MINUTES
Meeting: August
7, 2006
1. Call
to Order
Vice Chair Arroyo called the meeting to order at 6:40 pm
2. Administration
of Oath of Office for recently reappointed Commissioners and Roll Call
The Oath of Office was administered to
Commissioner Agate.
Present: Commissioners Agate, Arroyo, Berg, Genensky, Hilton, Knauf (arrived 6:45), Parker and Weller.
Absent: Commissioners Boersma, Bogen and Richardson
Julia Brown,
Staff Liaison;
3. Approval
of minutes of the July 10, 2006 Meeting
Commissioner Arroyo moved and Commissioner Genensky seconded to accept the minutes of the July
10, 2006 meeting as written. The motion passed unanimously on a voice
and hand vote.
4. Westside
Center for Independent Living (WCIL) update:
Discussion of and possible action on items presented by Julie West, WCIL
Julie West reported
that Lali Alverez, Case
Manager at WCIL has returned, that WCIL does have some HAP and Emergency funds
available and that they will again be participating in the NBC Health &
Fitness Expo at the
5. Announcements
and Correspondence
Commissioner
Hilton recapped a City of
Staff Liaison Brown updated the Commission on the status of the Smiley Sand Tram. A report is being compiled using input from various City Commissions, City Staff and the Police Department which will be presented to the Board of the Pier Restoration Corp.
Chair Arroyo announced that the state agency he works for still has an employment opportunity for a Client’s Rights Advocate.
Commissioner
Genensky gave an update on the talking traffic signal
to be located at 23rd and
6. Public Input: The Commission will hear from the public on topics of interest to the Commission that are not on this agenda. Each speaker is limited to two (2) minutes.
Member of the public Louisa
Fish reported that the State’s assistance program for low income
homeowners has not increased the base cost of a house in many years. She requested Commission support an increase and
send a letter to State Assemblypersons. Chair Knauf requested she send something in writing so the
Disabilities Commission can better understand the problem.
7. Report from Commission Liaisons
Commissioner Hilton reported that the Housing Commission
forwarded its recommendation and on July 11 the City Council approved
construction of two CCSM affordable housing projects. The locations are:
8. Old Business
A. Request of a member of the public for discussion of and possible action on beach parking lots: Presentation by Elaine Polachek, Open Space Manager
Chair Knauf gave a summary of the Disabilities Commission’s concern in the past over this issue. Open Space Manager Polachek explained her department’s responsibilities, summarized a recent settlement and consent decree entered into by the State of California and how this affects the City of Santa Monica which has elected to participate in the consent decree. She then explained the reasoning for treating beach parking as a program rather than as individual lots, each with their own required amount of accessible spaces. Discussion ensued.
B. Discussion of and
possible action on report from ad hoc subcommittee on Disabilities Awareness Month
Chair Knauf gave a summary of the program that has been suggested
for a Disabilities Awareness Month event by the DAM subcommittee. He stated the date and time are to be
Saturday, October 28, 2006 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Main Library. Discussion ensued.
C. Request of Vice Chair Arroyo for discussion of
and possible action on City staff sensitivity trainings
Vice Chair Arroyo gave a summary of information he received from
D. Request of Commissioner Agate for discussion of and possible action on music in the background of CityTV programming
Commissioner Agate
explained her recent discussion with CityTV regarding
the difficulty hearing dialog when there is background music present during
programming. Discussion ensued.
Member of the public Louisa Fish spoke
about the loud volume of some of the music played when you are put on hold on a
City Hall phone.
9. New Business
A. Discussion
of and possible action on the October and September meeting schedule
Staff
Liaison Brown stated that the October Disabilities Commission meeting falls on
Yom Kippur and asked if the meeting is to be moved to another date. Chair
Knauf moved and Commissioner Weller seconded that the
October meeting of the Disabilities Commission be moved to a Special Meeting on
October 9th at the
Staff
Liaison Brown stated that a location needs to be set for the Disabilities
Commission Retreat in September.
Discussion ensued. Commissioner Parker moved and
Commissioner Agate seconded that the Disabilities Commission Retreat on
September 16th be held at the
B. Request of Commissioner Agate for discussion
of and possible action on recommendations for the City’s standard disability
accommodations at public meetings
Tabled.
C. Request of Chair Knauf
for discussion of and possible action on amendments to the By-laws for the
Tabled.
D.
Request
of Vice Chair Arroyo for discussion of and possible action on captioning of
election-related CityTV coverage.
Vice Chair
Arroyo stated that there should be captioning on CityTV
for election related coverage.
Discussion ensued. Vice Chair
Arroyo moved and Chair Knauf seconded that a letter
be written by Chair Knauf and Staff Liaison Brown to
Robin Gee at CityTV with a copy to the City Manager’s
Office, requesting captioning of all election-related coverage on CityTV. The motion
passed on a hand and voice vote 7-0-1.
E.
Future
agenda items
Commissioner
Hilton requested a discussion of amendments/corrections to the Bylaws of the
Disabilities Commission. He would also
like the Director of the BBB to be invited to come and speak about disability
training and BBB staff.
10. Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. by Chair Knauf.
Approved: Attest:
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