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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Committee For Persons With Disabilities - 03/07/2001 MINUTES - QUORUM MEETING COMMITTEE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES March 7, 2001 Commissioners - Present Commissioners - Absent Chairperson: Ms. Crystal Lyons Vice Chair: Mr. Jon S. Harwood Ms. Sandra Cabazos Ms. Linda Fallwell-Stover Mr. Roberto M. Flores Ms. Frances Garza Ms. Toni Padilla Mr. Eloy Soza Mr. Glen Ray Tomo CITY STAFF: (ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT) Building Official: Park & Recreation Director: Mr. Art Sosa - Absent Mr. Tony Cisneros - Absent Human Relations Administrator: Legal Advisor: Mr. L. David Ramos, Interim Director Mr. Joseph Harney - Absent Human Relations Management Assistant: Human Resources Sr. Analyst: Ms. June Shultz Ms. Marge Rene ATTENDANCE —Normal process will be implemented at the next monthly meeting. Roll Call— Absences: Absences' Review: When applicable, absences will be voted upon to determine if it will be an excused absence. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: No report at this time. SCANNED CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT: No report at this time. COMMITTEE REPORTS: No report at this time. NEW BUSINESS: Mr. Ramos started the meeting, since this was the first meeting of the newly formed "Committee for Persons with Disabilities". Once the Officers have been elected, the Committee's future meetings will proceed in the standard structure as all other City Committee Meetings. Mr. Ramos introduced himself and other City staff — June Shultz (he and June will provide Administrative Support for the Committee) and Marge Rue — ADA Coordinator (City Employment issues). The Human Relations Department will handle all ADA compliance issues (Internal and External). A public citizen (Abel Alonzo) attending the Meeting asked for permission to briefly deviate from the Meeting's Agenda — because he needed to attend another meeting, but he wanted to give a few brief comments. He welcomed the new Committee and wanted express his happiness about the implementation of the new Committee — with all the work that has been done to make this become a reality. He expressed his concern that he hoped each Committee member understands his/her responsibility and the burden each will carry. This is for a mixture of people with various disabilities — a diverse voice of representatives. Mr. Ramos resumed control of the Meeting and continued with the individual introduction of each of the newly appointed Committee Members, and sharing of general background information. (Dik Johnson was present as a citizen attending the public meeting.) Mr. Ramos review the City Staff who would be attached to this Committee in terms of Administrative Support — as reflected above. Not all of the City staff attended today, because this meeting was to initiate selection of Officers and determine a regular meeting date, time and location. Mr. Ramos briefly discussed various possible locations for meetings and indicated that City staff would be available to attend at any time that was determined to be most convenient to the Committee members. He discussed 2 the need to verify with the City Secretary's Office about meeting times, dates and locations, to avoid conflicts or overlapping. In the future, on the Agenda - under "New Business", we will identify projects and formation of Sub-Committees you will want to work with. The type of Report you would like to have from the Human Relations Department and at the end of each year, each City Committee and Commission have the responsibility of providing an Annual Report on the activities and accomplishments of the Committee/Commission. Normally, the Annual Reports are completed in January (examples provided of the Human Relations Commission's Annual Report for FY 1999-2000). The Reports are provided to the City Council, City Manager and City Secretary. The Chairperson (with the assistance of the Human Relations Department) will oversee the Agenda, posting of Public Notices of the Committee Meetings, review the Minutes of the prior Committee Monthly Meeting, then present them to the Committee for review and/or any changes that need to be made. If there are no changes or corrections, then a vote will be taken by the Committee to accept or reject the minutes as provided. Once the minutes have been approved the Chairperson will sign and date the original and a copy will be provided to the City Secretary's Office. This will be the process that will be followed. Mr. Ramos asked if anyone had any questions? None were asked. VOTING Mr. Ramos then proceeded with nomination process for Officers. Nomination Sheets were available for anonymous nomination. However, Ms. Lyons indicated she didn't believe that would be necessary, nominations could be made from the floor— as everyone was new. There are three positions—the Chairperson, Vice-Chair, and Secretary. The Chairperson would be the one responsible for conducting the Meetings and so forth. The Vice-Chair would conduct the Meetings in the absence of the Chairperson. 3 The Secretary would be the individual who would keep record of the Meeting. (The staff would handle the transcription of the Meeting Minutes and making of necessary copies, etc.) The Secretary would the person to help out with "Record Issues" of the Committee. Ms. Lyons discussed her review of Robert's Rules of Order, where is described the job description of a Secretary — that person would assist with records such as when terms of office were nearing completion, correspondence, nomination issues, etc. The floor was opened for nomination: A question was raised on length of term? Mr. Ramos will verify with the City Secretary's Office, but he believes it is for one year, with the exception of the Chair, who is appointed for the duration of his/her term. Crystal Lyons was nominated for Chairperson. No other nominations were presented from the floor for Chair. A vote was taken and the nomination passed unanimously. Jon S. Harwood was nominated for Vice Chair. No other nominations were presented from the floor for Vice Chair. A vote was taken and the nomination passed unanimously. Ms. Lyons reviewed standard "Secretary" duties from "Robert's Rules of Order". However, most of the duties of recording minutes and transcribing the minutes and preparing the Agenda and Public Notice will be handled by City staff. Frances Garza was nominated for Secretary. No other nominations were presented from the floor for Secretary. A vote was taken and the nomination passed unanimously. The next item on the Agenda was the Meeting Place — Date, Time and Location. There was discussion about where to hold the meeting — need sufficient room for members and the public. Need to have a set date, time and location for available to public. There was discussion about the Council Chambers not being accessible. There was discussion about the Corpus Christi Human Relations Commission's date, time and location as an example. Discussion about time conflict — problem for those who are teachers and/or have children in school. Proposed set meeting time - first Wednesday of each month, 3:30 p.m., at the Council Chambers (Committee Room). Alternative date — second Wednesday of each month, 3:30 p.m., at the Council Chambers (Committee Room). 4 Marge Reue then asked the Chair for permission to speak to the Committee regarding the "Accessible Academy", which will be held next Tuesday, March 13t. It will be an all day event (in the Basement Training Room) — a condensed version of the 3-day program. It is being opened up to people not necessarily City employees. She needs to know by Friday, who would be attending — cost is $50.00. The "Accessible Academy" is the State of Texas "Accessibility" standards, which is our State's version of ADA guidelines. Our State's standards meet or exceed the federal standards. The handbooks will be provided and will be yours to keep. There is no registration form, please just let Ms. Reue know you would like to attend at 880-3320. Further discussion and some of the members let Ms. Reue know they wanted to attend. There was general discussion about the CDBG Proposals that are in the works and the up coming "Planning Commission" Meeting on the items submitted. There was further discussion about the meeting date, time and location. Mr. Ramos will contact the City Secretary's Office and provide an update in the packet or at the next meeting, next month. Ms. Lyons asked about the "Advisory — Non-Voting Member" that is on the Human Relations Commission. How was he appointed/selected? Ms. Shultz clarified that this position was filled by prior Chairs or Commissioners or persons who have worked closely with the Commission in accomplishment of a specific project — such as the Housing Assessment Project and the Housing Ordinance Revision, which enabled the City to apply for HUD "Substantial Equivalency". To date there have been only two appointments — Rabbi Paul Joseph and Reverend Willie Davila. They had extensive involvement with the Commission were and both were prior Commission members. It was an appointment in an "Advisory" capacity to complete project that might be in mid-process, etc. Ms. Lyons said so my question is — did the Mayor make the appointment? Yes. Ms. Lyons asked if the Ordinance was changed. Ms. Shultz indicated she believed the Ordinance was changed to add in the "Advisory" position. She will follow-up with Joseph Harney, the Legal Advisor to verify. Ms. Lyons indicated the reason she was asking, is that Dik Johnson has been with the Mayor's Committee Force since it was formed. He is very 5 knowledgeable and would be an asset to the Committee. He would be valuable to participate for historical continuity and knowledge. She would like to see if he could participate in this capacity. Discussion from City Staff about joint endeavors with the Human Relations Commission. It is understood that the Committee will focus on their own specific projects — however, the Commission has been discussing for some time, the need for an ADA Accessible Survey or go to various restaurants, doctor's offices, grocery stores, etc. to ascertain accessibility, means for testing patterns, compliance with building standards. We didn't know what the Committee wanted to focus on — education, outreach, training, and enforcement. This was to share an interest that the Commission has wanted to bring about. Ms. Lyons asked what the Commission has done? She knows they have an interest — but what have they done? There have been actual visits to facilities. Commissioners have the authority to come and report a violation or non-compliance. The Department, in turn, sends out correspondence about the non-compliance and asked the facility to correct the problem. Ms. Lyons indicated she was asking about the testing side of it? The Department has obtained written standards and testing information from the Department of Justice — who provide monthly ADA publications. They have been developing materials for States, Counties and Cities to use to do this type of testing. Mr. Ramos also discussed the various projects that have been looked into by the Commission or City Departments — i.e.: Disabled Parking issues, Building Standards, Accessibility issues. Additionally, there has been a transition of handling ADA modifications for the City, to now we are looking at internal and external ADA issues, citizen complaints on ADA issues, and education/outreach. He gets calls from Architects and Contractors — who need additional information or guidance. He plans to do more outreach to citizens and businesses — to make the public more aware of the Committee and City Departments who are addressing ADA issues, who the public can contact, etc. So training and outreach is definitely something this Committee could work along with the Department and Commission on reaching the public. Further general discussion about testing and going out into the community and 6 encountering concerns — hotel adaptation kits, restaurants — menus and sound issues, accessibility to services, curb cuts, etc. Mr. Tomo discussed education to clients —window of opportunity. Mr. Ramos explained that this is why Art Sosa, the Building Official and Tony Cisneros, Director of Park and Recreation were included on this Committee as Administrative Support — they can help address concerns or questions that are raised. There was also discussion about making a recommendation to the City Council about ADA inspection issues when issuing a Certificate of Occupancy. Dik Johnson, public citizen discussed facilities being accessible — however, not necessarily having to have accessible restroom facilities. That is at the discretion of the business. Each Committee member discussed some of the special interests they would like to see the Committee address: education; where families can go — based on type of disability the family is working with; public officials awareness; shuttle service / transportation issues; voting accessibility; early intervention for accessibility; bringing in an independent living center to the area (this is already in the works); advocacy; transitional conferences; for each member to become very familiar with ADA Laws and what is going on — as the people in the community become aware, you have to be able to provide the answers (further discussion on need of training for Committee Members); raising the level of awareness (provided copies of ADA monthly publication toll-free line); surveying businesses and facilities; want members to be trained to be a better advocate; nursing home environment concerns — independent living and quality of life. Mr. Ramos shared that Minnesota is the only State that has so far closed all of their nursing homes and are looking at conditions at State Schools. It takes individuals like ourselves who can help make the necessary changes for an improved quality of life. Our (the City staff) role is to help you further this opportunity for development of ideas, suggestions and recommendations to the City Council. We have an opportunity to educate the people who make decisions that can impact the entire community. Ms. Lyons indicated that ADA is wonderful, but we don't have enough locally in our ordinances. We need to offer solutions, our ideas and convince them that we are at least ten years behind other cities. Ms Lyons asked the Committee members to think about what has been discussed and to come back ready to discuss this further at the next meeting. There was further discussion about a concern about individuals who once they are out of school, what happens to them — how and where can they interact with others? What happens to them — socially, professionally, and personally? What do they want to do with their lives? What kind of assistance is out there? Ms. Shultz discussed the Tax Incentive Programs for businesses that are available. Also possibly, the Committee could approach the Economic Development group about development of some type of program that would be beneficial to or focus on individuals with disabilities. Mr. Johnson discussed an issue that has been in the news for some time and that is "Disabled Parking" problems. He'd like to hear more about that. Mr. Ramos indicated the Chief of Police is scheduled to provide a presentation to the City Manager and City Council on this topic. He will follow-up on it and report back to the Committee. He and Ms. Lyons have been providing them assistance and he will be giving a presentation. On a yearly basis approximately 1,600 tickets have been issued. Ms. Lyons asked how many of those have been paid. Mr. Ramos explained that those were the figures of what had been paid at Municipal Court. Mr. Johnson then mentioned the signage not being accurate and also the fines were not reflected properly. The penalties are all wrong. Ms. Lyons indicated she agreed with that — this was why ordinances need to be reviewed for modifications. We need to take a lead role on this. The malls are not working to make the necessary corrections, so their clients won't have to pay them properly. This is not right. Ms. Shultz indicated that the City had already begun reviewing ordinance language and need for modifications — she personally worked on this project while at the Municipal Court. Mr. Ramos asked her to speak with Mr. Harney, to find out the status of the project. This may be something the Committee can work on, to help get items ready for City Council review. Also the intemet information (Ordinances) will need to be updated when the Ordinances are modified. Mr. Ramos suggested at the next meeting — that we narrow down a list for "Goals and Objectives" for a "Short Term Plan of Action" and then also identify "Long Term Plans". Prioritize a few — possibly three things to 8 • accomplish in the first year. It will become clearer as we meet a few more times. Numerous Committee members emphasized education as a priority. ' Mr. Ramos provided copies of the Human Relations Annual Report to see the type of work done by the Department and Commission. Ms. Lyons will be sifting on the Human Relations Commission as an "ex-oficio" member with voting rights. Also Ms. Shultz provided a calendar of CDBG Planning Meeting dates to the Committee. There are going to be some up-coming ADA events at the Center for the Area Council for the Deaf. It was suggested that if others become aware of events that may be interest to let Ms. Lyons know, so it could be placed on the Agenda. The meeting to adjourned at approximately 3:30 p.m. A lCry. .1 Lyons, Chiirperson Date Minutes Approved 9