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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-12-02 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Friday, December 2, 2005, 11:15 a.m. Kailua Trade Center, County Council Office PRESENT: Lawrence Scadden, Chair; Ted Yamanaka, Vice-Chair; Jack Matsui, James Souza, Laura Tobosa EXCUSED: Betsy Whitney, Secretary; Denise Cowdrey, Michael Gleason GUESTS: Malina Dravis, Interpreter; Susan Golden, Joan Lawhead, Volunteer Enforcement Officer; Alisa Mitchener, Recreation Specialist-Department of Parks and Recreation; Sonia Scadden, Teri Spinola-Campbell, ADA Coordinator (Equal Opportunity Officer) CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 11:30 a.m. An introduction of committee members, staff, and guests wasmade. L. Scadden announced that he will miss the next three meetings (January, February, and March) for family reasons because he will be on the East Coast. APPROVAL OF MINUTES J. Matsui made a motion to accept the minutes of November 4, 2005. J. Souza seconded the motion. The motion was passed with L. Scadden abstaining. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES None. L. Scadden reported that he will continue to accept comments from the public after the committee completes their discussion. TREASURERS REPORT The treasurers report was reviewed. L. Tobosa made a motion to accept the treasurers report assubmitted. J. Matsui seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE A.CopyoflettersfromPatriciaOToole,DeputyCorporationCounseltoJohnHartman and Karleen Stillman regarding Alleged Non-Compliance with HUD CDBG, ABA and ADARequirementsViolationofJustinKaponoTokioka T. Spinola-Campbell reported that she spoke to Christina Pilkington, ADA CoordinatoronKauai,yesterdayandtherewasnorequestforaninterpreterpriorto the tournament. Oneof theconfusion is that there is a rule that a tournament only Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer allows three coaches in the dug out. The boys father is a coach on another league and he is also his sign language interpreter. The boys mother also offered to interpret, but nobody else is allowed in the dug out. The boys parents are pursuing a complaint against the Pony League which would be a Title III entity. The Boys and Girls Club is offering a facility, but T. Spinola-Campbell does not feel its their responsibility to get the interpreter. It would be the Pony Leagues responsibility to get the interpreter because its the Pony League tournament. Under the Title VI legal manual, there are a lot of regulations involved with respect to the funding agencies and how they direct recipients to monitor compliance and handle complaints. In some cases, they are allowed to investigate complaints, but in other cases it would be the funding agency which would fall under Section 504. A. Mitchener reported that she looked up the Pony League on the Internet and she couldnt find a statement of non-discrimination on their website. L. Scadden said this is an unfortunate circumstance and hopefully good public educationcancomeoutofit. TEAMREPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS TEAM € M. GLEASON No report. B. RECREATIONTEAM €L. SCADDEN No report. C.TRANSPORTATION TEAM €B. WHITNEY No report. A. Mitchener reported that she mentioned at the last meeting about a package of curriculum for transportation training for people with disabilities offered by Easter Seals called Project ACTION. She offered to share the CDs, books, etc. for interested people and it is more geared for agencies that work with people with disabilitiesontraining.ShecontactedT.Brownandinformedhimthatshehasthe curriculum. She has not received a response as far as trying to create a collaborationortrainingprogramyet.RatherthanwaitforT.Browntorespond, A. Mitchener would like to get these materials out to agencies for review or if they wantedtopursueitfurther. A.Mitchenersaidthatthereisalsoaworkbookforinitiatingaccessibletaxiservices in the community. She will work with B. Whitney to see if the Transportation Team wouldwanttocomeupwithaproject. L.Scaddenreportedthattherewerestatementsfromthecountythatasof December 1 there will be new buses and new routes. 2 T. Spinola-Campbell stated that she read in the West Hawaii Today about the door to door service that will be operating for people with disabilities in Puna and Kona for $2. She checked with T. Brown to see if there will be difficulty charging the $2 fare because free transportation is available on the island. The FTA said they can charge the $2 fare because its a different service, its door to door service versus commuter service. D. NOMINATING TEAM € M. GLEASON/L. TOBOSA/B. WHITNEY L. Tobosa reported that the nominating team suggested re-advertising in the newspaper. However, there has been no response from interested applicants. L. Scadden said if anyone knows someone from the Konaside who is interested in serving on this committee to contact J. Viernes or B. Kossow from the Kona Mayors Office for an application. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE € SGT. D. VERIATO J. Lawhead reported that the volunteer officers are doing well and they just finished their third year. There are four volunteer officers in Kona and only one in Hilo. Sometimes they are busy and there are times when they rarely issue a ticket. Behind Lulus and Kona Alii Plaza are two areas with problems and they have been told to go there often to issue citations. Its kind of scary for the volunteer officers to approach delivery truck drivers who are illegally parked in or across the reserved parking spaces. The police patrols have been told to look into those areas. J. Lawhead said an improvement is the replacement of their vests with t-shirts saying Hawaii Police Department and their identification tag which makes them look moreofficial.Oneoftheirbiggestproblemsisgettingpropertyownerstocomply with properly marked disabled parking stalls and access aisles. The volunteer officershavenoclouttogetthemtocomplywiththerules.SheandMajorJ.Dawrs sent a letter to T. Spinola-Campbell explaining the situation and wondered whether MCPD or private individuals could help in this situation. T. Spinola-Campbell said she forwarded J. Lawheads report to Ron Amundson, Disability Rights Hawaii and they discussed it at their meeting this past week. Donald Thomas was also present from Hawaii Disability Rights and he seemed interested in this issue. She spoke to DCAB and they thought of writing to more corporate headquarters that they are not getting a response at local levels. R. Amundson wanted to check with all the businesses to see if they received a letter from DCAB and they can bring it forward to Hawaii Disability Rights. The report was also forwarded to the Planning Department because they can investigate businesses who havent done what the plan says it suppose to be doing. B. UPDATE FROM DCAB € C. FLEMING/N. OLESEN/K. SHAW The November report from K. Shaw, DCAB was distributed to MCPD members. 3 C. ADA COORDINATORS REPORT € T. SPINOLA-CAMPBELL T. Spinola-Campbell provided her report as the ADA Coordinator for November 2005. ADA Coordinators report attached. D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT € A.MITCHENER A. Mitchener provided a report on the Recreation Division and aquatics. The report is attached. L. Scadden mentioned that several months ago MCPD sent a letter to Mayor Kim indicating there was a call for more recreational programs for adults with disabilities. There has been no information from P. Engelhard, Director of Parks and Recreation and he offered to follow up after the first of the year. A. Mitchener offered to provide some specific questions to ask P. Engelhard. A. Mitchener said that the county has some adult programs. E. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS € L. SCADDEN L. Scadden reported that there is a lot going on at the National level and more interest on the State level too dealing with emergency preparedness for people with disabilities since Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans received a lot of publicity since this tragic event occurred. L. Scadden said he has no report for the County of Hawaii. NEW BUSINESS None. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDA ISSUES S. Golden reported there is a big national effort right now to pass a Visitability Bill. This is a housing building standard bill. She asked if MCPD could support this bill. S. Golden will forward any information to L. Scadden and J. Viernes. ANNOUNCEMENTS T. Spinola-Campbell announced that there will be improvements to the Aupuni Center and the Aupuni Center Conference Room in January. The next meeting will be held on Friday, January 6, 2006, at 10:30 a.m. in the Department of Research and Development conference room in Hilo. ADJOURNMENT Themeetingwasadjournedat12:23p.m. RESPECTFULLYSUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 4