Title
August 11, 2021 Meeting Minutes
Commission on Persons with Disabilities
Roll Call: 6 Commissioners present
Vice Chair Linton, Commissioner Roloff, Commissioner Kenny, Commissioner Brillinger, Commissioner Hall, Commissioner Mullins
Minutes from the June 9, 2021 Commission on Persons with Disabilities Meeting
5 Aye
4A: Review and provide feedback on the draft Vision Zero Action plan to Eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2040
• Presentation by City staff Rochelle Wheeler; Lisa Foster is the Project Manager for the Vision Zero Action Plan, Rochelle is her deputy on this project
• Presentation provided an overview of the draft Action Plan
• An earlier draft was presented to the Commission in April
• Vision Zero is an international movement that provides a framework for reducing traffic deaths and life-changing injuries to zero
• In November 2019, the City Council adopted the Vision Zero policy
• The draft plan has 4 high level points: no deaths or severe injuries by 2040, this is a 5-year plan, there are 5 central goals, with 50+ actions
• Vision Zero Task Force has been the guiding group for the plan and includes community members and City staff, and Commissioner Kenny is a member representing the Commission on Persons with Disabilities
• Traffic safety measures in Alameda are data driven and include the most dangerous streets and behaviors
• Data studied is form 2009-2018 and identified that 41% of severe crashes are in social vulnerable areas, only 30% of roads are within those areas
• 73% of crashes are on high-injury corridors, which cover 20% of Alameda’s roadways
• The top 2 most dangerous actions are failure to yield to pedestrian and unsafe speeds
• The plan tries to address these issues to develop actions to make our streets safer, and the actions prioritize high injury corridors
• Safety improvements and design changes are a key part of the plan. Examples are lighting improvements, quickly respond to fatal crashes, school zone program to lower speed limits near schools
• Education is a key part of the plan, how to be safe, no matter how they are getting around
• Traffic enforcement also plays a role in the plan, focusing on dangerous behaviors
• Official comment period is closed but they will include the Commission’s comments and will take a revised plan based on this input to the Transportation Commission on September 22 and to the City Council later this fall
• Updates since April - there is a new category in SeeClickFix called street safety concern, they are evaluating the Slow and Commercial Streets programs, a survey is open on Slow Streets, Otis Drive finished safety improvements, Clement Street is under construction, all of this information is updated on the Vision Zero webpage
• LH: see progress moving along, live on a Slow Street, it’s all good, we all needed to slow down a little bit
• BK: thank you for including me o the task force, I feel my input was taken in and utilized
• Alameda was officially recognized as a Vision Zero City by the Vision Zero Network - this opens up opportunities for us to collaborate
• BK: hope that this Commission continues to work on this project
• AM: congrats on being recognized, well deserved. Current configurations due to COVID - has there been a study on how this impacts side streets? Are we planning to keep it that way? Is that part of Vision Zero planning?
• Yes - data set went through 2018 so it doesn’t include anything that happened in the pandemic. Rochelle manages the Commercial Streets program - just did an evaluation and developed recommendations, studied traffic collisions compared to year before - no big trends
• Also looked at traffic volume and speed on Park and Webster and the impact of the street restriping projects -- check out on Commercial Streets webpage
• Most traffic is not yet back to pre-pandemic levels, we see a slowdown in the afternoon on Park Street, we looked at some diversion and have seen cars diverting onto other streets but so far they are not up to pre-pandemic levels either
• Their recommendation is to keep things the same for now
• Both Webster and Park are high injury corridors -- hope to see reductions since a 2-lane street is safer than a 4-lane
• JL: please explain what social vulnerable populations are
• This was developed for the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan - looks at many factors - looks at things like income level, race and ethnicity, households without cars, people with disabilities -- looks at all populations that are more vulnerable and where they are located on the census tracts. We continue to update to make sure this reflects Alameda
• Our household has a lot of observations about the changes on Park Street -- is SeeClickFix the right place to report those?
• Yes -- or email is good too
• LM: did you look at death data for people with disabilities?
• Will have to get back to you on this
• It would be good to look at this per capita to see if they are at greater risk of being injured
• JL: I have a son with disabilities who was severely injured in a car accident in 2013 - he’s recovered
• We are limited to the data the police collect - will get back to you on this
• LM: My hypothesis that people with disabilities are more vulnerable, would be good to look at this when you update in 5 years
• Noticed that the area on the base is not a vulnerable area - are you proactively putting in place street safety measures there?
• The whole area is socially vulnerable - west of Main Street - density of crashes is not super high, current state of the roadways is poor but with more development the infrastructure is being incredibly enhanced
• Hope streets will be safer by design
• Are Vision Zero recommendations shared with developers?
• Yes but we have actions around making sure that these maps and improvements are incorporated into development plans - we have checklists for this
• The number of entities that serve alcohol at Spirits Alley - could have a correlation
• One action in the plan is about impaired driving and asking businesses out there to help
• Express concerns about drag racing
• Erin Smith: we have concrete in place to limit access to this area, we rendered that area no fun a week ago. Near skate park - moved large planters and put in wheel stops to render the area not useable for those purposes
4B: Discuss and provide input on ADA self-evaluation and transition plan request for proposal
• Presentation by City staff Mike Billington, Facilities Manager and Erin Smith, Public Works Director
• Presenting on an important effort we are getting ready to embark upon - evaluate public facilities in an ADA comprehensive evaluation
• MB: The City is preparing to issue an RFP to implement an ADA self-evaluation and transition plan to review City programs, facilities, parks, intersections, sidewalks, parking lots
• Laws - public right of ways and facilities are required to be accessible to person with disabilities
• The scope of services is for a self-evaluation and transition plan
• Including a timeline for implementation
• $175k for project has been allocated by the City Council
• Next steps - form a selection committee
• Would like to issue notice to proceed by December 8
• Request member of the Commission to serve on the selection committee
• LM: this is to evaluate public facilities - are these City buildings? Yes -- City Hall, library, etc. - the list is an attachment in the staff report, list all the buildings and parks, sidewalks, intersections, etc.
• Consultant will help define what we will be reviewing
• Also looking at soft programs - barriers to participation, etc.
• JL: does this include pools - yes - pools in the parks run by the Association - consultant will help define. Lincoln and Franklin will probably be excluded but the consultant will determine, however we can make this decision - how far we want to go
• AM: how have we been operating until now - how have we handled ADA compliance to date - what is our baseline?
• When we make repairs and upgrades we don’t have a target list to hit. This will create a new baseline, find our deficiencies. We did this in 2008 but that is dated - the plan that came from this evaluation could have used some improvement. We address issues as we identify them now
• This creates a new baseline and identifies funding at a more comprehensive scale
• Since 2008 there have been improvements about how we contract these things -- this will be a living document
• AM: open to volunteering
• BK: with the RFP process can you give preference to teams that include people with disabilities?
• Noticed that once the plan is complete it comes before another commission and then Council - would like to have it come before this commission too
• When I first joined this commission I read the 2008 version - I recommend that there be a selection committee and implementation teams that make sure these things are done
• Accessibility of meetings - we want to think about this - and forms - recently realized forms to apply to Commissions was not accessible
• Budget might limit scope -- what would be cost if we wanted full scope?
• Costs vary greatly
• Will study all communications and forms - making sure people can participate
• Draft plan will come to the Commission before it gets finalized
• Selection criteria in RFP - we will run that by the CAO to make sure this is ok
• LM: Nothing about us without us, people with disabilities have lived experiences that others do not see
• BK: developing internal process for not meeting certain criteria, person with disability needs to be part of that process
• Agree
• Implementation team - does not have to be in this form - but we will produce frequency of status reports on what has been done and what is left to go
• LH: do not accept the word “waiver” - that is what we get every time anyone wants to do something - things get changed too easily and we see this too many times
• This project will be so good for the disabled community - need to make sure they don’t seek waivers to bypass what’s in the plan
• We will ask for references and will ask a lot of questions to help protect us from these valid concerns
• LM: second what Beth said - have a person with a disability in the consultant RFP - does not have to be limited to people with physical disabilities
• Disappointment with amount of money compared to other plans. ADA in place for 30 years - when you look at the list we need more
• A full scope would be much more
• We can use this as a tool to leverage to get funding to do projects
• This is a first step in this endeavor
• Solicitation for services will not include budget, proposals will be comprehensive and could come back higher, we will go to Council to award the contract and if we feel we need more money we would ask for a budget amendment from Council
4C: Discussion to form Commission recommendations for ARPA funding allocation
• Want to urge the City Council to use funds for mental health and for wraparound services
• Commissioner Kenny will draft a letter and share with all for edits
• Does not have to be exhaustive, direct line to the pandemic
• Doug Biggs wanted to extend a personal thank you for support of the Wellness Center
4D: Consider recommending to the Open Government Commission to continue to make public meetings accessible remotely and that the Open Government Commission’s recommendation for a diversity audit of the boards and commissions include disability
• In the OGC’s July meeting they took two actions and we can take action as well
• They asked the City to implement AB 339, which is a State bill that would keep the zoom option available and can implement a hybrid version too
• This does not apply to Alameda because it only applies to the 15 largest cities - if we want to adopt this at a City level, we could write in support of this
• Another bill AB 703 that would apply to Alameda and our meetings but has language about the people on the Board or Commission being physically present
• Says any of us who appear via telecom style would have to post where they are on the agenda including their address and they would have to be accessible at that address
• BK: I cannot continue on the Commission if we go back to in person
• LH: sounds concerning, don’t want address posted, like the idea of being able to have a hybrid
• AM: share concern, way to work around - available via email
• Collective recommendation - have been advocating as a Commission since before COVID to encourage participation while protecting everyone, want participation and creating options while protecting individuals going forward. Want to strongly take a position. We have proven that remote and hybrid can work and we want more people participating. Let’s take the good and build on it
• JR: agree with all, the Zoom meetings gives people who are not as mobile to participate, privacy is important too,
• AM: we need closes captions - we have hearing impaired people at meetings
• Zoom is more inclusive
• LM: should endorse - support - what has been proposed, to encourage participation and recruit people with disabilities
• BK - support this version with the caveat that no addresses are published - also concerned that it requires a quorum of attendees to be present in person
• AB 703 was not brought to OGC, only the other bill, would support with amendments
• Commissioner Brillinger was a person with a disability living in an institution - he was able to participate during the pandemic because of the remote access - without this access it would have a chilling effect on our Commission
• Dated in a concept, with the technology we have, creates health risks
• Staff will draft a letter for the Commission’s review
• The OGC also recommended a diversity audit of boards and commissions, and this should include a category for people with disabilities
• Commission supports writing to the City Council to let them know we want this included, will check on timeline with Rasheed Shabazz and the OGC, LM will draft
4E: Discuss possible actions for Disability Employment Awareness Month
• Pre-COVID the City had street banners for Disability Employment Awareness Month
• Disability awareness month - October
• Last year City Hall was lit up in blue and white
• July was Disability Pride Month when the ADA was passed
• We should dedicate part of the October meeting to this
• Want to hear from Human Resources about how they recruit and from the ADA coordinator about how reasonable accommodations are handled
• Programs to run a life test case through the system
• People with disabilities are vastly unemployed
• LH: want to help promote helping with access to employment
• JL: great agenda item
• AM: my organization became signatory to ADA pledge for diversity, recommend to CAO to explore signing on to the pledge
• Encourage businesses to hire all members of the community, this is an untapped labor pool
• Could be a small business challenge
• BK: Arnold suggested we have an award program for different companies who hire people with disabilities, could have a Proclamation
• Commission could request July proclamation
• We could have the Arnold Brillinger award, want to develop this program over the next year
• We are planning a stake in the ground - we are kicking this off in 2021, this will happen
• We will announce the award and start a monthly social media campaign with disability related employment - this award is coming - on the Agenda for August each year
• Subcommittee - Beth, Lisa Hall - Sarah Henry with SSHRB staff
• We will make a plan for an annual program
• Will light up City Hall again
• Will coordinate going to the business town hall, Tuesday @ 2. Next meeting is September 14 - will invite Lisa Hall, Jenny Linton, and Alison Mullings to participate
• Need to partner with people with disabilities who are looking for employment, how do we reach the disability community?
• Safeway uses the regional center - this does not cover all disabilities
• AUSD has transitional educations program up to age 22 - this is also through the regional center
• ILC - Independent Living Center, and the CIL
• The Department of Rehabilitation offers programs to hire someone and they offset their salaries
• Positive Resource Center in SF - gets job coaches and leads with mental illness and HIV
• Need to make sure job postings are going there
• There is also the Center for the Blind, we need to make a checklist for businesses to use in their outreach
Old Business
• Commissioners reviewed draft General plan, reported positive feedback
Staff Communications
• COVID-19 update:
o Total cases 2857, deaths 94, County recently passed 100,000 cases
o Cases are increasing, we had 47 in June, 239 in July, and so far we have already had 106 in the first 9 days of August
o Masks are required indoors regardless of vaccination status
o Vaccines are strongly urged, in Alameda 90.8% have had at least 1 dose, 78% are fully vaccinated (of the eligible population 12 and older)
o Masks and vaccines will help protect our community
o County cases are 20 per 100k, previous color tier system that is in the purple tier - for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people
o COVID testing is easy and available close by
• ADA lawsuits, we have heard in the media about dozens of boilerplate ADA lawsuits being filed by the same person who filed 1000 complaints in SF Chinatown, settlement costs are reported to be 4-6k plus attorney fees
o The City is not involved because these are private lawsuits
o Some businesses have been vocal about them and some have not
o We do know that this has triggered some businesses to do a CASP inspection to ensure accessibility
• The City will be posting soon about an opening on the Commission
• Please share General Plan feedback either to me or online at alameda2040.org
Announcements
• Suggestion - concerned about congestion going on and off the island - housing and where the Transportation Commission is in thinking forward about the congestion - would like to have this as a future agenda item
• Regarding candidates, we would like to have a self-advocate, a person with a disability, male, race or ethnic diversity are all important
Adjournment