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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-05-04 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Friday, May 4, 2007, 10:30 a.m. Department of Liquor Control Conference Room PRESENT: Michael Gleason, Vice-Chair; Laura Tobosa, Secretary; Denise Cowdrey, Jack Matsui, James Souza EXCUSED: Lawrence Scadden, Chair ABSENT: Jean Navarro, Ronald Wagner-Wright, Ted Yamanaka GUESTS: Malina Dravis-Tucker, Interpreter; Lisa Duwall, Landscape Architect, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Teri Spinola-Campbell, ADA Coordinator (Equal Opportunity Officer) CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:37 a.m. An introduction of committee members, staff, and guests wasmade. APPROVAL OF MINUTES J. Matsui made a motion to accept the minutes of February 2, 2007. D. Cowdrey seconded the motion. The motion was passed. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES None. TREASURER€S REPORT The treasurer€s report was reviewed. M. Gleason asked MCPD whether the committee will be able to spend the balance of the budget by the end of the fiscal year. T. Spinola-Campbell suggested that the police department may need funding to provide captioning for the Hawaii€s Most Wanted program. L. Tobosa suggested that the volunteer parking violation enforcement program might need funding to purchase supplies. M. Gleason said that MCPD needs to encumber the funds by the middle of June. He asked J. Viernes to follow up with the Police Department. L. Tobosa made a motion to accept the treasurer€s report as submitted. D. Cowdrey seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE None. Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer COMMUNITY LIAISON REPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS LIAISON  M. GLEASON No report. B. RECREATIONLIAISON  L. SCADDEN No report. C.TRANSPORTATION LIAISON  D. COWDREY D. Cowdrey reported that she spoke to T. Brown for an update on door-to-door service for persons with disabilities. He mentioned that the service was going to happen in the first of the year and/or in June. But, she spoke to Tiffany Kai at Mass Transit last week and she said that the vehicles have not arrived and that itwill not happen until January 2008. D. Cowdrey said she is assuming that the Arc of Hilo is doing some pick ups of participants as Goodwill Industries has been doing the same. Other agencies have to pick up the slots to provide transportation for people. D. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS LIAISON  L. SCADDEN No report. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE  SGT. D. VERIATO Sergeant D. Veriato submitted program statistics for the Volunteer Disabled Parking Enforcement Program for January to March 2007. M. Gleason asked how MCPD felt about the volunteer parking program. Is it working? Are we ever going to make it work like it should? Is there anything that MCPD can do besides keep inviting somebody to come and tell the committee what is happening? D. Cowdrey said she does not know how we are going to get volunteers in East Hawaii if we don€t recruit besides by word of mouth. T. Spinola-Campbell suggested gettingastoryintheHawaiiTribuneHeraldtocallattentiontothisissue. D.CowdreysuggestedsendingalettertotheMayorrecommendingthatMCPDis not seeing any action and the committee would like to see someaction through the newspaper. T.Spinola-CampbellmentionedthatthePoliceDepartmentstartedthepolicecadet training program to try and attract people that might not qualify to be police officers yet.PerhapsthecommitteemightwanttosuggesttotheMayorthatsomeofthose people in the police cadet training program could volunteer for the volunteer parking programinEastHawaii. J.ViernesstatedthatSgt.D.VeriatowillattendtheMCPDmeetingifrequestedby the committee. His responsibility is to provide a quarterly report to MCPD. MCPD 2 asked J. Viernes to contact Sgt. D. Veriato to attend the July meeting and provide an update on the volunteer parking program. D. Cowdrey made a motion that MCPD send a letter to the Mayor addressing the issues about community policing. L. Tobosa seconded the motion. The motion was passed. M. Gleason to write the letter. B. UPDATE FROM DCAB  C. FLEMING/N. OLESEN/C. TOWNSEND The April and May report from C. Townsend, Program and Policy Unit Coordinator of DCAB, was distributed to MCPD members. C. ADA COORDINATOR€S REPORT  T. SPINOLA-CAMPBELL T. Spinola-Campbell provided her report as the ADA Coordinator for April 2007. Since there was no March meeting, the report was sent to J. Viernes. ADA Coordinator€s reports attached. J. Matsui askedif there is a pathway going into Carlsmith Beach Park. T. Spinola- Campbell replied there is a pathway that was putin by the original property owners. There is no requirement for the pathway in the ocean under ADA. This person requested handrails and if the county can put them in, then a number of permits have to be filed. The handrails have to comply with ADAAG requirements. However, this park is not under the Transition Plan. The purpose of the Transition Plan is not to make every single facility you have accessible. It is to make key facilities accessible and provide program access. D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT  A. MITCHENER No report. NEW BUSINESS J. Matsui raised the issue again about the disabled parking stalls at the Hilo Shopping Center relocated to the other end of the parking lot. Disabled people are complaining that it€s an inconvenience for them. J. Viernes pointed out that he raised this issue at theNovember3,2006meetingandit€saprivateparkinglot.T.Spinola-Campbell suggested he contact Disability Rights Hawaii since they deal with private businesses. ThecountycannotenforcetheADAwithprivatebusinesses. STATEMENTSFROMTHEPUBLICONNON-AGENDAISSUES J. Souza reported that some of the deaf people are complaining that the TV show HawaiiŠs Most Wanted is not closed-captioned. Police says they are seeking funding for captioning and is offering a transcript of each episode to anyone meanwhile. But the deafpeopleandhearenotconvincedbecauseinthepast,manyTVstationssaid captioning was pending when they actually didnŠt mean it. They couldnŠt help feeling beingtreatedassecondclasscitizens. 3 D. Cowdrey asked who sits on the program. T. Spinola-Campbell said it€s her understanding that it€s a production of Crime Stoppers and Na LeoO Hawaii with the Police Department hosting the program. T. Spinola-Campbell mentioned that the program started again and she asked J. Souza if there is a message about the transcripts being available. J. Souza replied that he has not seen it and many deaf people told him that they saw that. T. Spinola-Campbell suggested that MCPD send a letter to the Police Chief or the Mayor to express their feelings. A letter to the Mayor wouldget the issue elevated at a higher level. If J. Souza is not happy with what happens within the county to complain, then he can go with other entities outside. D. Cowdrey made a motion that collaboration between M. Gleason and J. Souza to write a letter to the Mayor regarding captioning for Hawaii€s Most Wanted program. L.Tobosasecondedthemotion.Themotionwaspassed. L.Duwallreportedthattheyhavefundinginparkstohaveanassessmentdonefor accessibility. Unfortunately, when they applied for the funding, it does not include programming. Instead of assessing all the physical facilities in the park, they will pick and choose and group physical facilities with programming or primary sites. In addition, they have a new person in the park who is an interpretive writer and designer. They have been working very hard on wheelchair grades and pavement, but they haven€t been upgrading their signs for the blind or other types of experiences for everyone. The park is gearing up for a centennial celebration in 2016 and replacing a lot of old interpretive signs. ANNOUNCEMENTS J. Souza announced that the State of Hawaii has a pilot test for the deaf and blind emergency evacuation warning. The deaf and blind people need to register with the State. It should be done during the month of May working with Civil Defense. An announcement will be sent outand it will be starting on Oahu. The next meeting will be held on Friday, June 1, 2007, at 10:30 a.m. in the Kona Mayor€s Office conference room. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:25 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 4