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Mayor’s Disability Council
Minutes
15 May 2009

1 WELCOME

The meeting was called to order at 1:03 p.m.

2 READING AND APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

The agenda was approved as read.

3 ROLL CALL

Present: Benito Casados, Harriet Chiu Chan, Tatianna Kostanian, Denise Senhaux, Vincent Webster, and F. Ross Woodall.

Excused: Raphaella Bennin, Joseph Fong, Elizabeth Grigsby, Sarah Estes Merrell, and Jul Lynn Parsons

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 Mabel Martinez, Office Manager.

4 APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 2009 MINUTES

Approval of the April 2009 minutes was tabled to the next meeting for lack of a quorum.

5 PUBLIC COMMENT

Charlie Dorris, the chair of the Access Advisors of the Fine Arts Museums, informed the disability community that there are two days when people with disabilities can come to the King Tut exhibit at a reduced rate. They are December 21, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and February 27, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. For additional information, contact Tish Brown at 415-750-7645, or e-mail Ms. Brown at [email protected].

Richard Rothman of the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) announced he is on the PSAC representing the disability and senior community and that he can be contacted at _____ ***(email) for public input.

William Ferrell commented on the abuse of people with disabilities.

6 INFORMATION ITEM: Disability Placard Enforcement issues

Sonali Bose from MTA gave a presentation on AB 144 (Fiona Ma). This legislation increases fines (up to $1000) for parking in blue zones or for using a placard illegally, and empowers parking control officers (PCOs) to issue non-criminal parking citations for misusing placards, but it does not cover enforcement of training for PCO’s in the bill. Enforcement deployment would be addressed by MTA if the bill passes. SFMTA supports this legislation.

Co-Chair Woodall is a supporter of the legislation as well, but noted that many council members, as well as members of the public, have received tickets wrongly.

Councilmember Senhaux also supports the legislation, as does Councilmember Webster. Councilmember Kostanian commented on the need for public education as to when it is possible to be fined for seemingly disability-related parking. Ms. Bose mentioned she would be happy to have the PCOs speak at an MDC meeting.

Ms. Bose also discussed SFPark, a system that manages off and on-street parking as a coherent transportation system. SF received a $20 million grant from the federal government to look at creating a better parking management system which includes variable priced parking. SF is also looking at accessible parking, the number of yellow zones, and the residential parking programs. She welcomed MDC participation in this matter.

There are more than 50,000 permanent disabled placards in San Francisco and another 2,219 temporary placards. MTA is doing some field research and community outreach to develop a successful parking management to take to the legislature. Based on contact with other states MTA is looking at three policy areas.

1. Whether accessible parking should be free.
2. Whether the procedure for obtaining a permit should be more rigorous.
3. Whether or not a time limit should be placed on placard parking.

Councilmembers expressed concern about fraud and proposed different methods to change the procedure to obtain and maintain a placard to minimize fraud. Councilmembers also discussed a need for longer time limits for individuals with placards.

Director Mizner commented on the need to alert families of the deceased who had placards that the placards must be returned. Additionally, people with invisible disabilities (PWIDs) are more likely to need placards than most and education in the community is needed to educate people that PWIDs are the greatest users of disability placards.

Public comment came from Mr. Rothman who is afraid that doctors may be penalized for qualifying large numbers of people with disabilities for placards.

A. Lee, a PCO, was present to take questions from the Council and the public. He explained the process PCOs use to find a person not with the car when it is parked or when another drives them to an appointment and waits with the car. If the companion is alone with the placard, the PCO will ask to be taken to the person, even if at a doctor’s appointment, to verify that they are indeed with the placard’s person. PCOs can and will travel up to a half-mile in the proximity of the vehicle.

7 INFORMATION ITEM AND DISCUSSION ITEM: MUNI Budget Shortages and Effects on the Disability Community and SFMTA

MUNI is facing a $128.9 million deficit. There will be increased fares, discount fares will become 75 cents and the discounted pass will become $15.00 on July 1 2009. Paratransit will also increase to $2.00 and Script Books will be $4.00 effective on July 1.

Councilmember Casados noted that these increases are more than most people with disabilities on SSI/SSDI will be able to afford. Co-Chair Woodall stated that if people with disabilities want to protest this, they should protest to the supervisors, not MUNI.

Director Mizner asked about the number of disability passes issued, and Ms. Bose reported that fewer than 20,000 are issued. 6400 is the number of lifeline passes issued.

Mr. Strauss announced the proposed service reductions, which were initially presented on April 7, 2009 and were modified based on feedback from the community and the SFMTA Board. There will be an estimated $13.4 Million in savings from eliminations and changes.

The discontinued lines are: 4, 7, 16AX, 20, 26, 53, 74X (Culture Bus), and 89 Laguna Honda.

The eliminated segments include lines N (at The Embarcadero and King Street), 1 (south of Market paths), 2 (Clement Street west of 14th Street), 10 (Townsend Street north of Broadway Street and to the Transbay Terminal), 12 (Folsom Street along The Embarcadero), 18 (46th Street along Geary and Point Lobos Streets), 21 (Hayes Street west of Stanyan Street), 29 (Sunset Boulevard in The Presidio north of Baker Beach), 36 (Teresita Avenue from Monterey and Foerster Streets to Balboa Park BART), 38 (Geary Street line Ocean Beach segment), 41 (Union Street between Lyon and Steiner Streets), 67 (Bernal Heights on portions of Crescent and Mission Streets), 88 (BART shuttle west of I-280), 108 (Treasure Island between the Transbay Terminal and Caltrans in San Francisco).

The modified routes are as follows: the 5 Fulton (every other bus extends past 6th during peak), 10 Townsend (rerouted to follow 12 Folsom line to Jackson and Fillmore Streets), 12 Folsom/Pacific (rerouted along 2nd and Sansome Streets to 24th Street BART station), 16 AX, 18 (rerouted to follow 38 Geary line).

The diminished frequency routes: 5 Fulton (west of 6th Avenue during peak hours), 19 Polk (during peak hours and off peak hours on Polk, 31 Balboa (during peak hours), and the 36 (during peak hours).

The early-ending routes: 17, 35, 36, 37, 52, 66, and 67 end at 11 p.m.

Mr. Strauss thanked the 1000 members of the public for providing their input.

Councilmember Webster had questions about the 89 Laguna Honda, and whether it was still needed by the residents there. Councilmember Kostanian asked if MUNI had held meetings with the Laguna Honda residents. Mr. Strauss said that MUNI has yet to have dialogues with the hospital staff and residents. It’s generally the public, employees, and visitors who use the 89, and few, if any, residents use it frequently. Mr. Strauss said it is MUNI’s intent to work closely with D.P.H. to ensure that there is a substitute service that is available and that there be a smooth transition from the MUNI service to such future service.

Councilmember Chan asked when the changes take place, and Mr. Straus replied that the target date is October 3, 2009. Changes are posted on the web site currently: www.sfmta.com.

8 REPORTS FROM THE CHAIR

None

9 INFORMATION ITEM: Report from the Director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability

The City’s budget remains the main topic. There is a $6.6 billion general budget, but only $1.2 billion of it is discretionary. The budget deficit currently stands at $438 Million, or more than one-third of the discretionary money. The agencies that depend on these discretionary dollars are the ones that have the hardest budget challenge, such as the Human Services Agency and the Department of Public Health. Additionally, the largest union of city workers rejected a modification to their contract, which will have a snowball effect on other city contracts.

The state continues to be in worse shape. There are ballot measures on May 19, 2009 to close the budget deficit, but they are unlikely to pass. The mayor has asked for an additional $56 million in cuts from departments. The only way to make cuts is to reduce hours, reduce wages, or reduce employees. We can expect many layoffs. The mayor has considered declaring a state of emergency, and the city attorney’s office is exploring what powers and options that would provide.

One piece of good news: One of the most common complaints from people in wheelchairs is that drivers “pass them up” when they are waiting to board. MUNI has now changed its boarding policy so that people with disabilities must board the bus first. It is an educational process and all drivers are being trained to follow the new policy.

Council Co-Chair Woodall mentioned he saw this policy in effect and that the driver followed the policy perfectly.

Director Mizner said that people with disabilities, before this policy, were less likely to get on the bus.

Director Mizner also welcomed Mabel Martinez to MOD and noted that Joanna Fraguli is home from the hospital.

John Paul Scott gave a short presentation on how curb ramps are made, with a slideshow from a Howard Street repaving project.

He also gave a status update on the library improvement project. For information about the branch library improvement project, you can go to the San Francisco library home page. The main telephone number is 415-557-4400. And their T.T.Y. is 415-557-4433.

Mr. Drew from the Department of Environment gave an update on legislation proposed to require recycling throughout the City. In order to make our goals of zero waste by 2020 and 75% diversion by 2010, we need more participation. A lot of businesses still have not started recycling or composting and multifamily buildings are challenging. This ordinance will require that every building implement the program. But it is not a “garbage police” program, and people with disabilities who are unable to recycle will not be ticketed.

Karma Quick was introduced to the council as an intern working with the Mayor’s Office on Disability. She has a background in disability advocacy and is a law school graduate. She is currently visiting Deaf Transition classes in the San Francisco public schools to reach out and encourage self-advocacy, self-empowerment, and the development of post-secondary plans for Deaf and hard of hearing students in those classes. Karma also shared the thank you notes some of the students had drawn and written for her after her visit to their classes.

10 INFORMATION ITEM: Mayor’s Disability Council Awards for Excellence – Calls for Nominations

Councilmember Senhaux reminded everyone that the nominations for the Mayor's Disability Council Annual Award for Excellence are due by June 26, 2009. For a copy of the nomination form or for additional information, please contact the Mayor's Office on Disability at 401 Van Ness Avenue, Room 300, San Francisco, 94202, or their e-mail, [email protected]. Phone number 415-554-6789, or TTY, 415-554-6799. Nomination form online, SFGOV.org/MOD.

11 INFORMATION ITEM: Report from the Physical Access Committee

Councilmember Casados reported that MOD is creating multiple accessible unisex bathrooms at San Francisco General Hospital. The Committee got an update on shared public ways, and how they will incorporate safeguards for people with disabilities on Treasure Island. The next meeting, which will focus on recreational access, will be June 12, 1:30-3:30 in room 421 city hall.

12 INFORMATION ITEM: Report from the Disability Disaster Preparedness Committee

The DDPC last met on May 1st. A sub-committee has been established to identify non-profits and community based organizations (CBO's) that are willing and able to provide services or equipment for people with disabilities after a disaster. The sub-committee plans to create a survey which will be sent out sometime in June in order to identify the responsible people in these organizations, as well as the kinds of services or equipment they have to offer. The DDPC committee as a whole also discussed the recent demonstration of an audible evacuation system which was given at the Lighthouse for the Blind. This effort is in response to the finding in the blind and low vision priorities project that tactile evacuation maps are not widely used and may not be helpful during an emergency. The Blind and Low Vision community preferred audible information during an emergency directing them to the nearest exit. The committee will be looking at what other technologies are in use for audible alarm systems and will report back as more information is available. The next meeting will be June 5 at 1:30 in room 421 of City Hall.

13 PUBLIC COMMENT

Wendy Hugh commented on the MUNI access presentation. Ms. Hugh also announced that Presidio National Park, the Golden Gate Recreation Center is having an open house on Tuesday the 19th from 4:00 to 7:00, one of which is about transportation for people with disabilities.

Meeting Information