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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Committee For Persons With Disabilities - 08/07/2002 MINUTES - QUORUM MEETING COMMITTEE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES August 7, 2002 Committee Members - Present Committee Members - Absent Vice Chair: Mr. Roberto M. Flores Chairperson: Ms. Crystal Lyons Ms. Sandra Cabazos Ms. Linda Fallwell-Stover Ms. Toni Padilla Ms. Mary J. Saenz Billy R. Sayles Mr. Eloy Soza Mr. Glen Ray Tomo CITY STAFF: (ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT) Building Official: Park & Recreation Director: Mr. Art Sosa Mr. Dan Whitworth Human Relations Administrator: Legal Advisor: Mr. L. David Ramos, Director Mr. Joseph Harney Human Relations Analyst: Wanese Taylor Butler Human Relations Management Assistant: Ms. June Shultz CALL TO ORDER: Linda Fallwell-Stover ATTENDANCE — Roll Call—Wanese Butler took Roll — Crystal Lyons — called in, unable to attend; Robert Flores — P (came in late); Sandra Cabazos — P; Linda Fallwell-Stover — P; Toni Padilla — P; Mary Saenz — P; Billy Sayles — P (came in late); Eloy Soza — P; Ray Tomo — P. We had a quorum. Vice Chair Flores and Mr. Sayles came in late. Ms. Fallwell-Stover oversaw the meeting, until she had to leave early; Mr. Tomo oversaw the meeting until Mr. Flores arrived. SCANNED INTRODUCTIONS: None. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: Approval of Minutes: Approval of corrected June 5th minutes — motion by Eloy Soza, second by Sandra Cabazos; vote — motion passed. Approval of July 10th minutes as presented — motion by Eloy Soza, second by Toni Padilla; vote —motion passed. PUBLIC COMMENTS/PRESENTATIONS: Juan Ortiz, EOC Coordinator, distributed information and provided a presentation. The City received a survey from the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities, specifically about some of the issues pertaining to persons with disabilities during emergency situations, such as hurricane preparedness. We wanted to provide a presentation on what we current do and to obtain comments and/or recommendations from the Committee for considerations. Mr. Ortiz reviewed the background of EOC and the chain of command. He described some of the types of emergencies, such as hazardous chemicals, floods or hurricanes. They develop plans for the community on overall safety and evacuation issues. He discussed concerns of transport issues and related plans. Often people wait until the last minutes to try to determine if they will evacuate and by the time they make a decision, there are limited options. Mr. Ortiz discussed this year's hurricane preparedness brochure. It includes a map. This map is unique, because it is for evacuation route use. The common purpose is to assist people, to have shelters for those who can't or haven't been able to evacuate. This is "Shelter as a Last Resort". Mr. Ortiz discussed the parameters of"Shelter as a Last Resort". We need to consider, not what the City is doing, but what are the people in the community doing to help one another? We should have personal safety plans. We cannot plan for every possible scenario. We need to weigh our options. There are only approximately 800 police officers, only approximately 250 fire fighters; only approximately 70 ambulances and 1 in reserve. There is an expectation that we can go out and pick up people in the community, and take them to shelter locations — we don't have the resources to do so. We have to also ensure the city's infrastructure is maintained. Some rule changes in last few years, it is now mandated that nursing homes, home health care, health care facilities must coordinate emergency management plans with the City to ensure that their clients are protected. There were planning meetings, but they were poorly attended. They must do their part. Family members need to know that this is a requirement — ensure that any facility you know of or work with has an emergency management plan in place. It is an individual and personal responsibility and you bear responsibility for your family. Members of the Community don't live here by themselves; they have family and friends — consider what they will need. There are multiple evacuation routes. If you wait until the last minute, you will run out of time. Bottom line, is that we know a hurricane will come, we need to have a plan in place and we should consider others who might need our assistance. The EOC Office is located in the Frost Bank Building, 4th Floor. Mr. Ortiz provided the main telephone number (836-1100) and invited the Committee members to come and visit him. Ms. Fallwell-Stover had a question — She agreed that this is a community issue and even if they added in the consideration of their approximately 100 bus drivers to the mix, they would not be able to move everyone out — is there something more that we can do? What can we do to make the community really aware of the importance of the emergency evacuation plan? Focus on personal experience. Not a lot of new persons since Hurricane Brett — focus on what they experienced during that evacuation process. It is a personal responsibility. We are having difficulty in getting resources for this. There are different options — what we are relying on is getting the community involved. Mr. Ortiz discussed some new federally funded programs that may be of assistance. Ms. Cabazos asked who would maintain the information and how people would be notified. Mr. Ortiz said that they will do some of that. Ms. Cabazos asked about the Refuge As A Last Resort — do you see that also being used by persons with disabilities? Mr. Ortiz clarified that this is only "as a last resort", preferably people will evacuate, however, if they remain, consider will they be safer in their house, a shelter or being left on the street. Where are you safer— at the house or on the street? Your house. Where will you be safer, here or in San Antonio? San Antonio. It will be your responsibility to get the safest location. We have limited shelter facilities — only 1 has been designated for persons with medical conditions. This is just for the immediate incident — during the emergency. We need to come up with plans — know if you are in a flood plane, have an evacuation route selected. Further general discussion and discussion on what the committee could do — focusing on helping promote community awareness and establishing personal emergency evacuation plans. Mr. Ramos mentioned the numerous meetings Mr. Ortiz has held with Judy Telge, persons in Senior Centers and others in the community requesting information and/or concerns pertaining to evacuation, transportation and/or shelter of persons with disabilities. Mr. Ramos suggested that it might be helpful for the Committee to provide insight to concerns they may be aware of in evacuation and/or providing assistance to persons with disabilities during an emergency. How are we falling short — do we need items in Braille, distributing information thru use of close caption, etc. Need to consider that medications need to be obtained in advance — pharmacies and doctors won't be available. Have first aid materials and a supply kit put together. Mr. Ramos indicated that the Committee would develop a list of concerns and information for consideration, which would then be submitted to Mr. Ortiz. Ms. Fallwell-Stover left — Mr. Torno took charge over the meeting. He asked if there were any further Public Comments or Presentations. There were none. CHAIR'S REPORT: None. Chair's Report -Pending, until next month. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Outreach and Awareness Sub-Committee: The video has been revised. There are still some concerns on some of the verbiage. The committee needs to meet to discuss the editing. Mr. Ramos will set up the meeting with Ted Nelson and he will call each member. Reminder of Teleconference — to be held on the 261. Mr. Soza also mentioned another training on the 17th for families of persons with mental illness. He is obtaining additional information on it and will try to contact everyone by telephone. Legislative Update: Resolution and Ordinance Draft: Mr. Sayles indicated that he understood that this language was pretty standard. Ms. Padilla (and Ms. Cabazos) mentioned although there were a few grammatical things, that Ms. Fallwell- Stover indicated she was concerned with content, as there was 504 language and ADA language referenced. She doesn't know if that means it needed to be corrected or if we needed Legal to look at it? Section 7-6-9 — wasn't sure if it was ADA or 504, Section 7-6-10 either ADA or 504 — she wanted Legal to look at it for clarification. Section 7-6-13 — her concern was if the request reads "reflection clauses", if that is going with what we are doing, if we want to keep it or have someone look at that? Mr. Ramos asked Andy Quittner, of Legal, to look over it. Mr. Quittner indicated he had notices a few items as he was going over it. Mr. Torno and Mr. Ramos recommended that we table this item until next month, until Legal has had an opportunity to review it. Mr. Sayles asked some questions about the ordinance. Mr. Ramos clarified that this was a copy of Austin, Texas' ordinance. We were modifying it to be appropriate for Corpus Christi. Ms. Padilla asked if the Committee members should submit any corrections, changes or suggestions they had regarding the ordinance? Submit them to Ms. Fallwell-Stover. General discussion. Mr. Tomo asked for a motion to table the ordinance — motion made by Ms. Padilla to table the ordinance and resolution, to allow Legal time to review it and allow committee members to provide input and/or corrections, seconded by Mr. Torno, vote — passed. Mr. Tomo turned meeting over to Mr. Flores. Steering Committee —No report at this time. OLD BUSINESS: Election of Officers — Tabled from last month, as there wasn't a quorum at the time it came up. General discussion, do we want to table it again, until everyone is here? Mr. Torno made a motion to table it until next month, seconded by Mr. Flores, vote —passed. City's Complaint/Accommodation Request Form and Process — Information provided in Commissioner's Packets. It was approved by the City Manager and now is being used. Human Relations will be tracking the information. Mr. Ramos will hold a meeting with Department Heads. The information has already been distributed to the Department Heads. However, Mr. Ramos will specifically be distributing the information to the departmental ADA Coordinators and letting them know how to use the forms, who and how to address the concerns, and about the tracking process. Ms. Cabazos asked if Mr. Ramos would be providing monthly reports to the Committee? Mr. Ramos indicated yes he would. Ms. Butler is working on a new report. Mr. Flores asked questions about the form, timeline for responses and who would be responsible for providing the response. Mr. Ramos clarified and reviewed the process, timeline and how the complaint would be addressed. Mr. Ramos will maintain files on this data. Ms. Butler also mentioned that at last month's meeting a concern was raised about getting the information out to the community. Human Relations will be sharing copies of the policy in its entirety with Agencies and also our Public Information Office is working on a Press Release. Parks and Recreation Integrated Programs - Mr. Ondrias is here today for Mr. Whitworth. Enclosed in Committee Packets was a specific response to a series of questions presented by the Committee. Mr. Whitworth worked with the Legal Department to provide the response. Ms. Linda Hodge, Recreation Superintendent and who oversees the Latch Key Program and many of the actual people programs and Mr. Andreas are present to address any questions. Ms. Hodge discussed how there may be use of language of how something is a policy, but it may not be a formal written policy. General discussion, many of the parties who had concerns aren't present at the moment, but that it didn't strictly apply to just Latch Key, but there were some other areas of concern. Ms. Hodge discussed staff training and collaboration efforts — such as with schools, budget concerns, requests for funding and some denials of funding. There was discussion about proper use of People First Language. Ms. Padilla asked if the Committee feels this addresses the questions posed, it may not be satisfactory, but it addresses it. She believes that there may be discussion later about the need for formal policies. Mr. Flores also indicated that it made a point of saying that accommodations would be made on a case-by-case basis. Ms. Padilla indicated, but that could be a policy. General discussion. Some of this may be part of the Transition Plan and the new policy that has been implemented. Mr. Ramos indicated that this can be discussed by the Committee. The Committee can make a recommendation on "Requests for Accommodation" to be submitted for consideration to the City Manager and Park and Recreation. The issue is - is this a policy or policy statement, is it in writing? We have a policy, the difficulty is in implementation. Making it work and that everyone understands it. Diversity Training Update: Training has been provided to Park and Recreation, new employees during orientation. We have revised the presentation script — not the People First Language portion, just that pertaining to diversity issues. Made it a little more along true diversity training - rewrote the script. We will present it to the Assistant City Manger for her approval and then we will continue the training. We will schedule the training, but we will change it to accommodate larger groups — such as holding it at the Council Chambers. In the past we have been holding them by department — smaller groups of approximately 20. However, last week we held a training for the Gas Department at the Convention Center for 130 employees. It went very well. Ms. Shultz will start contacting the Departments to set up the schedule. Ms. Padilla asked, then the goal is for every employee to receive the training? Mr. Ramos indicated yes and that we have already trained approximately 4 or 5 of the smaller departments. Hopefully, with this process, it will not put too much of a strain on the trainers, as there are only 8. We will distribute the policy and have them sign acknowledgements at the same time. We will provide the Committee with a copy of the training schedule on a monthly basis. Ms. Saenz asked if we provided sensitivity training? Mr. Ramos clarified that it is included in the training. Ms. Saenz asked about new employees? Mr. Ramos indicated that we would capture them in the orientation process. Human Resources receive all the acknowledgement forms. They can notify us of those persons who have not attended. General discussion. Transition Plan Update — Mr. Ramos added more information to the Plan. He did not bring it, because it is multiple books. Mr. Tonto and Mr. Ramos meet a while back and a question came in — how accurate is the information that is coming in. Mr. Ramos indicated that there were some issues that they went back on and check on it. Ms. Butler and Mr. Ramos have been also working up a cost plan on identified items, with the assistance of a City Architect. They have been going back to some departments to verify some issues. Currently there is an approximate cost of $500,000.00, subject to change, as they are still checking on some departments. There are some other areas also, such as streets, curb cuts, etc. But these should be addressed through the bond process. By their going out to the sites, Mr. Ramos is now more comfortable going before the City Council. Mr. Ramos indicated that they will be going before the City Council, possibly the later part of September. Mr. Ramos will provide the information to the Committee before going before the City Council. This is a working document where actions can be changes and/or amended. Prior to going before the City Council, they will meet with the City Manager and of course there are the funding issues. General discussion on funding and budgetary process and how the planning takes time. There was discussion about the support for proposal of a $1.00 utility fee to help fund for ADA related items. TDD equipment is now in Human Relations. Smaller items will be done, as soon as possible. Susan Cable is working with Mr. Ramos on the bobby system issues and Ted Nelson is working with him on close captioning issues. They met with the City Manager and he had some ideas they are trying to work out. Ms. Padilla indicated that there appears to be an effort to make these changes — such as interpreter services, close captioning, etc. Mr. Ramos emphasized that this is a working document — it isn't just sitting on the shelf. The City Manager has expressed his concerns and his support of these efforts. We are working with the Human Resources Department on 504 issues, such as applications. Mr. Ramos has scheduled a meeting with Ms. Garcia to discuss it. There have been Core Group meetings to discuss the information and assist Mr. Ramos with the project. Update on Code Revisions — Mr. Sosa wasn't able to make the meeting. He will provide an update at the next meeting. TDLR Rejection of City Property — Part of Mr. Sosa's report. There is a code that has been given to that neighborhood park rehabilitation. As far as he knew, it has been taken care of and has been resubmitted to TDLR for review and has been approved. General discussion. TDLR TAS Training — Held on July 25th. Good turnout. Ms. Lyons son attended. Good questions asked. He also provided some people first language awareness. Also, departmental ADA coordinators have attended. One person from the Airport left— and we will need to train that person. Out of approximately 28 people, only a few left. Ms. Shultz attended again for a refresher and Ms. Lam from our staff attended. NEW BUSINESS: EEOC Small Business Workshop — Under a new "Freedom of Initiatives" under President Bush — go to www.eeoc.gov to look at some of them. EEOC contacted us and wants to hold a small business workshop. We've scheduled it for October 2002. Mr. Ramos will send out an invitation to the Committee. We are looking at a morning session. Some of the attorneys from EEOC will come and participate. He will provide them with more information later. They are working on a brochure. It will be held at the Convention Center. Administrator's Report — Mr. Ramos provided a "Year-To-Date" Monthly Report. He reviewed the statistics. Good news — on one ADA employment case, but it was settled for $45,000.00. The department was proud of the outcome, as it was one of the largest settlements that evolved since he came to the department. There also was a HUD conciliation agreement, which resolved an ADA case. Committee Concerns/Comments - Ms. Padilla asked if the Committee remembered back in May — May 5th, Caller Times articles on persons with disabilities. She thought this was a very good thing and it took initiative on the Caller Times part to do this. She thought this shouldn't go unnoticed by the Committee. Mr. Ramos indicated that he could put it on next month's agenda and draft something up for the Committee's review and possible action. It was on May 5th, under the "H" Section. Mr. Flores — in the May meeting, he came in late, but was noted as absent. He would like to correct that. We will make a note of the correction and bring it back for approval at the next meeting. Mr. Ramos mentioned the attendance policy and the importance of letting people know if they are late. Discussion about letting Ms. Shultz or recording secretary who is taking the minutes know if someone is late or leaving early. Motion to Adjourn — motion made by Mr. Soza and seconded by Mr. Sayles; vote —passed. Meeting adjourned at approximately 5:29 p.m. Min es Approved: �' ?W 9llog/6.2 o ryst�l Lyons, ConYmittee Chairperson Date