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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012_0117_Meeting Minutes_APPROVED Meeting Minutes — Approved as circulated 3/20/12 Mayor's Advisory Committee For Equal Access (MACFEA) Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Mo'ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/2113 4444 Rice Street, Liliu'e, HI 96766 Members present: Rita Manriquez — State Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board (STBIAB); Linda Nuland-Ames — Director RSVP, COK Elderly Affairs; Roberta Eiben — Consumer; Rhoda Rojas — Hawai'i Center for Independent Living-Kaua'i (HCIL); Ana Valdez — Family Advocate; Dr. Lucy Miller— DCAB (Disability and Communication Access Board) Board member; Kathy English — Hawai'i Disability Rights Center; Sharry Glass — Advocate, Teacher/Trainer; Betty Bell — Kaua'i Federation for the Blind; El Doi — Kaua'i Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC); Elena Costales — Consumer, KCIL Volunteer Staff members also present: Christina Pilkington —ADA Coordinator; Marc Guyot— Deputy County Attorney; Barbara Davis — Support Clerk. Captioner: Darlene Pickard - Caption First. Members absent or excused: Dawn Cummings — Family Advocate; Call to Order Chair Linda Nuland-Ames called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. with 11 members present. Approval of November 15, 2011 Minutes Action: Ms. Bell moved to approve the minutes of November 15, 2011, as circulated. Ms. Doi seconded the motion. Motion carried 11:0 Business o Discussion to change meeting time to accommodate paratransit riders Ms. Bell explained that it takes at least 45 minutes to get to Lihu'e from Po'ipu using the paratransit bus; a trip which would take around 20 minutes by regular vehicle. Ms. Bell did not think that MACFEA could resolve the scheduling issue and stated that she was just grateful to have the paratransit bus. Chair Nuland-Ames thought even if they started the meeting an hour earlier, the members might still encounter a similar problem with having to leave the meeting early depending on how paratransit scheduled the drivers. Ms. Bell explained that the paratransit dispatcher ask where a person is going and what time they need to be there and then schedule the most convenient bus time. The more MACFEA- January 17, 2012 Page 1 people scheduled for one bus, the more possibility of a delay in the arrival time at your destination. Ms. Bell said she would be willing to check with The Bus to see if there would be a more convenient time for the MACFEA meeting that would accommodate members from the South Shore. Ms. Pilkington was asked to check on accommodating the meeting time and passengers from other areas of the island and report back at the March meeting. Chair Nuland-Ames said another way to address the meeting time problem is to stay on point with the agenda and try to keep the meeting at one hour. Action: Ms. Glass moved to defer this item to the March meeting to gather more information on accommodating paratransit riders and their attendance at the meeting. Ms. Bell seconded the motion. Motion carried 11:0. Reports o DCAB reports for January, 2012 Dr. Lucy said the DCAB board meeting was scheduled for the following week and that she had nothing further to add to the report that was included in the meeting packet. o ADA Coordinator's report Ms. Pilkington attended a DCAB workshop where the presenter was from the John F. Kennedy Center and spoke on access to programs and services for auditoriums whose business is conducted on Web sites for their ticketing. Ms. Glass shared that as a visually impaired person she has difficulty accessing a lot of Web sites and asked if there was any process for standardizing those sites such as creating a text based Web site. Ms. Pilkington said that a person can use the Bobby Check to see what is and is not accessible on a Web site. Ms. Pilkington asked Ms. Glass to check the County's Web site and let her know if she has any problems with accessing it. Ms. Pilkington also mentioned a lady who complained about paratransit services and wanted to share her information with the MACFEA. Chair Nuland-Ames made note that before the lady could speak with the Committee, the item needed to be placed on the agenda and she would have to contact the secretary a minimum of 10 days prior to the meeting in order to have her concern placed on the agenda. To comply with the Sunshine Law, testimony is limited to agenda items. MACFEA- January 17, 2012 Page 2 In response to Dr. Lucy's inquiry about captioning for streaming video, Ms. Pilkington said the laws are such now that Title III or private entities don't always have to caption what is being Web streamed, for some reason or another. Ms. Bell suggested it would be helpful to those with visual problems, if the various entities would also indicate where someone could call for assistance if they did have trouble accessing some of the sites. Ms. Glass said she hoped the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall (KWMCH) did not go online with ticket sales because that really limits people who can access them. Ms. Pilkington explained that most events at KWMCH are contracted by private entities who do their own advertising for whatever performance or activity it is. When they do sign a contract, they are trained in how to provide auxiliary notice for the events and the availability of our assistive listening devices. Other than that they are on their own. Ms. Pilkington said she would talk with the Deputy County Attorney about how to ensure tickets are sold at accessible sites and that Internet sites be accessible as well, if that venue is used. Action: Ms. Pilkington to report at the next meeting on ticket sales arrangement and or requirements at KWMCH. o Updates / Announcements Ms. Valdez reported that there was a good turnout at the recent meeting for people with neuromuscular diseases and they are looking forward to the next meeting on March 10. Ms. Bell wanted the minutes to reflect that the Federation for the Blind thanked Mayor Carvalho for participating in the White Cane Day activities at Kukui Grove Shopping Center. The Federation has also scheduled a clinical pharmacist to speak to the group and talk about the drugs they are taking with regard to their particular treatment. Ms. Doi reported that the Kaua'i Developmental Disabilities, in conjunction with Department of Education (DOE), will be having their first transition event on January 28 and hope to make this a twice yearly event. Ms. Manriquez reported on the ongoing study by Dr. Ross on concussions sustained by our youth as part of their school activities. The State Traumatic Brain Injury Association of Hawai'i will be holding their conference on March 8 and 9. Ms. Eiben was happy to report that she got a part-time job with the Health Department shredding paper and will start at the end of the week. Dr. Miller said she would like to see more emphasis on training various County personnel who work with the public and asked how they could do that. Chair Nuland- Ames said Dr. Lucy could request the item be placed on the next agenda for discussion. MACFEA- January 17, 2012 Page 3 Ms. Pilkington said she was in the process of creating a calendar for upcoming training events but anyone could call her and ask what trainings were coming up. Ms. Rojas bid a fond Aloha to the MACFEA group announcing that she was moving to Las Vegas. Ms. English said the Hawai'i Disability Rights Center had hired another advocate who will be assisting on Oahu and Ms. English will continue to advocate for Kaua'i citizens. Chair Nuland-Ames reported that starting February 28 for 11 days, Tropic Care, through a grant from the Department of Defense, will be providing free complete health care to everyone on Kauai at three different locations on the island. More details will be forthcoming on February 1 . Chair Nuland-Ames announced that the next MACFEA meeting is Tuesday, March 20, with Bev Brody of Get Fit Kaua'i speaking on the Complete Streets project. Adjournment Action: Ms. Bell moved to adjourn the meeting at 12:58 p.m. Ms. Doi seconded the motion. Motion carried 11:0 Respectfully submitted by: Barbara Davis, Staff Support ( ) Approved as circulated ( ) Approved as amended MACFEA- January 17, 2012 Page 4