Commission For Persons With Disabilities

Commission for Persons with Disabilities Regular Meeting Minutes November 3rd, 2022, 4pm Rose City Senior Center To attend virtually, please call 860-215-8140. Meeting ID 4038191 Present: Julie Menders, Amy Dudek, Joanne Philbrick & Wendy Fenner, Absent: Cynthia Litton, Mark Marcy Others Present: Brigid Marks Call to Order: Julie called the meeting to order at 4:09 PM. Determination of Quorum: It was determined a quorum was present, with the current members in the commission (4/6). Approval of Minutes: On a motion from Joanne, seconded by Julie the minutes from the August 2022 meeting were unanimously approved with amendments. Citizen Comments: None Communications: None Old Business: Disability Awareness Week 2022: October was Disability Awareness Week and the Commission for Persons with Disabilities organized two events. Both programs were free and in-person events. Tuesday, October 11th at 10:30am was Disability Awareness Week Legislative Panel Discussion. The event was held at the Rose City Senior Center. It was a legislative panel discussion on past and upcoming disability-related legislation. Joanne said it would have been helpful if the speakers spoke closer to the microphone and hoped that in the future they could check/test the microphone before presentations because she had trouble hearing during the event. Julie agreed that sound equipment is paramount to having a successful program. Brigid added that it would be nice if they could somehow use closed captioning during events to help accommodate those with hearing related disabilities. Wendy said it was an informative event and her only complaint was the equipment. Wednesday, October 12 at 1:30 PM 2:30 PM was Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act Workshop. The Workshop was held at the Otis Library. The program was presented by Elanah Sherman, former Chairman of the Commission for Persons with Disabilities. It covered the first 3 Titles of the ADA. Elanah sent out suggested readings and articles before the event so they could discuss during the presentation. Commissioners agreed it was a successful event and discussed ways to make future programs more accessible such as by making them hybrid. Julie wanted an interpreter at both events because disability discussions should be accessible to everyone. Commissioners agreed that they don’t have to wait until October to hold programs for the public. Discussion of amended by-laws: Commissioners agreed to amend the last page and bring it up to date by listing all the current commission members. They also considered adding a page for the founding members of the Commission. Commissioners would like to review and discuss the by-laws again in December. Update on Charging Stations: No Updates. New Business: A motion was made to shelf new business until December. On a motion from Julie it was seconded by Joanne. Discussion of Commission Officers: Shelved. Discussion of Commission membership: Shelved. Adjournment: On a motion from Joanne, seconded by Julie, the meeting adjourned at 5:10 PM. The next meeting will be at 4 PM on Thursday, December 1st, 2022.