COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES

MEETING SUMMARY

Date: 6/10/02

Time: 2:45pm-4:45pm

Place: 1080 Emeline Avenue, Bldg D, Small Auditorium

Santa Cruz, CA 95060

1.0 Call to Order

Chair Ferr called the meeting informational only due to lack of a quorum.

2.0 Roll Call

Present: James Lewis, Bob McGaw, Thomas Ferr, E. Marie Chrisman, Rebecca Northcutt

Excused: Michael Bush, Jenny Sarmiento, Peter Mclean, Krista O’connor, Gail Stevens

Absent:

Guest(s): Dinah Phillips – CAO, Jackie Rubin – Volunteer Coordinator, Sheriff’s Dept., John De Courcy – County Planning, Stephen Davis – Bay Area and Western Chapters of the Veteran’s Hospital

Staff: Andrea Smith

3.0 Announcements

Commissioner Lewis, as a citizen, alerted the Commission of a letter available to the Commission for the purpose of reporting non-compliant parking lots. He will distribute them to the community as an individual. There is also a phone number to register complaints with the Code Compliance Officer of County Planning.

4.0 Minutes - tabled

5.0 Additions/Deletions

6.0 Oral Communications

7.0 Reports

7.1 Commissioners

Commissioner Northcutt reported as the Area Board Advocate that the district proposed that persons with disabilities take a separate educational test. There is a federal discrimination lawsuit pending regarding this issue as it violates the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling.

Chair Ferr reported that cuts to the Valley Metro Service include outer areas of the San Lorenzo Valley. (i.e. Lompico to Felton). Commissioner Chrisman commented on the lack of service to the senior districts in the County as well.

8.0 Old or On-Going Business

8.1 Updates:

· Accessibility

John de Courcy of the County Planning Department announced his intention to attend the COD meetings regularly. He also distributed the Access Santa Cruz County parking lot brochure that has been sent out to over 1200 business owners. He has been receiving calls from the community regarding the brochures so it appears to be having an impact.

· Accessible Parking Enforcement

Jackie Rubin, Volunteer Coordinator for the Sheriff’s Department attended to give an update on the Volunteer Accessible Parking program.

Highlights included:

} The only volunteer who has been authorized to issue citations - mostly courtesy notices – encountered a violent violator on his first citation. The violator hit the volunteer with her car – fortunately the volunteer is okay and the Sheriff’s Department still fully supports continuation of the program.

} The first comprehensive training occurred 11 weeks ago. Unfortunately there have been delays in launching the program – the first meeting to start the full program was delayed due to the volunteer vs. vehicle incident and due to a funeral obligation. The meeting will be rescheduled for July.

} The Coordinator reported that she is proceeding cautiously to assure that the program is solid before launching into it full force. There are a few unanswered details that need to be worked out such as insurance coverage and which code violations will be written against.

} Next training will occur after the kinks have been worked through in serving Aptos and the San Lorenzo Valley area.

} Also in the future, volunteers will survey parking lots so as to alert businesses of non-compliance.

Chair Ferr asked if volunteers would cite for misuse of placard, which carries a $1200 fine. It was unclear if this would be appropriate for volunteers to pursue. He also invited the Volunteer Coordinator to attend the August meeting and suggested that a press release from the Sheriff might help to generate more interest in the program.

9.1 County Budget Cuts – Dinah Phillips

Dinah Phillips, Senior Administrative Analyst for the County Administrative Office attended to answer any Commission questions regarding proposed budget cuts.

Highlights included:

The County is looking at significant revenue reductions due to utility tax, transient occupancy taxes and in addition the impact of the State budget. Proposed cuts include cuts to discretionary programs. Recommending the elimination of approximately 140 staff positions including the staffing for the Commission on Disabilities, Women’s Commission, and Children and Youth Commission. Of close to 50 commissions only 3 have dedicated staff positions. It is proposed that the COD be assigned to the Human Resources Agency where a staff person will dedicate 8 hours per month. County’s goal is to find positions for all those who are being laid off.

The Personnel Department is working individually with each person losing their jobs. The Board will vote on the recommendation at the end of June and occupied positions will end July 26, 2002.

Commissioners discussed concerns and asked Ms. Phillips further details of proposed new staff support.

The meeting ended at 4:45pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Andrea Smith

Commission Coordinator