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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-04-02 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Action Required : Letter to Mayor – M. Gleason and Friday, April 2, 2004, 10:30 a.m. B. Whitney Kona Mayor’s Office Conference Room PRESENT: Michael Gleason, Chair; Ted Yamanaka, Vice-Chair; Betsy Whitney, Secretary; Denise Cowdrey, Jack Matsui, Lawrence Scadden, James Souza, Laura Tobosa GUESTS: Tom Brown, Mass Transit Agency; Randy Caddell, Peggy Fallwind, Chuck Fleming, DCAB Board Member; Susan Golden, John Hartman, H.A.W.K.; Philip Henderson, Kona Alii Condominiums; Bongho Lee, Sonia Scadden, Sharon Smockhoffmann, Hawaii Disability Rights Center; Teri Spinola-Campbell, ADA Coordinator (Personnel Program Specialist); Malina Thorpe, Interpreter CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:35 a.m. An introduction of committee members, staff, and guests was made. APPROVAL OF MINUTES L. Scadden made a motion to accept the minutes of March 5, 2004 as submitted. T. Yamanaka seconded the motion. The motion was passed with B. Whitney abstaining. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES J. Hartman said he will voice his concerns about Kona Alii Condominiums when the issue is brought up under New Business. J. Hartman stated that he still wants to know how many tickets the Police Department is issuing for illegal/accessible parking in the Kona district. L. Scadden pointed out that there is new leadership in Kona and he felt it was appropriate to provide the new captain with information about the new laws. S. Golden reported that she was glad to see “Emergency Preparedness” back on the agenda. P. Fallwind expressed her concerns that our parks are not friendly to people with disabilities. In addition, there is no park in which people with limitations can easily get in and out of the water. Our parks also don’t have telephones available for 911 calls. TREASURER’S REPORT The treasurer’s report was reviewed. B. Whitney made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as submitted. J. Matsui seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE A. Letter to Andy Levin from Lawrence Mahuna, Police Chief, regarding illegal parking in front of Coconut Grove in Kona J. Hartman reported that he calls the police department every Sunday morning regarding motorcycles parked illegally in front of Durty Jakes and parking on the sidewalk by Quinn’s Restaurant. After some discussion, J. Hartman demanded that Sergeant Randy Apele attend the next Kona meeting. B. Whitney suggested sending a letter to the Mayor about the public’s concerns and the inaction of the Police Department. M. Gleason will draft the letter with assistance from B. Whitney. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS SUBCOMMITTEE – M. GLEASON M. Gleason reported that this subcommittee did not meet this month. B. RECREATION SUBCOMMITTEE M. Gleason encouraged the new members to consider serving on this subcommittee. B. Whitney added that you don’t have to be on MCPD to be on a subcommittee. L. Scadden asked if this subcommittee will be addressing issues regarding physical access as well as program access. M. Gleason said that A. Mitchener served on this subcommittee and she addressed both physical and program access. C. TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE – B. WHITNEY B. Whitney reported that this subcommittee did not meet since E. Mason moved. T. Brown reported that the County of Hawaii is proposing a fuel tax increase of six cents. Of the six cents, four cents would be earmarked for public works and road repairs. Two cents would be earmarked for public transportation. The proposed uses for the transportation system would be double the services that are provided now. The reason for the fuel tax is to expand services. Currently, the county’s fuel tax is 8.8 cents a gallon, which is the lowest in the state, followed by Kauai at 13.8 cents, Oahu at 16.5 cents, and Maui at 18 cents. T. Brown stated that he proposed designating the Kona District between Kealia and Kailua as a transit free zone at a public informational meeting held two weeks ago. It means that anybody who boards in this area would ride for free which would require Council approval. J. Hartman mentioned that the West Hawaii Today had an invitation for bid for a price agreement for furnishing and operating fixed route/schedule public transit bus service for the Mass Transportation Agency. T. Brown said that the Mass Transit Agency is going out to bid for their bus service contract. 2 T. Brown offered to assist B. Whitney on the Transportation Subcommittee. B. Whitney suggested changing the name of “Handi-Van” to something else. T. Brown agreed to look into this idea. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE – SGT. APELE No report. M. Gleason stated that he will personally invite Sergeant Apele to the next Kona meeting to provide an update on the volunteer parking violation enforcement program. B. UPDATE FROM DCAB – C. FLEMING/N. OLESEN C. Fleming reported that the Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB) is co-sponsoring The Tools for Life Expo and Conference on July 9-10, 2004 at the Blaisdell Exhibition Center. The Department of Justice will be at the Friday’s workshop to discuss the revised Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). He shared the flyer of the conference for interested members. B. Whitney raised a concern that several people who have businesses in Hawaii were contacted about Tools for Life who are not non profit agencies but are people with disabilities who have for profit businesses. They are upset that they have to pay more if they are a for profit business. C. Fleming will forward this concern to DCAB. The Office of Elections has work opportunities for people with disabilities who are interested in working as election day officials at the polls. C. Fleming offered to email the flyer to J. Viernes to forward to MCPD members. DCAB has been focusing on people who have disabled parking placards and they are not disabled. In fact, some of them are dead and family members are using the placards. Therefore, DCAB is doing a pilot project and sending out letters to people with disabilities who are deceased to their families. Approximately 207 letters were issued and 34 placards were retrieved. The database modifications, which DCAB is responsible for, have been working well. The counties now have a database for the disabled parking placards which shows who has an assigned placard and who does not have a placard. C. ADA COORDINATOR’S REPORT – T. SPINOLA-CAMPBELL Report attached. B. Whitney referred to Page 2 of Powered Wheelchair as Vehicle or Pedestrian Notes for clarification on electric personal assistive mobility devices; restrictions. 3 The meeting was recessed at 11:30 a.m. The meeting was reconvened at 11:40 a.m. D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT – A. MITCHENER A report submitted by A. Mitchener was circulated to MCPD members. B. Whitney requested that A. Mitchener’s report be included with the meeting packet. Since the report was sent at the last minute, she was unable to download the report and print it in Braille. E. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS – L. SCADDEN L. Scadden reported that Troy Kindred, Civil Defense Administrator, wants to meet with people with disabilities. However, T. Kindred wants to make sure the meeting is within the Sunshine Law guidelines. F. TRANSITION PLAN UPDATE, PROGRAM ACCESSIBILITY TOOLKIT – A. MITCHENER No report. NEW BUSINESS A. MODEL FOR ACCESSIBILITY MANUAL M. Gleason reported that he ordered 35 copies of the booklet “A Model for Accessibility” that was developed by the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He would like to give 35 copies to all the county department heads. A staff person at the Center on Disability Studies indicated that they will be charging for the printing costs. However, B. Whitney said it wasn’t necessary because the Center on Disability Studies has ample funds through the University of Hawaii to do that type of work. Therefore, M. Gleason retracted his request to MCPD. B. KONA ALII CONDOMINIUMS – PHILIP HENDERSON P. Henderson circulated a written report of his presentation to MCPD regarding the Kona Alii Condominiums. Report attached. J. Hartman pointed out that the curb cut is non-compliant. The county has to remove the curb cut. S. Golden raised a concern on getting down from the crosswalk to the ramp. B. Whitney asked what action does the MCPD need to take on this county issue. T. Spinola-Campbell said the county issue is the crosswalk. DCAB has to review the drawings to make sure the space will be appropriate for the crosswalk that the county has to redo and put in. M. Gleason suggested that interested parties meet with P. Henderson after the meeting to discuss the Kona Alii Condominiums issue further. 4 STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDA ISSUES S. Smockhoffmann, from Hawaii Disability Rights Center, provided background information about her organization. She offered her business card and brochures for interested members. R. Caddell expressed his concerns about having accessibility to the waters edge for people with disabilities. J. Hartman stated that there is no accessibility requirement in the ADA guidelines for putting people into the water. Hopefully, the new ADA guidelines will have that requirement to provide access to the waters edge. P. Fallwind expressed her concerns that there are not enough bathrooms available around the island for people with limitations. The police department needs to have an educational program on dealing with people with a multitude of disabilities. People need to have access to the ocean. There needs to be a general change in attitude amongst the county, especially people who are in the planning offices. There is no housing for people with limitations. ANNOUNCEMENTS J. Matsui announced the Big Island Sports Hall of Fame and County of Hawaii Awareness Program. The next meeting will be held on Friday, May 7, 2004, at 10:30 a.m. in Hilo. Location to be announced. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 5