2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
Gavin Newsom
Mayor
Susan Mizner
Director
Jack Fagan
Jul Lynn Parsons
Co-Chairs
Norma Block
Ed Evans
Eugene T. Flannery
Elizabeth Grigsby
Tatiana Kostanian
Robert Neil
Ruth Nunez
Richard Ow
Denise Senhaux
Mayor’s Disability Council
Minutes
17 December 2004
1 ROLL CALL
Mayor’s Disability Council Members Present: Norma Block; Ed Evans; Jack Fagan; Eugene Flannery; Elizabeth Grigsby; Tatiana Kostanian; Ruth Nunez, Richard Ow; Jul Lynn Parsons; Robert Neil and Denise Senhaux (via Bridge Line).
Mayor’s Office on Disability: Susan Mizner, Director; John Paul Scott, Deputy Director; Ken Stein, Program Administrator; and Howard O. Wong, Council Clerk.
Jul Lynn Parsons, Co-Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:04 p.m.
2 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The Council approved the agenda of the December 17, 2004 MDC Meeting.
3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
The Council approved the minutes from the November 19th Regular Meeting.
4 PUBLIC COMMENT
Eduardo Bonsi, representative of The Sound Promotion Organization spoke of an environmental program in New York in which children are taught to collect data on noise pollution thus determining which companies are doing this. He hopes to set up a similar program in San Francisco.
Council Member Evans would like to discuss issues regarding the environment and sound at the MDC Executive Committee Meeting and the MDC Physical Access Committee Meeting.
William Farrell brought to the public’s attention the basic human right of blind parents who are ready, willing and able to raise healthy children and they should be allowed to do so.
Council Member Evans and Council Member Ow suggested that the issue of protection for parents with disabilities as an item for discussion at the next MDC Executive Committee Meeting.
Co-Chair Parsons suggested inviting Child Protective Services and related agencies to the MDC Meetings.
Council Member Nunez spoke about the need to focus on the specific issue such as children as a community and not as an emotional issue. Issues that need to be taken to Children’s Protective Services should be approached slowly and narrowed to that specific issue without overreacting.
Jerry Grace was proud to announce that he had won a first place gold medal in the San Francisco Special Bowling Olympics.
Mark Brown stated his concern about the lack of countdown signals for pedestrian safety at the corners of Hyde Street and Jones Street, where cars travel at very high speeds.
Council Member Evans and Council Member Kostanian noted that the contact person for audible pedestrian signals is Frank Markowitz, Department of Parking and Traffic.
5 REPORT FROM THE CO-CHAIR
Co-Chair Fagan reported a follow-up on the Inner Geary Transit Improvement Project, which would affect the 38 Geary Bus line through the Tenderloin. He read a letter written by Co-Chair Parsons on behalf of the MDC to Mayor Gavin Newsom regarding the impact of the removal of the bus stops on people with disabilities and seniors. At the Transportation Authority Meeting held on Tuesday, December 14th, Supervisor Chris Daly proposed a compromise to keep the existing stops and the route through the Tenderloin on the 38 Geary line with the exception of eliminating one of the bus stops at Polk and O’Farrell Streets inbound and Mason, O’Farrell and Geary Streets outbound which was favored by a 9-1 vote by the Supervisors. This compromise is now pending approval from the Municipal Transportation Authority.
Co-Chair Fagan reported that issues pertaining to Laguna Honda Hospital will be a main topic for consideration in upcoming meetings.
- REPORT ON SAN FRANCISCO SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE. PRESENTATION BY EVE MEYER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, S.F. SUICIDE PREVENTION.
Council Member Block welcomed and introduced Eve Meyer, Director of San Francisco’s Suicide Prevention. The organization, consisting of 150 volunteers, talks to 60,000 people every year, or about 200 people per day. There are nearly twice as many suicides in the city as homicides. Volunteers provide assurance to people who call for help by telling them that it could be their turn one day to help others in the same situation. The philosophy of the organization is to help others find hope and for the survivor to one day feel the same kind of “saving the earth” feeling.
Council Member Fagan inquired about training for the suicide hotline using the rules of grammar or syntax on TTY’s and American Sign Language.
Eve Meyer responded that most of the materials for the deaf and hard of hearing have been in written form and she would welcome someone to do some training in the near future.
Jerry Grace commented on an article in a magazine regarding teenagers who are afraid or embarrassed to tell their parents or teachers about crisis / issues occurring in school that would affect them.
Eve Meyer responded that a Youth Risk Reduction Program exists where the organization goes into the classrooms to teach teenagers about suicide and how to take care of each other. If someone is suicidal, they are taught to ask them “how are they going to kill themselves” before “why will they kill themselves?” thus allowing the teen to function as an adult volunteer.
Trevor Line, another phone line that is nationally run and publicized for sexual minority youth including gay, lesbian, transgender youth who are at the highest risk for suicide, is also being answered by the Suicide Prevention Hotline. Approximately 500 calls per month from youths around the United States have been received.
Patrick Ipp offered an alternative to TTY for deaf workers, which would be to set up a video relay service; a fast internet connection to project video. He can be reached at (415) 984-1900.
Council Member Nunez offered other resources on reaching at-risk youths. She can be contacted at (415) 749-6828.
The main crisis number for San Francisco Suicide Prevention is (415) 781-0500.
The AIDS / HIV Hotline which provides moral support and crisis intervention for people with AIDS and Hepatitis C and HIV is (415) 434-AIDS.
The AIDS / HIV nightline is (415) 781-2226.
The Ligna Notura line in Spanish is (415) 989-5212.
The TTY number for the Crisis line is (415) 781-2224.
The Drug information and referral line is (415) 362-3400.
7 MAYOR’S OFFICE ON DISABILITY YEAR IN REVIEW. PRESENTATION BY SUSAN MIZNER, DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR’S OFFICE ON DISABILITY.
Ms. Mizner provided a brief "MOD year-end report" summing up where the Mayor's Office on Disability has been and where it is going.
The mission of MOD is to ensure that all city programs, activities, benefits and facilities are fully accessible to and usable by people with disabilities.
This goal is being accomplished via MOD's ongoing work in five major areas:
1. ADA Transition Plan & Self-Evaluation.
In 2004, MOD finalized & published the City’s first ADA Self-Evaluation Report. The process of implementing the findings of this report include the work being done under the Deaf and Hard of Hearing contract; creating a new model ADA Grievance Procedure; the creation and dissemination of the Public Meeting Accessibility Checklist (and it's subsequent authorization by the Board of Supervisors; and providing funding to support a study of the work of the Behavioral Health Court.
Implementing the ADA Transition Plan involves continued work on the Transition Plan's top priorities, which include funding to provide full architectural access to four Department of Public Health Community Clinics; and Curb Ramp Construction. More than 214 curb ramps have been built so far.
2. Technical Assistance to Departments & Special Departmental Projects.
MOD depends on the work of ADA Coordinators in departments throughout the City. This past year, MOD has worked to provide more structured support to the ADA Coordinators through an ADA Coordinator's Toolkit; Programmatic Access Bulletins, which have been posted to the MOD Website; and sample forms and notices. In addition the Office has held regular meetings with ADA Coordinators and obtained feedback from the ADA Coordinators on proposed policies and procedures.
The Office has worked with a number of individual departments on a number of specific projects throughout the year. These include:
•Department of Aging & Adult Services – working on the strategic plan for long-term care plan, helping to ensure equity for people with disabilities in the provision of City Services
•DTIS – strategic plan for Telecommunications access
•Department of Elections – voting access
•Department of Human Services - shelters
•Office of Emergency Services - planning
•Mayor’s Office on Housing – housing impediments report
3. Plan and Site Review for Access in City Construction & Renovation.
MOD does plan-checks to ensure accessibility compliance in all City-funded construction and renovation projects. Because of staffing shortages, the office had an eight-month backlog. This has reduced to a 20-business day turn-around, despite an increase in the number of plan and site reviews requested.
4. City-Wide ADA Grievance Procedure.
MOD is the focal point for hundreds of requests for information and assistance. In the past year, MOD has handled more than 50 discrimination or accessibility access complaints, the majority of which were resolved within 30 days.
5. Mayor's Disability Council.
MOD staffs the Mayor's Disability Council monthly meetings as well as the Executive Committee meetings, and the Programmatic Access and Physical Access Committees of the Council. The MDC is a forum for the disability community to raise issues and concerns, and provides a platform for feedback and support on MOD's priorities, work and goals.
MOD is proud of having put together the ADA Anniversary Celebration with the Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco (ILRC) and with Supervisor Alioto-Pier. MOD also participated in a City first, working with the Department of Elections and the Voters Access Advisory Committee, in putting together an Accessible Voting Technology demonstration and evaluation.
Ms Mizner introduced John Paul Scott, MOD's new Director for Physical Access. She also announced that there is an ordinance currently before the Board of Supervisors, to put the Mayor's Office on Disability in the City's Administrative Code.
Ms. Mizner thanked the entire staff of MOD as well as the MDC members for their hard work and devotion to helping San Francisco be as accessible as possible to persons with disabilities.
- MAYOR’S DISABILLITY COUNCIL YEAR IN REVIEW. PRESENTATION
BYJACK FAGAN, CO-CHAIR MAYOR’S DISABILITY COUNCIL
Co-Chair Fagan began by recapping the purpose and mission of the MDC in four categories:
A. To work with the Mayor’s Office on Disability and the City government to ensure that all the city’s services are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- As experts on disability, to advise the Mayor and the Mayor’s Office on Disability on issues relating to people with disabilities.
- Through the MDC Meetings and televising of the meetings, to educate and raise awareness about disability issues to the community and specifically to people with disabilities.
- Through public comments and via the bridge phone line, to provide a forum where citizens with disabilities may participate in the above three items listed to assists with the city’s compliancy with the ADA.
Co-Chair Fagan provided a summary of the MDC’s accomplishments during the past twelve months. Highlights included:
- San Francisco Behavior Health Court - Resolution passed to support the Behavior Court
- ADA Grievance Procedure – Introduction and explanation
- ADA Self Evaluation for the City – Findings and setting priorities for the coming year
- State Budget Cuts -Testimony on State budget cut impacts of services to people with disabilities and In-home Support Services
- Training on Deaf Accessibility Accommodations for People Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing by Todd Higgins from Deaf, Counseling and Referral Agency (DCARA), Consultant with MOD.
- AASCEND, The Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome Coalition for Networking and Development - Presentation from members of AASCEND
- Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier – First visit to MDC Meeting by the Mayor or the Board of Supervisor
- Angela Alioto –Addressing the needs of people with disabilities in the ten-year plan to end homelessness
- Kenneth Stein – Presentation on educational history of the disability rights movement
- Department of Parking Traffic – Impact of traffic circle, traffic calming devices and people who park their vehicles on the sidewalks
- Department of Public Works – Impact of construction projects on disability access in the public right-of-way
- Living with Dignity Plan – A strategic plan to make improvements in the system of community based, long-term care and supportive system for older adults and adults with disabilities from 2004 through 2008. Presentation by the Department of Aging and Adult Services
- Laguna Honda Hospital – Different constituencies expressing their concerns and issues on the hospital
Co-Chair Fagan noted that the MDC members have taken their work seriously in terms of outreach to the community, attending a variety of events and meetings and participating on different councils and committees. They represent the Mayor, the Mayor’s Office on Disability, and the disability community to the public. Many of the dedicated MDC members work with disability-related agencies and services as well as their own work.
Co-Chair Fagan welcomed and noted the three new members to the Council this year - Tatiana Kostanian, Robert Neil and Richard Ow. He gave special recognition to Richard Ow for his strong advocacy in the disability community.
Lastly, Co-Chair Fagan congratulated and thanked all the MDC members for their participation and encouraged the community to participate in the meetings.
9 REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR’S OFFICE ON DISABILITY (MOD)
New Deputy Director at MOD – Ms. Mizner welcomed and introduced John Paul Scott, ADA Coordinator for the Port of San Francisco as the new Deputy Director for MOD. His primary responsibilities will include:
- Detailed prioritization and cost estimate of the items in the ADA Transition Plan, which will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors for funding commitments.
- Along with Jim Whipple, MOD’s Access Compliance Officer, developing policies for plan reviews and standards.
- Staffing and working the MDC Physical Access Committee Meeting on channeling input from the community.
Deputy Director Scott spoke a few words about himself. As a licensed architect with an invisible disability, he became involved in accessibility in the early 80’s. Having a passion about accessibility led to appointment to the U.S. Access Board’s Recreation Advisory Committee and chairmanship of the State Architect’s Universal Design Committee, which is the lead advisory committee on bringing new accessibility building codes to the State of California. John looks forward to working with the MDC, as well as the members of the general public and community on moving forward with the changes and dynamics that the ADA Transition Plan requires.
ADA Self Evaluation Program Notice to the Public – Ms. Mizner reported that one of the priorities in the ADA Self Evaluation Program requires that all the programs in the City that serve the public, post a notice at their entrance, to inform the public of their right not to be discriminated against, and to ask for reasonable modification if needed. A few variations of the signs with clear, simple language and visual disability symbols of auxiliary aids were presented to the MDC and the public for review. The signs will be sent out to city departments in San Francisco for display at their entrance, with the encouragement of each department to tailor the notice to their own services. Comments and feedback on the signs are welcomed by calling the Mayor’s Office on Disability at (415) 554-6789 phone or (415) 554-6799 TTY, or email: [email protected]
10 REPORT FROM THE PHYSICAL ACCESS COMMITTEE (PhAC) CHAIR
Council Member Evans congratulated all the people and the committee members who worked so hard on the issues that have been presented at the PhAC in the past year. Issues included universal standards and curb cuts at Union Square with Kevin Jensen; building projects at Golden Gate Park and Laguna Honda; housing standards with John Paul Scott and access information from Jim Whipple at MOD. A big thank you to Jose Caedo for his assistance, and a big welcome to John Paul Scott.
The committee has also been working on City access policies and accessibility for the President’s dais in the Board of Supervisor’s Chamber. Mr. Evans reported that the majority of MDC members have approved on one of the proposals, which involves lowering three steps to the legislative floor in order to put in ramp access to the president’s chair.
The next MDC Physical Access Committee Meeting is scheduled for Friday, January 14, 2005, City Hall, Room 421, from 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
11 REPORT FROM THE PROGRAMMATIC ACCESS COMMITTEE (PAC) CHAIR
Co-Chair Parsons welcomed Council Member Eugene Flannery, new elected Chair to the MDC Programmatic Access Committee.
Council Member Flannery reported on the four primary topics discussed on December 14, 2004:
- Update on the city’s progress toward replacement legislation for Administrative Code 12D to include disabled persons with disabilities.
- The committee continues to work on website accessibility initiatives and standards with DTIS and the disability community to be presented to the MDC in January.
- A brief discussion regarding the content of trainings offered to educate persons about the needs of people with disabilities.
- To envision effective training developed for use in city departments and for use in city funded CBOs.
The next MDC Programmatic Committee Meeting is scheduled for Friday, January 7, 2005, Lighthouse for the Blind, 214 Van Ness Avenue from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm.
12 PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comment.
13 CORRESPONDENCE
No correspondence.
14 COUNCIL MEMBER REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Council Member Richard Ow requested that the Department of Public Works provide more attention to the sidewalk congestion in San Francisco’s Chinatown community, beginning with two blocks located between Jackson Street and Broadway Streets. Merchants who place their produce and commodities on the sidewalk impede pedestrian traffic, especially for persons with disabilities.
For the coming year, Council Member Ow would also like to focus on the issue of Laguna Honda Hospital being used as a rest home for seniors with disabilities rather than a facility for younger youths who become patients from alcohol, drugs and motorcycle accidents.
15 COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Council Member Ruth Nunez requested a follow-up and update on the shelters.
Council Member Eugene Flannery requested the MDC to look into Project Connect (a project instituted by Mayor Newsom to provide instant assistance for the people who are homeless at temporary sites set up in the city) as a possible project for the care and needs of people with disabilities in the community.
Council Member Robert Neil expressed his gratitude to the MDC for allowing him to participate on the council. He plans to expand his participation in the coming year by presenting some resolutions that will benefit Laguna Honda Hospital.
Co-Chair Parsons announced the next MDC Executive Committee Meeting which usually takes place the following Tuesday after the MDC Meeting is being postponed to Tuesday, January 4, 2005 at City Hall, Room 421 from 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm. The public is welcome to attend.
16 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 3:50 p.m. to light holiday refreshments in City Hall, Room 421.
For additional information, please contact:
Mayor’s Office on Disability
401 Van Ness, Room 300
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.554.6789 voice
415.554.6799 TTY
415.554.6159 fax
email: [email protected]