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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-11-05 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes Action Required: COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES 1. Letter to Mayor € L. Scadden 2. Videoconferencing Friday, November 5, 2004, 10:30 a.m. clarification € Aupuni Conference Room L. Scadden PRESENT: Lawrence Scadden, Chair; Ted Yamanaka, Vice-Chair; Betsy Whitney, Secretary; Denise Cowdrey, Michael Gleason, Jack Matsui, James Souza, Laura Tobosa GUESTS: Daniel Desimone, Malina Dravis, Interpreter; Bob Dunkley, ADA Coordinator Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Andrea Johnson, CNA; Sonia Scadden, Teri Spinola- Campbell, ADA Coordinator (Personnel Program Specialist) CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:30 a.m. An introduction of committee members, staff, and guests wasmade. APPROVAL OF MINUTES J. Souza made a correction to the minutes on page 2, E. Emergency Preparedness. He doesnt recall saying that the flashing lights would be good for people who are far away. It should read that vibrating pagers would be successful for deaf people who are far away from the street. M. Gleason made a motion to accept the minutes of October 1, 2004 as corrected. J. Matsui seconded the motion. The motion was passed with L. Scadden abstaining. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES None. TREASURERS REPORT The treasurers report was reviewed. L. Tobosa made a motion to accept the treasurers report assubmitted. T. Yamanaka seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE A. Training Notice from the Office of the Corporation Counsel regarding the State Sunshine Law to be held on December 1, 2004 at the Aupuni Center Conference Room L. Scadden encouraged MCPD members to participate in the training. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS A.EDUCATION/PUBLICAWARENESSSUBCOMMITTEE€M.GLEASON M. Gleason reported that this subcommittee did not meet this month. He would like directionfromthecommitteeastowhatsubject/topicthesubcommitteeshouldfocus on. Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer L. Scadden said that as MCPD goes forward on the emergency preparedness, one of the key issues is going to be public awareness of what should be done. B. RECREATION SUBCOMMITTEE € L. SCADDEN L. Scadden reported that he has not spoken to A. Mitchener in the last month since he returned from vacation. He received a phone call from the head lifeguard at a public pool in West Hawaii about what should be done to make the pool facilities accessible to blind people. L. Scadden said he provided comments and asked if they have been in contact with A.Mitchener. He was assured that A. Mitchener had prompted the lifeguard to work on improving accessibility of the pool. C. TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE € B. WHITNEY B. Whitney reported that she has not spoken to T. Brown. She felt that this subcommittee needs guidance from MCPD. L. Scadden said he heard through the grapevine and talking to other county people that additional public transportation will be provided in West Hawaii. He would like to invite T. Brown to a MCPD meeting to discuss the additional buses and to ensure that it meets the needs of people with disabilities. D. Cowdrey agreed to serve on this subcommittee and asked L. Scadden to include her in the meeting with A. Mitchener. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE T. Spinola-Campbell reported that Sergeant R. Apele has been promoted to lieutenant and transferred to Kona. The last communication she received from the Police Department is that they have not named a replacement for Lt. R. Apeles former position. She sent another e-mail this week, but she did not receive a reply yet. At this time, she doesnt know who is in charge of the Traffic Division. She has been communicating with the community liaison officer. L.ScaddensuggestedthatT.Spinola-Campbellcontinuetomonitorthissituation.If T. Spinola-Campbell is unsuccessful, then MCPD will pursue this issue with the MayorsOffice. B.WhitneysaidthatMCPDhasnotbeenreceivingthequarterlyreportofthe volunteer parking violation enforcement program on a timely basis. Perhaps MCPD canaskthecommunityliaisonofficertogeneratethereportinstead. L.ScaddenindicatedthatthelasttimeLt.R.ApeleappearedbeforeMCPDhesaid that they are in the process of recruiting more volunteers and providing training. It seemsliketheprogramisfallingthroughthecracks. B.UPDATEFROMDCAB€C.FLEMING/D.JACKSON/N.OLESEN M. Gleason reviewed DCABs report from D. Jackson. 2 L. Scadden reported that the accessible voting machine worked very well. The contract was pulled effective after the election because of a strange situation. The Office of Elections in Honolulu will be submitting another request for proposal. The previous request for proposal had required that the recipient of the new contract to provide voting machines to the State of Hawaii had to have been involved in elections for three years. The company thatreceived the award had been involved in elections with electronic voting machines in 2001, 2002, and 2003. The committee that selected the machines felt that three elections should represent three years. Apparently, there were about ten weeks less than three years between the time that they first held an election to the time they signed this contract with the State of Hawaii. The procurement office will review the whole process in the near future. C. ADA COORDINATORS REPORT € T. SPINOLA-CAMPBELL T. Spinola-Campbell provided her report as the ADA Coordinator for October 2004. A copywas circulated to MCPD members. J. Matsui mentioned that there are electrical buttons for blind people to open an automatic door in Japan. He suggested that MCPD make a recommendation to the county about installing automatic doors in government facilities. L. Scadden offered to draft a letter to the Mayor. D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT € A. MITCHENER No report. E. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS € L. SCADDEN L. Scadden said he had nothing new to report. He offered to contact Wendell Hatada, Acting Civil Defense Administrator. B. Whitney said she heard that poll assistants during elections are not allowed to leave their precincts all day. Some people with disabilities would like to work as poll assistants, but they are unable to do a 13-hour shift. She wondered if a modification canbemadetothatpolicy.L.ScaddenofferedtomakecontactwiththeOfficeof Elections regarding this policy. B. Whitney stated that explanations or complete text of the possible amendments to theconstitutionwereproducedbythelibraryfortheblindanddistributedtoelection offices throughout the state. Nobody told anybody they had it available, but DCAB did.TherewerepeoplewhoarentassociatedwithDCABwhodontknowsothere were people wanting to know where they could get Braille copies. She found out thatshecouldpickupaBraillecopyfromtheelectionofficeuntilOctober30.She felt the Office of Election should have done more education or public awareness. 3 NEW BUSINESS A. EAST AND WEST HAWAII MCPD/VIDEOCONFERENCING L. Scadden reported that he would like MCPDs input on this issue and how best to tie the two sides of the island together. B. Whitney stated that this issue comes up every two or three years. The Mayors have said they dont want to show separation between East and West Hawaii. The issue of using videoconferencing is a possibility. However, she felt having separate Mayors committees would defeat the purpose because we are the county advisory committee to the Mayor. L. Tobosa agreed with B. Whitney. MCPD had this discussion many times before for years. The fact remains that this suggestion came from someone that is not a member of MCPD. She feels the committee is working well and alternating meetings between Hilo and Kona so input is provided to MCPD. Therefore, MCPD should proceed as is unless the committee can come up with a better way. L. Scadden said he agrees with the way the meetings are held now and MCPD being one committee. Secondly, he likes the idea of alternating meetings because it gives everyone an opportunity to bring up their issues every couple of months. J. Matsui indicated that it would be a good idea to have the meeting on both sides of the island because East and West Hawaii members need to get together. B. Whitney said that MCPD should pursue the question of whether or not the committee could use videoconferencing. She is hearing that the Kona people are feeling like they are not able to participate in the Hilo meeting unless they come here. Transportation is an issue for some particular people. L. Scadden stated that he will pursue the videoconferencing after further clarification. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDA ISSUES S. Scadden reported that she participates in a monthly teleconference in the Mayors Office in Kona and never once have they received any interruption of service. B. Whitney responded that she no longer can participate by telephone in a meeting because of the State Sunshine Law. L. Scadden explained the Sunshine Law to A. Johnson. J. Matsui suggested that MCPD vote on not changing the meeting. MCPD unanimously voted to not change the current meeting structure of alternating between Hilo and Kona. The meeting was recessed at 11:40 a.m. The meeting was reconvened at 11:45 a.m. B. Dunkley reported that the Sulfur Bank Accessible Trail project was completed four monthsago.However,theinterpretivesignsarenotupyet.Oncethesignsarrive,a dedication event or blessing will be held. The Kilauea Visitor Center is undergoing a 4 major rehabilitation. All the old exhibits are being taken out and some architectural changes are being made to make it more accessible for people with mobility problems and more accessible for people with vision impairments. The exhibits should be expected early in the year and will open in February. Upcoming projects are the Volcano House walkway system which willbe made accessible. Another project is the lower part of the Kipuka Puaulu Nature Trail which will be accessible from the forest. About 2,000 feet of the Kau Desert Trail will be an accessible paved walkway. Within the last year, 118,000 acres of Kahuku was added to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. B. Dunkley said they have been struggling with how to manage that for public use and make it available for some form ofpublic use. A general management plan is underway which will take several years. In the meantime, an open house was held where staff allows people to drive the roads through Kahuku. Another open house is being planned for December 11. L. Scadden stated that he and his wife went up to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park inJuneandtheywereimpressedwiththedesignerscreativityandenthusiasm. ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting will be held on Friday, December 3, 2004, at 10:30 a.m. in Kona. Location to be announced. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 5