The mission of the Mayor’s Office on Disability (MOD) is to ensure that every program, service, benefit, activity and facility operated or funded by the City and County of San Francisco is fully accessible to, and useable by, people with disabilities.

 

Director’s Report to the Mayor’s Disability Council (MDC)

October/November 2021

John Romaidis, Acting Director

Mayor’s Office on Disability

 

Today’s Director’s Report to the Mayor’s Disability Council (MDC) provides a snapshot of some of the core issues that the Mayor’s Office on Disability (MOD) has been engaged with since the most recent public hearing of the MDC. This report also suggests ongoing and emerging items for MDC consideration in planning for the 2021-2022 legislative year.

 

Members of the public wishing to engage with aspects of this report may contact MOD at mod@sfgov.org or by calling 415 554-6789. You may join our distribution list by contacting us, or by visiting our homepage: https://sfgov.org/mod.

 

The Directors report will be available on MOD ‘s website Monday November 22, the website address is www.sfgov.org/mod, the report will be in the “What’s New” section on the front page of the website.

 

As some of you are already know, around mid-October, Director Bohn was in an accident involving an E-scooter. I received a text from her yesterday- she is doing well and on the mend – we are all wishing her a speedy recovery.

 

The following updates and data are from some of MOD’s primary programs for the month of October.

 

Architectural Access Division

• Plan review and Inspection Services
  1. MOD approved six new affordable housing projects; 425 units in total including:
     1. 254 adaptable units
     2. 105 units with mobility features
     3. 26 units with communication features
     4. 7 units with combined mobility and communication features which we don’t often see.
     5. 33 SRO alterations
  2. Performed 35 inspections
  3. Closed out, “finaled”, one project- Bernal Dwellings–Bernal Dwellings was a rehabilitation project of an existing facility in order to meet current building codes.
• Curb Ramp Program

For the current Fiscal Year–2022, during the time period July 1, 2021 to November 1, 2021, 45 curb ramps were installed and we are expecting to reach or exceed our goal of 700 curb ramp installations by the end of Fiscal Year 2022.

• Capital Projects

MOD manages multiple capital projects on an ongoing basis.  I’m pleased to announce that the renovation of Maxine Hall Health Center located at 1301 Pierce St. is finally complete- The Mayor’s Office on Disability contributed $1.2 million for a new elevator and other accessibility improvements including upgrading the ramp at the entrance. The Center is a great resource that provides a number of health services to the community.

 

Programmatic Access Division

• COIT

The Committee on Information Technology approved a new “Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Standard” on November 18, 2021.  This standard applies to all digital services and web content made available to the public, and it requires San Francisco to follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium. MOD will be involved in implementation for making digital content, such as reports and documents accessible, and will also be involved in making sure that San Francisco’s procurement practices result in the purchase of accessible IT.

• Department of elections

MOD collaborated with the Department of Elections at a meeting of the Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee about the design of Ballot Drop-Off Boxes.

• Complaints

For the month of October, MOD received 32 complaints, of those, 28 were responded to within 30 days– though not all response times were fully within MOD’s control. 58% of the complaints we received were related to the Public Right of Way.

Complaints by type:

1. 7 related to architectural access
2. 2 related to housing
3. 10 Public Right of Way (PROW)
4. 5 PROW for encampments
5. 1 Rec. (RPD)
6. 3 curb ramp requests
7. 1 transportation
8. 1 housing- request for accommodation
9. 1 service request- communication access

 

Legislative Updates

• Accessible Business Entrance Program (ABE)

File No. 210934: An Ordinance amending the San Francisco Building Code to extend the time for meeting the requirements of the program by approximately two years. Ordinance passed by Board of Supervisors on November 2^nd and is awaiting Mayor Breeds signature.

• Golden Gate Park

File No. 211022: An Ordinance amending the Park Code authorizing the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority  to set rates at the Golden Gate Park Underground Parking Facility subject to the Board of Supervisors. The Ordinance was passed by the Board of Supervisors on the first reading on November 17^th. Note: See ordinance for additional amendments.

 

Updates and Announcements

• JFK Drive Closure

Rec and Park has been working on the JFK drive closure and devoting time to the bus and shuttle program. They are also providing a survey for input on the closure of JFK Drive. The public can take the survey by visiting the Golden Gate Park Access & Safety Program web site at www.bit.ly/3abrcGK  (case sensitive). Once on the website, scroll down a bit and select the feedback link, then select the “Take Our Survey Here” link which will take you to the survey page. The survey closes November 25^th at midnight PST. If you have input, I highly encourage you to take the survey.  Engagement and communication will continue through the winter after the survey is closed.

 

• Lighthouse for the Blind Vaccine Program

November vaccine booster and flu shot clinic for people with disabilities is at SF Lighthouse for the Blind building, on four Tuesdays, from November 23 to December 14. Each vaccination clinic runs between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm. To register for the vaccination clinic people will first need to make an appointment by calling the Vaccine Call Center at 628-652-2700.

 

Thank you to MOD staff for all the hard work you do behind the scenes. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

That concludes the Directors report for this month.