City of Alameda
Commission on Disabilities
Summary Notes from October 9, 2019 Retreat
Commissioners present: Leslie Morrison (acting Chair), Lisa Hall, Elizabeth Kenny, Jenny Linton, Jennifer Roloff. Not present: Arnold Brillinger.
Staff present:
• Sarah Henry, Public Information Officer
• Liam Garland, Public Works
Community members in attendance: Cliff and Christina, family members of Commissioner Jenny Linton
Acting Chair Leslie Morrison called the official meeting to order and then soon shifted to the retreat agenda. Susan Stuart Clark, the Common Knowledge Group, served as facilitator for the retreat.
Summary of retreat agenda
1 - Welcome and purpose of retreat
2 - Summary of pre-meeting input
3 - Review of Commission’s past accomplishments (facilitated discussion)
4 - Looking ahead: (facilitated discussion)
a) Clarify Commission functions
b) Focus areas and framework for 2020 workplan
c) What information and staff supports are needed
5 - Next steps
Highlights of retreat discussion
1 - Welcome and purpose of retreat
Sarah Henry detailed her role at the City and announced her new role as staff liaison to the Commission on Disability. Sarah is replacing Laurie Kozisek from Public Works. She explained the two parts of the Council Referral and her assignment to discuss this with the Commission and prepare a staff report:
• Consider reducing the number of Commission on Disability members from nine to seven
• Staff should also return to Council with a clearly stated Mission for the Commission on Disability, including a determination of how many times a year the commission should meet.
2 - Summary of pre-retreat input
Consultant Susan Cark shared highlights of the input from a pre-retreat questionnaire sent to Commissioners. Five out of six responded (see appendix with summary). The review of pre-meeting input led to two key discussion points:
There is widespread desire among the Commissioners to be able to help the City of Alameda think very broadly about the types of disabilities that are well understood when designing and delivering city services. The Commission discussed that diversity on their own Commission is good but not sufficient. Ideally, they want to see more diverse membership on all City Commissions. Also, more members of the community who represent a wide range of disabilities can attend Commission meetings and/or be reached by city communications.
Easel notes:
Goals for All City Commissions
• Broader spectrum of disabilities
o E.g. relative to vision, hearing, elders
o All categories - intellectual/mental
Input for the pre-retreat questionnaires also made the point about the Commission being “advisory” instead of about “advocacy.” There was a discussion about how, when acting as City of Alameda Commissioners, the members of the Commission have a defined role of helping the City build awareness about disability issues.
3 - Review of past accomplishments; easel notes from facilitated discussion:
• Universal design (6 years of work)
• Attended resource fairs
• Attended Park Street Fair with League of Women Voters
• Census meeting
• Work to help businesses be more accessible; presentations to business associations
o Brainstormed ways to support businesses and recognize positive progress
• Assisted with some calls from the public
(Note: There was discussion about how it is not the Commission’s responsibility to field questions about City policy with the public. Sarah Henry discussed a different approach to responding to inquiries.)
4 - Looking Ahead
a) Clarify Functions
How to integrate Disability Perspective into City Policies/Implementation
• Attend relevant meetings for decisions
• Recruit more diverse Commissioners for all Commissions
• Presentation regarding best practices
o e.g. annually, or at least once, to specific commissions
• Visits from City Department staff (e.g., Transportation) and dialogue
• Listening to community; seeing if there are issues not being addressed within the city’s sphere of influence
b) Focus areas and framework for 2020 workplan
Focus Areas as a Commission (2020)
• Emergency Preparedness
o Education and outreach; the need for personalized plans
o Across all kinds of disabilities
• Census
• Access to Voting
• Mental Health
o Connect to “Let’s Talk Alameda” Campaign
c) What information and staff supports are needed
Information to Provide Commission
• Who is working on access issues in the city? Who handles calls and complaints?
• Current or potential supports
o e.g clarify 211 and 311
• Who researches and serves as “connector”
• What kinds of issues are /are not appropriate for Commission attention
• What is/is not in the City’s sphere of influence regarding support to people with disabilities
• More timely updates about Commission members/meeting changes
• When the Commission’s issues are on the agenda of City Council or on another commission’s agenda
• Relevant campaigns/partnerships
o e.g. Let’s Talk Alameda (mental health, partnering with schools)
Improve Meeting Access
• Need to be able to attend remotely
• Promote the meetings to get more diverse perspectives in the room
• All City commissions can improve access
5 - Next steps and next meeting
• Sarah Henry to write staff report to present to Council responding to referral. At this point, two Commissioners whose terms have expired will apply to be reappointed. If both are reappointed, the City would recruit for one new Commissioner, for a total of seven (no longer nine).
• Next Commission meeting: December 11
• Note: Unity Picnic November 3; everyone is welcome
APPENDIX:
City of Alameda Commission on Disabilities
SUMMARY OF PRE-MEETING INPUT for October 9, 2019 retreat
Drawn from answers to pre-questions (received from 5 out of 6 commissioners), original applications to the Commission, a review of some prior meeting minutes and an October 4 phone meeting with Sarah Henry and Commission Chair Leslie Morrison.
A. Commissioners’ perspectives on disability range from personal, through family life, other volunteer roles and/or in their careers
B - Commissioners’ motivations to serve -- Common themes:
• to ensure the needs of the disabled community in Alameda are top of mind
• to learn more about and be involved in advocacy for people with disabilities in Alameda
• personal experience of living with a disability
• to give back/be of service
• have dedicated career to advocating for people with disabilities
A wide range of specific disabilities were called out within the categories of physical disabilities, intellectual/ developmental disabilities, mental health/mental illness. All Commissioners indicated an interest in considering the needs of the full spectrum of disabilities. Answers also included attention to children with disabilities, seniors with disabilities as way of thinking about who is being served.
C - Commissioners’ expertise and skills includes a range of professional and volunteer expertise such as legal, medical, mental health, educators (formal and informal), urban planning, engineering, and more. Examples of specific skills and talents offered:
• action/results-orientation from business experience
• understanding of disability law and available resources
• past experience leading civic boards and boards of community groups
• understanding of, and empathy for, the complicated needs of the disabled community
• direct experience with the school systems, service systems, SSA benefits and other official agencies and community groups that people with disabilities come in contact with
D - Commission activities that have brought satisfaction -- These types of examples were shared:
• Working on the Universal Design Ordinance and helping to get that passed
• The UDO and ADA housing have made great strides here in Alameda
• Getting briefed about the Census and voting rights for the disabled
• Many community organizations have come to speak
• Have enjoyed meeting so many people in the City of Alameda, and working in the disability community; I have learned so much about other disabilities
A few commented that they were unclear as to how what happens at Commission meetings converts to action: “I’m not sure what happens with the information we collect and discuss.”
E - Commission functions -- There appeared to be congruence around these activities:
o integrating a disability perspective into City policies and operations
o raising awareness of, and understanding of, different types of disabilities
o engaging people who have disabilities in civic life
o linking people to services
o highlighting positive practices to help them spread
A topic of conversation at the retreat can be to explore how the term “advocacy” - which was embedded in more than one of the above activities - is understood by the Commission which has an “advisory” role.
F - Commission Relationships
There was interest in promoting/deepening positive relationships across all of these groups:
o Mayor’s Office
o City Council
o City Departments - and related political/governmental entities such law enforcement, emergency preparedness entities
o Other groups in Alameda working on disability issues: health care & disability service providers; education providers, including higher education (Alameda College), APIDC, THE CIL, SDRC, ASPED Families
o Alameda residents with disabilities
o The community as a whole
G - Other Comments/Questions:
In making sure that items that the City Council votes on get a disability perspective, comments suggested a need for a better understanding of the ways that might happen, e.g.:
• Items get presented to the Commission
• Commission briefs department staff
• Other?
Want to learn more about what makes a “good” Commission, get more public to attend Commission meetings, and keep meetings on track.