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Meeting Information



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Mayor’s Disability Council

Minutes
of the regular Mayor’s Disability Council meeting
held on Friday, September 17, 1999
At rm. 400, San Francisco City Hall

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Sergio Alunan
Vincent Behan
Edward Evans
Viola Jackson
Michael Kwok
August Longo
Frank Marone
Damien Pickering
Grayce REgan ( Co-chair)

MEMBERS EXCUSED:
Susan Mizner

STAFF
Walter Park, Director, Mayor’s Office on disability
Richard Skaff, Deputy director, Mayor’s Office on Disability
Emmy Santos, Secretary

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by the co-chair.

The agenda was approved as amended. vincent behan noted that there was still no notice of the MDc meeting placed in the San Francisco Independent. Walter Park said that he would make sure that this notice would be placed for the next month’s meeting, although he did not know why it was not placed for the September meeting. The minutes were approved as amended.

REPORT FROM THE CO-CHARIS:

Co-chair REgan stated that in her capacity as the Transportation Officer of the Independent Living Resource Center, she had received numerous calls from persons who had seen the last MDc meeting on TV. She noted that the MUNI drivers still were not calling out stops. she also said that she believed that the previous meeting had been an extremely important one, and recommended that more meetings devoted to a single particular subject be held so that the issues can be explored in depth. Deputy director Skaff reported that the ringing on the telephone bridge was to enable the first person to call in, and the telephone would not stop ringing until a second call had been received. Director Park said that they would try to remedy the noise situation regarding the telephone ringing.

STAFF REPORTS:

Director Park stated that he had now been the Director of the Mayor’s Office on disability ( MOD) for one month, and it had been a very rewarding experience. He added that the August meeting on transportation issues and input from the MDC was very helpful, and that he looked forward to future meetings with single issue foci. REgarding the MOD itself, he introduced Emmy Santos, the new MOD Ssecretary, and MDc clerk, with Richard skaff, Jose Caedo, and himself as the staff. Two other staffpersons were to be hired, with notices having been sent out for the positions, early in September. These were for the positions of Assistant director for Programmatic Access, and another office clerical staff position. He said that the applications for these positions would be recieved until noon of Tuesday, September 21st. A hiring committee would then be empaneled and hopefully, the office will be fully staffed by October. The staff will physically be in place at 401 Van Ness Avenue, Rm. 300 by Monday, October 1, and preparations were under way. Director Park also reported that he had three substantive meetings with staff from the Recreation and Parks Department, which had a number of physical and programmatic access issues. He suggested that some future single issue MDc meetings be held for said Department’s issues. This was to enable the Department planners to address access issues from the outset, instead of addressing these after the fact as complaints. Director Park further added that there was a budget for a curb ramp study in the MOD, which will be conducted by the Department of Public Works. He and Richard Skaff had several meetings with DPW staff, and projected that by JUne 2000, there would be a data base showing where all the curb ramps were, and where gaps needed to be filled. He said that there were thousands of locations where ramps were needed, and that until such a study was completed, it would be extremely difficult to dtermine the priorities. He asked DPW staff to coordinate this work with the ADA Consultants since this curb ramp plan was one of the requirements of the ADA Self-evaluation transition plans. He had also met with persons in the Blind and Deaf/hearing impaired communities who had particular issues with Departments Citywide. He had asked them to form a deaf advisory committee, and a blind advisory committee to the MOD, and asked the MDc members to join these, hoping that the proposed advisory committees become subcomittees of the Mayor’s Disability Council. He also suggested that this matter be discussed at the next MDc Executive committee meeting since the particular committees mentioned possessed expertise beyond that of the MDc members in general. He concluded by stating that there had been progress on the city Hall ATM, with Treasurer susan Lal present to give a report on the matter.

Treasurer Susan Leal reported that her staff had moved forward on the Accessibility of the aforementioned ATM, with discussions with the Royal Bank of Canada, and the SF Employee’s Credit Union. The two organizations were working together with Diebold and with the developers of the program for the said bank. She believed that an accessible ATM would be available by the first part of October. Treasurer Leal had asked Director Park and Deputy Director Skaff to invite members of the blind community test the new ATM. She also invited Mr. Pickering to assist in this regard, and he agreed to help. Dr. Marone thanked Treasurer Leal for making the presentation and noted that tremendous strides had been made since the first time this issue had been presented. Mr. Pickering asked Treasurer Leal if she knew whether there was an arrangement to use the same technology and programs used by Wells Fargo Bank resulting from the settlement between said bank and the California council of the Blind, and Disability rights Educational and Defense Fund. Treasurer Leal said she was not aware of this, and gave information on another arrangement she was aware of.

Director Park further reported that the MDC resolution on Talking Signs had been presented to the Mayor, and he decided that instead of simply having this sent forward to the Board of Supervisors, a news conference should instead be held. Said conference was held at the Civic Center Plaza and the resolution was then sent to the Transportation and Land Use committee, and will now go to the full Board of supervisors for adoption. The Budget Analyst for the Board inquired as to the financial repercussions of this resolution, since the committee had added the language " existing buildings where there is a high volume of traffic", such as the Department of Human services, which is a significant expansion on the resolution. A list of some 265 buildings was created for this purpose, and a second resolution authorizing funding for this would be coming. In response to Grayce Regan, Director Park said that this will include the building on 1660 Mission Street. He would like the Blind Advisory committee to review the list of recommended buildings for these signs, and have the MDc further review the list, before it goes to the Board. He reported on the City Hall information Kiosk, which is in progress, and will also be fully accessible to the visually impaired, by this Fall. Ms. Regan inquired if there had been any discussion on the access to the ARt exhibits at the basement of City Hall. Director Park reported that this had been part of the discussions held during the meeting which he had previously mentioned, and which included Ms. Susan Ferreyra. There will be further meetings on this subject. Mr. Skaff reported that Ms. Emmy Santos was updating the complaint log, and had put in quite a lot of time working on this since she had to go to the beginning of the list to put the information into the new format. He added that they would try to get the document Brailled by the Lighthouse for Mr. Pickering in as timely a manner as possible. Mr. Pickering said that there was some delay in putting this document into Braille due to some technical difficulties, but the Lighthouse would have these sent over to Mr. Skaff in Braille as soon as possible. Ms. Regan said that at next month’s meeting, there will be some housekeeping issues to be discussed, including the By-laws, and that these will be properly noticed.

PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA:

Peggy Koster spoke on the $9.00 wage increase for the In Home Suport Service workers, and the plight of those who could not privately afford their services. she also asked the MDc to monitor the issue regarding the renovation of a certain swimming pool since this is a programmatic access issue for the disabled. She added that constituents at North Beach were concerned about the unexpected closing times of the facility, and hoped that the hours would be increased with appropriate staffing.

Karen Young-simmons asked the MDc to make sure that when the airport is redone, it should be fully accessible. She related her recent experience with some inaccessiblity at the airport. She also related her experience with Town Taxi, when she was unable to receive ramped taxi service, since all their vehicles were at the SF airport. she asked the MDc to see if Town Taxi could limit the number of ramped taxis it had waiting out at the airport. Ms. regan recommended that these issues be referred to the Paratransit coordinating council. Mr. Skaff said that he will speak to Ms. Young-simmons for more information regarding the aforementioned negative experience and discuss this witht the ADA coordinator at the airport. Mr. Park suggested that the taxi issues be referred to the MDC transportation committee also. Sergio Alunan Chair of the Transportation subcommittee said that the Ramped Taxi subcommittee of the Paratransit Coordinating Council had discussed this matter with Town Taxi as well as the Paratransit Broker, with the possibility of taking the ramped taxis back and reallocating these to another company because Town Taxi was not doing its job. Discussions were in progress, and Ms. Young-Simmons was invited to participate. Mr. Al Rose stated that Mayor Willie Brown had allocated more money into disability related issues than all the previous San Francisco mayors put together. He added that while Supervisor Ammiano kept on talking about living wage issues, it was Mayor Brown who approved the increase for the wages of the In-Home Support Services workers. Mr. Jim corrigan, a former Fire Department officer, spoke on an issue that he had been working on with the Fire Department for the past six months to stop parking on the sidewalk on Stanford Street, behind the SFFD headquarters. This was against the California Vehicle Code. mr corrigan related that he wrote to the SF Fire Commission in May, and only received a response in August stating that this was a matter beyond its jurisdiction. A similar letter to the SF Fire Department and was told that the Fire Marshall would address his concerns. In July, he contacted Jose Caedo who assisted him and who in turn alerted the Department of Parking and Traffic for appropriate action. Mr. corrigan also received a call from Mr. Skaff in July. Mr. Corrigan said that he found an available and responsible employee employee in the city and the wheels are now in motion. He was not asking for anything to be done by the MDc, but when the issue comes before the MDc later, he wanted the members to have a bit of history. Mr. corrigan had six months of pictures of the violations up until Wednesday September 15. Mr. Corrigan also said that while a City Department may say something, it may not nescessarily be true. He said that in response to Mr. Skaff’s letterthe SF Fire Chief said that the vehicles were being parked in a nearby site that was paid for on a monthly basis. Mr. Corrigan said that policy and practice were two different things in the SF Fire Department, and as a retired officer of the Department, he can attest to this. He recommended that the MDc find out what the practice was, not just the policy.

Ms. tish Brown, Access coordinator at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, and the D Young Museum, spoke on the progress of the redesign and construction of the latter facility. she had written a questionnaire on access issues for the project and to request input from the disability community which she was asking the MDC to help answer. Copies of this document, and of the flyers for the public meeting were also distributed. she noted the importance of this input for the process, and encouraged the public to attend the public meeting. Ms. REgan noted that while Ms. Brown’s efforts were laudable, some of the questions contained in the questionnaire were matters which were already prescribed by law under title 24, and were not subject to opinion or discretionary upon the Architects.

Ms. REgan hoped that the project would go beyond title 24 and be on a broader level for the community, and appreciated Ms. Brown’s efforts. Mr. Marone asked if the MOD was involved, and if this would be a matter that the MOD should be involved in. Mr. Michael Kwok said that he had a very good recent experience with access at the museum and its staff, but added that the signage could be improved. He wanted the community to be involved at the beginning of the design process and not after the design or construction had been started or finished. He suggested that other designers of projects contact the MOD to address these issues. Mr. Park reviewed the document briefly and greed with the Co-chair’s opinion. He said that since the Recreation and Parks Department was big, some meetings and discussions with MOD staff and MDC members would be nescessary to address the issues. He added that perhaps a MDC subcommittee for this subject could also be created, have the special meetings, or both. Dee Anne Hendrix spoke on the need for accessiblity appropos of the discussion on the issues rgarding the Recration and Parks Department. She gave several examples of inaccessiblity. Magdalena spoke as a person with hidden disabilities and her issues regarding MUNI, particularly the MUNI metro. She had a number of negative experiences regarding the use of a disabled MUNI pass where passengers and operators challenged her use of the pass and/or the disabled seating. she also noted the issue of others refusing to give up their seats for seniors, and made these issues known to the MDc. Ms. REgan suggested that these issues also be brought to the MUNI Access Advisory Committee ( MAAC), and gave the meeting information. Mary Kessler spoke as an advocate for the disabled, and said that there had been discrimination in HOusing, employment, Transportation, and accessibility to buildings and parks. She noted that the area of access in recreation and socialization had been largely ignored. she said that outside of certain agencies operating in the City, there had been little City involvement in this area. she gave an exampel where the City of Santa Rosa provided such programs to its teen and adult disabled population. she also gave a personal experience in this matter, and hoped that the MDc would help the city develop programs that address these issues. Ms. Kessler distributed copies of the Santa Rosa program, as well as the article about her son and his girlfreind.

UPDATE ON SELF-EVALUATION/TRANSITION plans:

Mr. Peter margen reported that there was now a Self-evaluation and Transition Plan number, which was ( 415) 364-1848, which was also accessible through the California Relay Service. This was to provide disabled persons, city emplyees, and others who may have information the opportunity to voice their concerns that they wish to convey to the Self-evaluation / Transition Plan project in a way that does not have to go into a City office. Mr. Margen said that his firm had developed a protocol questionnaire that would be used to evaluate the various programs of the City Departments, and have met with MOD staff to review said drafts. An initial questionnaire had been planned for sampling at 12 City programs, to see what type of information would be received, and then adjust the survey questionnaire from there. His group as also in the process of identifying all the various city programs. Once identified properly, the team could focus working on those. He added that Mr. Hopper had begun work on compiling a list of City facilities.

PRESENTATION OF MISSION BAY STREETSCAPE PLANS:

These plans had originally been scheduled for review by the MDc on Agust 6, but was not able to for lack of a quorum. the plans had been submitted before another Citty commission, but however, the Mayor’s Office on Economic Development had requested that the MDc discuss this and make recommendations. The Sf Redevelopment Agency, and the project developers were also interested in the MDC input and were present to answer any questions. An information packet was distributed to the MDc. After the site visit and meetings last August on this subject, two issues primarily developed. The first was on the design of the bicycle racks, and the second was on the surfacing of the path of travel along the block on King Street, and perhaps on Berry Street. The design of the bike rack raised an issue which lay in the area between the curb, and the actual sidewalk area, which is the right of way, an area which is cobblestoned between the main sidwalk and the curb. The rack has an extension which protrudes more than the allowed four inches. People have said that this protrudes into the path of travel, while others say that people will bump into this anyway, whether disabled or not. the issue is whether it is an obstruction or not. the second issue which was raised during the discussions were the two types of blocks laid out in the sand, along the path of travel. these blocks were of two sizes, the first veing 24 x 24 inches, and the other being 12 x 24 inches. During the August 6th site meeting, some wheelchair users noted that the gap between said blocks were larger than those gaps on the scored part of the sidewalk surfaces. Additionally, since the blocks were not attached, and simply sat on sand, there was a possibility that the blocks would simply go farther apart, instead of shifting cloaser together, thus making the gaps larger. Drawings of the plans and the aforementioned issues were showed to the MDc.

Mr. Jesse Blau, of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, reiterated that the developer and the SF Redevelopment Agency wanted the opportunity to present the project before the MDc. He said that the MDc input was very important for this project. It was one of the approved conceptual plans brought before the Sf Redevelopment Commission recently. This document represented one of the many approvals in the long process that will culminate in an entirely new part of San Francisco, comprised of 48 acres of opne space, and over 6,000 housing units, with 5 million sq. ft. of shopping space, with 42 acres of commercial space.

Amy Mitches, Senior Project Manager for the Mission Bay Redevelopment Project, for the Sf Redevelopment Agency. clarified what type of input was being sought from the MDc, and added some more information regarding the project. The overall design for the project was recently approved by the Redevelopment commission last Tuesday. Input and feedback from many different Departments was provided, including that of Mr. Skaff, in discussions with several members of the MDc. The developer is now at the point of developing the construction specifications for the streetscape. The construction drawings had not yet been aproved, so that the MDc input in this regard would be very important and appreciated. Mr. Vince behan asked where the project was located. Ms. Mitches said that the project began immediately adjacent to the new ballpark, running along China Basin channel, along King Street toward the Caltrain station, then goes South along the Bay, up to Mariposa Street, bounded by the Bay on the East side, with Interstate 280 on the West side, which is a substantial piece of property totalling 303 acres, to be developed within the next 20 to 30 years. A new 43 acre campus for the University of California San Francisco will also be built, and its first building will start groundbreaking in October. Mr. Kwok requested information regarding housing from the developer’s representative.

The developer’s representative, Ms. Coburn said that the public input was extremely important at the design stage, and showed the streetscape master detail plan to the MDC. the master concept plan had already been submitted for the development of the streetscape plan for this part of the city. due to technical difficulties, Dr. Marone suggested that the two access issues described above by Mr. Park be discussed directly.

Ms. Amy Covin from the Catelis Development corporation presented some of the components of the Streetscape Master Design Detail Plan and presented a visual map of the same. She described the area which the present submission addressed, called the North Plan Area, located North of Mission Creek Channel, which also included structures from Third to Seventh Street. The application presented was representative of the public right of way in said area. There were four elements to the Streetscape Design, namely: the planting scenario, a paving scenario, a lighting scenario, as well as a street furnishing scenario. Visual and narrative presentations of these four scenarios were provided to the MDc during the briefing. A large scale model of the area was used, and the television cameras were focused on this, while the visually impaired MDC members were provided tacttile access to the model. Ms. Covin pointed out the various features of the model, explaining each in detail, with descriptions on future planning for the same. Mr. Evans noted that persons with mobility impairments who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids will encounter difficulty in walking on the cement pre-cast surfacing described above, due to the gaps between the blocks. He suggested the use of a solid pathway instead, to avoid presenting difficulties for the disabled. Ms. Coburn explained that below the cement paver units, which were embedded on one inch of sand, were solid concrete bases, which were very rigid and compacted so as to provide a firm base, and the blocks at issue would not move. Mr. Evans said that when he travelled over the cement blocks during the site visit, he observed that these actually moved, and may cause the mobility impaired difficulty. Ms. covin explained that the blocks which Mr. Evans encountered during the site visit were actually mock-ups that did not have the same level of concrete construction rigidity that the final paving would have, as opposed to the mock-up units, which were only held together by two-by-fours essentially acting like a wooden box. Mr. Evans added that the rain and weather conditions may cause the cement blocks to shift later and widen the gaps after normal wear and tear, so that he preferred that a solid concrete pavement be used instead. Ms. Regan asked if the sidewalks were public sidewalks or privately owned. Ms. Coburn responded that these were public sidewalks. Ms. REgan asked about who would be responsible for maintaining the sidewalks. mr. Eric Harrison, from the development company stated that all of the sidewalks in the plan would be public rights of way, and the City would be responsible for maintenance from the edge of the curb to the inner edge of the curb Beyond that area, the fronting or adjacent property owner or the development corporation would be responsible for the continuing and ongoing property maintenance. He said that during the discussions with the Redevelopment Agency, high quality maintenance was assured, and because of this, a property owners’ or maintenance association would be created to ensure that monthly assessments would be levied to assure that the long term maintenance of not only the sidewalks, but also street furniture trees the paving, etc., would be assured. That maintenance company would be responsible for maintaining the performance standards as they were approved by the city. Ms. REgan said that she had a prejudice for function over aesthetics. she inquired if curbcuts would be placed at every single corner of the development. Mr. Harrison said yes. Dr. Marone asked Ms. Coburn what data they had to ensure that the sidewalks would not be uneven in ten to twenty years, among other problems. Mr. Pickering said that for blind persons, the difference in the texture of the paving materials is a definite plus, particularly in the difference in the texture between the right of way, and the area where the trees, light poles, etc. were. He wanted to know whether this was part of the considerations, and what were the considerations in the design process. Ms. Coburn replied that several types of paving had been proposed. the type under discussion was the highest in finish, architectural quality, and the costs involved. Several components of the consideration include a continous cobble zone, and the methodology that went behind the development of the paving system, had to do with the spatial difference of where the people should be, and where the street furniture should be on the sidewalk. That benefited everyone in the community. Aside from trying to make a spatial difference, the developer also wanted to create an insulating zone between roads which had heavy traffic loads, with much noise, and those where the people would be. Mr. Pickering related the situation regarding the pavement along the SF Main Library which made it attractive to skateboarders, and rendered it susceptible to higher wear and tear. Ms. Coburn explained the benefits of the proposed paving system over the current types used, which were ease of repair and replacement, as well as the aesthetics. Mr. Behan asked how the proposed paving material would react to frost, and how easily these could be replaced. Ms. Coburn said that these issues were addressed in the construction specifications on Thermal changes in mind, and would be resilient to the type of plastic undulations mentioned. Dr. Marone raised the issue of the concrete pavers and the possibility of future repairs or construction that would not be up to the standard that was originally used, and therefore would create an uneven surface, and explained at length as to why he had a problem with the proposed paving. Mr. Alunan told Ms. coburn that it was apparent that the MDC was proposing the use of continuous concrete paving. She replied that the material used in the project’s many areas was poured-in place concrete paving with sawed joints and would have to look again at the map where the rest of the cobble zones were. The place where the current paving being discussed was at King Street, and another area where there was a high volume of traffic, where the planners wanted the intent being to provide a higher type of finish to assure a better quality environment, including the quality of the walking surfaces. Ms. REgan said that the issue was that the bumps on the proposed surface would sometimes make it painful for persons in wheelchairs who have to travel on the bumpy surface.

Dr. Marone said that the bike racks were placed near the curb ramps, and were obstructions. He suggested that these be moved away from the ramps and closer to trees, or other street furniture. He also proposed some chainns or markers so that people would not run into these racks. Ms. Coburn replied that the racks were being placed as near to the trees and other furniture so that these would be clustered as closely as possible. The scale model of the rack was showed to the MDc and the camera was focused on it. She also pointed out the nose which protruded more than four inches from the rack, and explained that they were still in the early stages of the process and that they would work with the manufacturer to make the rack more accessible. she said that the other element of the streetscape were the trashcans and they were working on a custom trashcan to be placed adjacent to the walkways. Mr. Pickering said that he did not think that the MDc was prepared to make a recommendation on the issues, and there was still much to be said about the problems. Mr. Kwok asked if there was an official committee or council working with the Mission Bay project on these issues, and added that the MDc would be happy to have the presentors come back. Mr. Blau from the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development said that there were many ongoing meetings with the public for input and would be happy to provide his contact information. He added that they were thankful for the MDc input and would certainly forward the feedback the members had provided that day. Mr. Alunan asked if there was a way to reduce the protruding hazard on the racks. Ms. coburn reiterated that they would be working with the manufacturer on this issue. Mr. Longo suggested that the MDc thank the Catellis Corporation for bringing the issues to the MDc and receiving its input, hopefully to work out the problems, and to give a periodic report on the progress. Mr. Blau said that the project was by no means complete, and that staff would hold regular reviews on the issues, and the MDc would be part of these, specially when the discussion will involve construction parameters.

MDC MEMBERS’ COMMENTS:

Mr. Ed Evans thanked Richard Skaff, Andrea White, and Angela North for their ongoing support on the sidewalk issue in the Tenderloin neighborhood. Mr. Skaff said that he was now turning over his responsibilities as the DPW Access Coordinator/ ADA coordinator to Susan Ferreyra, and said that she would be responsive to the needs of the community. Additionally, he asked the MDc to contact her in the future for at 557-4685. Mr. Evans asked for a stronger enforcement level through funding for more DPW sidewalk inspectors. He further suggested that there be periodic DPW inspections of the sidewalk sub-basements. Mr. Alunan proposed a motion to recommend to the developer that the proposed path of travel on King and Berry Streets be of continuous concrete material that is smooth, with score lines only, and without large joints. He further proposed a motion to reduce the bicycle rack protrusion to less than four inches to allow accessible paths of travel and to prevent tripping. The motion was seconded. Mr. Pickering said that this seemed a frivolous motion since the developer already explained that the cobbled zones were only in the site furniture area. Ms. Coburn explained the different types of walking surfaces and paving used in the various areas. Mr. Skaff also explained the layout and types of surfaces and paving used. Mr. Alunan withdrew his motion. Mr. Pickering recommended a motion that would include the input of the MDc, instead of the MDC creating the specifications to be used by the developers. Mr. Evans proposed a motion that all the sidewalks in the development be made of continuous poured concrete. The vote was 7 for the motion. Mr. Pickering abstained from the vote. The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m..