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Mayor’s Disability Council
Minutes
20 March 2009
1 ROLL CALL
Mayor’s Disability Council Members Present: Raphaella Bennin, Benito Casados, Harriet Chiu Chan, Tatianna Kostanian, Sarah Estes Merrell, Jul Lynn Parsons, Denise Senhaux, Vincent Webster, and F. Ross Woodall.
Excused Absence: Joseph Fong and Elizabeth Grigsby
Mayor’s Office on Disability: Susan Mizner, Director; John Paul Scott, Deputy Director for Physical Access; Ken Stein, Program Administrator; Karma M. Quick, Programmatic Access Specialist; and Howard O. Wong, Council Clerk.
Chair Woodall called the meeting to order at approximately 1:10 p.m.
2 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The council approved the agenda of the March 20, 2009 meeting.
3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
The Council approved the minutes of the February 20, 2009 meeting.
4 PUBLIC COMMENT
Lynette Roach, Access Advisor at the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco, spoke on the issue of a possible closure of the Concourse in front of the fine arts museums. The Access Advisors are opposed to this because it will prevent people with disabilities from being dropped off at the museum and force them to maneuver through the garage, which is a more difficult means of entry to the museum.
William Farrell expressed concern over the issue of those who bully people with disabilities and encouraged people with disabilities to stand up and advocate for themselves. He also has concerns regarding the budget meeting on April 1, and believes any budget cuts made will affect all people with disabilities.
5 REPORT FROM THE CHAIR
Chair Woodall welcomed back Co-Chair Parsons, who was absent from several meetings while recovering from an illness.
Councilmember Raphaella Bennin observed the passing of Scott Luebking, who contributed greatly to the Bay Area disability communities through his work in accessible technology.
6 REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR’S OFFICE ON DISABILITY
Ms. Mizner reported on the following:
• Budget Update: Federal stimulus dollars awarded to San Francisco through the Federal Economic Stimulus package will be lower than other major cities in the nation because we have a smaller population. However, because public transit ridership is so high we’ll get proportionately more money than other major cities with lower public transit ridership. Additionally, San Francisco’s priorities are well-aligned with those of the federal government and with the current administration so there’s hope for more funds. This bodes well for people with disabilities in the City because more stimulus dollars will mean more job opportunities, higher tax base and increased revenue to fund additional services.
• Complaints Update – Complaints to MOD have been coming in higher numbers, but city departments have been slower to respond to these complaints. There have been a few success stories such as securing public housing for a tenant originally denied such housing because of his large service dog and ensuring that closed captioning will be displayed on the televisions at a San Francisco Senior Center.
7 LIVING WITH DIGNITY IN SAN FRANCISCO: STRATEGIC PLAN 2009-2013
Bill Haskell from the Department of Aging and Adult Services presented a Strategic Plan for 2009 through 2013 that addresses the provision of services for seniors and for younger adults with disabilities. The Strategic Plan was drafted by the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, which has 37 members and meets monthly. The council members include service and health providers, hospitals, HIV/AIDS services, behavioral health services, long term care and supportive service providers, developmental disabilities service providers, and other disability services. They also have consumer advocates and caregivers for adults with disabilities and seniors. Seven city departments are represented, including Ken Stein from MOD.
There are severe budget cuts that may constrain the plan’s goals and accomplishments. At the time the plan was drafted by the Long-Term Care Council, the current budget crisis was unforeseen. Other challenges are going to be cross-disability and cross-age service provisions as well as community education and training.
The Strategic Plan encompasses long-term health single-room occupancy housing and finding the most integrated setting for all adults with disabilities in which to live. Other goals include finding and providing chronic care management, increasing access to community services, developing a consumer rights initiative, providing information to those who remain in their homes, working to pursue shared planning and budgeting across city departments regarding long-term care, creating an e-mail alert system to let people know when there are opportunities to rent affordable housing, and obtaining waivers from federal requirements for the use of Medicaid / Medi-cal outside of institutional settings.
Councilmember Harriet Chan asked if it would it be possible to create programs for young people with disabilities in the Chinese-American community. Councilmember Bennin noted it is a huge undertaking and would like an update in six to twelve months. From the public in attendance, William Farrell asked how this will be affordable with budget cuts in the city.
8 BEYOND OVERWHELMED: COMPULSIVE HOARDING AND CLUTTERING IN SAN FRANCISCO AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE CARE
Marlene Telchow of the Mental Health Association presented to the Council on the issue of hoarding and cluttering in San Francisco. She noted that this disability affects 2-4% of American adults and between 12,000 and 25,000 adults in our city.
Hoarding and cluttering is “the acquisition of and failure to discard possessions that appear to be useless, accompanied by living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed and significant distress or impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding.” Hoarding and cluttering is an isolating condition, is potentially unsafe, and may lead to eviction. Those who have the condition are often stressed by problems in relationships with others. Deadlines to clean up or remove items are anxiety-producing. Many hoarders and clutterers are very intelligent and accomplished individuals.
The San Francisco Fire Department, on average, gets approximately one hoarding call per week. Service providers in the city spend an average of $3191 on hoarders and this significantly impacts workloads for landlords and lawyers who attempt to evict or assist people who are compulsive hoarders and clutterers. Additionally, the City spends $6.4 million annually because of the time and resources taken by evictions and helping people with the condition.
The Report made several recommendations: First, hoarder assessment teams can examine homes. Second, there should be increased access to treatment. Hoarding and cluttering does not have separate DSM criteria as a disorder and may have to be treated through other more familiar diagnoses such as clinical depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Third, there need to be more support groups for people to discuss their hoarding and clutter, especially for non-English languages and cultures present in our community. Fourth, a services road-map should be created so that people with the condition know where to get help and services. Additionally, landlords should be given a set of guidelines so they are able to address situations appropriately, and there should be trainings for family, friends, therapists, and landlords. Finally, an oversight committee on hoarding and cluttering should be created.
A task force at the Mental Health Association is trying to increase access to treatment through FSA and MHA-SF treatment groups, to develop evaluation guidelines for landlords, and to see long-term care management provided for people with this condition. It may offer training for therapists, 211 and 311 staff, and develop educational materials to be given to the community.
9 ELECTION OF CO-CHAIR
F. Ross Woodall was re-elected as Co-Chair of the MDC by acclamation.
10 ADA TRAINING ON EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Susan Mizner, Director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability, presented a training session on effective communication under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The training covered various ways that the City and County of San Francisco and its contractors can accommodate people with sensory and mental disabilities in providing services and programs.
11 DISABILITY DISASTER PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE REPORT (DDPC)
Councilmember Sarah Merrell presented the report, beginning with a review of the committee’s history. The committee began after Hurricane Katrina with four goals in mind: to have accessible shelters for people with disabilities in a disaster, to make sure shelter staff are trained to work effectively with people with disabilities, to create accessible alert announcements that are both visual and audio, and to provide appropriate and accessible evacuations systems.
Currently the committee is working on incorporating Community Based Organizations in response systems and examining systems for accessible evacuations. Carla Johnson is working part-time at MOD on disability evacuation plans. Carla will do a presentation on her work at a meeting in the near future.
The next meeting of the Committee is on May 1.
12 PHYSICAL ACCESS COMMITTEE REPORT (PhAC)
Committee Chair Harold Chabner reported on the Shared Public Ways discussion as well as the Committee’s introductory discussion of Public Trails in recreation areas.
Please see the attached minutes from the Physical Access Committee for details.
At the next Physical Access Committee meeting there will be an update on San Francisco General Hospital.
The next meeting of this committee will be May 8th at 1:00 p.m. in Room 421 of City Hall.
12 PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
13 CORRESPONDENCE
There was no correspondence.
14 COUNCIL MEMBERS’ COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Councilmember Bennin reported that the Access Advisors’ Open House will be on March 28 at the De Young Museum. Additionally, Councilmember Bennin reported that on April 25th there will be a learning disabilities conference at AT&T Park. Interested persons should visit www.parentseducationnetwork.org
Co-Chair Woodall reported there will be an accessible cell phone seminar on March 24th. See the LightHouse’s web site at www.lighthouse-sf.org for information.
Co-Chair Parsons reported that the SFSPCA plans to reinstate a provision for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to obtain support animals and hearing dogs.
15 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:04 p.m.
Attachments: Physical Access Committee Meeting Report
Physical Access Committee Meeting Report
March 18, 2009 Meeting
by Howard Chabner, Chairman
This meeting was well attended by Council members – three members attended. We strongly invite more attendance from members of the public. To accommodate peoples’ schedules, this meeting was held on a Wednesday, but our regular meeting date is the second Friday of the month.
1. Shared Public Ways -- Policies and Guidelines
Adam Varat, a planner with the San Francisco Planning Department, gave a presentation on shared public ways. The Planning Department is developing policies and guidelines for shared public ways. Shared public ways are streets and alleys designed for multiple uses and, with certain exceptions, having a single surface (there are no curbs). They are shared among pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicle traffic, with pedestrians having priority. Features include low speed limits (10 or 15 mph), and traffic calming measures such as bollards, landscaping and chicanes. They are intended for local access, parking and services, not as thoroughfares.
Shared public ways are common in the Netherlands, elsewhere in Europe, and Portland, Oregon, among other places. San Francisco has few examples; these include Belden Alley (which runs north-south between Bush and Pine), Maiden Lane and Hotaling Place (which is near the Transamerica pyramid). In San Francisco, the need to develop a plan for shared public ways came out of the Better Streets Plan. Also, the plan for Treasure Island includes shared public ways in the residential areas; this would be the most extensive use of shared public ways in San Francisco. Its purpose is to emphasize public open space and greening over automobile-dominated development.
Mr. Varat explained that there are three types of shared public ways. The smallest and the one with the most limited use is the pedestrian-priority lane; it is located in residential neighborhoods. The next larger, with more types of uses, such as local and neighborhood retail, is the pedestrian-priority mall. Finally, the largest and most complex is the transit mall. An example of the latter in San Francisco is Powell Street just north of Market, where the cable car turnaround is located.
The proposed guidelines are in the preliminary stages, and the purpose of this presentation was to get the ball rolling and introduce the concept of shared public ways, and to solicit preliminary input from the Committee and from disabled individuals and organizations. Those of us at the meeting will provide written comments to the Planning Department through me and John Paul Scott.
The most important and complex disability issues involved in shared public ways are how to provide safe and effective access for blind people and those with other visual impairments. Jessie Lorenz, director of public policy for the Lighthouse, was at the meeting and gave valuable comments. One challenge is how to provide detectable warning surfaces that aren’t tripping hazards for slow walkers and people with low vision, and aren’t hazardous for manual wheelchair users.
Because many people are unfamiliar with the concept of shared public ways, and given the early stage of the proposed guidelines, I believe it would be valuable for the Planning Department to give a presentation about shared public ways to the MDC.
2. Shared Public Ways -- Treasure Island
Probably the most extensive potential use of shared public ways in San Francisco will be in the residential development of Treasure Island. Keith Orlesky, a planner at Wilson, Meany & Sullivan, and Peter Albert of the MTA, who are working on the plan for Treasure Island, gave a presentation about the use of shared public ways in the plan. The plan contemplates pedestrian-priority lanes, the smallest, least complex and most local of the types of shared public ways. These would consist of alleys between every set of two parallel residential streets. Only local vehicular traffic - residents, deliveries, contractors and the like - would be expected.
The access issues here are the same as those for shared public ways in general.
3. Trails Update
Karen Mauney-Brodek from the Rec and Park Department, and John Paul Scott discussed trail access. $5 million of the recently approved bonds will go for trails in natural areas, including access upgrades. Also, as part of overall upgrades to specific parks, access to paths and trails will be improved. An example of this is the $2.6 million project for Buena Vista Park that was recently begun, which will include an accessible trail on the hillside. The Port of San Francisco is constructing accessible trails on Port property. Also, areas not under the jurisdiction of the City and County of San Francisco, such as the Presidio, Chrissy Field and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area have some accessible trails, although systematic information is not available about access conditions there.
However, John Paul mentioned that San Francisco's ADA Transition Plan self-assessment does not include trails. Also, good survey information is not available about which trails in San Francisco are or are not accessible, nor are there adequate physical markings and wayfinding features on the trails themselves. Moreover, the proposed ADA/ABA guidelines, which would be the new federal ADA access guidelines and will probably be adopted by the Department of Justice this year, include a requirement for accessible paths of travel to all playgrounds, sports fields and other recreation areas.
Although it appears that the City has not received many complaints about inaccessible trails, it was clear to the Committee that San Francisco needs to begin an assessment of the access conditions at trails and recreational access routes. John Paul Scott estimated it would take approximately $700,000 and several years to do a complete assessment. The Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the City begin an assessment. The Committee realizes that an assessment will take several years, especially given San Francisco's budget crisis and its many pressing priorities, but the members felt it's very important to begin, so the City can begin to get a handle on what it will need to do to provide access to trails and recreational access routes.
4. Agendas for Future Committee Meetings
These agendas are tentative.
May: update on General Hospital rebuild.
June: update on the Rec and Park bond projects.
July: presentation on the new ADA access guidelines (also referred to as ADA/ABA).
5. Next Meeting
The next meeting will be Friday, May 8, 2009; from 1:30 to 3:30 at City Hall, Room 421.
We strongly encourage members of the public and MDC members to attend our meetings. It’s a great opportunity to learn about and give your input on physical access projects, opportunities, barriers and issues throughout San Francisco. Also, if you are unable to attend but there is an access issue that you would like to put on the agenda, please contact the Mayor’s Office on Disability.
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