Date: Thursday, March 13, 2008

Time: 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Place: 1400 Emeline Avenue, Bldg K, Room 207, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

1.0 Call to Order

Chair Stone called the meeting to order at 12:35 p.m.

2.0 Roll Call

Present: Charles Stone, Robert McGaw, Joseph Quigg, Doug Patrick, Paul Ticknor Peter Heylin, Michael Bush

Absent: Arnecia Dynes, Jeanette Cosentino, Aaron Spencer

Staff: Mary Thuerwachter, Commission Coordinator

Guests: Virginia Butz, Foster Grandparents; John Daugherty, Metro Santa Cruz;

Invited Speaker: Ricardo Delasandro, Internet Accessibility

3.0 Approval of Minutes

Action Msp MB/PT Minutes for October 11 2007 and January 10 meetings were approved. The February 14 meeting summary was accepted.

5.0 Community Presentations

5.1 Oral Communications from the Public

Virginia Butz brought a print out on legislation on sidewalk and curb issues that is being promoted by the Senior Legislature.

John Daugherty announced that there had been a change in policy on same day changes for para-transit. Staff can recommend changes to the schedule for compelling reasons. There will be no surcharge for the change. This will be done on a space available basis. Passengers will not be left stranded as had happened in the past.

5.2 Scheduled Presentations

Ricardo Delasandro spoke to the Commission on website accessibility. He noted that the Commission website was not updated regularly and had broken links. (Staff explained there have been technical problems in updating the site. Commissioner Tichnor is working with staff to resolve these problems.) He suggested that there be a screen reader utility for people who are blind. He has a list of 18 websites with tools to test for accessibility. He noted that the Federal websites, such as Social Security, are doing incredible work with accessibility and should be looked at as models. He feels that the County should take a leadership role in accessible websites and that Persons with Disabilities are being left behind because of accessibility problems. Commissioner McGraw will check with the Disabled Students Union at Cabrillo to see if there is some one who could help the Commission website become an accessibility model.

6.1 Coordinator Report

A letter to the City of Santa Cruz was sent regarding the parking citation problem. No response has been made to the Commission office. Commissioners Patrick and Bush will contact the City.

Calls to Commission The Commission office has been getting a number of messages from people that complain about accessibility issues but do not leave name and number for follow-up. The voice mail message will be changed to request the information and assure callers that the information will be treated as confidential. One of the calls was about an inaccessible rest room at a business. Commissioner Bush, who is familiar with these regulations, state that only if a business is required to provide a restroom must it be accessible. Grocery stores and restaurants fall into this category. Older buildings have to become accessible when they do a substantial remodel. Commissioner Bush agreed to field questions about accessible restrooms.

E-mail It was discussed that because of the volume of information being forwarded by staff, e-mails would be labeled General, Emergency or COD Priority so that Commissioners could prioritize.

Reel Work Film In preparation for the Reel Work film festival next year, the Commissioners are requested to look for possible films. There will be a screening session in October to decide on the film. Hubu.com has relevant films that can be obtained.

6.2 Follow-up Items

Chair Stone, Commissioners Patrick Tichnor, Spencer, Heylin and Quigg will be attending the Solutions Summit on March 19. EDTAC and CCCIL will also be sending representatives.

Community Resources Chair Stone, Commissioners Patrick and Spencer and staff will follow-up on meeting with CCCIL and request further information. John Daugherty is on the CCCIL advisory committee and is willing to meet with the committee.

Accessible Design Commissioners Heylin and Patrick reported on Accessible Design work. SCC Planning Department has information on the website. A kiosk for accessibility information is picked out for the Planning Department lobby. More information will be available at the Access Expo in Southern California.

Parking Enforcement Law enforcement generally cannot respond in time to cite the offender. A parking enforcement program in Henderson can be researched and brought to the next meeting.

Disaster Preparedness Chair Stone went to the Disaster Preparedness meeting. The County has an agreement with Costco for groceries and pharmacy service in emergencies. Meals on Wheels will coordinate to get food out to those in need. Chair Stone suggested a mobile van with a internet access for pharmacy services. It is expected that hospitals will be overburdened. Ham radio people are involved to disseminate information if other systems are down. Residents can sign up for a reverse 911 service to notify them of a disaster. There is a question of whether or not FEMA would pay volunteers to staff shelters. Retired doctors are also being recruited.

EEO 3 Year Plan Commissioner Patrick stated that he did not feel there was enough time to respond to the EEO 3 Year Plan.  He stated that the Commission's charter to advise the Board of Supervisors regarding the disability aspects of the Annual Report are difficult to perform if we are reacting to a draft received one week before it is submitted to the Board.  He recommended that a calendar of sequential events be developed to ensure that the Commission has early input into next year's.

Commission's Annual Report Commissioner Patrick recommended that the Commission Annual Report to the Board of Supervisors also have a calendar of sequential events that would ensure advance and well-considered input to the Report's content and format.  The Commission Coordinator stated that she was told that there could be no deviation from the generic format structure.  The questions that had been raised during preparation of this year's report concerned presenting topics in sequence but using attachments to displace boilerplate language that would obscure the critical aspects of our report.  Commissioner Patrick questioned whether that was the degree of orthodoxy intended and would like to have that interpretation discussed with appropriate Board staff as part of the sequential event calendar proposed above. 

Commission Meeting Processes

Commissioner Patrick addressed topics previously discussed regarding management of meetings and tracking action items.  He committed to preparing a proposal to be handed out at the next Commission meeting.  Commissioners would be asked to read the material and set aside time at a future meeting to discuss, modify and adopt proposals. Commissioner Patrick has agreed to be a meeting and process management adviser to the extent that it continues to serve the Commission's purpose.

7.2 Election of Officers

Action Msp JQ/MB Charles Stone is elected chair.

Action Msp DP/MB Joseph Quigg is elected vice chair.

Meeting adjourned 2:10 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mary Thuerwachter

Commission Coordinator