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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-07 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Friday, November 7, 2008, 10:30 a.m. Aupuni Center Conference Room PRESENT: Michael Gleason, Chair; Laura Tobosa, Secretary; Jean Navarro, James Souza, Ronald Wagner-Wright, Ted Yamanaka EXCUSED: Lawrence Scadden, Vice-Chair; Jack Matsui ABSENT: Judith Kirkendall GUESTS: Malina Dravis-Tucker, Interpreter; Alisa Mitchener, Recreation Specialist- Department of Parks and Recreation; Ofelia Pertubal, CNA; Teri Spinola-Campbell, ADA Coordinator (Equal Opportunity Officer); Cassie Wagner-Wright CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:30 a.m. An introduction of committee members, staff, and guests was made. APPROVAL OF MINUTES L. Tobosa made a motion to accept the minutes of September 5, 2008. J. Souza seconded the motion. The motion was passed. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES None. TREASURER’S REPORT The treasurer’s report was reviewed. R. Wagner-Wright made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as submitted. T. Yamanaka seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE None. COMMUNITY LIAISON REPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS LIAISON – M. GLEASON/J. NAVARRO/ R. WAGNER-WRIGHT J. Navarro reported that she is still waiting to hear back from the vendorization people. Secondly, the budget cuts within the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation have affected them. The most severely disabled gets services first statewide, rather than island specific according to the order of selection. B. RECREATION LIAISON – L. SCADDEN No report. Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer C. TRANSPORTATION LIAISON – R. WAGNER-WRIGHT No report. D. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS LIAISON – L. SCADDEN No report. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE – SGT. K. KAAUMOANA-MATSUMOTO Sergeant K. Kaaumoana-Matsumoto submitted program statistics for the Volunteer Disabled Parking Enforcement Program for July to September 2008 which was distributed to MCPD members. B. UPDATE FROM DCAB – C. FLEMING/N. OLESEN/F. WAI The October and November report from F. Wai, Executive Director of DCAB, was distributed to MCPD members. R. Wagner-Wright made an objection to the recent passing of the County law certifying service dogs who are trained by their owners. R. Wagner-Wright based his objection because the current ADA law is vague; thus allowing people who are not disabled to quote and abuse the law to assist them in taking their animals into public places. R. Wagner-Wright stated that his service animal was trained by an international certified guide dog school and the cost of training each animal is currently $30,000. This is a guarantee to all business owners and public places that his is a service animal and will do not act like a pet dog. R. Wagner-Wright informed the committee that many business and airlines are tired of people using and abusing the ADA law and he stated that Roy’s restaurant in Honolulu had contacted him to try and alleviate the situation. Also, R. Wagner- Wright stated that airlines are now asking the question “which school was your service animal trained at” in an effort to stop people abusing the ADA law and brining uncertified service animals onto the plane – this was due to an incident in which Delta airlines had a passenger who stated they had a service animal, and when the food trolley was brought down the aisle – the dog jumped off the owners lap and onto the food trolley and began eating the food. T. Spinola-Campbell reported that she made a recommendation to allow certification for service animals. Airlines are not subject to the ADA, but fall under the air carrier transportation act. The ADA applies to the gate and then it’s the air carrier transportation act. The new regulations will still not require certification for service animals. C. ADA COORDINATOR’S REPORT – T. SPINOLA-CAMPBELL T. Spinola-Campbell provided her report as the ADA Coordinator for October 2008. ADA Coordinator’s report attached. 2 D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT – A. MITCHENER A. Mitchener provided her report on the Aquatics Division, Recreation Division, community networking, and beach access. Report attached. M. Gleason reported that MCPD members should have received an update of the transition plan from the Department of Parks and Recreation with the last packet. E. ADA TRAINING FOR EMPLOYERS – M. GLEASON M. Gleason reported that there was a good turnout of employers at the Workforce Solutions Workshop held on October 16, 2008 in the Aupuni Center conference room. T. Spinola-Campbell provided ADA training for the workshop and hopefully more ADA training will be given for employers. NEW BUSINESS A. TERMINATION OF APPOINTMENT M. Gleason reported that MCPD members’ terms are co-terminus with the current Mayor. Therefore, members need to reapply if she/he would like to serve on the committee since there will be a new Mayor. An Application for Hawaii County Boards and Commissions was circulated to MCPD members. J. Souza expressed his concerns that MCPD members’ commitment is weak. A lot of members have been absent and not attending meetings. He feels that people in the community need MCPD’s help. Last month, the meeting was cancelled and several people wanted to attend the meeting so they got mad at him. He suggested that people who apply to serve on the committee must commit. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDA ISSUES None. ANNOUNCEMENTS L. Tobosa announced that she has been appointed to serve on the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) on Oahu.They are working on the state plan for independent living. R. Wagner-Wright is also a spokesperson for the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and he shared the latest assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired. The NFB is issuing free white canes to anybody who is certified as vision impaired or blind. Secondly, there is a new reader machine called the Victor Reader Stream which is a powerful hand held digital talking book player. People who are visually impaired and accepted into the program, can download any book, magazine, and newspaper from the NLS and keep it forever without copyright issues. Lastly, R. Wagner-Wright shared a new innovation compiled by Nokia, NFB, and the Kerswell company. Blind people can use the Nokia N85 which has the Kerswell Reader software embedded into the phone to take a picture of any text document. The phone than reads the text to the visually impaired user. Finally, R. Wagner-Wright offered his assistance and services for free to anyone. 3 J. Souza announced new technology for deaf people to receive emergency warning messages. The new notification system was implemented by the Civil Defense Agency. T. Spinola-Campbell mentioned that people who have registered for the federal do-not- call list need to register with the county. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:39 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 4