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F
Mayor’s Disability Council
Minutes
16 March 2007
1 ROLL CALL
Mayor’s Disability Council Members Present: Norma Block, Jack Fagan, Elizabeth Grigsby, Richard Ow, Tatiana Kostanian, Jul Lynn Parsons, Denise Senhaux and F. Ross Woodall.
Excused Absent: Sarah Estes Merrell
Absent: Amy Wishnie
Mayor’s Office on Disability: Susan Mizner, Director; Joanna Fraguli, Deputy Director for Programmatic Access; Ken Stein, Program Administrator; and Howard O. Wong, Council Clerk.
Jul Lynn Parsons, Co-Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m.
2 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
The Council approved the agenda of the March 16, 2007 MDC Meeting.
3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
The Council approved the Minutes from the January 19, 2007 MDC Meeting. There was no MDC Meeting in February 2007.
4 INTRODUCTION OF NEWLY-APPOINTED MDC MEMBERS
Co-Chair Parsons introduced F. Ross Woodall as the newly-appointed MDC Member. Councilmember Woodall provided background information on himself - he has been legally blind for 11 years due to complications from his HIV/AIDS condition for the past 26 years. Currently, he is working for the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. His experiences range from serving on the Human Rights Commission’s Employment Advisory Committee to the SF AIDS Foundation.
Co-Chair Parsons acknowledged Raphealla Bennin, another new MDC member, who hasn’t been sworn in by the Mayor yet. Ms. Bennin stated she is a person with dyslexia. She interned at Protection and Advocacy, worked at Independent Living Resource Center in San Francisco, and currently is Access Coordinator at the Golden Gate University Law School.
5 PUBLIC COMMENT
Emily Drennan stated that MTA has included money in their budget for the next year for seniors and people with disabilities with a MUNI Fast Pass, so that persons with disabilities now have full access to BART (within the SF area).
Judith Viar spoke about some of the problems she was facing at a local hotel. Co-Chair Parsons suggested Ms. Viar contact the Department of Building Inspection.
Jeanne Lynch expressed her frustration with people riding their bicycles on the sidewalk. She and her group, Senior Action Network, have been working with the Bicycle Coalition to prevent bicyclists from riding on the sidewalk.
Arden Wheeler spoke about the need for more chairs for seniors and people with disabilities in the Registration waiting area at San Francisco General Hospital.
Raymond Vega stated his concern with language barriers at senior centers.
Jorge Garcia, ADA Coordinator for SF International Airport, provided an update on the accessibility issues at the airport including curbside ramps at the arrival area; “family bathrooms” that allow a person and an attendant (often a relative) of the opposite gender, to enter together.
6 REPORT FROM THE CO-CHAIRS
Deferred to next meeting due to lack of time.
7 REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE MAYOR’S OFFICE ON DISABILITY
Ms. Mizner reported on the following:
* Ramp Taxi – After a recent Taxi Commission Meeting which included a great deal of testimony from the disability community, the Taxi Commission has recommended that 50 more ramp taxis be added to the fleet. Ms. Mizner thanked the disability community as well as Bruce Oka, one of the Taxi Commissioners, for their advocacy on the need for more ramp taxis and the difficulties that one faces getting one.
* Accessibility to Golden Gate Park – The proposal to close JFK Drive at Golden Gate Park on Saturday will be revisited by the Board of Supervisors. MOD continues to work with Recreation & Park on implementing access features, including an accessible tram.
8 UPDATE ON SF PARATRANSIT. PRESENTATION BY KATE TORAN, PARATRANSIT COORDINATOR, MUNI.
Ms. Toran provided a history of Paratransit. MUNI provided paratransit services even before it was required by the ADA. MUNI contracts with a paratransit broker to manage the daily operations of the program. There are four types of services: taxi service, group van, lift van, and ADA access.
In the last fiscal year, Paratransit provided 1.2 million trips. 54% of those trips were taxi, 28% group van and 18% were lift van services. Ms. Toran apologized to the community for the poor service they have received in the past year. Consultants were called in to assist with the policies and procedures, but improvements appeared to be short-lived as complaints from the community continued to rise again.
Currently, Paratransit has a new van company, whose name will soon be changed to Mobility Plus. They have been given 30 days to work on improvements and within 90 days, they are expected to reach contract compliance. There are two particular areas they will focus on - reduction of complaints and an increase in on-time reliability. Some of the improvements have already begun, with increased supervision on the weekends to enable people to inquire about their rides and make reservations. In addition, they are also providing training and re-training with the phone staff to improve customer service.
Ms. Toran continues to welcome feedback from clients regarding Paratransit and hopes in the future to hold more community meetings for the public to share their ideas and concerns. For complaints regarding Parastransit, call the 311 service, or (415) 351-7502. Ms. Toran can be reached at (415) 701-4440 or via e-mail [email protected].
9 UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) TREATY ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. PRESENTATION BY MICHELE MAGAR, ESQ.
Ms. Magar explained that people with disabilities in different countries have high levels of poverty due to their rural environment and lack of access to basic services, rehabilitation, and supportive services. 90% of children with disabilities in developing countries receive no education. Women with disabilities are often considered unworthy to seek out services and assistance. Workers with disabilities are often the last hired and the first to be discharged.
The U.N. Disability Rights Treaty would give people with disabilities in developing countries a way to improve their livelihood. It will guarantee access to education, employment, participation in elections, and to live in integrated communities rather than institutions, and be free from discrimination on the basis of disability.
Work on the treaty began six years ago and it was adopted last December by the United Nations. It will go into effect as soon as 20 nations sign it. Forty nations have agreed to sign it, but the United States is not one those countries. The Bush Administration has stated its intention not to sign. Ms. Magar said this is disappointing and discouraging because the disability community has made numerous strides in defining “disability” as a civil rights issue.
Ms. Magar urges the community to participate in a letter-writing campaign to the President. The National Council of Disability in Washington is working to get Bush to sign the treaty.
Ms. Magar reported that the County of Santa Cruz recently adopted a resolution supporting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She urges the MDC to follow suit as well with a resolution from City and County of San Francisco.
10 ACCESSIBLE PEDESTRIAN SIGNALS (APS). PRESENTATION BY CRISTINA OLEA, PEDESTRIAN PROGRAM MANAGER, MUNICIPAL TRANSPORTATION AGENCY (MTA).
Ms. Olea explained that an APS is a pedestrian pushbutton-integrated device that communicates information about pedestrian timing in a non-visual manner, such as audible tones, speech messages and vibrating surfaces. It has come a long way from the 1930’s (with Wiley Signals “stop” and “go” messages) to APS in 2005. The MTA is working on installing more APSes. One of their most recent installations was on Grove/Van Ness at City Hall. The MTA is committed to installing APS at 86 intersections by the end of December 2009. The next step in their program is to continue to prioritize the intersections for installation. For more information and requests for APS installation, call 311 or contact Ms. Olea at (415) 701-4579 or [email protected].
PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING: APS
Beth Barneson, Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, stated that APS is a critical component of pedestrian safety. She uses them due to her visual impairment.
11 ANNOUCEMENT OF TAXI VOUCHER PROGRAM. PRESENTATION BY KARI ORVIK, LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED.
Ms. Orvik announced that the Lighthouse received funding for services from the Department of Aging and Adult Services. The funding will go toward providing 3 round-trip taxi vouchers to their clients (SF residents only) per month. One does not need to have visual impairments to be eligible. The vouchers must be used by June 30, 2007 and may be used to go to medical appointments and other services destinations. For more information and/or to pick up free taxi vouchers, contact Davina Mendez, Taxi Voucher Coordinator at The Lighthouse at (415) 431-1481, Ext. 321 or voicemail at (415) 694-7321 or e-mail at [email protected]
12 INVITATION TO “UNDER THE RADAR”. PRESENTATION BY JESSE CURTIS.
Mr. Curtis, the Artistic Director of Gravity, invited the general public to a dance performance called “Under the Radar” featuring an international cast of performers with and without disabilities at CounterPULSE, located at 1310 Mission Street. The performances merge dance, acrobatics, contact movements, aerial feats, music and physicality. The program currently runs to April 1st with performances starting at 8:00 pm. No one turned away due to lack of funds. For more info or to make a reservation, call (415) 435-7552 or visit www.counterpulse.org.
13 MDC ELECTION OF CO-CHAIR.
The term for each co-chair is for one year and Co-Chair Fagan’s term has expired. He was nominated to run for another term, and he was elected by a unanimous vote.
14 DISABILITY DISASTER PREPAREDNESS & PHYSICAL ACCESS COMMITTEES
Deferred to next meeting due to lack of time.
15 REPORT FROM THE EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE
Daniel Michael, Director of Vocational Services at RAMS, spoke about the committee developing a website called www.jobsgroup.org, which he refers to as “one-stop shopping” because it assists employers who are interested in hiring people with disabilities and employment information for people with disabilities as well. The “jobs group” consists of different organizations representing the disability community including the Arc of San Francisco, Department of Rehabilitation, Positive Resources, NISH, etc. For more information, visit www.jobsgroup.org. Also, there will be a diverse-ability breakfast scheduled on Tuesday, October 2nd promoting awareness for employers who are interested in hiring people with disabilities. More information to follow at a future meeting.
16 CORRESPONDENCE
No correspondence.
17 COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Deferred to the next meeting due to lack of time.
18 ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 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]