Disability Advisory Commission

City of Fresno City Hall 2600 Fresno Street 2nd Floor, Meeting Meeting Minutes - Final Room A (2165) Disability Advisory Commission Chairperson Dr. Jenelle Pitt Vice Chair Kyra Schleef Board Member Frances Reyes Acosta Board Member (ex officio) Carlos Duarte Board Member Ken Elvington Board Member Heather Flores Board Member Tiffany Potter Board Member Mary Beth Randall DAC Secretary Shannon M. Mulhall Tuesday, June 14, 2016 10:00 AM City Hall 2600 Fresno Street Regular Session 1. Call To Order Vic Chair Schleef called the meeting to order at 10:03 am. Present 7 - Vice Chair Kyra Schleef, Board Member Frances Reyes Acosta, Board Member (ex officio) Carlos Duarte, Board Member Ken Elvington, Board Member Heather Flores, Board Member Tiffany Potter, and Board Member Mary Beth Randall Excused 1 - Chairperson Dr. Jenelle Pitt 2. Approval of Minutes ID16-699 Approval of the Disability Advisory Commission Minutes from May 10, 2016 On motion of Board Member Elvington, seconded by Board Member Reyes Acosta, that the above Action Item be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6 - Vice Chair Schleef, Board Member Reyes Acosta, Board Member Elvington, Board Member Flores, Board Member Potter and Board Member Randall Excused: 1 - Chairperson Pitt City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 1 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final June 14, 2016 Commission 3. Member Reports and Comments At the request of Member Flores a moment of silence was held in rememberance of the victims of the recent Orlando, FL shooting. Member Reyes Acosta shared that on Sunday June 19 the Center for Non-Violence will host a cross denominational memorial. Member Flores reported that on July 9, 9am - 1pm Central Valley Regional Center (CVRC) will hold a "Meet your Neighbor" celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Lanterman Act at Inspiration Park 4. Secretary's Report Secretary Mulhall reported that she recently met with the Saroyan Theater to discuss the new Assistive Listening Devices (ALD) which they have installed. Staff shared that they have a table set up with signage offering the services and the equipment has been very well received. Staff shared that during a recent school field trip the ushers identified that students in the audience had cochlear implants and offered the ALD to their use. This was a double success for the theater because the staff implemented their training effectively and the students/teachers reported that the experience was enhanced as a result of the ALDs. Member Potter responded that she would be interested in connecting with the Saroyan to discuss the need for Sensory sensitive performances. The Fresno Police Department will soon use a laminated communication card based on the Department of Justice's best practices to enhance effective communication with the public. These cards will be issued to all patrol officers. Vice Chair Schleef suggested that for the next printing of the card the city might want to consider using the CC symbol to represent Closed Captioning. Currently the city council is holding their annual proposed budget hearings. Two items of interest for the DAC are that there is a proposal to add an additional concrete crew to Public Works, which will work on sidewalk repairs and the econd item of interest is a proposal by FAX to expand fixed route services, increasing the frequency as well as increasing the hours of services. This will simultaneously impact the service hours for Handy Ride. Vice Chair Schleef signed a letter of support for Public Works ATP grant on City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 2 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final June 14, 2016 Commission behalf of the commission; these are projects that the DAC has supported in the past. Mulhall will be out of the office from June 15 through June 23 for vacation then attending the National ADA Symposium, where she will be presenting on the topic of web accessibility. There is no meeting scheduled for July. Next meeting will be August 9. 5. Unscheduled Communication / Public Comments Glenna Gammel addressed the commission to share that Ed LaComb passed away on June 1, 2016. A service was held for him on June 9 and their will be a memorial for him at RICV on June 15, 1pm -3pm. All are welcome to attend. Tommy Tahami addressed the commission, stating that he has known Ed for 10-15 years as an advocate in the community and friend. He was able to attend the service and met the family. Olivia Prestley addressed the commission, stating that she lives on the border of Fresno and Clovis and has issues with paratransit not dropping her off over the border at Herndon and Willow. She stated that it would be nice if they were able to drop her off at the shopping center across the street. She asked if there were plans to expand Fresno service into Clovis or if something like this would be eligible for an exception. Jan Carmichael of the the California Council for the Blind addressed the commission, requesting an expansion of paratransit service to the shopping center at Hwy 99 and Herndon. She stated that there are sidewalk raises on P street across from City Hall at the Department of Rehabilitation. She stated that at Nees Avenue between Fifth and First Streets there is a need for sidewalks near the Pharmacy and Japanese Restaurant. City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 3 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final June 14, 2016 Commission This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons desiring to address the DAC on any matter not on this agenda (presentation are limited to 3 minutes per person). The DAC is generally legally prohibited from taking any action on informationpresented in unscheduled communication until subsequent meetings. 6. Presentations ID16-700 Brown Act and Robert’s Rules of Order Refresher Secretary Mulhall presented this item. The floor was opened for public comments. Community member Tahami addressed the commission, stating that he went to the RICV community Leadership Academy (CLA) to learn about the Roberts Rules of Order but didn't know about the Brown Act. He stated that the next CLA class will be in June. Community member Gammel addressed the commission stating the when she attended the cLA she received a book about Roberts Rules of Order. 7. Action Items ID16-702 Selection of the Chair and Vice Chair for Fiscal Year 2017 Discussion on this item will be continued to the August meeting when the full commission is present. On motion of Board Member Reyes Acosta, seconded by Board Member Potter, that the above Action Item be continued. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6 - Vice Chair Schleef, Board Member Reyes Acosta, Board Member Elvington, Board Member Flores, Board Member Potter and Board Member Randall Excused: 1 - Chairperson Pitt City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 4 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final June 14, 2016 Commission 8. Subcommittee Reports 8-A. Outreach Subcommittee Appointed to this subcommittee are Chair Pitt, Member Reyes Acosta, Member Flores (alternate), and community member Gabriel Diaz. Member Reyes Acosta noted that they will be meeting again in a few weeks to continue work on the media guide booklet, which most likely will be produced in an online format. The floor was opened for public comment. Tahami stated that there is a need for signs that say that grafitti is prohibited. Sarah Harris requested that the commission make sure that the guide they produce is screen reader accessible. 8-B. Transportation Subcommittee Appointed to this subcommittee are Member Duarte, Member Reyes Acosta, FAX Assistant Director Schaad, FAX Operations Manager Elizabeth Watlington, Handy Ride Operations Manager Noella Rios, Community Member Bill Hyatt, and Community Member Edward LaComb. Member Duarte reported that the proposed budget includes an expansion of service hours until 11pm, increased frequency on the BRT route to 15 minutes during the week and 30 minutes on the weekends. The budget also requests $17 million for vehicle replacement. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is underway, with stations downtown tentative to have work started in July. During construction they will have ambassadors at the sites to answer questions about BRT stops. In August there will be a presentation about the BRT progress during the transportation meeting. Member Reyes Acosta asked if there will be loadable bus cards. Member Duarte indicated that the Smart Card program will be addressed at the next meeting. Member Elvington reminded the commission that this is the proposed budget, not the approved budget. Member Flores asked how the increased services will be funded; Member Duarte was not sure. Member Flores City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 5 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final June 14, 2016 Commission clarified that there is not expected to be a reduction in services, which Member Duarte confirmed. Member Potter noted that the Transportation Subcommittee tends to be an action item on the main DAC agenda each month and asked if the topic would be better served in the quarterly transportation focused meetings, with a simple report rather than full agenda discussion on transportation each month. The question was discussed by the commission, many of whom supported keeping transportation as an action item on the agenda. The floor was opened for public comment. Tahami addressed the commission stating that he supports the idea of a day pass. Carmichael addressed the commission stating that she supports keeping transportation as an action item on the agenda. Harris addressed the commission stating that she supports keeping transportation as an action item on the agenda. Member Elvington asked that this be discussed again at the next meeting. 9. Task Forces ID16-701 2016 Achievement Awards Task Force Member Randall and Member Schleef volunteered to serve on the Awards Task Force, which will commence August 1. Adjournment On motion of Board Member Potter, seconded by Board Member Reyes Acosta, the meeting adjourned at 11:31 am. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 6 - Vice Chair Schleef, Board Member Reyes Acosta, Board Member Elvington, Board Member Flores, Board Member Potter and Board Member Randall Excused: 1 - Chairperson Pitt City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 6 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final June 14, 2016 Commission The meeting room is physically accessible. Services of an interpreter and additional accommodations such as assitive listening devices can be made available. Requests for accommodations should be made one week prior to the scheduled meeting. Please contact Shannon M. Mulhall at 559-621-8716 (voice) 559-621-8721 (TTY) or shannon.mulhall@fresno.gov City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 7