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
19 November 2004
1 ROLL CALL
Mayor's Disability Council Members Present: Norma Block; Jack Fagan; Eugene Flannery; Elizabeth Grigsby; Tatiana Kostanian; Robert Neil; Richard Ow; Jul Lynn Parsons; Ed Evans (via Bridge Line) and Denise Senhaux (via Bridge Line).
Absent: Ruth Nunez
Mayor's Office on Disability: Susan Mizner, Director; Ken Stein, Program Administrator; and Howard O. Wong, Council Clerk.
Jack Fagan, Co-Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:04 p.m.
2 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The Council approved the agenda of the November 19, 2004 MDC Meeting.
3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
The Council approved the minutes from the October 15th Regular Meeting and October 29th Special Meeting.
4 REPORT FROM THE CO-CHAIR
Ms. Parsons reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a request for public comment on the proposed ADA Accessibility Guidelines. DOJ is requesting feedback from the public via a questionnaire. Ms. Parsons encouraged the public to review and participate in this process. For more information, the website is www.adaanprm.org.
5 PUBLIC COMMENT
Francisco Da Costa stated that he would like to see the MDC be made into a Commission so that it would have "more clout". He also stated there are some people with mental disabilities who are living in homes that are not accessible.
6 IMPACT ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OF ELIMINATING STOPS ON THE 38 GEARY BUS LINE.
Suany Chough, MUNI's Project Manager of the Geary Transit Improvement Project, provided an overview summary of ridership on the 38 Geary bus line. There are approximately 50,000 riders daily on this bus line. The streets they are focusing on include the downtown portion of the Geary route, which runs on Geary and O'Farrell Streets between Van Ness and Market. The goal of the project is to improve reliability. They hope to accomplish this in several ways such as widening the transit lanes, reducing the lanes from 5 to 4 lanes, building bus bulbs out to improve boarding, minimizing double parking with better yellow zones, and installing turn pockets. In addition, the project consists of reducing the number of bus stops from 19 to 14. The bus will stop every one and a half to two blocks. They are hoping this will result in less bunching of buses, fewer gaps in service and a better, smoother rider experience. The next step is to have the plan approved by the Board of Supervisors, and have it implemented in early 2005. In the meantime, Ms. Chough welcomed feedback from the public and would like to come back in six months to provide another update.
Richard Allman, Save the Bus Stops Coalition, spoke in opposition to reducing the bus stops on the 38 Geary bus line. He provided statistical information on the riders who commonly use this particular line. Many are seniors and people with disabilities who depend on these bus stops because they have to depend on transit for their shopping and medical care. In addition, some stop reductions will cause these people to walk up steep slopes, which is difficult due to their limited mobility.
PUBLIC COMMENTS REGARDING ELIMINATION OF STOPS ON 38 GEARY BUS LINE
Ann Fu spoke about herself and other family members who will be affected by the elimination of stops on the 38 Geary bus line and possibly other bus lines. She spoke in favor of maintaining the bus stops.
John Nulty, a regular rider on the 38 Geary bus line for over 20 years, provided a brief history of the 38 Geary bus line. He expressed disappointment with MUNI and his opposition to the proposed eliminated of stops.
Bob Planthold stated that the proposed stops are on a local line and not a commuter line. Therefore, it affects many seniors because many of them depend on the transit everyday to attend to their needs.
Michael Nulty spoke about attending many community meetings, which included residents, business owners, etc. He pointed out there is a great deal of community support to keep the bus stops in their neighborhood.
Linda Chapman also spoke against eliminating the bus stops. She pointed out that she understands that the managers of this project have a goal to meet, but felt that they may not have fully taken into account the impact it has on the people with disabilities.
Mark Brown shared his experience about getting on the bus with his friend in a wheelchair and another person in a walker. He pointed out the bus lifts are not always level and it can be hard disembarking the bus. He feels MUNI's idea of imposing a bus bulb in the middle of the block between Polk and Van Ness is damaging to the lift machinery and cannot fully accommodate passengers with disabilities.
Jerry Grace agreed with others who wanted to maintain the bus stops. He often rides the bus himself. He stated that he would like to see more police officers maintain traffic flow in order for the bus to run more efficiently and on time.
Jeremy Nelson supported MUNI's proposal on the reduction of bus stops on the 38 Geary bus line. He suggested Paratransit for people with disabilities. Council members responded to Mr. Nelson's statement regarding paratransit that it is not always reliable and people with disabilities should not be denied the right to ride on MUNI, that it is suppose to be accessible to everyone.
Bob Douglas (via bridge line), a Tenderloin resident, feels that the elimination of bus stops is a bad idea and spoke in favor of keeping the stops.
7 CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO ADA SELF-EVALUATION PRIORITIES. PRESENTATION BY SUSAN MIZNER, DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ON DISABILITY.
Ms. Mizner provided a brief Powerpoint presentation. She explained that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Self-Evaluation is a review of the City's programs to determine whether people with disabilities have an equal opportunity of using and benefiting from the City's services, activities and programs. She explained how the ADA Self-Evaluation was conducted, the major findings from the Evaluation and the proposed priorities for implementation.
Ms. Mizner stated that the feedback the City received from the consumers at the public forum meetings was very helpful. It indicated the need for more structure and consistency citywide. The next step is prioritizing needs.
The proposed top priorities, to be substantially completed by January '06, include ensuring city-wide:
ADA Rights Notice
Reasonable Modifications Policy
Updated ADA Grievance Procedure
Effective Communication Policies
Improved auxiliary aids and services
Improved TTY and Relay service access
The next proposed priorities, to be substantially completed by January '07, include:
Training for City Staff
Access Criteria for Contracted Services
Access Criteria for Equipment Purchases
The final priorities, to be substantially completed by January '09, include:
ADA Coordinator job classification
Evaluations & standards for Intensive Programs (those delivering vital services)
Ms. Mizner emphasized that most of these issues would have on-going implementation and updates, but that the deadlines were a means to assess progress.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE SELF-EVALUATION
Oliver Markwirth suggested an interactive voice response in the City's voicemail system where one can press for "extended time" from the selection menu. He felt this would be helpful for deaf people because there is not enough time to respond if using the Relay Service.
8 THE SAN FRANCISCO NAVIGATOR PROGRAM (SFNP). PRESENTATION BY JANA OVERBO, DISABILITY PROGRAM NAVIGATOR.
Ms. Overbo was not able to attend the meeting. Mr. Stein provided a brief introduction of Ms. Overbo's background and her program. Ms. Overbo is a long time member of San Francisco's disability community. She worked for many years at the Independent Living Resource Center and is currently working as the Disability Program Navigator in the SFNP. This program assists job seekers, employers and service providers to navigate the complex world of work incentives and benefits for people with disabilities. For more information, call Ms. Overbo at (415) 431-8700 or e-mail her at [email protected].
9 PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC (PG & E) CARE PROGRAM - PRESENTATION BY MARVIN NESHWAD AND ERWIN BONILLA, PG & E.
Mr. Neshwad provided an introduction of the CARE Program. Then Mr. Bonilla spoke in greater detail about what the program entails and who is eligible for it. The CARE Program provides qualifying low-income consumers in California a 20% discount on their gas and electricity bills. In addition, electric CARE participants are exempt from recent electric rate increases. Qualified residential customers are based on the number in the household and their annual income. For example, for a household of 1 or 2 persons, the annual income must be less than $23,400. One can pick up a CARE Application at the Customer Service Centers at any PG&E company and online at www.pge.com/care. They are also available in different languages, including Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese. For more information, call (866) PGE-CARE (743-2273).
10 REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ON DISABILITY (MOD)
Proposal to Add the MOD to the City Administrative Code - Supervisor Alioto-Pier recently introduced legislation that would include MOD in the City's Administration Code as a policy making body. This would enable the office to create policies and submit them to the Board of Supervisors for approval to apply citywide.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) Town Hall Meeting - Ms. Mizner reported that the meeting was held last month to listen to the concerns and issues regarding accessibility in the City from the DHH community. In addition, MOD wanted feedback on the proposed policies affecting the community as well. She stated that it was well organized by Todd Higgins, DCARA Consultant for MOD, and well attended by over 60 guests, which included some MDC council members and City's ADA Coordinators. The underutilization of TTY lines by the deaf community was noted, because many said that it was a difficult form of communication especially when English is not their primary method of communication. However the community is excited about the Video Relay Service, which allows one to communicate in sign language. The library's ADA Coordinator, Marti Goddard indicated that the library hopes to install one in the near future.
Another major issue was the City's phone line menus - it makes it difficult to use the Relay Service because the systems hang up on you by the time the Operator can type all the selections.
11 REPORT FROM THE PHYSICAL ACCESS COMMITTEE (PhAC) CHAIR
Council Member Evans reported that the committee has been working on City access policies and accessibility to the President's dais in the Board of Supervisor's Chamber. Mr. Evans expressed his support of creating a joint subcommittee to discuss transportation issues including Para transit, ramp taxi service, etc.
Co-Chair Parsons added that there would be a site visit to Board of Supervisor Chambers at the next Physical Access Committee Meeting on Friday, December 10th at 1:30PM at City Hall in Room 421.
12 REPORT FROM THE PROGRAMMATIC ACCESS COMMITTEE (PAC) CHAIR
Co-Chair Parsons reported that the committee continues to work on website accessibility with the Lighthouse and the disability community. In addition, she had Ms. Mizner provided an update on the replacement affirmative action program for disadvantaged business enterprises. The City's bid preference was ruled to be a violation of Proposition 209 on July 26, 2004. Therefore, the City has invited disadvantaged businesses to provide input into a new contracting procedure to provide small and disadvantaged business owners with a fair opportunity to win City contracts. A proposal has been drafted, disability owned businesses are definitely included in this round of proposals, and the City Attorney's office is reviewing the proposal.
Co-Chair Fagan announced that Council Member Flannery had expressed interest in becoming the Chair for the PAC. Following an unanimous vote by the Council, Council Member Flannery was appointed as the new Chair for the PAC.
13 PUBLIC COMMENT
Jerry Grace spoke about the importance of a "511" information line to assist the general public in providing public transit route information.
Walter Park expressed concern that the recent defeat of the ballot measure to increase taxes would result in all meetings, including MDC Meetings, to be no longer broadcast on television.
Oliver Markwirth said that there is a need for visual aids on MUNI and BART to assist the deaf and hard of hearing.
14 CORRESPONDENCE
There were two letters of correspondence. The first was from Ernestine Patterson regarding elimination of stops on the 38 Geary bus line. The second one was from Lawrence and Irma Barbu regarding their request for more public "blue benches" for people with disabilities who can walk short distances only.
15 COUNCIL MEMBER REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
None
16 COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
None
17 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:04 p.m.
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]