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Meeting Information



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Mayor’s Disability Council

Minutes

Minutes of the regular Mayor’s Disability Council meeting
held on Friday, May 21, 1999
at San Francisco City Hall, Rm. 400.

PRESENT:

Sergio Alunan
Vincent Behan
Edward Evans
Viola Jackson
Michael Kwok
August Longo
Frank Marone
Susan Mizner
Walter Park ( Chairman)
Damien Pickering
Grace Regan ( co-chair)

STAFF PRESENT:

Steve Nelson, Director, Department of Administrative Services
Kofo Domingo, Special Assistant to the Director
Richard Skaff, Special Assistant to the Mayor
Jose Caedo, Special Assistant to the Mayor

The meeting was called to order at 1:20 p.m.. The agenda was approved as amended. minutes of the March and April meeting were not yet finalized for the council approval.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Wayne Sherman, stated that there was lack of comunication between the Department of Parking and Traffic, and the Department of Public Works regarding curb ramps or the absence thereof at certain locations. There was a need for the coordination of the placement of curb ramps, and the painting of blue or white zones, by both Departments.

Bruce Allison, asked the MDC to support the Living Wage proposals, particularly since many employed or unemployed disabled persons are on low income.

A representative from the Coalition on HOmelessness invited the council members to attend an event which it was organizing. A disabled person commented that she was unable to be assisted by office workers in City Hall during a fire alarm on May 14. She said that she was initially as to where to be during the alarm, but later figured out that she should go to the central stairways to await for assistance. She finally asked for more public awareness and outreach to be performed on this matter. Richard Skaff responded that there were visual and tactile floor maps located at each elevator lobby that indicate the places of refuge within City Hall. It was decided during the renovation of the building to create places of refuge with communications with a location that the Fire Department goes to, which the Fire Department is aware of and inspects during emergencies. He suggested to anyone with a mobility impairment to look at said maps and proceed to the places of refuge indicated during fire or other emergencies. Jose Caedo added that the emergency call boxes of these places of refuge had signage in braille, but had some minor technical problems related to pressing the buttons to get a response which were being addressed. Grace Regan said that she was stuck in an elevator one time and because of her Claustrophobia pressed the button several times. She did not think that during an emergency people would stop to read instructions and follow them. She suggested that technology be researched so that there would be responses whether or not the buttons were repeatedly pushed. Director Nelson said that the matter was already being studied, and had asked that the message given by the call box state that the button not be pushed again, or some similar message. He said that he had the same question when he first viewed the places of refuge and suggested that accessible signage and technical issues be addressed. Jeanne Lynch of the Senior Action Network commented on the unacceptable situation regarding a certain theater in the Richmond District. There were said to be large lines of people trying to buy tickets or enter the theater, and these were blocking the entrances to other businesses and occupying the sidewalks, to the distress of the elderly and disabled. Apparently, the edlerly, and disabled, particularly the blind, or low-vision persons, had to walk on the pavement of Geary Boulevard to go around these lines. It was not until some members of her organization contacted the Mayor’s Office, Police Department, and Department of Public Works before any action was taken. Walter Park asked that staff direct a letter to both the SF Police Department and the theater to address this situation.

Mary Skyer of the Independent Living Resource Center said that she appreciated the MDC’s efforts to accomodate disabled persons, and wished to inform the MDc of the creation of a group of concerned persons who were deaf or hard of hearing who were working to address the needs for improved services for this community. she noted that the TV monitor should be moved closer to the center of the room so that deaf or hard of hearing vieweres need not turn their heads at a severe angle to the front of the room. She added that she wanted to see both the sign language interpreters and steno-captioning interpreting what she was saying at the same time. Mary Skyer gave her contact information for persons interested in contacting the deaf and hearing impaired community working group. This number was ( 415) 543-6698 TTY, and (415) 543-6222, for the Independent Living REsource Center. Ida Johnson of the San Francisco Department of Human Services commented on the lack of alternative format information provided to her by the State of Califonia, which was making it difficult to perform her job as a job developer. She pointed out that the City should not be contracting with any entities which were not in compliance with the ADA. Walter Park suggested that she contact staff to look into this matter.

REPORT FROM THE CO-CHAIRS:

Walter Park said that the final draft of the Accessible Telecommunications policy was not yet finalized. There have been no beemtings on this subject, and all he could state was that the matter was in progress.

Jake Segal of the Department of Public Works reported on the Public street toilets now installed in various locations throughout the City during the past three years. He said that there has now ben approximately 1.8 million usages of these toilets, and there was also a concern regarding a few locations where illegal drug use was occurring in the toilets. Apparently drug addicts in three to four of these locations were regularly using the toilets to use the drugs. the Department was proposing to shorten the time for usage of the toilets from twenty minutes to ten, in an effort to deter future drug use in the facilities. This proposal was to be implemented as a project to study the effect of the shortened time in deterring drug use in the three to four locations. He noted that when the program began three years ago, the Mayor’s Disability Council then recomended the twenty minute usage time. Officer Vale, San Francisco Police Department, Tendeloin Task Force testified on the matter, ading his obsevations on how long the drug addicts would stay in the toilet at Eddy and JOnes street, to inject or otherwise take drugs. six or seven people at a time would be in the toilet together taking drugs, and he performed CPR on one addict who overdosed at said location. Grace REgan said that drug addicts can find a place to shoot drugs anywhere whether or not the time was shortened. She added that she was very concerned about the idea of shortening the time, which would affect wheelchair users. august Longo said that the Department of Public Works has a Toilet Comittee as part of the contract, which has the authority to recommend to DPW to remove toilets. There were three persons on this comittee, the Mayor’s Office on Homelessness, and other communities. He suggested that DPW staff work with the said committee and develop factual evidence toward a recommendation on the matter. Then this recommendation could be brought back to the MDC. Ed Evans said that he lived at the corner of Eddy and Jones, and was familiar with the situation, but expressed concerns about his own personal difficulties using the facilites. He added that shortening the time would present a hardship to him. He added that it was the job of the police to enforce the law and prevent drug use anywhere, not just the toilets. Frank Marone inquired whether the Police reports were based on observations, or recorded, or other means. Offices Officer Vales replied that this was based on his personal observations, and those of other officers specific to certain facilities.Marone noted that certain problems that gave rise to much attention usually generated much negative reaction, and there was a tendency to react by trying to fix the situation system-wide, while the problem was specific only to certain locations. He asked if it were appropriate for the SFPD to gather statistics, and then focus more policing at the problem so that disabled persons would not be adversely affected in their effective use of the facility. Officer Vales replied that this information could certainly be provided. Walter Park said that drug use existed even before the public toilets were installed in the area, and that any arbitrary shortiening of time would inconvenience the disabled community. He added that perhaps a letter to the Board of supervisors be sent after the MDC had made its findings on the issue. Wayne sherman commented that the shortiening of the useage time for the public street toilets would make it extremely difficult for him, since he needed all the time possible to transfer from his scooter. He added that some valid time studies be performed so that the issue could be addressed correctly. Richard Skaff said that he observed the inaccessible public street toilets made by the same manufacturer, when he was in Paris, and which were being misused by drug addicts there. He expressed concern over the mixing of two issues, disability access and law enforcement, and these should be addressed separately.

Grace REgan said that she attempted to reach the Mayor’s Office on disability through TTY, which was later found to be unplugged. Since February, there was no TTY, but that a new one was being purchased. she wanted to know why it took her complaint to generate a response and whether the deaf community was involved in purchasing the new machines. Jose Caedo said that he inspected the former location of the Mayor’s Office on Disability, and discovered that the tTY was missing. Apparently, the former City employee in charge of this unit claimed it was his personal property and took it home. The San Francisco Hearing Society has been consulted on what appropriate TTY to purchase, and other members of the deaf/hearing impared community will likewise be consulted, before placing any orders. Grace Regan said that the SFPD ADA coordinator Sgt. Sullivan had an excellent videotape on the use of a TTY and this could be borrowed at no cost.

Walter Park asked for an update on the hearing room touch screen panels. Jose Caedo responded on behalf of Steve Nelson. He rported that on May 12, a meeting was called by Yomi with the Office of the City Architect, Roverta Boomer, Secrtary to the Public Transportation Commission, Debie Lieverman, representing Damien Pcikering, and himself. Both Agundiade and Caedo had inquired with trace Research Center regarding the possiblity of making the panels accessible, but were informed that the technology was not available at the time. The manufacturer likewise did not have technology available to make the panels accessbile to the blind. It was proposed that until such time that technology be obtained to make the system accessible, interim measures contained in a policy guideline recently issued would be used. Walter Park said that he was not satisfied with this, and requested that a written report in detail be submitted to the council on the meeting. He also wanted further work done on making the panels useable since they were brand new, and technology was available in genral, so that programmatic access should not be taken should not be taken as a replacement for actual physical access. He said further that programatic access with some personal assistance was not his idea of programatic access. He did not want physical structures or devices made that would require that type of help and did not believe that this was program access.

Richard skaff presented a picture of the first " somewhat accessible" fire alarm pullbox. This was the first in the provess of making the 2500 or so City fire alarm pullboxes accessible. this particualr site had the fire alarm mounted right on the curb ramp, and in the process of moving, was lowered to make it reachable. IN the future, an accessible mechanism will be found that would be installed for this purpose. He was not yet in possession of the City Hall punchlist, which he had asked from Tony Irons and Steve Nelson. He also had several colored and blck and white blue zone maps that showed all the blie zones installed citywide. A written listing of all the blue zones were included, except those on Port property or in golden Gate Park. A report from Dr. von Switzer on the implementation of title II of the ADA was also included. A San Francisco chronicle article on Talking Signs was distributed. Updates on work by the Access Board were mentioned. A portion of a telephone entry security system was briefly demonstrated. this would provide voice output for blind persons who wished to know the apartment or office number of residents or businesses within a building. The device produced by Viking allowed for verval scroling of the ifnormation, instead of the visual scrolling. Skaff said that these devices will be installed in the San Francisco Housing Authority facilities in the near future. Walter Park noted that this is an example of how city staff could work to make devices accessbiel and useable by disabled persons. skaff added that within two months, the first west coast installation of an accessible ifnormation kiosk to the blind will be installed in city Hall. finally, he asked the MDc to look into the proposed Assembly bill 1276 which prposed that local entities can place time limits on parking at blue zones. He noted that there were 24,000 disabled placards in San Francisco while there were only 22,000 parking meters. The proposed Bill will affect current State parking regulations, if passed, and the proper venue for input is the local department of Parking and Traffic. Skaf also added some information on speech-to-speech realy services for persons who have speech impairments so that a mediator could facilitate the comunication over the telephone line, similar to a TTY service.

Susan Leal, city Treasurer, presented a proposed plan for the instalation of an Automated Teller Machine in city Hall. She said that richard Skaff and Jose Caedo informed her that the ATMs as currently installed throughout the State were inaccessible to or fully useable by the Blind or visually impaired. The treasurer apoligized saying that this should have been realized from the outset, but was now presenting the plans before the MDc for their input. There were four approaches being considered by staff to make this accessible for the visually impaired community. Research was conducted both nationally and state-wide, but there were no existing accessible programs or devices available. A number of proposed options were outlined and were presented as follows:To provide only cash withdrawal services at the ATM. A blind person would have to use a headset to listen to coice cues and enter codes or commands on the keyboard. this will preclude access to all other serivces in the system, such as checking balaces, credit card advances, etc. 2. Personal assistance provided by Treasurer’s staff closely stationed to the ATM to help any disabled person with the ATM. These stafffpersons will be fully trained and are bonded. The dwonside to this is a diminution of one’s privacy. 3. the third option is to secure the use of a program newly implemented by the Royal Bank of Canada and NCR. Treasurer Leal’s office is now in discussions with the aforesaid entities trying to secure permission to use the program/device combo. The problem is that the software is proprietary and developed by the Royal Bank of Canada. Initial discussions with this entity show a possibility of marketing or leasing said softwarre, which had cost hundred of millions of dollars to develop. Leal will persoally meet with the Bank officers to see if this program could be leased for a pilot demonstration project for the city. She proposed a fourth option to this problem, using option 1, for cash withdrawals only, and combined this with option 2 for anyone who wished to access the ATM for more than cash, staff assistance could be utilized. she asked for MDC input on this, and said that she could give periodic or monthly updates on their research into the matter, wanting to do it the right way, and hoping that the project could be started as soon as possible.

Walter Park had some questions regarding deposits under option 1, and the Royal Bank of Canada programs. Damien Pickering congratulated Leal on her work and expressed support for the efforts. ed Evans observed that the privacy issue was important and suggested that Leal look for further options than the personal assistance idea. Park said that he preferred the combination of options 1 and 3, because the idea of using personal assistance was not so much an issue of privacy, but rather, of dignity and functioning independently. August Longo inquired if the machine could be made to work only as a cash withdrawal device so that everyone, disabled and able-bodied had the same type of servie, since this could be a good first step that would be available for all persons. The Treasurer said that this was possible, and that the minimum services provided at the ATMS were cash withdrawals, verification of account balances, and credit card cash advances. Other machines can provide other sevices, such as deposits. Frank Marone said that remote free standing ATMs generally do not take deposits, which may be a banking regulation. He further asked if the members could simply be polled on their preferences on the stated options. Susan Mizner commended Tresurer Leal on the the research that she and staff had done on this issue. She summarized august Longo’s proposal saying that option 1 would be implemented as a cash withdrawal system only, while option 3 was in process of discussion. there was an issue regarding audio output that would arise in case the screen was blanked out. This was why the Treasurer suggested personal assistance by staff, so that someone could read off the screen information. Mizner stated that she would be more comfortable with the proposal if the Treasurer gave her word on following through with option 3 after option 1 was implemented. Leal said that she could provide regular updates to the MDC after the initial implementation of the project. Damien Pickering, speaking for himself and not the comunity, said that generally, the ATMS were inaccessible, but that he could access the ATMs by using the Braille keys and memorizing the comand sequence. He believed that option 1 did not provide him with anything he did not already do, and therefore recommended that this not be lauded as an option, and instead resources be devoted to exploring other options. Park said that he prefered not to see an interim solution, and perhaps option 1 with option 2 be used only through 1999which would be limited to withdrawal only with audio prompting. The Treasurer said that this could be explored and staff could be updated on the progress. Park proposed the adoption of the proposal put forward by august Longlo, with a montly update from the Treasurer or her staff on the progress, with Roayl Canadian Bank, with a report post 1999 on the last matter. Leal asked if a blind person asked for a verification on his/her account balance, how should her staff handle this?Mizner thought that this would be fine as an option, with the only reservation on how staff could efficiently serve the customers this way, along with the concern regarding privacy. She added that training was very important in this. Ed Evans asked if the Canadian system provided receipts in Braille. Leal did not know. Frank Marone sumarized the proposal by saying that August Longo’s proposal on the audio-echo machine was to proceed, but that all other functions of the ATM would be disabled. thus making option 2 unnessessary. Contemporaneously, the research on the Canadian option would be done along with the monthly update to the MDc. Leal said that not only updates would be given, but reports on any requests for any services other than cash withdrawals. She was very proud of her custromer servicee staff, and the surveys show that her staff was one of the best in city hall, and given this, perhaps, option 2 could also be tried out. Park suggested that in case the Canadian option could not be secured by early next year, the entire ATM system installed with the interim measures be pulled out. Pickering noted that he and the MDC were uncofortable recommending option 2as a solution, but it would be better to say that as individuals, it would be good for staff be able to respond to requests on case by case basis.He felt that the MDc position against the second option was merely a technical matter. the treasurer asked if the direction was if anyone were to ask for any services other than cash withdrawals, these would not be made available. August Longo added that if a local 800 number could be contacted, blind or sighted persons could call this for their balances. this system was already in universal use and did not disadvantage blind persons in any way. Skaff said that an 800 number or local number that consumers could call for account balances, which he already used for his own purposes would be helpful in this regard. He added that in his experience, he had never seen a Department head or staff respond as positively to a disability access issue such as Treasurer Leal, and he was very impressed with the work.

TALKING SIGN RESOLUTION:

Damien Pickering said that there had been ample discussion on this item during previous meetings, and no further public comment was nescessary. Moreover, a thorough articile was printed recently in the San Francisco Chronicle. finaly, feedback on this issue was received by Pickering both from local and international sources, as well as a BBC article in conjunction with a story by the Royal National Institute of the Blind in the United Kingdom. He noted that Ed Evan’s amendment to the text of the resolution to add the phrase" publicly owned or leased buildings" was included in the new version of the resolution. Walter Park said that this meant a tremendous amount of progress, which the city itself participated in developing by installing hundreds of talking Signs. He then read the resolution into the record. ( Walter, can you provide a copy of this document to attach to the minutes, as well as for our office files?) The motion to adopt said resolution was moved, seconded, and passed unanimously.

NEXT BUS INFORMATION SYSTEM:

A private company from Emeryville, California had installed a pilot project for a bus information enunciator system which will let MUNI patrons know when the next bus will arrive. This company was invited to make a presentation so that the MD will know how the blind patrons will befrom the system. Jim Moresca, chief Operating Officer of the Next Bus Information system company said that his company was currently undertaking a demonstration project in association with MUNI on the 22 fillmore line. the sutem will tell riders in ten selected shelters along the route what time the next bus will arrive, as well as generally the next bus after that. they have attempted to build accessibility in everything that they had been doing from the beginning. The device was demostrated with speech output. He said that they used the brightest Leight emitting diodes possible for high visual acqruisition. He added that the speech output device of this system was compatible with the Talking Signs device, and acknowledged the help of Pickering and others in the blind community in this regard. He said that the unit with the talking capability was installed at the Sutter and fillmore corner location, and some technical issues were being addressed, and more units will be added. grace Regan said that the next line to test this system will be a troley car line which is accessible. she added that MUNi was well aware of the issues regarding this system, since Mr. MIchael Byrnes, the new MUNI General Manager attended the previous day’s discussions. Moresca added that on behalf of the company, they wre interested in making the messages more accessible, and welcomed any public input on this subject, as well as offering the internet Website for the company, which was accessible also for the visually impaired. Walter Park asked if some permanent buttons such as the green diamonds for accessible information could be used instead of the more expensive hand-held talking sign receivers individually issued to blind users. Moresca responded that this was technically feasible, but there were some vandalism issues, since speakers have some value. some cities have considered this idea, but the company had decided to use what was said to be the more commonly used adaptive devices in San Francisco for this purpose, but if speakers were preferrable, they would work toward this. Michael Kwok asked why it was decided to use a comparable system to the Talking sign system, and if this was driven by cost considerations. He requested that the next bus line to use this system be a wheelchair accessible one. grace Regan said that this was a relatively small pilot project, with no contracts being let,and no decisions being made, with the company only seeking public input on the system. Moresca added that the Rose Resnick LIghthouse, and Smith Kettlewell eye Research Institute staff had advised him that the talking sign devices were the more commonly used system that would be compatible for their purposes. Frank Marone asked if the devices were tied to the actual movement of buses, or was simply an indicator of the schedules. Moresca answered that the schedules were largely ignored, and they had placed Global Positioning devices with special cellular telephones called CDPDs or Cellular Digital Packet Systems on 35 buses on the 22 fillmore line. these collect and transmit data to the units installed at the shelters. Data had been collected over the past six months over numerous differing traffic, weather, and other conditions, and based on this data, predictions on the arrival times were reached. Park suggested that a letter be written congratulating both MUNI and the company on the work done. grace REgan asked that a copy of said letter be furnished to the Muni Access Advisory committee. Dr. bill Crandall said that he believed that the initial discussion on having a Press to Talk Switch was in conjunction with having an infra-red audible sign, and not the exclusion of the latter. He was wondering if the MDC had taken a position to adopt the PTT switch instead of the current receiver systems. He wanted to clarify this position in the minutes. Park said that this was not the position of the MDc. Crandall said that the direction being taken on the development of the devices was similar to the direction Smith Kettlewell Eye Research Institute was heading, which was having audible speakout systems work with infra-red aubdible signage. He said that this would be a good match for a number of obvious reasons. Park invited Moresca to return tot the MDc in three months and give an update of any developments on the project.

TREASURE ISLAND HOUSING ACCESSIBILITY:

Walter Park said that he wanted to work on this item until 4:15 p.m., and then have another shorter meeting in two weeks to address this issue, including any other business not completed that day.He said that unless comments wre made on these projects now, they were going forward and being built. Bob Mahoney, Deputy director of the Treasure Island Development Authority introduced Bob Levine of the John Stewart Company, and Sherry Williams, of the Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative. Treasure Island Development Authority is the Redevelopment authority of the project, with the Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative being the Homeless Assistance Housing component of the project. The John Stewart company was the selected management company for some of the other units. There was currently a lease for 86 units that would be managed by the TIHDI member organizations. these would be doing the renovations and other work on said units. He added that these were not new housing units that were being built, but rather, existing navy owned units that were being renovated, mostly with very minor modifications. It is still navy station Treasure Island, and is subleased by the local re-use authority to the various entities, such as the John Stewart Company and TIHDI which will be renovating and leasing out the units. John Stewart Company ( JSC) had 584 units while TIHDI had 86 units, in the initial phase. this is a phased program that will be developed over the next 18 months. Walter Park commented on the Hamilton Airbase base conversion project, and asked whether any building permits were being issued for the Treasure Island project, or what process was being used for it. Mahoney replied that the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection will be issuing such permits. He added that the site was still Federal property, and there were some FEMa seismic safety program for filled land which was required to be met, while not required by the City itself.

Dan Levine, Vice President for Construction with JSC said that they presently had 574 units under lease, 41 on Yerba Buena Idland, with 525 on tresure Island. A second phase of the work is waiting that will bring the entire inventory to 766 units, of the 1,000 units on both islands.The work ins under way, under permit, and majority of this is cosmetic in nature, with the units in ready to move in condition after the Navy left. However, even if the work was mainly cosmetic in nature, building permits wre still required, and the Department of Building Inspection performed inspections, and code violations found were imediately addressed. These were per code regulations applicable at the time the units were built. The two notable exceptions to this were the FEMA seismic requirements, which is a higher standard than the City of San Francisco requires, and conformance with disability access. On the latter, staff was working with Richard Skaff and the City Attorney’s office to address the issues. the project is completely privately funded, and the plan is to convert five percent of the units for disabled accessibility, under Section 504 of the Fairh Housing Act. One percent each of the units will be converted for the visually and heraing impaired, respectively. Work will include a primary accessible path of travel from the bus stop, and/or primary parking areas to the units. Thirty-seven units will be thus converted on the two islands. work is proceeding, and the first 24 units will be occupied on June 1. The next 46 in the following month, with a pace of approximately 55 units per month through the next 16 months. All units will be market rate, with priority going to emergency personnel, and teachers who work on the island, second priority will be city emergency personel, third priority is university faculty and students, fourth priority will be San Francisco residents, and finally, the rest of the public. Walter Park asked what the public input process was regarding the disabled community. Levine responded that primarily this was through the city Attorney’s office. Marketing to this community has not been done, and is not anticipated, but there had been no discussion on this issue until that juncture. Park inquired if Section 8 certificates would be accepted for these units. Levine deferred this to the marketing staff to answer. He added that the five percent number for the disabled accessible units was in keeping with Section 504 requirements. Park added that at Hamilton base, the number of disabled accessible units was ten percent, which was based on the findings that this was the actual need in the area, and asked if there was any survey used to set the five percent determined to meet the current local demand. Levine said that he was not certin, although the Mayor’ office on Housing was involved in this matter, and as far as the lease negotiations were concerned, the five percent figure was used. Park asked what accessibility standards were used, whether UFAS, or title 24. Levine answered UNFAS, per the /City Attorney’s opinion in that the project was 100% privately financedand financed and all rehabilitation work. Park inquired as to the involement of the Maor’s Office on Housing if this project were 100% privately financed. Levine answered that this was during the lease negotiations, and was accepted as being the applicable standard. Park said that title 24 covered all privately funded housing. Levine replied that this did not apply to Rehab work. He added that the entire project was a directed as a for-profit venture of the City and County of San Francisco, and there was no directive to create an affordable housing program. Park asked for the costs involved in the access side of the project. Levine said that this was approximately $10,000 per unit, inclusive of path of travel work. Richard skaff said that this did not include path of travel on sidewalks, but only within the units’ site itself. Park asked if any work was being done on any other part of the island. Levine said that their lease excluded streets and sidewalks. Existing and paths to existing sidelwaks, and bus pads were being used, and where curb ramps were nescessary, these would be constructed, and existing cuts would be used. Pickering asked if the $10,000 mentioned for access was in addition to the cost of the other work being done. Levine said yes, and added that while a typical unit cost $10,000 to rehab, it cost $20,000 to create an accessible unit.

Sherry Williams, Executive Director of the Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative ( TIHDI) explained that they were a collaboration of homeless assistance organizations, which had a total of 222 units under its jurisdiction from the 1,000 units on the two islands. construction was on a parralel track with the rest of the project, and was moving with JSC toward a fully integrated neighborhood of economically disadvantaged people and people who paid market rates. Closing military bases were required to have a homeless assistance component, and TOJDO was formed in June, 1994, when Treasure Island was placed on the list for base closures, in response to identifucation of homeless assistance uses for homeless persons in San Francisco. TIHDI:s response was to create a homeless assistance collaboration to address housing, service, and and jobs. the work includes setting aside 25% of all jobs on the facility, as well as child care, and grounds maintenence work that will improve quality of life for the community. TIHDI is now looking forward to the rehab of its first 86 units, and she distributed information on the various entities and their programs who were members of this coalition. In response to a question from Walter Park, she said that 12.6 % of all the units under their control will be fully accessible.and 36% of the ground floor units. TIHDI will be managing all these units independently from JSC. Susan Mizner asked about the provision of programmatic access to disabled individuals in the project, and asked if a report could be given on this, saying that she was involved with the Homeless Advocacy Project, which helped homeless persons with HUD subsidized housing issues. She said further that she would like to see this report from JSC as well, relative to the training of the managers and front line staff on programmatic access. Park inquired how persons could be qualified for these units. Williams explained that the Department of Human Services under its shelter plus care program developed a list, from which Catholic charities would draw names of eleigible families who have at least one member who was disabled. Park asked how the figure of 12.6% for disabled access was arrived at. Williams said that this was partially driven by funding, and the various programs and sources these came from. Basically, any program receving funding from public sources would be represented in the pool of residents that would apply for these units. Walter Park noted that each program makes a decision for its own clientele. Ed Evans noted that single persons living in the Tenderloin’s Single room Occupancy Hotels should have access to these units as well.

Jim Faegler, architect for the Asian Neighborhood Design, a Non-profit architectural firm working on the project presented some documents and information. said that the first project was for 15 building, with 13 buildings having six units each with the two building having 8 units each. All the said units within the total 86 first phase units that will soon be opened are two bedrooms with one bath. He explained what type of work had been done to make the units accessible. The layouts of the units were provided in handouts distributed to the MDC. susan Mizner asked why certain units were clustered together. Williams replied that this was because some agencies thought that it would be good to place the units abailable for their programs to be in close proximity to each other for logistic and staffing issues. Skaff added that the visibility concept used in other States was used here to allow persons with disabilities to visit other buildings or homes on the main floor using accessible paths of travel to and through certain areas of main floors of buildings,. Walter Park asked if this was available in the project. The architect said that the rest of the 19 units would be accessible on the main floors and explained what was provided for access thereto. A map of the island and the various locations of the buildings of the 904 housing units on Treasure Island was set up. Descriptions of the various building prjects wre also given. The projected cost for the program was $500,000 with an additional $375,000 for disability access. Most of the work will be cosmetic in nature. Michale Kwok and Walter Park expressed opinions on formatting documents to be presented to the MDc for future discussion on this item. Skaff said that tactile documents would also be provided, and Bob Mahoney requested for a list of the documents needed by the MDC. Some public commnets were received. Descriptions of the various housing units on the island were provided, ans well as the rents. MUNI bus service to the island has been requested to be increased. The nearest grocery store to the island would be on Embarcadero Street in San francisco, and given the population density, it was not project that anything more than a convenience store would be located there in the next few years. There are various amenities available that cannot be used until seismic upgrades have been performed, such as a bowling alley and theater. Williams added that a community had been planned on the island, and various services were projected for the future residents, such as a health care center, recreation center, after school program, which would be included in a fairly comprehensive plan on building the comunity from the ground up. MUNI transportation is planned to be augmented with van services. Once the residents move in, the demand for services will drive what will be established, and asked for additional input form the MDC. Frank Marone suggested that the MDc meet every three weeks, as opposed to monthly or bi-monthly. Aslo, he suggested to staff various technical difficulties during the meetings be addressed between the meetings. Richard Skaff said that once the Mayor’s Office on Disability staff was put together, he hoped that these issues will be addressed directly. Walter Park proposed another meeting to be held on Friday, June 4. the meeting adjourned at 4:45 pm.