Disability Advisory Commission

City of Fresno 2600 Fresno Street Fresno, CA 93721 www.fresno.gov Meeting Minutes - Final Disability Advisory Commission Chairperson Frances Reyes Acosta Vice Chairperson Mary Beth Randall Board Member Ken Elvington Board Member Heather Flores Board Member Dr. Jenelle Pitt Board Member Susan Coulter Board Member -Vacant Board Member Ex-Officio Dawn Lang DAC Secretary Shannon M. Mulhall Tuesday, January 14, 2020 10:00 AM Meeting Room 2120 Regular Meeting 1. Call To Order The meeting was called to order by Vice Chairperson Randall. Present 5 - Board Member Ken Elvington, Board Member Heather Flores, Board Member Jenelle Pitt, Board Member Susan Coulter, and Vice Chair Mary Beth Randall Excused 2 - Chairperson Frances Reyes Acosta, and Chairperson Frances Reyes Acosta 2. Approval of Agenda On motion of Board Member Elvington, seconded by Board Member Pitt, that the agenda be approved . The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 5 - Board Member Elvington, Board Member Flores, Board Member Pitt, Board Member Coulter and Vice Chair Randall Excused: 2 - Chairperson Reyes Acosta and Chairperson Reyes Acosta 3. Approval of Minutes 3-A ID 20-0075 Approval of the Disability Advisory Commission Minutes from October 8, 2019 City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 1 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission On motion of Board Member Coulter, seconded by Board Member Elvington,the above MINUTES were approved as amended with updates made to the member reports. The motion approved by the following vote: Aye: 5 - Board Member Elvington, Board Member Flores, Board Member Pitt, Board Member Coulter and Vice Chair Randall Absent: 2 - Chairperson Reyes Acosta and Chairperson Reyes Acosta 3-B ID 20-0082 Approval of the Disability Advisory Commission Minutes from December 10, 2019 On motion of Board Member Pitt, seconded by Board Member Elvington, that the above Minutes be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 5 - Board Member Elvington, Board Member Flores, Board Member Pitt, Board Member Coulter and Vice Chair Randall Absent: 2 - Chairperson Reyes Acosta and Chairperson Reyes Acosta 4. Member Reports and Comments Member Coulter reported that the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center (DHHSC) has received a grant for census work, and they are currently reaching out to the deaf and hard of hearing community in order to account for the all deaf and hard of hearing in the region. She also reported that their Salinas office received funding for emergency preparedness through the Listos grant. She stated that that they are just getting started on the project, but there might be volunteer opportunities in the future. Member Flores reported that CVRC Central Valley Champion’s Award nominations are now open and available on the website. She stated the awards gala held on March 14, 2020. Flores also reported that CVRC will be a four day voting center for the upcoming elections under the Voter Choice Act. Vice Chair Randall reported that CCB statewide convention will be in Fresno this June. She will be looking for adult and teen volunteers to assist with the convention. City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 2 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission 5. Secretary's Report Secretary Mulhall reported that the new security measures are in effect at City Hall. She encouraged any one with feedback and/or concerns to contact her after the meeting. She advised that City Hall is still working on making improvements. Mulhall also reported that ADA’s 30th anniversary is on July 26, 2020. She encouraged that if anyone has any ideas or would like to volunteer to contact her after the meeting as she is still in the planning process. She advised that she would provide further information in future meetings. Additionally, Mulhall reported that the Complete Streets Policy was approved by Fresno City Council at the December meeting. She will have a presentation in the future to further explain the policy. Secretary Mulhall announced that Fresno County is holding an open house at the Election’s Office today until 4pm located at 4525 E Hamilton. She encouraged members to attend to learn more about the Voter Choice Act (VCA) and to practice using their new accessible machines. She also advised that FAX, Handy Ride, Clovis Transit as well as Fresno County Rural Transit will be providing free transportation to vote. All the individual will have to do is say that they are going to vote and provide the destination. Additionally, CRVC will also be a four day voting center for the upcoming elections. Secretary Mulhall concluded by announcing that Member Jenelle Pitt is receiving the Things that Matter MLK Award this Friday from the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce. For those wishing to attend, the event tickets are $25. 6. Unscheduled Communication / Public Comments Vidal Medina, System Change Advocate – RIVC, announced that RICV has relocated to 3636 N Fresno Street and will be having an open house in March. He advised that the agency is also involved with the Census and City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 3 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission Listos Disaster Preparedness Grants. Therefore they will be looking to get counts of persons with disabilities. He also announced that CFILC will be providing iPads RICV which will allow them to assist their consumers with various tasks. He concluded by announcing that they will be conducting outreach with Fresno County EOC on March 21. Joe Vargas, Assistant Director – City of Fresno Transportation, introduced Chenier Derrick as the new Paratransit Specialist. He also announced that FAX RFP for paratransit review board has been assembled and will include DAC Transportation Member, Sarah Harris, Chenier Derrick, Shannon Mulhall, and other City of Fresno staff. Vargas advised that FAX will be having workshops for proposed service changes on 02/25/2020 at 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm at Fresno State, 02/29/2020 at 10:30 am to 11:30 am at Central, and 03/02/2020 at 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm at Maxie Park. Tommy Tahami proposed the Transportation Subcommittee to be moved to the last Wednesday of the month. He was advised by the committee there would be upcoming takes on the DAC and DAC Transportation subcommittee schedules. Yonas Paulos, Homeless Veterans Advocate, shared a success story of eight families that are now transitioning to housing. 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 information presented in unscheduled communication until subsequent meetings. 7. Presentations 7-A ID 20-0076 Personnel Department - Employment Services City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 4 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission City of Fresno Personnel staff Sandra Chavez-Martin, Trish Eichhorn, and Bill Merryman presented the various stages of employment and how accommodations are provided at the different stages of the employment process. The floor was opened to the commission. Member Flores thanked staff for their presentation and working with CVRC. Flores stated that staff might want to consider making some items such as large print readily available rather than an accommodation one would have to ask for as something such as large print is needed fairly common for many people. Flores also expressed that she would love for the City of Fresno to become a Project Search site for internships and entry-level job experiences for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Member Elvington commented that currently there is collaboration between CVRC, DOR and Fresno Community hospital for Project Search. He explained that currently they have just started the process for nine to ten new participates. Also, last October they had finished training and recruiting nine employees that were graduates of this program. He encouraged the City of Fresno to consider this program. Vice Chair Randall thanked staff for their presentation and sharing the opportunities that are available. Secretary Mulhall had asked City of Fresno staff if they had any numbers and/or statistic of people with disabilities. Staff Member Chavez-Martin replied that she did not have any specific numbers as they are cannot request disability information. However, Staff Member Eichhorn did advised that for the interactive process they have anywhere from 10-15 new cases each month. She advised that many of them are related to injury and/or retirement. Secretary Mulhall asked City of Fresno staff how older individuals with learning disabilities or ADHD who might not been diagnosed in their youth City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 5 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission should proceed with requesting accommodations. Staff Member Chavez-Martin replied that usually at someone point an individual will have some contact at some point with the Department of Rehabilitation or have worked with a counselor or other agency that will allow them to provide city staff with some guidance. However, staff is always willing to meet with individual and have a conversation to what kinds of accommodations. With that said, they have the right to ask for documentation especially if the request may seem unreasonable or they have never had the type of request before in order to common to common ground. Member Pitt asked staff if they are noticing diversity in their candidate pool and if they are noticing any groups that are not being represented in the pool as it relates to persons with disabilities. Staff Member Chavez-Martin advised it hard to say because it is information that they are not actively seeing. She did advised that they are open to suggestion of how and who to expand their distribution list to reach more of the population. Secretary Mulhall encouraged those who help other with applications to make sure to really look at the minimum qualifications when building resumes. She advised that the persons reviewing application are personnel staff not industry experts or department members. Therefore, it is easier for applicants to pass that initial step if their resumes are clear cut. Staff Member Chavez-Martin advised they are currently in the process of replacing the application software this year which will make the application process more accessible and user friendly. The floor was opened to the public. Vidal Medina, Systems Change Advocate – RICV, thanked staff for sending bulletins to RICV. He advised that housing, employment, and transportation are all key areas for system change and integration in the community. He also thanked Staff for recognizing that people with disabilities are part of the City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 6 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission pool of qualified candidates and for seeking those people out. Pamela Wilson, Project Manager – Community Vocational Services Inc, notice that the distribution list for job bulletins is short and she would like to be included on the list. She asked Staff how she and others can get on the list. Staff Member Chavez-Martin advised she could be emailed directly with the email address desired to be on the distribution list. Pamela Wilson, Project Manager – Community Vocational Service Inc, suggested that Jamal from Ticket to Work program at Social Security. Yonas Paulos advised that there are many disable students at Fresno City College and Fresno Pacific College and asked staff to include those schools on their list. He was advised that they do include many of the colleges in the area, but they can check to see if there was particular program that they could send the list to ask well. Glenna Gammel recommended adding Maggie from the Ticket to Work program to distribution. 8. Action Items 8-A ID 20-0077 2020 Schedule of Regular DAC Meetings Secretary Mulhall presented the proposed schedules for the DAC and the DAC Transportation Subcommittee. Member Coulter asked if the DAC could meet in November instead of the December seems to never have a quorum on a regular basis. Floor was opened to the public. Glenna Gammel asked and received clarification of the proposed changes to the DAC meeting and the overall scheduled transportation subcommittee. On motion of Board Member Elvington, seconded by Board Member Flores, that the 2020 Schedule of Regular DAC and DAC - City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 7 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission Transportation Subcommitee be approved as amended with the removal of the December meeting and addition of the November meeting to the regular DAC meeting. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 5 - Board Member Elvington, Board Member Flores, Board Member Pitt, Board Member Coulter and Vice Chair Randall Absent: 2 - Chairperson Reyes Acosta and Chairperson Reyes Acosta 8-B ID 20-0078 Development of Subcommittees Secretary Mulhall opened the discussion and indicated that due to staffing levels there can only be accommodations for two subcommittees. She advised that this will mean that the DAC will need to formally close one of the two existing subcommittees if they are looking to add a different subcommittee. Additionally, she clarified the difference between a task forces and subcommittee. The floor was opened to the Public. Vidal Medina, Systems Change Advocate – RICV, mentioned that housing, transportation and employment are key issues. He recommended having a committee related to housing that mirrors the transportation subcommittee. He concluded that he would like to see more pertinent discussions on about housing on an ongoing basis. Glenna Gammel asked about outreach subcommittee meetings in regards to how often they are needed, when the meet and what is their purpose. The floor was brought back to the commission. Secretary Mulhall provided background on the establishment and work of the outreach subcommittee. The Floor was moved back to the commission. Vice Chair Randall asked if the outreach subcommittee could be kept open as a silent committee. City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 8 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission Secretary Mulhall advised that they could; however, there is a concern with staffing being unavailable if the subcommittee were to become active. She did advise that any subcommittee that was closed could always be reopened in future if needed. Member Elvington commented that he would to be very clear with how DAC expects to influence change in the topic areas and what their scope will be. He advised that he is debating on whether there is a greater need for a subcommittee for housing or employment. He recommended continuing to this discussion for future meeting. Member Coulter stated that she agreed with Member Elvington. She also commented that they need to have commissioners that willing, able and motivated to be involved in a subcommittee. Member Flores stated that she would also like to continue the conversation to a future meeting. Member Pitt stated that both of these proposed areas will have no shortage of need for work and advocacy. She recommended that the subcommittee have very clear boundaries that align with the committee bylaws. Member Flores recommended drafting a charter for each of the subcommittees. Member Randall also advised that this topic be continued to a later meeting. The floor was opened to the public. Yonas Paulos thanked the commission for considering the housing issue. He advised there were 40,000 visits to the hospital by homeless individuals. He stated there are many homeless that move on regular basis under the. He concluded that the lack housing is a major issue. Vidal Medina thanked Member Elvington for the suggestion to continue this City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 9 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission discussion rather than making a quick selection. Based on the nature of the topics, either topic will result in more participation from the community as these issues continue to matter. He encouraged the DAC to consider transparency in housing. He advised that we currently see transparency in employment and the effort by Personnel to be inclusive. However, he feels that housing is an area that needs greater discussion of the needs of people with disabilities. On motion of Board Member Elvington, seconded by Board Member Coulter, that the Outreach subcommitee be disbanded be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: On motion of Board Member Elvington, seconded by Board Member Pitt, that the discussion of selecting a Housing or Employment subcommittee to put on the agenda until resolved be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 5 - Board Member Elvington, Board Member Flores, Board Member Pitt, Board Member Coulter and Vice Chair Randall Absent: 2 - Chairperson Reyes Acosta and Chairperson Reyes Acosta 9. Subcommittee Reports 9-A Outreach Subcommittee No Report. 9-B Transportation Subcommittee No report. 10. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 am. On motion of Board Member Elvington, seconded by Board Member Pitt,the meeting be adjourned be approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 5 - Board Member Elvington, Board Member Flores, Board Member Pitt, Board Member Coulter and Vice Chair Randall Absent: 2 - Chairperson Reyes Acosta and Chairperson Reyes Acosta City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 10 Disability Advisory Meeting Minutes - Final January 14, 2020 Commission The Disability Advisory Commission welcomes you to Meeting Room 2120, located in City Hall, 2nd Floor, 2600 Fresno Street, Fresno, California 93721. The City of Fresno’s goal is to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in all respects. The meeting room is physically accessible. If, as an attendee or participant at the meeting, you need additional accommodations such as interpreters, signers, assistive listening devices, or the services of a translator, please contact the Office of the City Clerk at (559) 621-7650 or clerk@fresno.gov. To ensure availability, you are advised to make your request at least 48 hours prior to the meeting. The agenda and related staff reports are available at www.fresno.gov, as well as in the Office of the City Clerk. La Comision Consultiva de Discapacidudes le da la bienvenida al Cuarto de Junta 2120, ubicado en la Alcaldía (City Hall), do piso, 2600 Fresno Street, Fresno, California 93721. El objetivo de la Ciudad de Fresno es cumplir con la Ley de Americanos con Discapacidades (ADA) en todo aspecto. La sala para juntas es físicamente accesible. Si usted, como asistente o participante de la junta, necesita acomodaciones adicionales coma intérpretes, lenguaje de señas, aparatos auditivos, o los servicios de un traductor, por favor comuníquese con la Oficina del Secretario Municipal llamando al (559) 621-7650 o al clerk@fresno.gov. Para asegurarse de la disponibilidad. Se le recomienda llamar y hacer su petición por lo menos 48 horas antes de la junta. La agenda y los reportes de personal correspondientes están disponibles en el www.fresno.gov, o en la Oficina del Secretario Municipal. Tso Disability Advisory Commission tos txais koj rau Meeting Room 2120, nyob rau hauv City Hall, 2nd Floor, 2600 Fresno Street, Fresno, California 93721. Lub hom phiaj ntawm nroog Fresno yuav ua kom tau txhua yam raw li txoj cai American with Disabilities Act (ADA) kom fwm txhua tus. Lub rooj sab laj txhua tus yuav tsum muaj feem koom kom tau, txawm yog cov tuaj koom, cov muaj feem rau lub rooj sab laj, yuav tsum kom muaj kev pab rau sawv daws xws li txhais lus, piav tes, tej twj mloog pob ntseg los yog ib tug txhais lus, thov hu rau Office of the City Clerk ntawm (559) 621-7650 los sis clerk@fresno.gov. Yuav kom paub tseeb tias npaj tau rau koj, koj yuav tsum tau hais ua ntej 48 xuab moos ntawm lub rooj sab laj. Daim ntawv kom tswj thiab tej ntaub ntawv cov ua dej num yuav coj los ceeb tshaj muaj nyob rau ntawm www.fresno.gov, los sis ntawm Office of the City Clerk. City of Fresno ***Subject to Mayoral Veto Page 11