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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-10-03 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Friday, October 3, 2003, 10:30 a.m. Kona MayorÓs Office Conference Room PRESENT: Michael Gleason, Chair; Ted Yamanaka, Vice-Chair; Elizabeth Mason, Lawrence Scadden, Laura Tobosa EXCUSED: Betsy Whitney, Secretary; James Souza GUESTS: Chuck Fleming, DCAB Board Member; Susan Golden, John Hartman, H.A.W.K.; Be Jones, Daniel King, Andy Levin, MayorÓs Office; Joe Pretsch, Lee Pretsch, Shari Stocki 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 T. Yamanaka made a motion to accept the minutes of September 5, 2003. L. Tobosa seconded the motion. The motion was passed. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES S. Golden asked if a response was received from DCAB about portable toilets. A. Levin replied he has not heard anything yet. J. Hartman reported that he will defer his remarks under Volunteer Parking Violation Enforcement Program update since Sergeant R. Apele was unable to attend todayÓs meeting. E. Mason reported that she met B. Jones and D. King at a food tasting event at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. She felt MCPD needs to address access to the hotel since there was only one ramp and three stairs leading down to the entertainment. D. King stated that there was a problem going down to the swimming pool. He had to go underground which seemed like a long maze. B. Jones said there was also no real access leading down to the beach. She felt the event was extremely crowded and it made it difficult for a person in a wheelchair to participate. She asked how do people find out about access to the beaches or available brochures/maps J. Hartman explained that there is a route to the pool area and you donÓt have to go underground. Perhaps there should have been proper signage. A person needs to call the county for county parks and the state for state parks. A. Levin suggested that B. Jones contact the Big Island Visitors Bureau (BIVB) for brochures. He suggested that B. Jones make a presentation or inquiry to the Chamber of Commerce, BIVB, or other visitor organizations on issues that she is raising. However, J. Hartman said the BIVB has maps, but the maps donÓt address accessibility. He recommended Kahaluu Beach Park because it is in the process of being renovated to ADAAG standards. TREASURERÓS REPORT The treasurerÓs report was reviewed. L. Tobosa made a motion to accept the treasurerÓs report as submitted. E. Mason seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE A. Condolence letter to Debbie Ishado B. Thank you card from Debbie Ishado SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS SUBCOMMITTEE Î M. GLEASON M. Gleason reported that MCPD completed the recognition luncheon in Hilo last month. The luncheon was well attended. The subcommittee has no then. B. RECREATION SUBCOMMITTEE M. Gleason reported that MCPD is still seeking a committee member to spearhead this subcommittee. C. TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE Î B. WHITNEY No report. D. MEMBERSHIP SUBCOMMITTEE Î M. GLEASON/L. TOBOSA/B. WHITNEY M. Gleason reported that the subcommittee reviewed most of the applications and came up with a couple of recommendations. However, another potential candidate (Jean Navarro) has just submitted an application. The subcommit review J. NavarroÓs application before sending a recommendation e-mail for comments and then to the Mayor. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE Î A. LEVIN/SGT. APELE J. Hartman reported that he is trying to find out what criteria the parking enforcement volunteers use to determine whether an accessible stall is compliant or non- compliant. He is unable to find anyone who can provide that inf C. Fleming offered to bring J. HartmanÓs concerns to DCAB since he is chair of the parking committee. 2 J. Hartman complained about motorcycles found parked on Alii Drive in no-parking zones particularly on weekends in front of Durty Jakes. He reported this violation to the Police Department many times and nothing happens. A police officer drove past without stopping to issue tickets because the particular officer claimed Ðit was not his beat.Ñ In addition, there are cars parked in a no-parking zone in front of QuinnÓs Restaurant. There are no sidewalks and for a person using a wheelchair, he has to go around the cars and into the traffic lanes on Alii Drive to g A. Levin offered to send a memo to the Police Department concerning parking on weekends in front of Durty Jakes and QuinnÓs. J. Hartman raised a concern about people parking in accessible stalls without appropriate parking placards at Pahoehoe Beach Park, Magic Sands Beach Park, Kahaluu Beach Park, and HonlÓs. J. Hartman stated that the volunteer parking enforcement volunteers have limited hours and strict guidelines. If there is any kind of community event occurring at Keauhou Shopping Center or Lanihau Shopping Center, there are no accessible stalls available for disabled people. The violators are never ticketed because the volunteers donÓt work on weekends or the hours that they work are not necessarily the prime hours for ticketing. J. Hartman expressed his concern that people who violate accessible parking are not being charged the minimum of $250 as set by the State. The judges have even broken down the fee to $20 or turned people away because the violator is unable to afford it. B. UPDATE FROM DCAB Î C. FLEMING/N. OLESEN A summary from DCAB was distributed to MCPD members. C. ADA COORDINATORÓS REPORT Î A. LEVIN A. Levin reported that DCAB will be presenting training sessions to the Police Department on issues relating to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. He will ask the trainers to raise the issue of having an ADA Coordinator for the Police Department. A. Levin stated he is exploring the idea of issuing identification cards for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. There is one district (Waikiki) on Oahu that does this. Apparently there is one officer who took the initiative to put this together. Identification cards are also being issued on the island of Kauai. A. Levin said he forwarded samples of the cards to our Police Department for its review and comments. A. Levin reported that the initial response he received from DCAB regarding portable toilets was that the county standards for requiring portable toilets was appropriate. S. Golden then sent a citation to ADAAG rules that seems to substantiate her 3 position. He sent S. GoldenÓs citation to F. Wai and C. Townsen comments. Unless there is a different explanation, A. Levin said he will inform the Department of Parks and Recreation to change its standards. A. Levin reported that a couple of years ago the county was charging for issuing parking placards. However, due to a court decision it was made aware that it was not appropriate except for temporary placards. The state program is carried out by the county without any funding. The Legislature and the Governor have not seen fit to fund the program by giving money to the counties. This issue was brought up at the last ADA CoordinatorsÓ meeting on Oahu. DCAB is asking for funding to be included in the Department of Health budget in the 2004 Legislature. This approach has not been successful in the past and may not be successful this time. Therefore, the idea was to have the Mayors who meet regularly with the Governor to suggest that she take the lead in saying to the DOH that they will include it in their budget. Mayor Kim has agreed to take the lead and present it to the Governor and a memo is in the process of being drafted. A. Levin will report back to MCPD on any progress. D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT Î A. MITCHENER M. Gleason reviewed a report submitted by A. Mitchener. E. Mason suggested that A. Mitchener indicate where the events are being held (in Hilo, Kona, Waimea, etc.). E. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS L. Scadden reported that he read the Emergency Evacuation Preparedness manual that was referred by C. Fleming. He felt that the manual is aimed strictly for people with disabilities themselves and efforts could by made by the Civil Defense Agency to make that available to people with disabilities. He wrote to Troy Kindred, Administrator of Civil Defense, to make sure that the early response personnel receive training on how best to work with people with disabiliti their disability. He has not received a response from T. Kindred and a copy of the Civil Defense plan was also requested. L. Scadden mentioned that he received notice that Civil Defense training will be available for community groups next week. He would like this kind of training to include components or modules within it regarding people with disabilities. NEW BUSINESS A. BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR FY 2004-05 M. Gleason reported that he will be responsible for preparing the budget estimates for FY 2004-05. He asked MCPD members to inform him of any ideas or changes regarding the budget. E. Mason noted that our travel expenses have been decreased since our sign language interpreter lives on the Big Island. 4 STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDA ISSUES S. Golden made a recommendation to have one identification card for everything instead of several cards. There should be one identification card issued from the GovernorÓs Office that requires a picture and all the information needed. E. Mason disagreed because the identification cards come from the state, local, or other issuing agencies. In addition, she would not want the person to whom you are giving your identification card to to know all these facts. C. Fleming felt it would not happen because of the new federal information act. The state is very reluctant to issue an identification card which indicates a personÓs disability/diagnosis on it. L. Scadden said that a lot of it has to do with the recognition by local, county, transportation departments, and the like for the recognition or acceptance of the state ID. S. Golden asked if it would be possible to get a commitment from the county that it will not put in county money or change the crosswalk at Kona Alii Condominiums until input is received from disabled people. A. Levin replied that the obligation for Kona Alii Condominium is to meet ADA standards. He will ask the Engineering Department to flag it. He will also urge the manager for Kona Alii Condominiu disabled community. S. Golden, J. Hartman, and C. Fleming volunteered to assist with providing input to get a desirable access. C. Fleming offered to ask DCAB to flag it and he will take a loo better understanding of the issue. D. King inquired about wheelchair accessible buses. J. Hartman responded that there is a county bus that travels up and down Alii Drive, but not all of them are accessible. He suggested contacting the Mass Transit Agency. S. Golden reported that the county is in the process of receiving a $3 million grant to improve transportation in the county. The county plans a dial-a-ride service in the Kona area including the airport in the summer or fall of next year. ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting will be held on Friday, November 7, 2003, at 10:30 a.m. in Hilo. Location to be announced. E. Mason announced that October 15, 2003 is White Cane Day and the month of October is White Cane Awareness month. A support group is planning to meet on October 15 at the Kailua-Kona Library and walk down to Alii Drive using white canes. She suggested that the Mayor prepare a proclamation recognizing White Cane Day. L. Tobosa offered to fax last yearÓs proclamation to A. Levin. 5 L. Scadden reported that he checked the restrooms signage at the Kona MayorÓs Office and they are up to standard. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:56 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 6