HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-05-06 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes
COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Action Required:
Letter to Mayor -
L. Scadden
Friday, May 6, 2005, 10:30 a.m.
Aupuni Conference Room
PRESENT: Lawrence Scadden, Chair; Ted Yamanaka, Vice-Chair; Betsy Whitney,
Secretary; Denise Cowdrey, Michael Gleason, Jack Matsui, James Souza,
Laura Tobosa
GUESTS: Malina Dravis, Interpreter;Lisa Duwall, Landscape Architect-Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park; Marianne Hodapp, Martin Hodapp, Andrea Johnson, CNA;
Manny Mattos, Jr., Volunteer Enforcement Officer; Norman Olesen, DCAB Board
Member; Rae Scadden, Sonia Scadden, Teri Spinola-Campbell, ADA Coordinator
(Personnel Program Specialist); Sergeant Dexter Veriato, Police Department
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 10:32 a.m. An introduction of committee members,
staff, and guests wasmade.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
B. Whitney made a motion to accept the minutes of March 4, 2005. T. Yamanaka
seconded the motion. The motion was passed.
STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES
None.
TREASURERS REPORT
The treasurers report was reviewed.
D. Cowdrey made a motion to accept the treasurers reportassubmitted. J. Matsui
seconded the motion. The motion waspassed.
CORRESPONDENCE
A. Brochure of the University of Hawaii Center, West Hawaii H awi Kkua Program
B. Memorandum from Michael Ben, Director of Personnel to Mayor Harry Kim
regarding the cancellation of the April 1, 2005 meeting because no quorum was
present
C. Memorandum from Mayor Harry Kim to Michael Ben, Director of Personnel in
responsetotheApril1,2005meetingcancellation
L. Scadden reported that MCPD has a policy in place and reminded MCPD
memberstocontactJ.ViernesbeforetheendofbusinessonThursday.After
business hours, members can leave a voice message at her office. MCPD
memberscanalsocontacthimathome.
Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
J. Matsui suggested that non-voting members, M. Dravis and S. Scadden,
participate in order to establish quorum if the situation arises when there is a lack of
quorum. However, L. Scadden pointed out that the Mayor appoints the committee
members. But under these circumstances, the quorum of the actual committee is
still not being reached. Under the Sunshine Law, MCPD is unable tomake any
decisions when thereis no quorum. At the April meeting, there was valuable input
from the public even though there was no formal meeting.
TEAM REPORTS
A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS TEAM M. GLEASON
No report.
B. RECREATIONTEAM L. SCADDEN
No report.
C.TRANSPORTATION TEAM B. WHITNEY
No report.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE
SGT. D. VERIATO
Sergeant D. Veriato reported that at the end of the last quarter of 2004, they
recertified all five (four in Kona and one in Hilo) of the parking enforcement volunteer
officers for another year. More training will be scheduled for the volunteer officers.
He has not yet scheduled a meeting with the four volunteer officers in Kona.
Maintenance with the West Hawaii volunteers is minimal because they are doing a
great job and Kona has a viable program. The volunteer officers in Kona have
written 29 to 30 citations and confiscated one placard. They work an average of 50
to70voluntaryhoursamonth,helpwiththeschools,andtrafficcontrol.
M.Mattos,Jr.istheonlyvolunteerofficerwhoisqualifiedtohelpwiththevolunteer
parking violation enforcement program in Hilo. Since he is the only volunteer officer,
he is not allowed to issue citations at this time. Sergeant D. Veriato suggested that
M. Mattos, Jr. go out to the businesses and other agencies and use the warning
notices published by DCAB and place those notices on the vehicles.
There is a program in Traffic Services that allows people who have witnessed a
violation to call the police department and provide the license number of the vehicle.
The police department will send a warning letter out to the registered owner of the
vehicle. This also applies to disabled parking violations. Sergeant D. Veriato said
that he informed M. Mattos, Jr. that he can get the license numbers of the cars that
are illegally parked and the police department will send a letter to the registered
owner informing them of the fines and consequences of getting a citation for the
disabled parking violations.
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L. Scadden asked if there will be any plans to have more recruitments for East
Hawaii so M. Mattos, Jr. will have a partner. Sergeant D. Veriato said that interested
people should contact him and he will start the process.
A. Johnson asked if the security guards working at the Sack N Save parking lots
have the authority to issue tickets. Sergeant D. Veriato responded that people can
turn in the license numbers and description of the cars illegally parked.
S. Scadden suggested that Sergeant D. Veriato publish a notice in the newspaper
that he is searching and recruiting for the parking enforcement volunteer officers.
Secondly, a sentence should be included that would say other people are allowed to
copy down the license number and description of cars and submit it to the police
department if there is no volunteer officer in place. Sergeant D. Veriato replied that
a flyer will be passed out with the next county paychecks and flyers going out in the
lettersthataresenttothepublicexplainingwhattheycando.Inaddition,thereisa
county program called the Blue Card Program and the public can write down the
license number and the description of the violation on the blue card and send it back
to the police department. This includes all types of traffic, parking, and disabled
parking violations.
J. Souza asked if he would be able to e-mail a photo taken with his camera phone of
the license number of a car parked illegally. Sergeant D. Veriato said the photo can
be e-mailed to him at hcpd2377@co.hawaii.hi.us
B. UPDATE FROM DCAB C. FLEMING/D. JACKSON/N. OLESEN
The April report from D. Jackson, DCAB was distributed to MCPD members. The
May report was not distributedsince there was not ample time to prepare the
alternative format materials.
N. Olesen reported DCAB is restructuring for the fiscal year starting in July. He was
reappointed by the legislature for another four years primarily because of his
technical ability. He is the only DCAB member who is a registered engineer and
bothcommitteesthatheservesonneedsthatexpertise.
TheStandingCommitteeonFacilityAccesshasquiteanagendabecausearchitects
are having a lot of difficulty meeting ADA requirements in existing structures. If they
thinkthatchangesarenotfeasible,thearchitectsmustpetitionforavariance.
DCAB can usually find a compromise that meets the ADA Requirements. When it
comestoADAcomplianceTitleIIforstateandcounty,thereisnosuchthingas
unreasonable or financially not being able to do it.
C. ADA COORDINATORS REPORT T. SPINOLA-CAMPBELL
T.Spinola-CampbellprovidedherreportastheADACoordinatorforMarchandApril
2005. ADA Coordinators report attached.
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T. Spinola-Campbell reported that she received a response from U.S.
Representative N. Abercrombie regarding her letter on the elimination of the CDBG
Program. He said that President G. Bushs proposition was defeated and CDBG will
remain intact for now and stay in HUD.
Sprint Relay Hawaii presents a Taste of Technology Fair for people who are hard-of-
hearing, deaf or speech impaired on Saturday, May 7, 2005, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at
the Hawaii Naniloa Hotel.
J. Souza stated that deaf people will be able to sign back and forth and
communicate using a video phone at this event.
D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT AND ADA GUIDELINES UPDATE
A. MITCHENER
No report.
E. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS L. SCADDEN
No report.
NEW BUSINESS
L. Scadden reported that MCPD needs to find additional people for the committee.
There were a couple of people who identified themselves at the last meeting in Kona as
being interested in serving on the committee. However, it is unknown if they submitted
applications. Applications can be obtained from J. Viernes.
M. Gleason said he understood that there is a standing list of applicants for MCPD.
J. Viernes mentioned that the duties of filling the vacancies on boards and commissions
is now under the direction of the Corporation Counsels Office since Wendell Hatada,
Executive Assistant, has been out on sick leave. They are looking at filling a Kona
vacancy for MCPD.
M. Gleason mentioned that he saw an interesting idea on the news about the towns in
Massachusetts.Asanincentive,theretiredpeoplevolunteer,helpwithcountyjobsand
other non-profit organizations. The township would let people who own their home and
areretiredworkoffsomeoftheirpropertytaxbyworkingatoneofthosejobs.
M.Mattos,Jr.askedifthecountyhasalistofpeoplewithdisabilitiessotheyareableto
be contacted in case of emergencies. L. Scadden replied that discussions have
occurredwiththeCivilDefenseAgency,butthelistdoesnotexist.
J. Souza raised a concern that a deaf visitor from California was stopped by a police
officer last month in Kona and she was thrown in jail because she was unable to
communicate with the police officer. The deaf visitor was disgusted and she thought the
police officers for the County of Hawaii had training on this type of situations.
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T. Spinola-Campbell stated that she was doing research on the visor alert program in
three states for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing when dealing with the police. A
deaf person who gets stopped by the police puts down the visor which says they are
deaf and then places both hands on the wheel. In this way therewill not be a
misunderstanding that a person might be reaching for a gun. The Aloha State
Association for the Deaf has a detective in Honolulu that is working on this program.
However, she is unsure where funding would come from for this program.
T. Spinola-Campbell indicated that she does a three-hour training for the police recruits.
She spends a long time on dealing with people with different disabilities and a lot of time
on deaf awareness. In addition, the Corporation Counsels Office does civil rights
training and some ADA training.
B. Whitney asked why couldnt a deaf person put a note on their visor that said Im deaf
andputtheirhandsonthewheel.Whywouldwehavetohavealotofmoneyto
implement this program?
L. Scadden offered to draft a letter to the Mayor regarding this issue. He encouraged
T. Spinola-Campbell to coordinate training with the Corporation Counsels Office to
make sure what they are doing is fully appropriate as well.
STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDA ISSUES
L. Duwall reported that the visitor center was renovated and reopened on April 25 and
includes sound sticks, a diorama, and textural components to the exhibits. Secondly,
the sulfur bank trails are now accessible. On June 21, there will be a moonlight walk in
the park.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
T. Spinola-Campbell announced that the Office of Elections is soliciting feedback from
people regarding accessibility at the polling sites since no one provided any input.
Comments should be forwarded to her. D. Cowdrey suggested forwarding MCPDs
October minutes to the Office of Elections. B. Whitney mentioned that all of the trainers
whodidtrainingthroughouttheneighborislandsreportedthingsthattheyheard.She
doesnt know if the Office of Elections could get access to that information.
The next meeting will be held on Friday, June 3, 2005, at 10:30 a.m. in Kona. Location
tobeannounced.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
_______________________________
JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY
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