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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Committee for Persons with Disabilities - 01/05/2022COMMITTEE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Summary of Minutes for Meeting on January 5, 2022 Via WebEx CHAIRPERSON COMMITTEE MEMBERS ADMINSTRATRIVE STAFF Anthony Navarrette (ARP²) Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo (CVI¹) Tracey Lawson – Human Resources VICE CHAIRPERSON Christina Buttler (ARP¹) Lisa Oliver – Parks and Recreation Vacant Huxley Smith (ENG¹) Mai Bernal – Engineering Services SECRETARY Jennifer Gracia (ENG²) Michael Dice – Development Serv. Melanie Gomez (PSA²) Dr. Jennifer Scott (CVI²) Ricardo Rodriguez - CCPD Dirk Hillard (CVI²) 1. Call to order @ 3:01pm 2. Moment of Reflection – Conducted 3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and Texas (waived due to WebEx) 4. Roll Call: a. Roll Call: i. Committee Members Present Anthony Navarrette, Melanie Gomez, Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo, Christina Buttler, Huxley Smith, Jennifer Gracia, Dr. Jennifer Scott, Dirk Hillard ii. Committee Members Absent – None iii. Staff Members Present – Tracey Lawson (Human Resources), Lisa Oliver (Parks and Recreation), Mai Bernal (Engineering Services), Ricardo Rodriguez (CCPD Parking Control) iv. Staff Members Absent – Michael Dice (Development Services) b. Requests and approvals for Excused Absences – None 5. Minutes – Minutes approved Motion – Christina Buttler Second – Huxley Smith Action – Motion Passed 6. Public Comments – None 7. Presentations (Limited to 10 minutes): a. Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend – Imelda Trevino Imelda Trevino, Student Hireability Navigator, spoke about three services of the WFSCB vocational rehabilitation program where people with disabilities are prepared to obtain employment, unemployment insurance, and employer-paid programs. Trevino’s role is to help assist students with disabilities have access to services that will help transition effectively to secondary education and employment. b. Neighborhood Services – Tracey Lawson Tracey Lawson announced that the committee will be transitioning to the Neighborhood Services Department and that Nora Vargas will be the new liaison. Tracey will still be a point of contact during this transition. Nora Vargas, Program Manager for the Homeless and Workforce Housing Program, gave a small presentation on the Neighborhood Services Department, which includes Animal Care Services, Grant Monitoring, Homeless Services and Code Enforcement. Ms. Vargas gave a brief explanation of each of the departments in Neighborhood Services and what services they offer. 8. Staff Reports for the period: a. Human Resources – No update. b. Development Services Dept. – No update. c. Engineering Services – No update. d. Parks and Recreation Dept. – Lisa Oliver reported working with Dirk Hillard about a project to better prepare life guards for the Spring Break season. Ms. Oliver will reach out to Mr. Hillard to schedule that meeting. During the upcoming CCISD intercession, the Parks and Recreation Department will be providing and after school program, After Hour Kid Power, and registration will begin on January 10, 2022. The program will be held February 1-4, 2022. During Spring Break, some camps will be provided. Ms. Oliver will share that information at the next meeting. Responses are still being formulated for the Master Plan. e. CCPD Parking Control – Ricardo Rodriguez provided the number of citations issued for the month of December. Citations included 170 for disabled parking violations, 4 blocking the architectural design and 35 blocking the sidewalks. Mr. Rodriguez attributed the increase to the holidays. Mr. Anthony Navarrette reminded the committee that now Disabled Veteran plates are no longer allowed to park in disabled parking spots. Only license plates with the universal disabled symbol or disabled parking placard are allowed to park in disabled parking spots. 9. Subcommittee Reports: a. Engineering Subcommittee (ENG) – No update. b. Public Service Announcement Subcommittee (PSA) – No update. c. Accessible Recreation Playgrounds Subcommittee (ARP) – Lisa Oliver reported an update on the West Guth Park accessible swing. Ms. Oliver advised that it had not been installed. An update will be provided at the next meeting. d. Community Volunteer Involvement Subcommittee (CVI) – Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo reminded committee members about the Rise and Shine event on February 19, 2022. He asked for volunteers from 7a.m. to about 11a.m. to help set up and give out information. Dr. Zoccolillo will reach out to Vanessa Nisbet, the Director of the Rise School. Nora Vargas mentioned having an outreach event called Connections to Assistance on a quarterly basis and would love to have the committee attend those events to provide information. 10. Chairperson’s Report: a. Round Table Discussion – Anthony Navarrette provided clarification on the subcommittee assignments and the roles that those subcommittees play, specifically the Engineering Subcommittee. Tracey Lawson explained why some processes have changed due to several changes in positions and departments. A presentation will be provided next month to provide additional information. There was discussion regarding our roles as committee members and how we advocate for the community. i. City Survey Project – Dr. Jennifer Scott reported that they are still waiting on the City’s Legal Department for a signature. Tracey Lawson will send a second request. ii. Closed Caption Project – Dirk Hillard reported having a meeting with the Texas Association of the Deaf. Currently there are no ordinances in place in Texas regarding Closed Captioning. There are a few other cities across the nation that have ordinances in place and it is starting to spread. Mr. Hillard would like to be the first city in Texas to have an Closed Captioning ordinance in place. Anthony Navarrette suggested starting with a proclamation. Mr. Navarrette will send the ramp fee waiver proclamation to get Mr. Hillard started. iii. 2022 Committee Goals –Anthony Navarrette asked committee members to come up with some valid committee goals for the upcoming year. The city survey and closed caption projects will continue to be on the list of goals. Dirk Hillard suggested taking a page out of a program that the city of Austin and Austin Fire Department are working to help fund persons who are deaf and hard of hearing with fire alarms. Mr. Hillard suggested the committee could help start this goal by teaming up with community partners and write a grant. Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo suggested that if anyone is interested in grant writing there is a grant writing class at TAMUCC. Anthony Navarrette also suggested optimizing the Neighborhood Services Department resources. Christina Buttler suggested getting the committee’s social media platforms up and running. Tracey Lawson will follow up with the City’s Communications Department’s multimedia person to set time aside for committee members to get their photos taken. iv. Committee Meeting Time – Anthony Navarrette mentioned that some members were interested in changing the meeting time and possibly the frequency of the meeting. Dirk Hillard recommended changing the meeting time to 3:15pm. Mr. Navarrette asked if the first Wednesday of the month still worked for members. The committee agreed to meeting the first Wednesday of the month. Dr. Jennifer Scott asked if meetings were required to be held every month. Mr. Navarrette reminded committee members that the meeting time may be set around other meetings held in the Council Chambers. Mr. Hillard suggested having the meeting at a different location, such as the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center. Dr. Scott suggested using the First Choice Community location as well. Mr. Navarrette advised that a meeting in the past has been held at a Senior Center. Mr. Navarrette asked Ms. Lawson to ask about changing the meeting time to 3:30pm to 5:00pm and the possibility of changing the location at times. Ms. Lawson has been discussing moving the meetings to another conference room at City Hall. Tracey Lawson will follow up with the City Secretary about those requests. v. Resignations and Nominations – Anthony Navarrette reminded the committee that Vanessa Nisbet resigned and that he and Huxley Smith would not be seeking reappointment. Mr. Navarrette also advised that two members, Melanie Gomez and Christina Buttler, are up for reappointment. Dr. Jennifer Scott made a motion to reappoint both Ms. Gomez and Ms. Buttler. Motion to reappoint members Melanie Gomez and Christina Buttler Motion – Dr. Jennifer Scott Second – Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo Action – Motion passed Mr. Navarrette asked for nominations to fill officer positions; Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and possibly Secretary if Ms. Gomez accepts the Chairperson or Vice Chairperson position. Ms. Gomez nominated Dr. Jennifer Scott for the Chairperson position. Dr. Scott accepted the nomination. Dr. Scott nominated Ms. Gomez for the Vice Chairperson position. Ms. Gomez accepted the nomination. Ms. Gomez nominated Jennifer Gracia for the Secretary position. Ms. Gracia accepted the nomination. Motion to appoint Dr. Jennifer Scott as Chairperson, Melanie Gomez as Vice Chairperson and Jennifer Gracia as Secretary Action – Motion passed Regarding recommendations of applicants to fill the current vacancies, Mr. Navarrette asked committee members to submit their top five recommendations of applications received. Applications must be submitted by January 25, 2022. Committee members who had already selected their recommendations, discussed their selections briefly and provided background information. Ms. Lawson will share additional applications received to members and email members for their final recommendations. 11. Identify Items to be placed on next Agenda - None 12. Meeting Adjourned @ 4:50pm