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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Committee For Persons With Disabilities - 11/03/2004 411II 1111110 COMMITTEE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Summary Minutes for November 3, 2004 The Meeting was called to order by the Chairperson, Ms. Linda Fallwell-Stover A. Roil Cali with a quorum. Present: Ms. Fallwell-Stover, Ms. Padilla, Ms. Lyons, Mr. Sayles, Mr. Tomo and Mr. Watson. Staff: Ms. Butler and Mr. Sosa. Mr. Flores, Mr.Soza, Mr. Ondrias and Mr. Homey arrived after roll call. Other Staff: Margie Rose, ACM, also arrived. Absent: Ms. Saenz. B. Excused Absences Member Motion By Second By Action Mr. Sayles Mr. Lyons Ms. Padilla Passed Mr. Flores (arrival pending) 11 Approval of Minutes: TABLED Upon review and discussion of the minutes, the Committee took no action at this time. Staff is to expand the minutes to include more of the last meeting's discussion to better reflect the Committee's discussion during the Water's Group's presentation report on the City's Title I ADA comprehensive self- evaluation and other agenda topics. MOTION to table was made by Ms. Lyons with a Second by Ms. Padila. A vote was taken and the motion passed. III Presentation and Public Comments: None at this time. IV. Chair's Report: A. Disability Employment Awareness Month, October 2004: The Chair thanked those members who were able to attend the Mayor's Proclamation Reading for Disability Employment Awareness Month. The Chair reserved further discussion for later on the day's agenda regarding the CFPWD's Retreat priorities. B. Possible Associate Members for the CFPWD: Similar to the TX Governor's Committee for People with Disabilities, the idea of having associate members may be a resource for Committee projects. The associate members could include experts in certain areas/issues that the Committee could call upon. The Committee would also send associate members the monthly agenda packet to keep up with what the Committee is doing. 1 fro sod [Mr. Soza & Mr. Harney arrived — approximately 3:50 PM] Mr. Sayles asked if in order to have associate members, it would require City Council action. There was brief general discussion with mention that Austin, TX has approximately 50 associate members and that Corpus Christi would probably utilize fewer in the range of 10-20 associate members. The Chair requested that Legal bring some guidance/information back for next month's meeting. The Chair also commented during a brief discussion on recruiting for associate members that the Committee could possibly utilize those persons who have contacted the City Secretary's Office in expressing an interest in serving on the CFPWD and other Committee/Boards. C. SMG Response Letter: Copies of the letter were provided to the Committee. Upon review there was discussion. The Chair commented that this response letter was more from the perspective of how SMG handles disability issues of its own employees with disabilities. However, the Committee was seeking a response from SMG regarding how it would train its employees in handling disability issues of customers with disabilities including their requests for reasonable accommodations. (Mr. Flores arrived — approximately 4:00 PM] Ms. Lyons remarked that although SMG did provide an answer but maybe it did not understand. She also suggested that if the Committee sends a second request letter, give some examples to SMG such as examples of customer requests for accommodations, closed captioning, large print version of the request for accommodations form, again all from the perspective of serving the general public. The Committee will try again to contact SMG. The Chair will prepare another CFPWD request letter to SMG, including language referencing cross disabilities, for the Committee's review. The Committee will review the draft of the second letter to SMG, by email if possible, but then there will be discussion at the next Committee meeting before the letter is sent. Mr. Flores indicated that it would be beneficial to review a print out of the plans [physical layout]for the new arena. The Chair reminded that Mr. Tomo had previously brought the plans to the Committee for review. Ms. Lyons indicated that, if kept to the plans, the arena should have lots of accessible seating at different levels and prices. Brief discussion continued on accessible seating, and possibly to best way to purchase the accessible seats is through the arena's box office, according to previous presentation by Sean McElhinney [SMG Director of Operations]. 2 • \ll+ V. Subcommittee Reports: A. Outreach Subcommittee - No Reports at this time. B. Legislative Subcommittee— No Reports at this time. However there was brief discussion on the Title I ADA Comprehensive Self-Evaluation through Human Resources. This CFPWD will keep this topic as a standing item on its regular monthly agenda. The Chair recalled, during the Title I ADA presentation with Human Resources, a question was raised of whether or not people with disabilities are represented in natural proportions in the workforce. She also recalled that the Waters Group indicated that its study was not really scoped to answer this question. The Chair asked Members if they wanted anything further regarding ADA Title I. Ms. Lyons indicated that information from surveying other cities may be of assistance, and for the Committee to receive updates on progress made. She also asked about the Human Resources assessment team's contacting Committee members, Ms. Saenz and Ms. Padilla, for assistance in representing cross disabilities before the team launched their updating of City job descriptions. Ms. Butler indicated that she had provided the contact information to Human Resources, as they had indicated they were trying to contact these Committee Members. VIII A. B. C. D. Recommendation on Arena Parking Discussion on upcoming venues at the arena and what would be the best type of parking for persons with disabilities. Choices would be parking close to arena, under American Bank Center, or taking the Park and Ride bus system. Park and Ride works better without the few specialized boarder. There will be accessible parking on the west side of the arena. One recommendation would be to the Police to be more aggressive in ticketing. There will be parking areas are scattered and may be on a route but they may not have curb cuts and it may be difficult for some persons with wheel chairs or walkers. We are trying to find the shortest distance to the arena to assist these persons. Police need to have aggressive enforcement for those people to borrow a vehicle or placard to use in a vehicle in order to park in the accessible parking. After a few heavy tickets at the Reliant Park in Houston, TX did accessible parking problem stop. This is a possibility for City of Corpus Christi to set the tone. 3 • 4rl V There will be multiple venues in this location. There will be limited spaces for this parking situation. This is an idea to pass along to Chief Alvarez. The discussion is to do a study on the parking situation; to monitor it from the beginning. From a practical experience standpoint, City of Corpus Christi has a new major facility, we have met the requirements; the recommendation is to monitor and document events one at a time and multiple on the parking situation and if Park and Ride would be a better way to utilize for this new facility. If there is not a sufficient supply of parking spaces, then we need to document that and possibly create new spaces. Recommendation is to Police Department is to be more aggressive to start and send that message it will not be tolerated. This is a great deterrent— heavy fines for each special event; it is a great first step. Motion that the police ticket aggressively and then we will gather more information on additional parking by Ms. Lyons. Seconded by Mr. Soza, motion carried. No announcements. Move to adjourn by Mr. Soza, seconded by Mr. Watson. 4 (1110 CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI COMMITTEE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Summary Minutes for November 3, 2004 The meeting was railed to order by the Chairperson, Ms. Linda a,,..ell-Stover A. Roll Call with a quorum. Present: Ms. Fallwell-Stover, Ms. Padilla, Ms. Lyons, Mr. Sayles, Mr. Torno and Mr. Watson. Staff: Ms. Butler and Mr. Sosa. Mr. Flores, Mr.Soza, Mr. Ondrias and Mr. Harney arrived after roll call. Other Staff: Margie Rose, ACM, also arrived. Absent: Ms. Saenz. B. Excused Absences Member Motion By Second By Action Mr. Sayles Mr. Lyons Ms. Padilla Passed Mr. Flores (arrival pending) II Approval of Minutes: TABLED Upon review and discussion of the minutes, the Committee took no action at this time. Members felt that the summary minutes were too brief and should reflect more of the discussion, including elaborating on the Water's Group's presentation report on the City's Title I ADA comprehensive self-evaluation (on- the-job training, hiring people with disabilities, Committee Q&A, Human Resources new approach) and the Arena Parking discussion to include clarification that the Motion was a recommendation. MOTION to table was made by Ms. Lyons with a Second by Ms. Padilla. A vote was taken and the motion passed. III Presentation and Public Comments: None at this time. IV. Chair's Report: A. Disability Employment Awareness Month, October 2004: The Chair thanked those members who were able to attend the Mayor's Proclamation Reading for Disability Employment Awareness Month. The Chair reserved further discussion for later on the day's agenda regarding the CFPWD's Retreat priorities. B. Possible Associate Members for the CFPWD: Similar to the TX Governor's Committee for People with Disabilities, the idea of having associate members may be a resource for Committee projects. The associate members could include experts in certain areas/issues that the Page 1 of 8 • Committee could call upon. The Committee would also send associate members the monthly agenda packet to keep up with what the Committee is doing. [Mr. Soza & Mr. Harney arrived — approximately 3:50 PM] Mr. Sayles asked i`. -. order t0 have daxn,iate members, it .Woukrj require City Council action. There was brief general discussion with mention that Austin, TX has approximately 50 associate members and that Corpus Christi would probably utilize fewer in the range of 10-20 associate members. The Chair requested that Legal bring some guidance/information back for next month's meeting. The Chair also commented during a brief discussion on recruiting for associate members that the Committee could possibly utilize those persons who have contacted the City Secretary's Office in expressing an interest in serving on the CFPWD and other Committee/Boards. C. SMG Response Letter Copies of the letter were provided to the Committee. Upon review there was discussion. The Chair commented that this response letter was more from the perspective of how SMG handles disability issues of its own employees with disabilities. However, the Committee was seeking a response from SMG regarding how it would train its employees in handling disability issues of customers with disabilities including their requests for reasonable accommodations. [Mr. Flores arrived — approximately 4:00 PM] Ms. Lyons remarked that although SMG did provide an answer but maybe it did not understand. She also suggested that if the Committee sends a second request letter, give some examples to SMG such as examples of customer requests for accommodations, closed captioning, large print version of the request for accommodations form, again all from the perspective of serving the general public. The Committee will try again to contact SMG. The Chair will prepare another CFPWD request letter to SMG, including language referencing cross disabilities, for the Committee's review. The Committee will review the draft of the second letter to SMG, by email if possible, but then there will be discussion at the next Committee meeting before the letter is sent. Mr. Flores indicated that it would be beneficial to review a print out of the plans [physical layout] for the new arena. The Chair reminded that Mr. Torno had previously brought the plans to the Committee for review. Ms. Lyons indicated that, if kept to the plans, the arena should have lots of accessible seating at different levels and prices. Brief discussion continued on accessible seating, and possibly to best way to purchase the Page 2 of 8 V accessible seats is through the arena's box office, according to previous presentation by Sean McElhinney [SMG Director of Operations]. V. Subcommittee Reports: A. Outreach Subcommittee - No Reports at this time, B. Legislative Subcommittee — No Reports at this time. However there was brief discussion on the Title I ADA Comprehensive Self-Evaluation through Human Resources. This CFPWD will keep this topic as a standing item on its regular monthly agenda. The Chair recalled, during the Title I ADA presentation with Human Resources, a question was raised of whether or not people with disabilities are represented in natural proportions in the workforce. She also recalled that the Waters Group indicated that its study was not really scoped to answer this question. The Chair asked Members if they wanted anything further regarding ADA Title I. Ms. Lyons indicated that information from surveying other cities may be of assistance; the Committee should receive updates on progress made; and asked about following-up on the contacts between the Human Resources team and members of the Committee (Ms. Saenz and Ms. Padilla) before they launch out on the updating of City job descriptions project. Ms. Butler indicated that she had provided the contact information to Human Resources, as they indicated they would contact these Committee Members. Mr. Watson questioned why this had been taking so long after the ADA enacted. Ms. Padilla mentioned that in conducting an ADA survey of cities and counties, she if finding that several others public entities are also pending. Mr. Flores indicated that he had not received a response to his complaint regarding curb cuts, sidewalk repairs, cars and trash on sidewalks and curb replacement in the Mary Grett school area along Castenon. Ms. Butler indicated that Flores had discussed the curb ramps and path of travel as he had mentioned trying to work with the school district as well, but she had also informed Engineering, which has curb ramp work in the Mary Grett area per a contract awarded in the Spring. Ms. Butler also indicated that an email attempt to Mr. Flores' email address had failed but that she would follow up with Engineering as she did not have Engineering's specific status of the Mary Grett project work. Ms. Lyons indicated that Mary Grett has been an issue for approximately six years and that it was a CDBG priority. MOTION: Ms. Lyons motioned to request a presentation on the exact status on the Mary Grett area. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flores. There was brief discussion about Mary Grett was brought to the City Council several years ago and that money was there to prioritize. Upon a Committee vote, the motion passed. Mr. Watson asked about clarification on CCISD being under the non-discrimination ordinance (NDO). However, the City's NDO does not apply to other governmental entities. Page 3 of 8 VI. Staff Reports/Comments Ms. Butler provided an overview of the departmental monthly report ending October 31, 2004, which was distributed to the Committee. She also provided an update on the departmental staffing in that a candidate selection had Leen made for one of two Compliance Officer positions, but the other position was pending under Human Resources' process. VII. Old Business A. Accessible Parking Brochure: Ms. Butler reminded that the brochure had been printed; however the Committee had previously indicated that it would discuss the distribution points for more effective outreach. Ms. Padilla indicated that she would collect the recommendations for distribution points if Members would forward to her. B. CFPWD's Position Statement on Recreation Inclusion: The subcommittee was unable to meet last month. Mr. Watson provided remarks from the Park and Recreation Inclusion Conference that he had attended with Staff in Austin, TX. In his overview, Mr. Watson mentioned the impressive exhibit of golf carts for persons with disabilities from the City of Toledo, in which conference attendees who use wheelchairs could play golf. The subcommittee would like input from the Committee as Ms. Lyons will work with Mr. Flores on the draft position statement. Ms. Lyons will email another copy for Members' input/response. Regarding the Park and Recreation Inclusion Conference, Ms. Butler added that the conference also provided sensitivity awareness training for recreational professionals and therapists. C. Park and Recreation Response on Printed Materials' Language: Park and Recreation (P&R) replaced the language regarding the reference to mobility, but there were still concerns about how requests for reasonable accommodations are handled and reported. Ms. Lyons commented on the need for more staff training on requests for reasonable accommodations to increase the use of applications for requests for accommodations. Ms. Fallwell-Stover expressed a concern about the informal accommodations and questioned how P&R staff knows about these if there are accommodations made without formal request(s) and if people are not requesting, do they know to do so. Mr. Ondrias indicated that P&R will continue with the printed materials, which they will continue to bring to share with the CFPWD. There was brief discussion on the Committee's preference on receiving copies of the printed materials, some brochures, color printing. Instead of individual copies, Ms. Padilla suggested P&R bring just 3 copies for Committee Members to view at the meetings. Mr. Ondrias also indicated that Staff added as standard language in its printed inclusion statement, that "...this information can be made available in large print or on diskette". Ms. Padilla commented that in moving forward that we should make sure to target groups to provide information for persons with disabilities, and even share the information Page 4 of 8 41110 V through presentations. There was general discussion in that Members and P&R would get together to discuss ideas and feasibility. Mr. Ondrias will get with P&R staff to begin setting meetings through the Chair. Ms. Lyons is willing to meet for input. nnr Sa n..s and Mr. Harney had to leave the meeting atapproximately4:45 �)..... � g .. PM] D. Veterans with Disabilities — Collaboration with Veteran Affairs: No report at this time. E. Barbara Jordan Awards Update: Ms. Lyons reported that there is approximately $2,000 available in remaining proceeds. F. Arena Parking — Recommendations: There was discussion of the little amount of time to address parking concerns due to the upcoming Cher concert on November 7th, and the desire for aggressive enforcement and ticketing of parking violations due to people potentially misusing the accessible parking spaces at the arena. Ms. Lyons mentioned that a CCPD Police Captain had indicated to her that there is not enough manpower to ticket parking violators nor do they have the jurisdiction to question those who may be parking illegally in the accessible parking spaces. Ms. Butler indicated that she would include this matter of ticketing and jurisdiction in her address to Police Chief Alvarez regarding the Committee's parking recommendation Motion. VIII. New Business A. Election of Committee Secretary: Due to time, the Committee agreed to hold this item for this next month's meeting. B. Review and Adoption of CFPWD Policies: 1. A four-page handout was distributed by Ms. Padilla for the Committee to review, including suggested revisions per the Committee's recent retreat. The Chair asked the Members to review for consideration of prioritizing and to work on: a. "PR/Image for Committee" —The Committee reviewed this list project items and considered which Member(s) would take the lead on each of the six projects: Employment Awards —There was general discussion of planning and developing the award criteria, nomination process, possible categories of awards (including from large employers, mid-size employers to small/family businesses). Mr. Watson and Ms. Padilla are willing to assist with this project. In the Committee reviewing other awards programs through other cities, Mr. Watson agreed to review the information from other cities thus far and also from the Governor's Committee for People with Disabilities that Ms. Lyons had obtained, which is stored in white binders currently held in the Human Relations Department. Ms. Butler agreed to assist Mr. Watson with this binder data/research. Page 5 of 8 Positively recognize city staff/programs for accessibility efforts —The Committee would need to decide soon, within next couple of meetings to allow enough time to prepare, such as for the "Sweetheart Awards" in February, in ,P_.,_i,gr!izlr lg those -' Ahoy and beyond to make the community better forpeople with disabilities, such as the Library's accessible resources computer stations and Sgt. Whatley of CCPD for his individual efforts for accessible parking and issuing citations to violators. A possible candidate thus far is the Museum for their upcoming audio tour of exhibits for person with sight impairments. Ms. Lyons and Ms. Fallwell-Stover are willing to work on this project. Mr. Soza added that these recipients could possible be recipients/candidates in conjunction with the City's "Instabuck" program in rewarding customer service, and vice versa. Community Calendar— This would include the CFPWD main projects and events, including target dates such as the Committee's desire and willingness to assist with the Park and Recreation's summer program brochure. After brief discussion, it was determined that this would be a good project for the Committee Secretary to maintain. Resource Guide—This would be separate from the CFPWD's accessibility guide or possible a restaurant guide. In prior years, the resource guide had been printed by the Caller-Times. Ms. Fallwell-Stover reported that next year's guide may be printed independently to improve cost- effectiveness and results. Ms. Fallwell-Stover had attended some meetings in working with Area Agency on Aging and Accessible Communities Inc., and also asked if any Members are interested in participate and/or editing of the guide. Regarding an ad by the City's Human Relations, Ms. Lyons mentioned that the ad should include information on the CFPWD as well for awareness. There was also general discussion on a possible restaurant guide, similar to what Mr. Sosa found in contacting the City of San Diego, CA. Mr. Sosa indicated that he is still committed to work on an accessibility guide, and Mr. Watson also volunteered to work with Mr. Sosa. PSA (cityscape — spotlight committee) — pending; to be addressed at a later time to allow for items with more priority. Community Recognitions —There was brief discussion on obtaining the "Access for All" recipients, such as Millers restaurant on Weber Road. Mr. Torno indicated that there appears to be a delay at the State level in processing the projects, even City projects that are going through review. Page 6 of 8 ihd The Committee's goal is to highlight 2-3 businesses at a time (annually), possibly identifying completed projects through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations' (TDLR) website. Ms. Lyons suggested that this recognition event oeeih: ; _ _ne. in ennjnnuti ,,, ,.villi the Awards in February. The Chair encouraged the Members to let her know which of these items they are willing to give their assistance. There brief discussion on the Committee Secretary officer position would requiring some time, priority and organization, and would helping the Committee stay on track of projects, but that this officer position would not takeover the duties of minutes for the regular Committee monthly meetings. The Committee would not hold the election at this meeting as some Members had to leave, but it did consider any nominations. There were no accepted nominees at this time. b. "Education" — Due to time, the Committee will address at its next meeting. c. "Model Agenda" — Upon Committee review, there were no further changes. d. "Meeting Protocol" - Upon Committee review, there were no further changes. MOTION to revise the policies, as presented, was by Ms. Lyons, with a Second by Mr. Torno. Upon vote the Committee's, the Motion passed. 2. A second handout was provided by Mr. Torno regarding Policy Proposal Consideration: a. Community Relationships — October 29, 2001 — Updated October 4, 2004" (Item f) - Upon Committee review, there were no further changes. b. Composition of CFPWD - October 29, 2001 — Updated October 4, 2004" (Items (b) and (d) - Upon Committee review, there were no further changes. MOTION to revise the policies as presented as by Ms. Lyons, with a Second by Ms. Padilla. Upon the Committee's vote, the Motion passed. IX. Committee Concerns/Request for Agenda Items: Ms. Lyons asked Ms. Butler about sharing the new ADA Polling Places Checklist with the City Secretary's Office. Ms. Butler responded that she believed copies of the checklist had been provided to both the City Secretary's Office and the County [Nueces]. Page 7 of 8 Ms. Lyons expressed a concern that during the early voting there was a lack of accessibility in polling places and suggested that the City work with the checklist now in time before the upcoming City elections. Ms. Lyons indicated that she had sampled polling places for the County in the recent elections and that only 2 out of 10 were A_. . Compliant. ..M_. Lyons mentioned that in ___- all polling places must have one station with a machine for persons with disabilities. She mentioned that she had previously brought up the compliance issue of polling places to Ms. Rose and would like to see more progress for ADA complaint polling places (City-owned and County) and encouraged the City not to wait to address the polling places since early voting is scheduled for March 2005. X. Announcements: Mr. Sosa mentioned that Habitat for Humanity has applied for a grant to purchase lots, and one of the grant criteria is that included that the houses have to be accessible. So is they receive the grant, there will be accessible houses. Members were pleased to learn of this. Ms. Lyons offered to provide resources and that there should be other opportunities. Since Mr. Sosa mentioned that this was a recurring grant, Ms. Lyons suggested that he seek support, within policy, two month's in advance of grant application should allow time for him to submit his request and then the Committee could take action the following meeting. Also, Members may be interest getting more engaged in this endeavor. Mr. Sosa welcomed Members be part of the ground-breaking and building stage. Mr. Sosa will let the Committee know about the grant. The Chair and Ms. Lyons commented to Mr. Sosa on possible recognition opportunities, such as through the Accessibility Coalition's "Spirit of the ADA Rewards". Xl. Adjournment: MOTION to adjourn was made by Ms. Lyons, with a Second by Mr. Soza. Upon passing, the meeting ended at approximately 5:38 PM. These minutes were approved on: This meeting was presided by: Date Linda Fallwell-Stover Chairperson Page 8 of 8