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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-09-05 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes Action Required: MAYORÓS COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Letter to Debbie Ishado Î M. Gleason Friday, September 5, 2003, 10:30 a.m. Aupuni Conference Room PRESENT: Michael Gleason, Chair; Ted Yamanaka, Vice-Chair; Betsy Whitney, Secretary; James Souza, Laura Tobosa EXCUSED: Elizabeth Mason, Lawrence Scadden GUESTS: Leilani Andrade, Information Dissemination Project; Andy Levin, MayorÓs Office; Leonard McGhee, Coordinated Services; Alisa Mitchener, Recreation Specialist- Department of Parks and Recreation; Pele Stolpe, Information Dissemination Project; 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 A. Mitchener made a correction to the minutes on page 4, D. Parks and Recreation Report, number 3. The word ÐpastÑ should be changed to Ðbest.Ñ T. Yamanaka made a motion to accept the minutes of August 1, 2003 as corrected. L. Tobosa seconded the motion. The motion was passed with B. Whitney abstaining. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ISSUES None. TREASURERÓS REPORT The treasurerÓs report was reviewed. B. Whitney made a motion to accept the treasurerÓs report as submitted. J. Souza seconded the motion. The motion was passed. CORRESPONDENCE A. Letter to Michael Ben, Director of Personnel, from MCPD regarding the ADA/Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Officer position A. Levin reported that there were 13 applicants, 11 were qualified, and two people were asked for additional information. B. Email to Jane Knox from A. Levin regarding ID card issued by GTE and the Honolulu Police Department for people with hearing impairments. J. Souza reported that he has been in touch with F. Wai regarding this issue. A. Levin reported that J. Knox (formerly with DCAB, now with Sprint) said she had been able to get a card by going to an Aloha State Association of the Deaf meeting. They did not require verification of hearing loss and did not require verification of ASL skills. J. Knox doubts that the Hawaii Police Department or anyone else would want Sprint verifying individuals who might seek a card fraudulently. In addition, J. Knox was sure that Sprint would not want to get into the audiology business. However, she did see some good cards by one of the relay service mainland. She does intend to copy the idea after the first of the year when she has money in her budget. In the meantime, we are waiting to hear from F. Wai as to whether or not DCAB has any interest in people making recommendations or taking some action. A. Levin stated that he has asked F. Wai for help with respect to training our police department. As part of the training, it may be that our police department would take on the task of issuing some kind of ID card. C. Letter to S. Golden from A. Levin relating to County policy on portable toilets A. Levin reported that S. Golden raised the issue that if there were portable toilets set up for an event, each arrangement of toilets had to have an The county guidelines seem to indicate that only if an accessible toilet was not otherwise available would the person conducting the event have to provide an accessible portable toilet. The initial response from C. Townsend of DCAB was that she was not aware of any such requirement. Therefore, A. Levin based his letter to S. Golden on C. TownsendÓs response. S. Golden responded and cited a regulation that seems to substantiate her position that there has to be an accessible toilet with each array of portable toilets. A. Levin sent her response to DCAB and he is waiting for further response. D. Letter to All Department and Agency Heads and All County Boards Commissions from Mayor H. Kim regarding Confidential Communications E. Email to MCPD from C. Fleming regarding website for disabled evacuation brochure SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS A. EDUCATION/PUBLIC AWARENESS SUBCOMMITTEE Î M. GLEASON M. Gleason reported that the Hilo recognition luncheon will be held today after the meeting. Leonard McGhee is one of the recipients and he is unable to attend the luncheon. Since he was in attendance, MCPD presented L. McGhee with a lei and a Certificate of Appreciation. B. RECREATION SUBCOMMITTEE M. Gleason reported that MCPD is still seeking a committee member to spearhead this subcommittee. C. TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE Î B. WHITNEY B. Whitney reported that this subcommittee did not meet. 2 D. MEMBERSHIP SUBCOMMITTEE Î M. GLEASON/L. TOBOSA/B. WHITNEY M. Gleason reported that this subcommittee did not meet. B. Whitney stated that she will follow up with N. Olesen because he may know a potential candidate who has an engineering background. MCPD decided that the subcommittee will come up with names and circulate them through email. Once consensus is reached, the subcommittee will submit recommendations to the Mayor within the next two weeks. A. Levin pointed out that there are currently two vacancies on MCPD. The county administration will still welcome recommendations for the other vacancy, even if a person with an engineering background fills one. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. VOLUNTEER PARKING VIOLATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE ÎSGT. APELE Sergeant R. Apele reported that the pilot program for the volunteer disabled parking enforcement program has just finished in Kona. As part of the pilot program, volunteers were recruited for the Hilo and Kona districts. There were not enough qualified volunteers for the Hilo district and only one person passed through the process. As a result, enforcement has not been conducted for the Hilo district. Currently, there are five volunteers actively working in Kona. The program has been in operation for approximately eight or nine months. There are some minor problems that are being worked out regarding logistics in supervision, proper completion of administrative paperwork, and volunteers meeting their required hours. They have had a minimal amount of citations (100) issued in Kona because of limited hours and strict guidelines to abide by where the volunteers are allowed to conduct enforcement during scheduled hours and they must provide a TH schedule to the Police Department by the 25 of the previous month. Also, they are not allowed to deviate from that schedule. The volunteers are requesting to extend their hours which is something the Police Department is looking at. The volunteers have discovered that many of the accessible parking stalls in the Kona area are not in compliance with federal regulations. Therefore, the volunteers are unable to issue citations to violators within those stalls because the citations are not prosecutable in court. However, violation letters still can be sent to the violators. The best part that has come out of the program is we are now gaining compliance from many of the Kona establishments. They were given the proper requirements and many of them have become compliant. The Police Department is looking at expanding the program and doing another recruitment for the Hilo and Kona districts only either this month or next month. They would like to work out some minor problems before more peop board and proceeding with the next recruitment. They would like to recruit more people in the Hilo district so an enforcement program could begin. 3 Sergeant R. Apele says that the biggest problem is supervision. He is the designated supervisor, but his office is in Hilo. When the prog department, there was no manpower or a person to run the program. The Kona volunteers have been good and they work very independently. There have not been many complaints or any serious confrontations. Safety is a primary factor when the volunteers are working and they are required to work in teams. Another problem is funding for the program. The program needs to upgrade some equipment/uniforms. Currently, the volunteers are using an orange traffic vest which they donÓt like. However, they are encouraged to use it for visibility and safety. Sergeant R. Apele suggested a matching t-shirt or polo shirt to wear with the vest to look more uniform and easily identifiable. The volunteers should be properly attired. A. Mitchener asked a question about a phone number to call to report a violation. Sergeant R. Apele explained that if there is a violation, then a person would call Hilo dispatch (935-3311). The dispatcher would then send an officer down based on availability. If an officer is unable to respond or does not get there in time for the violation, then the location and license plate number of the vehicle could be forwarded to the Traffic Services Section to send a notice of violation letter. J. Souza suggested advertising the recruitment process because many people told him they want to volunteer, but they never heard anything about it. Sergeant R. Apele said paid advertisement is done via the newspaper and a press release during the recruitment period only. The advertisement was done eight or nine months ago for several weeks in the newspaper and via press rele L. Tobosa thanked Sergeant R. Apele for coordinating this successful program. She asked what is the highest rate of violations issued by the volunteers. Sergeant R. Apele said it was no placards. They have encountered vehicles that are parked with no display placard whether itÓs a violation where someone is parked illegally or someone who forgot to place their placard. While conducting training in Kona, they encountered a taxicab parked in an accessible parking stall with an accessible placard displayed. He was issued a citation because he couldnÓt produce identification for the passenger who was in the store. This situation has created a problem or concern and has been brought to the attention of DCAB on Oahu at a meeting. There may be a caregiver, family member, or taxi driver who is issued a citation for assisting a person with a disability. This occurs often on Oahu. The judges will throw out the case and not issue a fine because they want to help people with disabilities and do not want to put additional hindrances upon everyone. It was explained to the judges that itÓs a very gray area. The new law allows the District Court judges to fine the appropriate owner of a placard a lower amount ($25) if they are in an accessible stall and forget to hang their placard. 4 ThereÓs a big push to get some type of funding to fund DCAB and programs in the Legislature. DCAB is fighting hard to get some type of central funds or permanent funding so they are not at the mercy of the Legislature every year. Sergeant R. Apele suggested that interested volunteers contact him at 961-2305. The volunteers will be contacted during the recruitment period. L. Tobosa asked what the biggest cost of the program is, and the cost per year. Sergeant R. Apele replied that there are two large costs for the program. One is reimbursement for mileage, but the biggest cost is the administrative cost for running the program. There was a study done which was presented to the Mayor and A. Levin awhile ago on manpower cost. He offered to obtain the information and forward it to MCPD. B. UPDATE FROM DCAB Î C. FLEMING/N.OLESEN A. Levin reviewed a report submitted by C. Townsend, DCAB. J. Souza mentioned that many people who are deaf are complaining about a requirement that they have a special outside mirror on the side of the car. Deaf people object to this because itÓs a requirement for them and it should be equal for everyone. A. Levin offered to follow up on this issue and suggested that J. Souza raise this concern with Sergeant R. Apele. C. ADA COORDINATORÓS REPORT A. Levin reported that at the last meeting Mr. Hanato raised a concern about his son who has a disability. Unfortunately, Mr. HanatoÓs son passed away recently. A. Levin sent a condolence letter. The Kona MayorÓs Office now has proper signage on its restrooms. A. Levin asked B. Whitney to verify the appropriateness of the signage when she attends the Kona Mayor's Committee meeting. B. Whitney said she will be on the mainland for the next Kona meeting. Perhaps L. Scadden could review the Kona signage instead. D. PARKS AND RECREATION REPORT Î A. MITCHENER A. Mitchener reported on the following: 1. Served 45 children with disabilities this summer. Accommodations and parent support were provided. Field trips were the highlight for most of the kids. The lunch program was an excellent service. Five children attended with Skills Trainers compared to previous years. 1999 Î served 12 children with disabilities 2000 Î served 26 children with disabilities 2002 Î served 28 children with disabilities, 1 attended with an with the help of a public health nurse 2003 Î served 45 children with disabilities, 5 attended with an 5 2. Reviewed the Transition Plan with the Elderly Activities Division (EAD). They prioritized goals for the end of this year. The EAD committed to purchasing a TTY. 3. Provided training with the nutrition site managers about ADA awareness. 4. Another Recreation Staff training will be offered on September 12. One of the goals is to always include the expertise of people with disabilities in the training and link them with staff members. 5. Completed the community input, created inventory lists, and a na st October 1 grant application deadline for the lending library project. 6. Submitted goals and objectives, a budget, and timeline for approval for next fiscal year. She hopes to guide the department towards compliance with the Transition Plan, create new community classes, special events, and demonstration projects, and to strive for community collaboration. 7. Continue with staff support and site visits. A. Mitchener requested permission to circulate the MCPD brochure to Parks and Recreation staff. E. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS Tabled. The meeting was recessed at 11:25 a.m. The meeting was reconvened at 11:35 a.m. NEW BUSINESS M. Gleason reported that he was unaware of the passing of L. Ishado, MCPDÓs attorney from Corporation Counsel. He suggested sending a letter to Mr. IshadoÓs surviving spouse. MCPD agreed. M. Gleason offered to draft the letter with assistance from L. Tobosa and B. Whitney. A. Levin asked if MCPD wanted to provide input on the Honokaa Park Project within the next week. The plan is to build a very long ramp and the Parks Planner feels it is the best and only way to go in making the different sites accessible. DCAB flagged it and called the planner and said the county never wanted such a long ramp before. J. Souza offered to review the Honokaa Park. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NON-AGENDA ISSUES L. Andrade from Information Dissemination Project introduced herself and provided background information. Her intention is to help MCPD with public awareness needs and to help those who are unable to attend to know what is going 6 ANNOUNCEMENTS The next meeting will be held on Friday, October 3, 2003, at 10:30 a.m. in Kona. Location to be announced. B. Whitney announced that she will be unable to attend the October and November meetings since she will be on the mainland. M. Gleason announced that he will be unable to attend the November meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, _______________________________ JEAN VIERNES, STAFF SECRETARY 7