year, she'll present and talk about some of the 8 visions that we have for that. 9 Then we were fortunate to get Pam back. 10 Pam Cook is our CFO, and she's been able to put 11 our finances back in order. Initially, I think 12 you know, we were in the red probably about 13 200,000. Pam came in, and it wasn't necessarily 14 that we were in the red, but Pam came in and 15 actually put the things where they needed to go 16 financially, and so, we're back where we need to 17 be, in the black, and we feel very comfortable 18 with our financial situation right now. 19 Then the other key thing was the staffing. 20 We had so many holes in staff. One is, a big 21 piece of that problem, was Intake. We had one to 22 two people, and one of them tended to be a 23 temporary person doing the intake of the 20 1 operation. Well, you know, when you have a 2 person that's temporary, they don't have the same 3 commitment as somebody who's an actual employee. 4 So, what I looked at was: What did the 5 team need, what did we have right now, and what 6 were we financially able to do? And so, we 7 immediately started working on the hiring of a 8 total of now four people in Intake. 9 We filled the gaps in our investigators. 10 We hired another person for each investigation 11 team, which took them up to five, and then we 12 hired -- well, they're new hires now, they'll 13 start December 1st -- we hired a Director of 14 Communication and we hired an Outreach and 15 Marketing Coordinator. And so, again, staffing 16 is fully up. 17 Now, with Doneisha, what I found with the 18 General Counsel, Deputy Director, they were 19 bogged down in these cases. They needed some 20 support. So, we created another position to help 21 review these cases, to expedite them through the 22 process, working with the General Counsel. 23 Because, to me, is -- and this is what I 21 1 tell staff -- these are not just cases, these are 2 people's lives, and that's how I look at them and 3 that's how I want staff to look at these, as 4 people's lives, and they're depending and looking 5 on us to expedite these as soon as possible. 6 The next thing I think was important is I 7 felt like some of our staff needed more training, 8 additional training. And so, that's what we're 9 doing right now, so that's why I was going to 10 report and then leave and go back. We brought in 11 people who were master certified in training to 12 come in and do training here about the basics of 13 some of the processes; for instance, how many 14 days these things should be going through. 15 And Madam Chair, you know -- being here as 16 the Chairperson, you know some of the cases were 17 aged, and they're aged because the process has to 18 work. There's a certain amount of time that the 19 investigator, the intake person, should have 20 these cases, and then they need to go to the next 21 step in the process. 22 Well, that, what we worked on, is the time 23 line of how these cases should move, and then a 22 1 process of making sure they do that. So, in 2 doing that, we had to make sure that we have a 3 process that works. We were stuck between -- in 4 the past, they'd been looking at either buy a new 5 system or try to make the old system work. 6 Well, the first thing I did -- I'm a 7 systems person -- I looked at the systems that we 8 currently had, and if we put in a new system, 9 that means they would be working in three 10 systems, so we scrapped that idea. We worked 11 with our two partners, HUD and EEOC, who were 12 utilizing their systems to the fullest, and now 13 they allow us to upload our documentation in the 14 system. 15 That helps us to track the information 16 that we're looking for, because everything we do 17 is going to be pretty much data driven, and you 18 know that's how you make decisions is on the 19 data, like what areas do we need to focus on? 20 Where are the biggest impacts when it comes to 21 discrimination? I mean all of those things are 22 data driven. 23 And so, you see you've got a sheet at a 23 1 glance. It's the agency at a glance. We do this 2 on a monthly basis, and what we do is talk to 3 staff about "Here's what we're doing, here's 4 what's going on within the agency." And again, I 5 won't go into the whole sheet, because at the end 6 of the year, our presentation, I think, will kind 7 of explain all of that. 8 So, we found the holes. You know, once 9 you start looking at what you're currently doing, 10 you start finding the gaps in the process, and 11 one of the big gaps for us was the actual intake 12 not working to its fullest, and so what we've 13 done is -- they were doing the old spreadsheet. 14 I hate paper. I mean sometimes you're going to 15 have to have paper, but I hate lots of paper. 16 And the first thing when I came in, I saw 17 paper on everybody's desk, tons of it, and I 18 don't -- I thought that was ineffective and 19 inefficient. So, we're starting to work -- we're 20 working with SharePoint now and doing a lot of 21 the things that we do, upload documents. That 22 way you can still have them on your computer, you 23 can make -- you can change, input information, 24 1 but we're not doing all of that paper process 2 anymore. 3 And now we can actually track things that 4 we're looking for. When somebody says, "Where is 5 a case at?" I can look and see where's the case 6 at. It's here, it's here, it's here. And those 7 are the type of things we're doing with data 8 collection. 9 The other piece that we're working on is, 10 is the -- what do we need to be more effective as 11 an agency? And so, we had -- we had a retreat a 12 week or so ago, and you can see some of the 13 things I've done on basically a glance. 14 So, what I wanted to do was go around and 15 meet our potential partners or our partners. So, 16 I've traveled the state in the last few months 17 meeting with human rights agencies throughout: 18 Terre Haute, Evansville, Fort Wayne. You name 19 it, I've been there personally, the first time 20 that a Director has been to every human rights 21 agency throughout state and sat and met and 22 talked about potential partnerships that we can 23 engage in. 25 1 Even at the end of the year, we want to 2 take their data and put it with our data to do a 3 real comprehensive report of what discrimination 4 looks like in Indiana. That's not been done 5 before. 6 So, it's about building new partnerships 7 like, for instance -- and refocusing even some of 8 the funds that we do. We have three Urban 9 Leagues in Indiana. We've only been working with 10 one. We need to work with all three Urban 11 Leagues. We need to financial -- to see how we 12 can work with them financially as well. 13 So, that's what I'm doing. I'm looking at 14 a bigger picture, a better way of informing 15 people that they have an agency who is an 16 advocate that can help them if they feel like 17 they've been discriminated, because, again, our 18 vision is what? To eradicate discrimination. 19 And so, I think you'll see a focus on outreach 20 and communication. 21 So, that's kind of what we're doing right 22 now. I will take any questions, but again, I'll 23 say that in December we'll give you a better 26 1 overview. I just wanted to give you the agency 2 at a glance of what we're doing and what our 3 focus is. 4 Questions? 5 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Yes. You 6 said you created a position for a closer look at 7 the legal aspect of each case. Is that someone 8 who assists John in his -- 9 MR. WILSON: No, no -- 10 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: -- capacity? 11 MR. WILSON: -- Doneisha. 12 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Who is that? 13 MR. WILSON: It's a position for 14 Doneisha. She's the General Counsel. 15 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: An assistant 16 for Doneisha? 17 MR. WILSON: Yes. She works -- she's 18 a lawyer. She's doing two things -- let me 19 explain that position. Actually it's doing more. 20 It assists Doneisha, but it also assists our 21 other lawyers, because that person is a lawyer, 22 and what's happened is you have such an intense 23 workload on these three people, they needed some 27 1 assistant -- assistance in moving these cases 2 forward. And again, like I said, I looked to see 3 where our backlogs were kind of being -- what was 4 creating a backlog for our agency. 5 And so, getting these cases out, we needed 6 an additional person, so that Doneisha doesn't 7 spend all of her time in the office. And that's 8 what's happened with past Deputy Directors, all 9 they could do was be in there working on cases, 10 but their job is to manage the operation as well. 11 And so, that's what we're trying to make 12 sure happens is that we have -- we create 13 efficiencies and create support systems that will 14 help, like I said, Doneisha, but also our lawyers 15 in pushing these cases forward. It's about 16 getting these cases pushed forward. We don't 17 want the aged cases, we want people to get timely 18 justice, and so, that's what I've been trying to 19 do is create that type of support to get that 20 done. 21 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Some people 22 would say timely justice is a redundant 23 statement. 28 1 MR. WILSON: Yeah, but the fact is, 2 when you have these old cases sitting, people are 3 not getting the justice that they deserve, and 4 so, we want to make sure that we do that, that we 5 move these things forward. As I said, these 6 cases represent people's lives. 7 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Uh-huh. 8 MR. WILSON: And people, when they 9 come to us -- and this is -- I emphasize this all 10 of the time. We have a monthly meeting with 11 staff where we talk about, you know, best 12 practices, things that we can do better. We hear 13 from them, it's cross-communication. And I just 14 tell them that these are people's lives, and 15 they -- when they come to us, they're in a bad 16 situation, and they're looking for some help, 17 some guidance and some direction, and that's what 18 we want to provide. 19 I think the other thing, too, when I came 20 in, I met with employees individually as soon as 21 I started, every employee, and then I met with 22 them again at the end of the year, to get a feel 23 for "Here's what we've done. What are your 29 1 questions? What are your concerns?" 2 And everybody's pretty much on board with 3 it. They like what we're doing, they like the 4 training, they like the change in process and the 5 atmosphere. And the other thing to encourage 6 them, we created -- we adopted the Spot Bonus 7 program that the state was using, to reward staff 8 when they go the extra mile. 9 And we've done that, just like when you 10 guys gave the award to Brad. We also gave him a 11 Spot Bonus for the efforts of 40 years, and some 12 of the other staff members around here, to try to 13 encourage and inspire them to want to do the best 14 that they can. So, that's what we've been doing. 15 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Great. 16 MR. WILSON: Was that a mouthful? 17 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: That was a 18 terrific report. 19 MR. WILSON: Thank you. 20 Any questions? 21 COMM. SLASH: Huh-uh. 22 MR. WILSON: Okay. Madam Chair. 23 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: We're going 30 1 to take away your notes every time. 2 MR. WILSON: I appreciate it. Thank 3 you so much. 4 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Thank you. 5 MR. WILSON: And I apologize, but I 6 have to go back to the training we're finishing 7 up today. We did, again, employee training, then 8 we did supervisory training. That's what we're 9 doing these last two days, so this is -- we're 10 finishing up, so that's why I have to leave. 11 Thank you so much. 12 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Thank you 13 very much. 14 Are there any announcements? 15 (No response.) 16 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Nobody? 17 COMM. SLASH: What kind of fun 18 announcement would you like? 19 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: What? 20 COMM. SLASH: What kind of fun 21 announcement would you like? 22 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: You can 23 announce anything you think that the people need 31 1 to hear. 2 JUDGE BURKHARDT: I just want to make 3 sure that when I stepped out of the room, I 4 didn't miss out on any events in terms of 5 assignment of new appeals or anything. With 6 respect to Old Business or New Business appeals, 7 was there any -- any -- 8 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: In that we 9 can't dispense with any of them at this time -- 10 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Right. Okay. 11 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: -- I would 12 delay until -- 13 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Okay. 14 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: -- the next 15 meeting and hope for a quorum. 16 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Okay. 17 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: If you want 18 to have me assign cases to the Commissioners who 19 are here, with their approval, we could do that. 20 JUDGE BURKHARDT: If you do that, 21 I'll take good notes and make sure those 22 assignments are recorded. 23 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: In the order 32 1 that they are listed, I'd like to assign to the 2 Commissioners who are in attendance to review 3 those appeals. 4 JUDGE BURKHARDT: So, we have no. 1, 5 Walker v. Resource Treatment Center. To whom 6 shall we note the assignment? Ms. -- 7 COMM. EDWARDS: Me? Do you want to 8 start with me? 9 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Okay. No. 2, Dayon 10 Jones v. Shepard Exposition Services, we'll note 11 that assignment; and then Lisa Chandler v. City 12 of Richmond, we'll note assignment there to 13 Comm. Edwards as well; and then no. 4, Marlene 14 Ebert v. County of Bartholomew, we'll note that 15 assignment to Ms. Slash as well. 16 Thank you. 17 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Thank you so 18 much. 19 JUDGE BURKHARDT: Thank you. 20 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: Hearing no 21 announcements, I would say have a wonderful 22 Thanksgiving, and see you in December. 23 COMM. EDWARDS: Okay. 33 1 CHAIRPERSON BLACKBURN: The meeting 2 is adjourned. 3 - - - Thereupon, the proceedings of 4 November 17, 2017 were concluded at 1:36 o'clock p.m. 5 - - - 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 34 1 CERTIFICATE 2 I, Lindy L. Meyer, Jr., the undersigned 3 Court Reporter and Notary Public residing in the 4 City of Shelbyville, Shelby County, Indiana, do 5 hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and 6 correct transcript of the proceedings taken by me 7 on Friday, November 17, 2017 in this matter and 8 transcribed by me. 9 10 _________________________ 11 Lindy L. Meyer, Jr., 12 Notary Public in and 13 for the State of Indiana. 14 15 My Commission expires August 26, 2024. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23