HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013_0716 MACFEA minutes Meeting Minutes — DRAFT
Mayor's Advisory Committee For Equal Access ( MACFEA)
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Mo ` ikeha Building , Meeting Room 2A-2B
4444 Rice Street, Lihu `e, HI 96766
Members Present: Elena Costales , Consumer, HCIL — Kaua ' i Volunteer; Rita
Manriquez — State Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board (STBIAB ) ; Roberta Eiben —
Consumer; Dr. Lucy Miller — DCAB ( Disability and Communication Access Board ) Board
Member; Kathy English — Hawai ' i Disability Rights Center; Ellen Ching — Easter Seals
Hawai ' i ; Keri Russell — American Red Cross ; Sharry Glass — Advocate , Teacher/Trainer
Members Excused : Betty Bell — Kaua' i Federation for the Blind ; El Doi — Kaua' i
Developmental Disability Council
Staff members also present: Linda Nuland -Ames — ADA/EEOC Coordinator; Cherisse
Zaima — Commission Support Clerk; Teresa Tamura — Administrative Aide ; Marc Guyot
— Deputy County Attorney; Mark Baldwin — ASL Interpreter
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Elena Costales called the meeting to order at 12 : 35 p . m . with 8 members present.
Chair Costales introduced Mark Marshall , Kaua ' i Civil Defense Emergency
Management Officer.
Mr. Marshall distributed handouts and presented a PowerPoint slideshow on Disaster
Preparedness and Emergency Shelters (on file ) . Following the presentation , the
following discussion ensued :
Chair Costales asked whether any of the restrooms at the shelters are accessible to
someone in a wheelchair, to which Mr. Marshall replied that they have been checked
and both the DOE facilities and the County facilities are in compliance . Chair Costales
reported that at Waimea High School , the doorway to the restroom was too narrow for a
wheelchair to fit through .
Ms . Nuland -Ames stated that this Friday , DCAB will be on island to train people to go to
designated shelters and complete an accessibility checklist. DCAB will take the lead to
remedy any problems found . MACFEA members are encouraged to attend . Civil
Defense will be hosting the training and have been provided the tools in which to
conduct the accessibility checks ; these tools will be stored at Civil Defense and made
available to those who are trained and wanting to conduct accessibility checks at the
shelters .
Ms . Glass asked at what time the training will be taking place on Friday and whether
those who are trained to perform the surveys will go on to do other compliance checks .
Ms . Nuland -Ames stated that the information was sent via email about 6 -weeks ago and
confirmed that once people are trained they can borrow the tools and conduct surveys
on their own .
Ms . Glass asked for further clarification on whether those tools could be borrowed from
Civil Defense to do accessibility checks at libraries and other public facilities . Ms .
Nuland-Ames explained that libraries are not designated as shelters to which Ms . Glass
responded by asking whether those who are trained could do accessibility checks at
other properties such as hotels or any place that someone would like one done . Ms .
Nuland-Ames suggested that DCAB 's property not be used on third -party private
properties , further stating that those property owners should be responsible for their
own accessibility checks . In reference to the libraries , Ms . Nuland-Ames explained that
Diane Eddy, the ADA Coordinator for the Hawai ' i State Public Library System , is training
the librarians to do accessibility checks and would be the person to contact for any
information regarding that.
Ms . Glass stated that she feels if people are being trained to do accessibility checks ,
they could develop teams to do checks at a lot of different places on Kauai . Ms .
Nuland-Ames stated that the DCAB training is specifically for the Civil Defense and
shelter purposes but the equipment can be used to do checks at any of the County
properties such as the Convention Hall and Neighborhood Centers .
Chair Costales asked if the Civil Defense has a manual wheelchair to try out. Ms .
Nuland-Ames suggested they ask DCAB during the training on Friday.
Chair Costales asked if people need to evacuate their homes , do they bring their own
commode chair. Ms . Nuland-Ames replied that people should be self-sufficient and
should not count on anyone during an emergency , which is one reason that she is not
comfortable with the way shelters are being designated as being for people with special
needs because it gives the false impression that there are going to be special
accommodations for food , medications , special assistance , etc. The reality is it will be a
space reserved on the floor which she feels does not justify a particular designation .
Ms . Nuland -Ames further noted that all shelters are appropriate for people with special
needs if you are bringing your own things and your own assistance .
Chair Costales asked if it would be better to go to the hospital if you have a high amount
of needs . Mr. Marshall stated that he had that discussion with all three hospital
administrators who informed him that during a disaster situation they will only accept
those of critical/life-threatening status . He stated that people may not realize that and
facilities such as care homes need to have that discussion with the hospital
administration . He further noted that he put a lot of time and energy into his
presentation because he feels that the MACFEA members are a pivotal part of getting
the information out to the special needs community.
Ms . Glass stated that after Hurricane Iniki , there were many elderly people that were
unaccounted for and left alone in the home with no food or water . She asked if the
County can organize to have community teams that would volunteer to check on their
MACFEA — July 16 , 2013 2
neighbors , to which Mr. Marshall stated that there are currently Community Emergency
Response Teams (CERTs ) . The program is administered by the Fire Department which
provides training to individual team members on hazard awareness , first aid/CPR, fire
extinguisher training and other useful information . It is considered a self-help course to
train/prepare people to take care of themselves and secure their family and once they
are able to do that, they can help their neighbors .
Ms . Ching stated that she would like to see if there is a way to do a voluntary registry,
especially considering the increase of people with developmental disabilities living
independently. Mr. Marshall added that Kauai , per capita , has the most aged
population , which is also a concern .
Ms . Eiben asked if the shelters on Kauai can accommodate people with special needs .
Ms . Russell replied yes and that they have recently purchased some visual cards for
hearing impaired individuals to communicate their needs which will be available at all
shelters . She stated that many of the Red Cross volunteers that do sheltering can pair
up with a client with special needs to provide assistance with daily activities while
sheltered . It depends on the situation as there are many different situations and
circumstances ; however, all volunteers are trained to assist anyone , including those
with special needs .
Ms . Glass stated that she is concerned about people that have medication that is
required to be kept cool or those that use a CPAP machine to sleep and asked if the
shelters will provide auxiliary electricity. Mr. Marshall replied that some shelters are
fitted with generators but its use would be very limited .
Ms . Glass commented that when Ms . Russell states that the shelters will accommodate
special needs , electricity also needs to be considered to which Ms . Russell replied that
the Red Cross does not choose the facility so it is difficult to determine whether or not
those resources will be available . Ms . Glass stated that the Red Cross should mention
that they cannot guarantee water or electricity because many people assume there will
at least be water, which is not necessarily true . Mr. Marshall stated that the shelters do
have those disclaimers .
Attorney Guyot asked Mr. Marshall if there is anything MACFEA can do for Civil
Defense and feels that the Committee consists of diverse people with diverse
knowledge and experience that could provide specialized assistance to Civil Defense .
Mr. Marshall agreed and stated that Ms . Russell is always looking for volunteers as well .
He stated that getting information out to people , especially those he may have difficulty
reaching such as the special needs community would be of great help .
Chair Costales asked if the accessible or special needs shelters will be publicized in the
newspaper to which Mr. Marshall replied that they are already on the webpage , there
are copies in the library , and Civil Defense can be contacted at 241 - 1800 for that
information . Additionally, people can sign up for the Connect CTY automated
notification system which will automatically notify people via telephone , TTY
MACFEA — July 16 , 2013 3
(TeleTYpewriter) , text and voicemail when there are any civil defense warnings for
Kauai . The Connect CTY system uses geo-referencing based on a person 's physical
address to deliver notifications relevant to the proximity of their home .
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
• Regular Open Session Minutes of May 21 , 2013
Action : Ms . Ching moved to approve the minutes as circulated . Ms . Eiben seconded
the motion . Motion carried 8 : 0 .
BUSINESS
• Setting and Adoption of MACFEA Goals for 2013
Chair Costales read the following goals received from members prior to the meeting :
1 . Rectify the captioning which is presently on the County contracted programs as
well as consider what can be done to increase accessibility to other relevant
programming on Ho' ike .
2 . Monitor and receive reports on progress to provide equal access for all to and
from schools and libraries .
3 . Receive on -going reports from ADA Coordinator on the County's construction
changes to roads , parking , and pathways .
4 . Continue to receive reports on the communication accessibility of the County
until the installation of the wireless system and availability of captioning and
remote interpretation is completed .
5 . Solicit information from our community about ways in which our County may not
be accessible , so that we can be better informed to advise the Mayor about
needed changes .
Ms . Ching submitted and read a draft of her proposed goals :
Increasing Emergency Preparedness
I . Identify areas of concern and draft up recommendations to address these areas
II . To increase emergency preparedness , engage in formalized partnerships with
community organizations and groups including the Red Cross and the Center on
Disability Studies ( Emergency Preparedness System of Support Project)
A. Form a partnership with Red Cross to :
1 . Increase the number of shelters
2 . To ensure the accessibility of shelters
3 . To ensure that the training of shelter managers includes how to
support individuals with disabilities
4 . To ensure that shelters have desiccants and other necessary
supplies
MACFEA — July 16 , 2013 4
B . Form a partnership with the Center on Disability Studies ( Emergency
Preparedness System of Support Project) to facilitate and provide support
to encourage as many people as possible to attend the " Feeling Safe
Being Safe" curriculum
C . Form a partnership with DCAB to :
1 . To provide the personnel , resources and training on shelter
accessibility and preparedness
III . Develop and implement a targeted awareness and education campaign plan on
shelter locations , first aid locations , and any other pertinent information .
Increasing Employment of Persons with Disabilities in the County
I . Provide information to the MACFEA committee on the hiring process and
procedures to increase awareness
II . Develop and implement an internship and volunteer program to increase job
readiness
III . Develop and implement a strategic plan to increase the employment of
individuals with disabilities in the County.
Ms . Glass commented that she is not sure that the hiring of people with disabilities in
the County is within the purview of MACFEA's mandate as an advisory committee and
may be something for DDC or DVR. Attorney Guyot explained that direct involvement
such as hiring is not something MACFEA can do . They can request information from
the County and in turn provide information to increase awareness . County job listings
are posted on the kauai . gov website and the County of Kauai is an equal opportunity
employer. Provided that an individual meets the minimum qualifications of a position
with or without reasonable accommodation , they are considered for all types of
employment within the County. In reference to internships and volunteer programs ,
Attorney Guyot noted that the County is somewhat limited in how they can provide
those by HRS statutes in terms of what qualifies for a type of internship . He cautioned
that volunteer programs may cause problems with the unions because if someone is
volunteering for a job , a union member may not be getting their overtime or the
opportunity to do that job or be temporarily assigned to that position . As far as
implementing a plan to increase employment of individuals with disabilities in the
County, MACFEA can provide guidance to the Mayor as to what can be done .
Ms . Ching commented that she feels that any and all of these things will not be easy but
that it is worth doing and in her years of experience working in this field , she does not
know of anyone with developmental disabilities that is employed by the County.
Looking at what the Committee does she feels that it is under their purview to ensure
equal opportunity and equal access and if they don 't ask the question , she feels that
they are not doing their job .
MACFEA — July 16 , 2013 5
Ms . Glass commented that she wants to be very clear in that she would like the
Committee to rectify inequalities all over the County but the Committee has been told
that their job is to advise the Mayor on how to create more equal access . She stated
that if Ms . Ching is talking about increasing opportunities within the County government
to hire more people who have disabilities then she feels they can do that. She was
under the impression that it was for the general community.
Ms . Ching clarified that she was specifically talking about increasing opportunities in the
County and feels that a volunteer or internship program will help get someone job
ready, especially if they have an intellectual disability. She clarified that it is a
recommendation ; she is clearly aware that this is an advisory committee and this is her
suggestion . If it is not adopted , that's okay, but she does want to put the question out
there .
Attorney Guyot provided some figures that he is personally aware of in the County
stating that there are at least 5 employees with developmental disabilities , 2 people that
have had strokes and 2 that have Multiple Sclerosis ; he' s sure there are others that he
is not aware of. He suggested the Committee have the Department of Personnel
Services come to a meeting to discuss the hiring process and procedures and
increasing awareness . Regarding internship and volunteers , HGEA or UPW could be
asked to come in and discuss items of concern .
Ms . Ching asked for clarification , if that meant the goals she presented are okay to
which Attorney Guyot replied that two of the issues are not a problem right off; the issue
on internship and volunteers will require some work of which a first step would be to
contact the union and find out their concerns . Ms . Ching stated that there is a volunteer
program already in the County through RSVP for retirees ; if there already is a program
in existence , could it not be expanded to include individuals with disabilities?
Ms . Glass asked if the issue of potential employment opportunities with the County
could be put on the next agenda where they just cover ideas about this issue rather
than continuing now since they have not yet discussed any other suggested goals . Ms .
Ching replied that because goals have never been adopted she would prefer to be able
to have a full discussion on any and all proposed goals and then adopt some . Ms .
Glass replied that they have adopted goals every year and is unsure where Ms . Ching
heard they hadn 't, but this year they are only just getting to that. Ms . Glass further
noted that meetings usually run about an hour to an hour and a half and this meeting
has already reached that.
Ms . Glass asked to elaborate on her suggested goal of monitoring the Complete Street
changes on Eiwa Street and the access to libraries and schools . She stated that the
ADA Coordinator's position was created because of the Burkhalter-Montgomery suit
against the County for inaccessibility of both physical and program barriers . Many of
the physical barriers have been removed by Doug Haigh and his staff but there is new
construction happening all the time . Back in the 80's , MACFEA created the rules
MACFEA — July 16 , 2013 6
whereby new construction plans go to DCAB to make sure they will be fully accessible
before they are implemented but often times there is a change between the plans and
the actual construction due to an environmental cause or other reasons . In doing
surveys of the streets around the Civic Center they found numerous problems , and she
would like MACFEA to monitor the actual construction to ensure that it is usable and
accessible , which will prevent costly repairs in the future .
Ms . Ching asked whether these areas of concern are all on County property to which
Ms . Glass replied yes . Ms . Ching stated that there are contractors and project
managers that are in charge and are liable for the construction ; what authority would
Ms . Nuland -Ames have to tell them to stop or change construction ? Ms . Glass stated
that MACFEA' s mandate is to advise the Mayor of anything they find that is incorrect so
he can then instruct the project manager.
Ms . Nuland -Ames explained that yes , by State law the plans and specs go to DCAB for
ADA compliance and when they are released to contractors/subcontractors , part of the
contract is that they are following ADA compliance . The contractors will not get paid if
they do not comply and will have to re-do it to become compliant. Mr. Haigh has offered
to come to the next meeting to explain what is going on and go over the plans . Ms .
Nuland-Ames has been working very closely with the Public Works engineers although
MACFEA members can go out and monitor construction on their own .
Ms . Glass requested the receipt of reports from Ms . Nuland -Ames about the progress
and that it is accessible . Ms . Nuland -Ames reiterated that Doug Haigh is the project
manager and has offered to come and have discussion with the Committee .
Chair Costales asked if someone would like to make a motion to invite Doug Haigh to
the next meeting to which Ms . Glass replied that she would like to discuss the
Committee ' s goals . Ms . Ching agreed .
At the suggestion of Ms . Eiben , Chair Costales requested that discussion on the specific
goals as presented be added to the agenda for the next meeting .
Ms . Glass commented that she would like to discuss the Ho ` ike issue and feels that this
whole discussion on goals should be on the next meeting ' s agenda . Staff asked for
clarification on whether that would be part of the specific goals previously requested to
be placed on the agenda to which Ms . Glass replied yes .
Dr. Lucy stated that they had received an email to submit goals and had assumed that
her submission would have been on the agenda but it wasn 't and she would like to
know what the procedure is . Staff explained Boards and Commissions' policy of posting
meeting agendas 6 business days prior to the meeting date . The goals had been
received after the agenda had already been posted therefore the specific goals were not
included . However, there is a general business item relating to goals that is included
on the agenda under which the Committee could present and discuss their suggestions
on proposed goals . Dr. Lucy asked whether they were given a deadline to submit their
MACFEA — July 16 , 2013 7
goals , to which Staff replied no and further explained that at the previous meeting , it
was never stated that individual/specific goals would be included on the agenda , only
the topic of proposed goals . Staff offered to receive and compile a list of goals from
individual members to simplify the process . The specific goals will be included on the
next agenda .
Ms . Ching asked to clarify that Dr. Lucy' s goal was not on the list that was read to which
Dr. Lucy replied right. Ms . Ching asked Dr. Lucy to share what her goal was . Dr. Lucy
stated that it had to do with the accessibility of County Public Access programming
through Ho ` ike , noting there are several issues that she has attempted to discuss with
Ho ` ike on her own ; she was never able to get an appointment or response to her
requests . She mentioned the double-captioning issue with the County Council meetings
and Ho ` ike airing programs . She feels they are major issues and had asked that it be
included in the plan . Ms . Glass moved to ensure that Dr. Lucy Miller's suggested goals
are also included on the agenda for the next meeting . Staff explained that some of the
goals submitted were very long and had been condensed into general terms , but that
the first goal on the list read by the Chair is in regard to Ho ` ike's accessibility issues .
REPORTS
• DCAB
Dr. Lucy reported that this Thursday, DCAB is meeting to adopt the action plan for the
coming fiscal year. She is not at liberty to read off an action plan that has not yet been
voted on . However, they will have the results next week and Ms . Nuland -Ames can
mail out copies to the members if they wish .
Ms . Glass asked Dr. Lucy if that could be emailed to her to which Dr. Lucy replied that it
will also be posted on the website , which is now fully accessible to all special needs .
• ADA
Ms . Nuland Ames reported that she has received emails about the double captioning
and has contacted the parties involved with contract compliance and will be meeting
with them this afternoon . Based on her research , as a small , private , low funded , local
content TV station , Ho ` ike is exempt from the FCC requirements . She spoke to DCAB
and asked for more direction on what concerned people can do . It was suggested to
her that individuals wanting the captioning should work with the local TV station to help
train more people on the captioning equipment, encourage people submitting videos to
caption them , work with the video production training program to include captioning as a
recommendation in the training , and to help build a group of volunteer captioners ; it
needs to be a people powered effort as the County does not have the legal standing to
force Ho ` ike to do anything .
Ms . Nuland -Ames reiterated that all schools are being checked for accessibility through
DCAB training and feels she is not the person to provide reports on State property. Ms .
MACFEA — July 16 , 2013 8
Nuland-Ames was able to obtain information on the ADA Coordinator for the Hawaii
State Public Library System , Diane Eddy, who is responsible for accessibility and would
be the best person to contact; Ms . Nuland -Ames does not want to tell the State
Coordinator what to do .
Work is underway for the Lihu `e Civic Center ADA improvement project and Doug Haigh
has volunteered to explain the plans to the Committee .
In reference to the communication accessibility with the Wi-Fi system , Ms . Nuland -
Ames stated that she did check it today and it is working in the room . She also noted
that IT provides bi-monthly reports .
The DCAB training for site accessibility will be held on Friday, July 19 at 9 : 00 a . m . in the
Civil Defense building . The FEMA training , which is specifically for disaster shelters and
sheltering in-place for people with special medical needs , will be held the following
Friday, July 26 at 7 : 30 a . m . — 4 : 30 p . m . in the Piikoi Building .
Ms . Glass stated that it was her understanding under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act and ADA that anyone the County contracts with must provide equal access so in the
case of Ho ` ike airing County programs , could that give Ms . Nuland -Ames some
leverage to ensure that there is not double captioning which reverses the intent. Ms .
Nuland-Ames stated that intent is one thing , the law is another and it was required by
the Consent Decree to have open and closed captioning . That issue will be handled by
the Attorneys but Ms . Nuland -Ames will be talking with the people who do the
captioning to try and resolve the overlapping captions . Ms . Glass stated that with the
new technology available today, many methods are outdated and no longer used . Ms .
Nuland-Ames replied that unfortunately many of the laws are also outdated but still
need to be adhered to ; the County cannot make upgrades whenever they want, they still
need to comply with the law.
Ms . Glass pointed out that in reference to access to libraries and schools her concern is
that many of the County bus stops are not accessible though they are in the process of
making better bus stops . She wanted to make sure that the Committee was monitoring
the progress . Ms . Nuland-Ames stated that quite a bit is going on in the Koloa area ,
which was one of the more challenging ones , and there is an ADA accessible pathway
now. If anyone knows of any County bus stop fronting a school or library that is not
accessible , there is a complaint process to report that and Ms . Nuland -Ames will go out
to check on it. Public Works and the Transportation Department are hard at work and
she will be accompanying them to bus stops where there are problem areas . Ms .
Nuland-Ames noted that the bus stops fronting schools will be no problem but cautioned
that there may be a few bus stops in the community that are not in 100 percent
compliance due to Kaua ` i 's challenging topography, which may be allowable based on
the results of a Technical Infeasibility Survey.
MACFEA — July 16 , 2013 9
Jeremy Lee of the Transportation Department reported that there are a total of 49
locations around the island that they are looking at providing upgrades to ; this fiscal
year there is money to fund about 10 of those locations .
Chair Costales noted that the group had lost quorum , with only 5 members present .
The next meeting will be on September 17 , 2013 at 12 : 30 p . m . , Mo' ikeha Building ,
Meeting Room 2A/2B
Adjournment: Chair Costales announce the meeting was adjourned at 2 : 31 p . m . due to
the loss of quorum .
Respectfully submitted by:
Cherisse Zaima , Support Clerk
( ) Approved as circulated ( ) Approved as amended
MACFEA — July 16 , 2013 10