2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
Carol Patterson
Damian Pickering
Sergio Alunan
Jim Brune
Vincent Behan
Ed Evans
Michael Kwok
August Longo
Allison Lum
Frank Marone
Leroy Moore
Walter Park
Council Secretary
Mayor’s Disability Council
Minutes
16 November 2001
1 ROLL CALL
Mayor’s Disability Council Members Present: Sergio Alunan , Vincent Behan, Jim Brune, Ed Evans, Michael Kwok, Frank Marone, Leroy Moore, Carol Patterson and Damian Pickering.
Excused Absent: Allison Lum.
Absent: August Longo.
Mayor’s Office on Disability: Walter Park, Director; Richard Skaff, Deputy Director, Susan Mizner, Assistant Director and Jada Jackson, Assistant to the Director.
Co-Chair, Carol Patterson called the meeting to order at 1:08 p.m.
2 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA.
The agenda was approved.
3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
The minutes of September and October were approved.
4 PUBLIC COMMENT.
· Tara Houseman, long time taxicab driver and member of the Paratransit Coordinating Council Executive Board, stated that there were previously four taxi stands for arriving passengers at the Airport. Since October 15th, 2001 there are only two, Ms. Houseman feels that this adversely and disproportionately impacts the disabled and elderly community. Ms. Houseman voiced her concerns at a meeting of the taxi industry and the airport and the response was that there hasn’t been any complaints regarding the change.
· Michael Wise, Editor of Voices at Bay (the Newsletter of the San Francisco Network of mental health clients), stated that there is a new issue of this magazine featuring an interview with the mother of the young man who was murdered at the Metreon theater after police responded to a Sect. 5150 call for assistance.
Carol Patterson asked if the newsletter is available in alternate formats or in electronic formats. Mr. Wise stated that currently the newsletter is not in any alternate formats but would bring this to the attention of the Board of Directors at his organization.
5 REPORT FROM THE CO-CHAIR.
Damian Pickering gave a brief report on the following:
· Mr. Pickering along with a group of people living with vision loss attended a demonstration of the accessible voting system at the Mayor’s Office on Disability. Everyone was very encouraged and pleased to be able to independently go through a sample ballot and voting process that included making changes and amending their vote prior to submission. Mr. Pickering stated that he looks forward to San Francisco residents being able to vote independently as blind and visually impaired people in the upcoming election.
· Harry Mar is now the Chair of the Programmatic Access Committee. Mr. Mar has been very involved with the ongoing city contracting issues, disability definitions under possible bid preference programs and working with the Human Rights Commission.
6 REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR
Walter Park, Director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability (MOD) gave a report on the following:
· MOD has received notice that the movie "Harry Potter" is going to be showing in 3500 theaters in the United States and that nineteen of those theaters are equipped with infrared systems "Rear Window" for captioning and a DVS theatrical system, which provides a description for people who are blind. Unfortunately, none of these twenty theaters are located in San Francisco. The Mayor’s Office is working with theater owners in The North American Theater Owners (NATO) to have at least one San Francisco theater using these systems before the new year.
· The Deaf and Hard of Hearing needs study is a milestone in city government for San Francisco and MOD is continuing to help work on this study.
· MOD is continuing to work with the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families on questions regarding learning disabilities. Although MOD doesn’t work directly with the Unified School District, many of the questions are related to programs that are city-funded.
· There was a meeting with the City Attorney’s office on the Employee Medical Questionnaire, which is being revised and improved so that it doesn’t present any barriers to people with disabilities, which are unintentional or illegal. At this meeting, there were discussions on expanding the Rule 115 program into a program like the LEAP program, which is operated by the State of California.
· Keith McGinnis was in attendance at the November Mayor’s Disability Council meeting to give a demonstration of accessible voting equipment, which will allow for a blind person to vote without assistance. ES&S is already the provider for the election systems in San Francisco. It should be noted that MOD is not endorsing one product by a particular vendor but wanted to give the public the opportunity to review this equipment and give their feedback.
· There was a meeting with the Department of Telecommunications and Information Services (DTIS), Administrative Services, and a software vendor to discuss providing software that is in compliance with federal government new section, 508. Section 508 is a part of the Telecommunications Act, that states that government communications must be accessible to everyone. This includes people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or blind. DTIS has city websites that are very accessible, but there are other departments and related agencies that have created their own websites that aren’t accessible, so work is being done to improve these particular websites.
· MOD met with staff from the Recreation and Park Department and the Department of Public Works to discuss the way in which upcoming major park accessibility upgrades are going to be prioritized.
· Mr. Park congratulated the City employees and departments who provided services during the demonstration that was held in San Francisco in the month of October, which enabled people to exercise their first amendment rights at this demonstration. Mr. Park thanked the San Francisco Police Department, Sheriff’s Department (City Hall detail), Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, Health Department, the Department of Parking and Traffic, and Muni.
7 COMMITTEE REPORTS.
REPORT FROM THE PHYSICAL ACCESS COMMITTEE
Ed Evans, Chair of the Physical Access Committee gave a brief report on this committee’s activities:
· The committee discussed blue/white zone locations and design criteria and access complaint reports from City departments.
· The Physical Access Committee meets the third Wednesday of each month. For time and location of the meeting, contact the Mayor’s Office on Disability at 554-6789.
REPORT FROM THE PROGRAMMATIC ACCESS COMMITTEE
Harry Mar, Chair of the Programmatic Access Committee gave a report on the activities of the Programmatic Access Committee:
· The Committee has worked on the language on a document that defines business entities that are owned by persons with disabilities. The amended document was forwarded to the Human Rights Commission. The next process is to do a survey of all local businesses that are owned by disabled individuals to establish or substantiate an economic disadvantage.
· The Programmatic Access Committee will be meetings the first Friday of each month at the Rose Resnick Lighthouse located at 214 Van Ness, 2nd Floor conference room at 11:00 a.m.
8 THE CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT AND THE MAYOR’S OFFICE ON DISABILITY RESPONSE.
Walter Park gave a brief summary of the nine recommendations from the Civil Grand Jury Report and responses from the Mayor and the Mayor’s Office on Disability (MOD)and (note: responses from the Board of Supervisors are not yet available). The written questions and responses are available on the MOD website under "Special Notices". The Mayor’s Office on Disability will forward the Board of Supervisors’ responses once they are received.
9 PARATRANSIT REPORT.
Annette Williams, Manager of Accessible Services gave an overview of paratransit services:
· San Francisco has been providing paratransit services for over 20 years to people who can’t access the regular fixed route system.
· An individual is eligible for paratransit if they are unable to ride, board, or disembark from a regular transit vehicle. If an individual is not able to get from their house to the location of the bus stop because of their disability, they are eligible for paratransit. People can be eligible for paratranist for some of their trips even though they may be able to use fixed route for other trips. For example, a person uses a fixed route system to go to kidney dialysis but due to their condition after treatment they can use paratransit to get home.
· San Francisco participates in a regional eligibility process, meaning if someone is eligible for paratransit in San Francisco they will also be able to use all of the paratransit systems in all of the nine bay area counties. As part of the eligibility process, there is an appeals process for people who are denied eligibility. The appeals panel is comprised of a paratransit user, a paratransit representative, and a medical professional.
· San Francisco has three main modes of transportation in the paratransit system: taxi service, group van and lift van. Taxi service used to be only for ambulatory customers but now there are 75 ramped taxis for customers who use wheelchairs. In the year 2000, there were 675,000 paratransit taxi trips in San Francisco. In the taxi program, all taxicabs in San Francisco are participating in the paratransit program, which is 13 companies or dispatch services. Group van is a service provided to groups of people who are eligible under the ADA and all going to the same location. Within group van service there are 10 providers, which include small non-profit companies that do van service and some larger for-profit companies. In the year 2000, there were 400,000 group van trips. Lift van is predominantly provided for wheelchair users and is a prescheduled service. In the lift van program, MV Transit is the sole lift van provider. Approximately 95,000 trips were provided on lift vans in the year 2000. In addition there is mixed mode service, where if a person has difficulty with taxi services they can pre-schedule van service. In mixed mode service there are three providers: MV Transit, Shanti and Transbay Express. In the year 2000, approximately 1,000 trips were performed in mixed mode service
· In 1978 there were about 80,000 trips provided and in the year 2000, there were 1.1 million paratransit trips provided in San Francisco.
· Muni is the public transit entity that is responsible for paratransit services for the City and County of San Francisco and for the area in Northern San Mateo County (San Francisco provides fixed route systems in this county around Daly City Bart). Muni contracts with Intellitrans, the paratransit broker, to manage paratransit services. Intellitrans is responsible for the day-to-day supervision of paratransit, including eligibility, scrip, fast pass sales for van services, and administering and monitoring the services with paratranist providers (van and taxi companies).
· An independent customer satisfaction survey was completed by an outside research firm to compare paratransit services from the first year of the new contract with Intellitrans to each subsequent year to determine customer satisfaction levels with services. Almost 9 out of 10 customers surveyed rated the overall service as being excellent or good. Approximately, 97% of taxi customers rated the overall taxi service as being excellent or good. The paratransit broker service’s overall rating was that 86% of the customers stated that services were good or excellent. Approximately 78% of customers rated the lift van program as being excellent or good. This program received the most input for areas that needed improvement.
· There is an active Paratransit Coordinating Council (PCC) comprised of 38 people representing customers of paratransit, representatives from organizations that serve paratransit users, government agencies and non-profit and for-profit providers. Consumers are very involved in the development of every policy regarding paratransit services.
Marc Soto, General Manager for Intellitrans, gave a summary of paratransit services:
· Intellitrans is located at 1449 Webster Street.
· In addition to administering the eligibility aspects of the paratransit program, the two chief tasks performed are the issuance of taxi scrip and Muni fast passes for the paratransit program and the oversight of the service provider contracts.
· The taxi program represents 50% of the entire paratransit program.
· For the first quarter of the current fiscal year, Intellitrans processed payment for 192,713 one-way taxi rides with 8,840 being ramp taxi rides. Yellow Cab Co-op performed 43% of all taxi trips, Luxor Cab 34%, Desoto Cab 10% and the other dispatch services are responsible for 14% of service.
· Intellitrans has spent most of the year attempting full compliance with San Francisco Ordinance 301-98, which requires all San Francisco taxi companies to participate in the delivery of paratransit services.
· Intellitrans along with Muni has been working on a debit card system that will replace the process of scrip issuance. This debit card will also be a photo identification card.
· Between August 2000 and July 2001, Intellitrans has been conducting a comprehensive and competitive procurement process for lift and group van contracts. MV Transit is the only lift van provider and the largest group van operator, and is in the process of integrating newer vehicles into its group van vehicles, a new phone system, and new routing and scheduling programs.
· In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, MV Transit reported transporting 22,839 one-way trips using lift vans and 32,119 trips using group vans. Altogether the group van program has provided 75,089 one-way trips in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
· Intellitrans oversees a small component of trips that are provided on behalf of the Office of Aging and is in the process of awarding new contracts for this office. Intellitrans is working on many projects such as finalizing their Memorandums of Understanding for their group van service, creation of a new comprehensive rider’s guide that will provide current information about all aspects of the paratransit system, the taxi debit card system, educational videos that describe ADA eligibility on the San Francisco paratransit program, and videos for certified individuals to learn how to access the paratransit program. Intellitrans is also working on the implementation of an internal information technology system which will geocode every trip.
Kevin McNay, Manager of Customer Compliance stated that an area of improvement for Intellitrans is customer service and gave an overview of the complaint process:
· A formal complaint is a complaint that is received in person, by mail, telephone or e-mail that requires a follow-up by the provider who provided the service. Intellitrans forwards the complaints to the provider within three days upon receipt and the provider is responsible for providing a resolution or explanation within two weeks. Complaints are tracked under nine different categories.
John Seragusa, Vice President of Operations for MV Transit gave an overview of MV Transit:
· Currently, there are 75 full-time drivers in Paratransit services.
· MV Transit is up to 85% contract compliance with their 19 group van vehicles.
· An area of improvement for MV Transit as outlined in the customer satisfaction survey is customer service and the ability to route and take phone calls appropriately. New computers have been installed in the facility that have the ability to be linked with the Broker’s system which gives the ability to route clients trips on demand.
· Mr. Saragusa stated that each consumer complaint is taken seriously and encourages consumers to bring any issues regarding services to the attention of the Broker’s office.
Michael Kwok commented that he has had a difficult time getting connected when calling MV Transit and wanted to know how the drivers communicate with dispatchers.
John Seragusa stated the there is now a new phone system that has an automatic call distribution, which guarantees that a person will answer the machine instead of it being an automated voice system. The drivers are now using Nextel phones.
Ed Evans stated that many consumers complain that MV Transit vehicles are late or don’t show up, don’t have securement straps on vehicles, the vehicles being used are old or poorly maintained vehicles that produce toxic fumes and that the operators use scented products. Another complaint is that ramp taxi drivers tend to congregate at the Airport and Fisherman’s Wharf areas and that the drivers often turn on the meters before a passenger is loaded and don’t turn them off until the passenger is out of the vehicle.
Mr. Evans pointed out that the new rear-loading taxis put wheelchair users at risk with regard to vehicular traffic and that these taxis are providing less access to being able to have more than one wheelchair at a time.
Marc Soto stated that consumers that have complaints can call 351-7050. Intellitrans has new contracts with MV Transit and other providers and there are stronger vehicle standards being mandated that all providers must adhere to.
After September 11,, 2001, Field Monitors have been investigating if ramped taxis have been staging at the airport instead of serving the community. There was evidence that one particular ramped taxi was regularly at the airport.
Paratransit has been experimenting with the ramp rear-loading taxis, and have not received too many complaints, although consumers have been concerned with the safety issue as Mr. Evans mentioned. Muni has purchased twenty-four new ramp taxis that are side loading.
Leroy Moore stated that DAMO is doing workshops in communities of color in San Francisco and stated that a lot people didn’t know about paratransit services. Mr. Moore invited the paratransit broker and contractors to participate in some of these workshops so people will know what’s available to them.
Mr. Moore wanted to know if there is any training given to drivers regarding communication and listening skills when working with people who are disabled.
Mr. Soto stated that the paratransit broker and contractors welcome the opportunity to participate in outreach in all communities.
Drivers do receive training. The paratransit broker has being making efforts to re-certify sensitivity and disability awareness instructors. It was pointed out that whenever a consumer feels that a driver has not acted appropriately, it is best to report it to the paratransit broker’s office.
Carol Patterson stated that she was puzzled as to why the number of complaints is so low. She wanted to know the number of customers in the paratransit system and how complaints are accounted.
Mr. Soto stated that the number of complaints that was recited was based on individual complaints even if the person is calling numerous times. There are approximately 21,000 riders in the database and about 14,000 are active. Active is defined as anyone who’s transacted business with a provider’s office in the past 12 months, including purchasing a fast pass or scrip.
Michael Kwok stated that he feels that the tie-down equipment is not secure or safe. He states that with four tie-downs on his manual wheelchair, he is still moving around while the vehicle is moving.
John Seragusa pointed out that there is a Safety Department that checks all of the tie-downs on vehicles at the least once a week. The drivers have to also check the tie-downs before they leave the yard. The lift van program has not had a wheelchair incident in a long time.
Public Comment on Item 9.
Byron Yan, paratransit user, gave testimony via a tape-recorded message. He stated that he is picked up late 85% of the time, including about 30 times in the last three months. Mr. Yen stated that MV Transit has been late on numerous occasions and when he calls to check on the status he is constantly told that a driver should arrive within 5 to 10 minutes. When the driver does arrive, Mr. Yen has to wait until another passenger is picked up and then dropped of at their location. Mr. Yen ends up being at least 45 - 90 minutes late.
Peter Belton, Attorney, recently started using the paratransit system. To get to work he uses MV Transit and in the afternoon he uses a ramp taxi to go home. He would prefer to use ramped taxis both ways, but there is a $300 limit on a monthly basis for the use of the debit card when using a ramp taxi. Mr. Belton feels that there should be an accommodation made because $300 is not enough to cover round trips for working people in the course of a month.
Bruce Oka, member of the Paratransit Coordinating Council, stated that consumers should not schedule rides within a half-hour or less between the time of the scheduled pickup and the time they are need arrive somewhere. Mr. Oka states that he does have some problems with MV Transit’s reliability.
Irma Brim, member of the Paratransit Coordinating Council, stated that there had been an emergency situation involving two developmentally disabled children in the San Mateo paratransit program that is funded by an agency in San Francisco.
Robin Crop, paratransit user, stated that she has been using the debit card when she uses a Yellow taxi and the main problem she has encountered has been that drivers do not recognize the debit card and don’t know how it works. Often times the computer is broken so she has to use her scrip. Ms. Crop recommends that there needs to be a backup system available.
Annette Williams replied to items of concern as stated in public comment:
· The incident that Ms. Brim referred to didn’t happen in the San Francisco Paratransit system.
· The debit card system has a manual backup system.
· Many drivers are not familiar with the debit card program because it is only a pilot project now and there are not a lot of people participating in the program yet. There will be extensive training with the card and how it works.
· In regards to the $300 limit on taxi scrip, it was set to this amount due to issues of people misusing their scrip. The paratransit broker offers different modes of service to help meet the transportation needs of most people. There are 12,000 people in the scrip program and only 90 are using more than $300 per month.
10 POSSIBLE ACTION ITEM REGARDING AB1421.
Carol Patterson read the motion regarding involuntary mental health treatment.
Ed Evans stated that he felt that more funding should be made available for voluntary treatment and that mental patients should have a safe alternative to getting treatment. If treatment is available then the chances of these patients endangering themselves or others won’t be a big problem in the community. Mr. Evans stated that there needs to be more housing, treatment, drug abuse programs and enforcement.
Ms. Patterson clarified that there is existing law that allows for involuntary commitment and the documentation that’s quoted in the resolution indicates that there is inadequate availability of voluntary services.
The resolution passed 8-1 with one dissenting vote from Ed Evans.
11 RESOLUTION SUPPORTING AN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES BY THE UN.
Mr. Park summarized the international convention on the rights of people with disabilities:
· In 1999, the Organization of American States adopted an interim American convention for the elimination of discrimination against people with disabilities. This is an agreement among governments essentially about standards for the rights of people with disabilities and the behavior of governments toward them.
· In October of this year the Government of Mexico wanted to take this to the United Nations and there is a comment period that ends in late November 2001. The comments are being received by the Secretary General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
· Mr. Park recommends that the Mayor’s Disability Council adopts this motion.
Leroy Moore made the following statements:
· People with disabilities are the poorest people throughout the world. The Washington Post featured an article about poor people in South Africa with an emphasis on people with disabilities.
· There should be some discussions on how the current war is affecting people with disabilities. For some information on the effects of war on people with disabilities go to the poor magazine website at www.poormagazine.org.
The resolution passed unanimously.
12 RESOLUTION SUPPORTING RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING SERVICES.
Councilor Jim Brune stated that there was a presentation at the October 2001 Mayor’s Disability Council meeting of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Needs Assessment Report. This is the first time that a study and assessment has been done of the needs of hard of hearing individuals in San Francisco.
The resolution passed unanimously.
13 ANNOUNCEMENT OF NERT TRAINING.
Ron Lopez, Disaster Specialist with the Public Health Department gave an announcement about the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) and the Disaster Registry Program:
· The San Francisco Disaster Registry Program is a program for seniors and persons with disabilities who will need help if there is an emergency or disaster in San Francisco.
· The Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams are teams of people who have received special training and credentials in their ability to respond in a disaster scenario to the needs of people with disabilities and seniors.
Ed Evans stated that as a NERT member, he would like to see future training programs to be held in fully physically accessible locations.
Mr. Lopez stated that he is aware of a building in the North of Market area that is accessible and will contact the building managers to discuss being able to conduct NERT training’s at this location.
14 CORRESPONDENCE
No correspondence.
15 PUBLIC COMMENT
Tim Flannigan stated that he lives in a building for people with disabilities and is assigned to an inaccessible voting location but there is an accessible location across the street from his residence.
Walter Park stated there was an evaluation of all San Francisco polling places indicating which ones are accessible. The Mayor’s Office on Disability is working with the Department of Elections to increase the number of polling places that are accessible. Mr. Park stated that MOD would review Mr. Flannigan’s particular location to identify any problems there.
Jimmy Dorsey stated that he has dyslexia and would like to request assistance in writing a business plan for a new company that he is starting. Mr. Dorsey commended the Council members of the Mayor’s Disability Council for all of their work for the disability community.
16 MEMBER REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS.
Leroy Moore would like to invite disabled youth and their families and agencies that offer after-school programs to discuss accessibility and inclusion of disabled youth in city funded after-school programs on January’s agenda.
Ed Evans would like to discuss having a national identity card as a future agenda item.
Vincent Behan would like to discuss Councilor August Longo’s absence at the Mayor’s Disability Council meetings. Mr. Behan said that Mr. Longo shows no interest in continuing to be a member.
17 COUNCILOR’S COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
None.
18 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:01 p.m.