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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-08-17 Committee on People with Disabilities Minutes MAYOR’S COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES c/o Hawai‘i County Office of Aging, 1055 Kino‘ole Street,Suite 101, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 MINUTES Wednesday, August 17, 2011 – 10:00 a.m. North Hawai‘i Education Research Center (Polycom Room) 45-539 Plumeria Street Honoka‘a, HI 96727 PRESENT : Paige DeLima, Chair; Wesley Tanigawa, Vice Chair; Jean Navarro, Laura Tobosa, James Dias Souza, Jesslie Hook, Pauline Aughe, Dareth Pung-Boteilho, Jessica Arruda. EXCUSED : Dr. Ron Wagner-Wright, Janice Mancini, Edeltraud Hanoa. OTHERS PRESENT AND GUESTS : Ku Mei Kern, Interpreter; Alisa Mitchener, P&R; Renee Schoen, Corporation Counsel; Alan Parker, HCOA; Sandra Arriola, HCOA. CALL TO ORDER P. De Lima called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE JUNE 29, 2011 MEETING R. Schoen requested postponing the approval of minutes until the next meeting. There were a few things that should be corrected before it is approved. L. Tobosa also had a correction on page 2, number 3, Margaret Cabanas should R. Schoen be Margaret Dohanas. stated that she will do Laura’s correction and whatever else she has, and will submit it to the Office of Aging for approval at the next meeting. Everyone agreed. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC – AGENDA ITEMS There were no statements from the public. NEW BUSINESS A. Report of Ad Hoc Committees J. Navarro 1. Employment Ad Hoc Committee: stated they met in May, and she sent Luana the minutes but not sure that it was sent out. Purpose was to come up with a position or mission statement for what the committee’s true purpose was. Bottom line is that the commission is just advisory and will just be the conduit or the gateway for the Mayor to hear what employment issues would be in the county for persons with disabilities. The next step that the committee plans to take is to find out what the hiring policies are for the county. J. Navarro Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer said she asked Luana if we could have access to policy information on how people are selected, to see if there are any artificial barriers that might be in there that we could help the county work without being bossy. A. Parker suggested that the committee make the request to Human J. Navarro Resources to cover all the departments. made a motion that the main committee request a meeting with HR to discuss what the hiring policies are to the county so we can see if we can provide J. Hook better access for persons with disabilities. was wondering if their concerns might be answered if we just request job descriptions as J. Navarro a first step. stated their ad hoc committee did look into that but if things are done online, having access to computers and ability to do an online application might be an artificial barrier. So, it’s not necessarily the job description itself but it’s the process to get to the people that look at your application. P. De Lima - there is a motion on the floor to request to meet with HR W. Tanigawa regarding county hiring policies. seconded the motion. A. Parker Discussion – suggested adding procedures – policy and J. Navarro procedures would be easier for HR to answer. amended the motion to add the word procedures – policies and procedures. Motion was passed. P. De Lima 2. Education Ad Hoc Committee: has nothing to report. She will follow up on Dr. Ron Wagner-White. L. Tobosa 3. Transportation Ad Hoc Committee: stated that HCEOC received a new grant from the Federal Transit Authority to provide transportation to people with disabilities, for employment. It would cover only the rural areas of Honokaa, Hawaiian Ocean View Estates and Kohala. A. Mitchener 4. Recreation Ad Hoc Committee: stated that they didn’t meet as a committee but has a recreational report which she will A. Mitchener submit. wanted to thank Paige and Wesley for the ADA Day event. It was really a wonderful event. W. Tanigawa 5. ADA Ad Hoc Committee: stated that the ADA Day at ADRC on July 26 was a big success. Feedback from the vendors was that it was more interactive this year. Vendors were Easter Seals, Police Department, Hawai‘i Disability Rights, Legal Aid Society, Full Life, Coordinated Services for the Elderly, County Nutritional Services, American Heart Association, The Stroke Club, County P&R, Hawai‘i Public Library, Aloha Independent Living, Alzheimer’s Association, Services for Seniors, Senior Employment and Surfers Healing. He stated that Paige worked very hard and managed to get donations from Big Island Candies, Safeway, Short and Sweet, Island Naturals, 2 Starbucks Coffee, Floral Mart and the balloons from Orchid Isle Balloons. Wes also acknowledged the committee members as well as the support agencies that had assisted in making the whole thing happen. Also Paige’s crew, Blaise and Raena that did the decorations, soliciting for the donations and making the place look fantastic. P. De Lima stated that the library was really excited about this event so they could show their disability accessible equipment. They now have Adaptive Computer Technology in the libraries for people with disabilities. P. Aughe is hoping that the final product of her videotaping can be used. A. ParkerP. De Lima and spoke about the award for Alisa who was recognized by the Mayor and the Governor, and Wes also received a Governor’s recognition. B. Report of the County of Hawai‘i, ADA Recreational Specialist, Alisa Mitchener. Report submitted. C. Report of the County of Hawai‘i, Equal Opportunity Officer, ADA R. Schoen Coordinator, Teri Spinola-Campbell: spoke with Teri regarding a report from Teri about the website compliance. She’s already set up training, working with UH, DCAB and our IT department to provide a website accessibility training to different departments and agencies. Hopefully next time we can get a written report. D. ELECTION OF OFFICERS for fiscal year July 2011-June 2012 pursuant to Article IV of the Bylaws of the Mayor’s Committee on People with R. Schoen Disabilities: stated that nominations are now being accepted P. De Lima from the floor for Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary. said the A. Parker secretary is Luana. stated not necessarily. The Office of Aging does service the board, providing administrative type services, according to R. Schoen , but the secretary for this committee serves another function, writing correspondence from the committee and serve as chairperson in the absence of the Vice-Chair and the Chair. Treasurer is already chosen. It was decided that there would be no change and the Chair will still be Paige and Vice-Chair is Wes. J. Navarro made a motion to accept the slate of officers as the current officers. Seconded by Laura. Motion was passed. W. Tanigawa - Open for discussion, whether we need a separate secretary L. Tobosa position. asked if he means secretary/treasurer – one person doing both? 3 R. Schoen stated that the place where she sees a secretary would be helpful is like if you’re wanting to notify HR that you want to meet with him. It would be nice to have somebody to do the task for the ad hoc committee. She helps by doing the agenda and the Office of Aging helps a lot too, but there are other things that you might want to have someone to work with that can do that quickly for the committee. She recommends following the bylaws and having the secretary to serve as vice-chair and chair should that person not be available. J. Navarro stated that there were two options – have a secretary as a stand-alone position or we can add it to Laura’s and make it L. Tobosa secretary/treasurer. agreed to be secretary/treasurer. W. Tanigawa made a motion to make the Treasurer position the J. Navarro Secretary/Treasurer position. seconded that motion. Motion was passed. UNFINISHED BUSINESS : P. De Lima wanted to start preparing for the summary reports to be submitted to the Mayor by the end of the year. The next meeting is in Kona, October 19, and P. De Lima the following one is on December 21 in Hilo. would not be able to st make the 21 so it was changed to December 14. It was decided that the December meeting would be more of a social luncheon with the Mayor, to submit the report. It would be at the Yacht Club with the Mayor, the ADA coordinator, ADA people. P. De Lima stated she can do it at $20 a head and if that’s not good, she can get donations for the rest of the luncheon. But the Mayor needs to be there. J. NavarroP. De Lima suggested council members too. agreed but stated they need to pay for their own luncheon. A. Mitchener suggested a slide show as part of a report or some pictures of a day and life of everybody in the committee. For example, I can do pictures of Mobi Mat Day, and James, maybe you could have pictures of your friend doing an activity. The intention would be to create something that allows people to understand what we’re doing. R. Schoen asked Alisa to set a deadline date for the pictures. A. Mitchener would like the digital pictures by the October 19 meeting. P. De Lima would like suggestions e-mailed to her regarding the December luncheon, about the council, legislators, and also about the $20 a head. ANNOUNCEMENTSJ. Navarro : - Cornell University has partnered with UH-Manoa and Center of Disability Studies to offer an intensive Social Security W. Tanigawa Benefits Planner training. stated the he also applied for that. It starts Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in Honolulu, and then 12 weeks of 4 Tuesdays in Honolulu. When we’re done with this we’ll be certified planners. Jean will represent West Hawai‘i and the ROSI here. So that adds another piece to our committees that we’ll also have someone who can help with the planning since people are so afraid of losing Social Security. J. Navarro stated that this campus that we’re using has now become ROSI, Rural Outreach Services Initiative started by Director Takamine. Everyday of the week there are different groups of people here for several hours that provide services to the folks that live in Hamakua. Today is Disability Awareness Day so all of the programs that serve persons with disabilities are here. A. Parker - From the advocacy standpoint, according to this newsletter - Gretchen Lawson is part of a national group of only 14 people that are looking at Affordable Care Act, how it impacts the people. He thinks this is something that she could present, perhaps information can be disseminated at least to the committee. A. Parker stated that there is a lot of good stuff in the Affordable Care Act. Glad that they have someone from the Big Island that is part of a national small group that’s really looking at this issue J. Navarro will inform Gretchen (ARC of Kona) that the committee would like her to give a presentation and since the next meeting is in Kona, and their main office is right in Kealakekua, Gretchen would probably love to come. She will check with Gretchen. R. Schoen stated that if this committee is going to present a report or recommendation to the Mayor in December, then a report should be provided from each ad hoc committee on what was done or what is recommended so that all of that information can be compiled into one report for the December meeting. P. De Lima recommended sending it to her and Renee so it can be finalized at the October 19 meeting. Renee’s e-mail is rschoen@co.hawaii.hi.us. L. Tobosa tried to get hold of the people that give the violation of the disabled parking and have them come in and give a report. P. De Lima stated that the libraries were looking for advice regarding service animals, the use of bringing in their dogs, knowing what the rules are. Dr. Ron Wagner-Wright is the expert on Service Dogs, ADA Rules and Procedures and President of the Service Dog Training Center of Hawai‘i. J. Navarro on 9-9 at 9:00 a.m., at the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Group, the Children’s Research Triangle is having a rally to encourage pregnant women not to drink at all. It’s that nine months of pregnancy, so it’s 9-9-9:00 a.m., promoting alcohol and drug free pregnancy, because Hawai‘i has the worst statistics in the United States, over 50% of pregnant woman are drinking. We have a high incidence with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome babies now. Dr. Chasnoff who is the expert in this field actually wrote Hawai‘i into his grant so we could do research here because we are on the radar 5 of teens who don’t think that beer and wine are alcoholic drinks. If anybody can make it, it’s another huge event that the Mayor is kind of sponsoring along with Children’s Research Triangle on 9-9-9 a.m. NEXT MEETING: The next meeting of the Committee on People with Disabilities will be on October 19, 2011 in Kona at the West Hawai‘i Community Center, Liquor Conference Room, Building B at 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Hwy., Kailua-Kona, HI 96740. ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjourned at 11:05 a.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Sandra Arriola 6