HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-3-21, 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, March 21, 2012
The County of Hawai‘i Mayor’s Committee on People with Disabilities met at
10:00 a.m. in the Aging and Disability Resource Center Training Room,
1055 Kino‘ole Street, Suite 101, Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720, with Chair Paige De Lima
presiding.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Paige De Lima, Chair; Wesley Tanigawa, Vice Chair;
Pauline Aughe, Chris Cholas, Edeltraud Hanoa, Janice Mancini, Laura Tobosa.
EXCUSED:
Jessica Arruda, Jesslie Hook, Jean Navarro, Dareth Pung-Boteilho,
James Souza, Dr. Ron Wagner-Wright.
OTHERS PRESENT AND GUESTS:
Renee Schoen, Corporation Counsel;
Sandra Arriola, HCOA; Teri Spinola-Campbell, Human Resources; Sam
Nagasawa, Aloha Independent Living Hawai‘i; Wendi Cortez, Governor’s Liaison,
and Joyce Imaino.
CALL TO ORDER:
The Chair
called the meeting to order at 10:20 a.m. Everyone introduced
themselves.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 1, 2012 MEETING:
L. TobosaW. Tanigawa
moved to approve the minutes. seconded. All were in
favor; none opposed.
STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC (Agenda Items):
P. Aughe
spoke as a member of the public regarding the lack of accessibility in
Hawi. The sidewalks, buildings, the stores, a lot of the restaurants are not
wheelchair accessible.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Discussion of the Committee’s Goals and Objectives for 2012
The Chair
stated someone suggested that the Mayor operate a wheelchair for a
whole day so he could be more aware of what people go through daily trying to
get accessibility. Until you experience it, you don’t realize what is involved or the
hurdles that they have to overcome just to figure out their day, from the first thing
you do in the morning to the last thing at night.
C. Cholas
felt that even if the Mayor did not ride on a wheelchair, but just to go
out with people that are using an area that is difficult to maneuver, so that he
sees what they face on a daily basis. Sometimes it’s just getting someone who is
in a decision making position, like the mayor, to start the process of improving
some of the things. Whether he’s in a wheelchair or not isn’t as important as
seeing what his constituents have to face.
Chris
To answer Janice’s question about needed repairs to a home, told her that
if something was found that needs fixing, report it to Hawai‘i Disability Rights and
a site survey would be done to at least get things started.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Report of Ad Hoc Committees
1. Education Ad Hoc Committee
The committee will be setting up a time to meet to discuss ADA
Awareness Day.
R. Schoen
just reminded the members about having too many members on the
ad hoc committees and about the Sunshine Law relating to meetings.
Employment Ad Hoc Committee
2.
P. De Lima
stated that Jean is sick today. Mar Ortaleza is also on
the committee.
Transportation Ad Hoc Committee
3.
L. Tobosa
will be taking over as chair. The other members are
Dr. Ron, Margaret Levy-Dohanos, and Edel who was on the
Education Committee.
Recreation Ad Hoc Committee
4.
W. TanigawaJ. Mancini
` has passed his chairmanship to . Sam
Nagasawa would like to be on this ad hoc committee. At the meeting
with Alisa, they discussed more accessibility at Richardson’s and
sending a letter to the mayor because nothing has been done since
they did the blueprint.
MOTION:W. Tanigawa
made a motion that the Recreation Ad Hoc
Committee draft a letter to the Mayor regarding the next steps on the plan
P.
to implement the accessibility at Richardson to be treated as a priority.
De Lima
seconded. All were in favor. None opposed.
Members have requested contact information as well as members on each Ad
Hoc Committee.
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AD HOC COMMITTEES
Education:
Wesley Tanigawa, Pauline Aughe, Dr. Ron Wagner-Wright,
Janice Mancini, Paige De Lima
ADA Awareness Day -Wes, Edel
Employment:
Jean Navarro, James Souza, Mar Ortaleza, Val Poindexter
Recreation:
Janice Mancini, Wesley Tanigawa, Pauline Aughe, Alisa
Mitchener, Sam Nagasawa
Transportation:
Laura Tobosa, Dr. Ron Wagner-Wright, Edel Hanoa, Margaret
Levy-Dohanos
C. Cholas
suggested having an ad hoc committee on Housing - how housing
relates to county and the building code, and what could be done to improve the
number of accessible or visitable housing. R. Schoen stated that creating a new
ad hoc committee will be agenized.
B. Report of the County of Hawai‘i, ADA Recreational Specialist, Alisa
Mitchener - No report.
C. Report of the County of Hawai‘i, Equal Opportunity Officer, ADA
Coordinator, Teri Spinola-Campbell
T. Spinola-Campbell
Before starting on her report, named past members who
have since passed away - Ted Yamanaka, John Hartman, Betsy Whitney, Jack
Matsui. They were all very committed to the disabled community.
1. For the months of January to March, along with the Department of
Information Technology, two hands-on classes were given to review
website and webpage accessibility.
2. DCAB approved the plans for installation of a bench which will be
facing the hot pond at Isaac Hale Beach Park.
3. Public Works is working on installing an automatic entry door at the
Aupuni Center. We anticipate installation around the end of the
summer for the contract work.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Video Conferencing:
To get the Kona members and the community more involved in the meetings,
Paige recommended doing video conferencing for the meetings. Otherwise she
would recommend having a whole new Mayor’s Committee over there.
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Wes informed the committee that the ADRC training room is not available on
May 16.
Renee stated that it would be difficult to do video conferencing here since the
ADRC is not connected to the County network system. Two places that have
video conferencing capabilities are the Prosecutors Office and the Puna
Conference Room at the County Building.
ADA Awareness Day – July 26
W. Tanigawa
would like to have ADA Awareness Day to be at the ADRC again.
Would be good for all committee members to help on that day and any help
would be greatly appreciated.
Budget
P. De Lima
would like a budget for the committee and will be discussing it with
Alan. She was hoping to have a budget for Pac Rim conferences and this
function.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandra Arriola
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