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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-DAC-2003 Report to the Mayor and Common Council, City of Ithaca Report from the City of Ithaca Disability Advisory Council Date: January 8,2003 Presented to Common Council February 7, 2003 Members of the Disability Advisory Council Larry Roberts, Chair Greg Gizewski, Vice Chair Lauren Signer, Secretary Stuart Halber Michelle Hardy-Cook John Ives David McElrath, liaison with the BPAC Peg Mohn Wendy Skinner(appointed 12/02) Chris Thomas David Bulkley--non-member who attends regularly Ed Swayze --non-member who attends regularly Pat Pryor, Common Council liaison Leslie Chatterton, Planner Introduction The Disability Advisory Council (DAC), established in 1990, advises the Mayor, the Common Council and other city officials about the needs of residents with disabilities. The DAC is comprised of city residents with and without disabilities and non-city residents with an interest in the work of the DAC. The Advisory Council enjoyed another productive year and continues to work closely and effectively with the City. The members would like once again to highlight the hard work and support of our Common Council Liaison Pat Pryor and the work of Leslie Chatterton,planner in the City's Office of Planning and Development. Summary of Work, 2002 Major Projects 1) The Advisory Council suggests that there is a lack of accessible, adaptable and visitable housing stock in the City. Because it also affects a large number of people with disabilities,we join with others and we suggest that there is a concurrent lack of affordable housing in the City. We have begun to discuss a variety of things to address this issue and we have begun to draft possible policy approaches for the City to consider. The membership is reviewing a draft that will support adopting the concept of universal design in the City's own housing initiatives and in other housing initiatives supported by the City. The Chair attended a meeting of the Housing and Homelessness Taskforce, offering our support to them as they decide whether and how to raise housing issues with the City. We support their request to have the Mayor appoint a liaison to their group. 2) Working closely with Satomi Hill,Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Services Coordinator at the Finger Lakes Independence Center,the DAC is seeking to address the need to assure disability access to a variety of City sponsored and/or funded 'temporary events'. We have drafted and will finalize a suggested approach to address this important obligation. Other Projects The Advisory Council continues to keep informed on progress toward assuring that the City's parking lots and accessible parking spaces are compliant with applicable regulations. Significant progress has been made in this area; the DAC looks forward to hearing of its completion. The DAC supports changes to the City's ordinances to reflect updated language in several areas. Begun by the DAC,the process of updating the ordinances has gone to committees,been reviewed by city staff and is currently in the City Attorney's Office. The DAC supports a plan to place an accessibility map on the City's website. The DAC met with representatives of the City's Wellness Committee,reviewed some publicity created by the committee, and suggested that, for further committee information,they arrange a disability awareness presentation from the Finger Lakes Independence Center. Jeff Boles,peer counselor, and Larry Roberts,program director, at the Center provided the presentation. Miscellaneous The Chair, at the invite of Lauren Signer who is a member of the DAC, attended a presentation about the Human Segway by New York State Electric and Gas. Report prepared by: Larry Roberts, Chair Disability Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 4/2/03 Present: Larry Roberts,Pat Pryor, Margaret Mohn, Buzz Ortiz, John Ives, David Bulkley, Karen LoParko, Greg Gizewski Minutes: Wendy Lauren and Larry met to assemble minutes, organized chronologically Wendy has minutes format Larry has collection of minutes Housing Subcommittee: Re. the visitability ordinance, the wish is to continue to develop accessibility features There is a need for relevant statistics. The resolution in Syracuse only addressed new building; ours needs to refer to renovation and addition as well. Support approved for direction the resolution is going, including pressing for 1-2 fully accessible units in all new buildings Charter for the DAC: Discussed idea of developing a liaison to the Board of Public Works Larry will approach the Mayor to ask him to appoint one of the DAC to the BPW. Larry would be willing to become the liaison. Pat suggested (relating, to section C of the charter 45-4.c) that the idea would be to not become a voting member. This would provide better input for us to have a presence on the BPW rather than needing them to send someone to attend our meetings. Regarding boards other than the BPW, we should ask Pat to request representatives from relevant boards to come to DAC meetings on an issue based need basis. Design guidelines for software development dealing with inclusion of accessibility. Pedestrian access issues should have DAC input. Larry will get list of Agendas from various city boards Planning and development members can be approached outside of meeting. A f[Ofl lZ v2 Paoli G �kroF /n inu S OPl 1GW-Y Cean,l ASkr y P hc� iryor ;and D/�V►�' FLU rn�� n � L1/Q,ek w/Pubfis CAl�7/rk'YJ !�^ E 5 , on /sscce' hovei'kt4 C-tm u/cZ�l s Tr7 � JIO/� neat f rncz o� r-2hct� • -z933 DE's V/ (f 6z �e4iva - Tx J b T G�ZY� L f� .' 1Z!1C�C(-t > �"CC Oc cGiti1 U C1�Ct 77L Y SG CSS4� /h 5 216f f 1tillS fUY / Tai-pre . Pik t,�: 1 SIN c 730 p �OL u 9� d Pd sct�� �S is o�c mct k� a l is� pel��c iss� �sz DAL 10�, c") /v c)o U� �ir�� Jiaso,� 7a �1'l� -c�lscussi�Y� � J ���� - r� s a; -Aw a. M6 /wn � "Azze Div fi-w} Meeting Notes LIST OF THINGS FOR DAC TO DO FOR DOWNTOWN SURVEY MAP 1. Ask the Mayor for a letter to be mailed to all business/service tenants in the survey area asking the tenants to please participate in the survey. a. This letter will probably be followed up by a phone call. At this time the on site survey may be scheduled. b. Ruth Aslanas is developing a mailing list of potential business/service tenants with help from the IDP. 2. All these activities need to be coordinated with the potential survey personnel. We have talked about using On Site Volunteers. We need to make contact with these people. Ruth is not coordinating the personnel that conduct the survey. It is our responsibility, or whomever we choose to do it for us, to provide Ruth with completed survey documentation that she can enter into the GIS, which will automatically change the City's downtown web site access guide. 3. We need to discuss the maps placement on the Ithaca City web site with Julie Holcomb, City Clerk. 4. We also need to develop a list of locations within the City web site that advertise and can connect a consumer to the downtown access guide (links). Julie is obviously part of this discussion. 5. John Ives is editing the surveying documents and will provide necessary copies to Ruth Aslanas. 6. We need to think of a way to notice any changes in access and tenancy and have these changes reported to whoever can input the data to the access guide via GIS. (Ruth?) 06!09!0-003 11:31 607745558 TOMPKINS COUNTY PAGE 02 City of Ithaca Disability Advisory Council ME TING NOTES, TUNE 4, 2003 Housing .Subcommittee: Tracy reported that the housing group is investigating housing visitability ordinances from other communities, for later presentation to the DAC. DAC relationship to Board of Public Works: Larry reported that he visit(,.,d the BPW to convey concerns expressed to this group by a citizen about snow removal and accessibility. Larry also asked the BP about having a permanent DAC liaison, as a continuation of efforts to improve communications between the two groups. The Suggestion was well received by the BPW, and will be pursued through Common Council's committee process. Human Rights Ordinance: Pat reported that she has consulted with ShaWn. Martel-Moore at the County's Human Rights Commission and with the City attorneys on an update to the HR ordinance to include the definition of"disability." The discussion hinged on whether to use the older language from state law or the newer langi age in the ADA. Moore recommended the state language as bein broader. The City attorneys recommended the ADA langL age, with the inclusion of the phrase "medical disability" taken from the state law. By consensus, the DAC asked Pat to report to the attorneys and appropriate others that the DAC prefers the ADA language, and that the DAC advises the inclusion of the phras "medical disability" if it does not weaken the law or increase the client's burden of proof, and if it broadens coverage. Ithac Festival: It was agreed that communication with the festival organizers was successful and that the DAC's requests were met. The s bcon-imittee will meet again and bring back recommendations for the next steps. Teresa mentioned that ASL 06/09/2003 11:31 6072745558 TOMPKINS COUNTY PAGE 03 inte reters should have dark-colored shirts with visual cues that identify them as interpreters for the event. Wendy mentioned that the organizers of a new winter arts festival should be contacted. Ace ssibility map: Karen reported that staff is working on development of the map; a summer intern will be available to assist with it this summer. Han icapped parking: John O. mentioned his concerns with compliance and enforcement. Larry noted that much progress had been made with the City, but that it is appropriate to have an update. Hou ing issues: Wendy reported that the County's Health & Human Services Committee is devoting its entire June 19 meeting to h using for at-risk and/or low-income residents. She has prompted the committee to also include universal design and acce sibility in the discussion. Larry will follow up. MO IONS Appr val of minutes of previous meeting: unanimous. ,,:�, I DAC meeting notes July 03 Visitability Meeting with Ed Stienfeld, SUNY Buffalo expert, with possible PowerPoint presentation at future meeting. Tracy looking into concept in other than new housing--rental and rehabbed. Map (Access) Revisions have gone to Ruth Eslantis, the GIS person at the City. Larry, Karen, and John will approve letter--no objection from members. Parking Striping is a bit behind due to weather and priority of DPW. BPW liaison Communication about DAC's support for a liaison with BPW. Human Rights Ordinance The DAC supports using the federal ADA language in the City ordinance. i TO: Pat Vaughn, Chair Budget and Administration Committee City of Ithaca FROM: Larry Roberts, Chair Disability Advisory C ncil Date: July 24, 2003 RE: Non-Voting Liaison from the DAC to the Board of Public Works As you know, the Disability Advisory Council (DAC), the Board of Public Works (BPW), Pat Pryor, and Bill Gray have been in discussion about the non-voting liaison from the DAC to the BPW for quite a while. Your Committee is considering language to amend the City Charter to reflect such an arrangement. I wanted to take a moment to outline some reasons why the DAC believes this is an important change to the Charter. The work of the DAC is to advise the Mayor, the Common Council, other City committees and city officials about the needs of residents with disabilities in the City. The work of the Department and BPW has direct impact on the lives of people with disabilities in the City, and we feel it is important for us to have a voice in some of that work. Let me give you some examples of the kinds of issues that the BPW has worked on that affect people with disabilities: The Commons Lighting Project Repair of the Seneca Street Parking Garage Widening of the West. Spencer Street Design of the Plain Street Bridge The Roundabout Plan for Albany Street/Spencer Road/Old Elmira Road Also, the BPW routinely discusses issues such as signage, signalization, and road and bridge improvements. The Mayor, the DAC, Pat Pryor, Bill Gray, and the Board of Public Works support this liaison relationship. The BPW hasn't formally voted support for this liaison relationship,but at my meetjng with them they expressed general support for the idea. If you need anything else, or if I can provide you with other information, I would be glad to do so. Thank you for the Committee's consideration of this Charter change. LR/lh MSN Hotmail- Page 1 of 1 Hotmail larryeroberts @hotmail.com Inbox I Previous Page From : Pat Pryor<plp3 @cornell.edu> To: "Larry Roberts" <larryeroberts @hotmail.com> Subject: Re: cant find it--eek Date: Wed,23 Jul 2003 09:24:42-0400 Hi Larry, I don't think the other message I forwarded to you mentioned the round-about planned for Albany St./Spencer Rd./Old Elmira Rd. intersection, but I figured you'd put that one in the list. Also, the memo needs to be to Carol in the Controller's office by tomorrow (Thursday) noon. Pat At 08:22 PM 7/22/2003 +0000, you wrote: Pat, Can't find the memo you wrote for me about the liaison position. Can you just list a few projects BPW has done that could benefit from DAC input? Thanks! Larry Add photos to your e-mail with MSN B. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail .../getmsg?curmbox=F000000001&a=c436a78fbfc7505b498a6257ca09ec66&msg=MSG 1058966999.33&printf=07/23/2003 1 Memo To: Pat Pryor, Common Council Liaison, DAC From: Larry Roberts, Chair, DAC Re: Statement about disability definition for HR ordinance Date: July 3, 2003 The Disability Advisory Council at its July meeting reconfirms its position about the disability definition to be included in the City's Human Rights Ordinance. The DAC affirms that the definition of disability is essential to an effective human rights ordinance and believes that the definition of disability contained in the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA) is adequate for the City's purposes. And since the City's attorneys hold this position as well, we encourage the adoption of the definition contained in the ADA. Here are some points raised in discussions at DAC meetings • The list of disabilities mentioned in the ADA is illustrative,not exhaustive. • The ADA does not protect people with 'temporary disabilities', in part because there is no historic pattern of discrimination against people with temporary disabilities. • It's likely that the state legislature will amend state human rights law and use ADA language. • There doesn't appear to be an increase in numbers of persons protected under a different definition. • The DAC would be concerned that a different definition might require more documentation, might place more burden on an aggrieved party to prove that they meet a different definition's constraints. Also, a different definition may, in fact,place the City in the position of defending itself against suits never intended by either the State or the ADA definition. • Plaintiffs have the ability to file under either the state ordinance or this human rights ordinance. • Lastly, it remains unclear what the practical difference is between the State's definition and the ADA's definition. It's important to point out that none of the DAC members are attorneys and that the DAC encourages the City to rely, finally, on the advice of its legal staff. MSN Hotmail- Page 1 of 1 Hotmail larryeroberts @hotmail.com Inbox I Previous Page From: Pat Pryor<p1p3 @corne11.edu> To: "Larry Roberts" <larryeroberts @hotmail.com> Subject: Re: definition Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 21:24:50-0400 Hi Larry, I'll follow up on your questions with Khandi. I wasn't at work today so am not positive, but I know that Khandi and Shawn spoke for a while after the discussion and I got the impression that they may have come to some agreement. In any event, I'll make sure your questions are addressed before we bring it to Council and than get back to you. Pat At 04:12 PM 6/12/2003 +0000, you wrote: Pat: I happened to tune into the NCI meeting after I got home and watched the discussion of the definition of disability between the committee and the lawyers. Here are some thoughts: Exactly what does 'medical' mean in the State HR law? Is it in fact the way that people with 'temporary disabilities' are covered; are they in fact covered? And what kinds? Is someone with a broken leg a 'person with a disability' for purposes of the State law? Seems to me that this is crucial to discover, because does the city want that? Also, if, in fact, the State's definition allows 'more' people to be considered disabled, does the City have the right to have a different (in this case less broad) definition than the State? As you know 'temporary disabilities' are not covered by the ADA. Also, the State may at some point change portions of the law to conform to ADA language. What's the practice of the City's Human Resources department in relation to people with temporary disabilities? Because employment issues -- most especially termination and reasonable accommodations -- are the most likely to be contentious between employers and employees. That might be helpful to know. Again, the opinion of the DAC was that the ADA definition seems adequate to us. However, if putting 'medical' in the definition would expand the number of people covered and not place additional burdens on the person pressing a claim, we thought that would be OK. These issues, we thought, needed to be decided by the City attorney. Also, I should point out, I don't think the DAC even considered temporary disabilities when we were talking about whether adding medical to the definition was a good idea. So, I don't think I could say that the DAC would think that would be a good idea or not. For instance, I, personally, am not wild about expanding the definition so much that people with broken legs could allege discrimination; I think the DAC would need to discuss this specifically if the NCI wanted our opinion. Thanks! Larry 272-2433 Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail .../getmsg?curmbox=F000000001&a=49c 1 db8cf0163740f8fe4ac721 aa82dd&msg=MSG 1055467778.99&printf=06/13/2003 NEW YORK STATE HUMAN RIGHTS LAW [§292 et seq.NY EXEC LAW] upon or transfer of real estate. In the sale of lots pursuant to the provisions of article nine- e a of the real property law, the term "real estate broker" shall also include any person, partnership, association or corporation employed by or on behalf of the owner or owners Of lots or other parcels of real estate, at a stated salary, or upon a commission, or upon a salary and commission, or otherwise, to sell such real estate, or any parts thereof, in lots or other parcels, and who shall sell or exchange, or offer or attempt or agree to negotiate the sale or exchange, of any such lot or parcel of real estate. 15. The term "real estate salesperson" means a person employed by a licensed real estate broker to list for sale, sell or offer for sale, at auction or otherwise, to buy or offer to buy or to negotiate the purchase or sale or exchange of real estate, or to negotiate a loan on real estate, or to lease or rent or offer to lease, rent or place for rent any real estate, or who collects or offers or attempts to collect rent for the use of real estate for or in behalf of such real estate broker. 16. The term "necessary party" means any person who has such an interest in the subject matter of a proceeding under this article, or whose rights are so involved, that no complete and effective disposition can be made without his or her participation in the proceeding. 17. The term "parties to the proceeding" means the complainant, respondent, necessary parties and persons permitted to intervene as parties in a proceeding with respect to a complaint filed under this article. 18. The term "hearing examiner" means an employee of the division who shall be assigned for stated periods to no other work than the conduct of hearings under this article; 19. The term "discrimination" shall include segregation and separation. 20. The term "credit", when used in this article means the right conferred upon a person by a creditor to incur debt and defer its payment, whether or not any interest or finance charge is made for the exercise of this right. 21. The term "disability" means (a) a physical, mental or medical impairment resulting from anatomical, physiological, genetic or neurological conditions which prevents the exercise of a normal bodily function or is demonstrable by medically accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques or (b) a record of such an impairment or (c) a condition regarded by others as such an impairment, provided, however, that in all provisions of this article dealing with employment, the term shall be limited to disabilities which, upon the provision of reasonable accommodations, do not prevent the complainant from performing in a reasonable manner the activities involved in the job or occupation sought or held. 21-a. The term "genetic anomaly" shall mean any variation in an individual's DNA which has been shown to confer a genetically influenced disease or predisposition to a genetically influenced disease or makes the individual a carrier of such variation. 21-b. The term "genetic predisposition" shall mean the presence of a variation in the composition of the genes of an individual which is scientifically or medically identifiable and which is determined to be associated with an increased statistical risk of being expressed as a physical or mental disease or disability in the individual but which has not resulted in any symptoms of such disease or disorder. K:\Ordinances\Human Rights Law Revisions\NY Exec Law 272.doc 4 MEMO To: Members and Friends of the DAC From: Larry Roberts, Chair Re: Questions for candidates Date: August 12, 2003 As you probably know the DAC is inviting the mayoral candidates to attend our September 3 meeting so that they can get a sense of what we do -- and so we can make them aware of the issues with which we are concerned. They have been asked to arrive at 12:15 -- and I imagine we'll meet with them for half an hour; it should be fairly informal. You are invited to submit one question to me so that I can make them available to the candidates beforehand. I may edit your question for clarity-- and will contact you if I have concerns about your question. Please submit them to me at larryeroberts@hotmail.com or by mail at: Larry Roberts FLIC 215 Fifth Street Ithaca,NY 14850 Or call me at 272-2433(v/TTY). Please get your question to me by Friday, August 22. I City of Ithaca Disability Advisory Council MEETING NOTES 8/6/2003 The meeting was opened at noon. The minutes of July 2 were approved unanimously. BPW LIAISON: Larry reported that the Budget and Administration Committee unanimously approved creation of a DAC liaison slot for the Board of Public Works, and that the measure next goes to Common Council for its approval. The next step is to decide who should fill the role, which involves attending BPW meetings as a representative of the DAC and people with disabilities. The BPW liaison will be able to participate fully in discussions of every project but will not have a vote. ACCESSIBILITY MAP: Letters have gone out to 400 business owners on the Commons. The City has hired two interns who will do the site visits. Some of the businesses, such as professional offices in accessible buildings with elevators, will need very little scrutiny. Others will require longer visits and interviews. TEMPORARY EVENTS: Pat reported that she has been talking to the City Clerk about how to implement the next steps, and that the small group is still working on this. HOUSING: Tracy reported that Syracuse and Onondaga County have passed ordinances that all new homes must have visitability features, but the law is in conflict with the state building code. A bill is being introduced at the federal level. Larry suggested that the visitability concept should be extended to rehabbed and renovated housing as well. PREFERRED DRUG LIST: Stuart brought up the topic of a proposal by the NYS Dept. of Health to establish a preferred drug list for Medicaid recipients. Stuart's concern was that mental health drugs might be changed. Larry stated that mental health medications are generally protected form being on preferred lists. MAYORAL CANDIDATES: The group agreed to invite each of the three mayoral candidates, Eric Lerner, Beau Saul, and Carolyn Peterson, to visit the DAC at its September meeting. DAC members should submit questions to Larry. At 1: 15 p.m., Stuart moved for adjournment; David seconded; vote was unanimous �U AI - - "%- -- --- - - - of -4Z City of Ithaca Disability Advisory Council MEETING NOTES 10/1/2003 The meeting was opened at noon. John moved approval of the minutes of August 3, David seconded; approval was unanimous. MAYORAL: CANDIDATES: Larry reported that he sent thank you notes to mayoral candidates Eric Lerner and Carolyn Peterson, who attended the September DAC meeting. He said he had been unable to reach Beau Saul. ACCESSIBILITY MAP: Karen reported that canvassing of the Commons businesses is nearly complete. The interns have left but Karen will complete the project herself and asked for volunteers to help. John said he would help. The survey for the new map went beyond the old map, Karen said, and was time-consuming for many locations. Karen said most business owners were cooperative although a few were concerned that they would be cited for violations. The DAC expressed its appreciation to Karen, Planner Ruth Aslanis, and the interns for their work on the project. BPW LIAISON: Now that Common Council has approved creation of a DAC liaison to Board of Public Works, it is time to decide who will fill the role, said Larry. The liaison needs to be adequately informed to be able to represent and speak for the DAC. The BPW meets three times a month from 4:45 — 6:30 p.m. It is a significant time commitment, Larry noted, and although he is willing to be the liaison, he may find it difficult to be both the BPW liaison and chair of the DAC. Pat suggested that there could be a regular liaison and an alternate, but that it would be necessary for both people to know what is going on. Wendy moved that the DAC appoint Larry to be the BPW liaison; John seconded; vote was unanimous. DAC OPENINGS: Larry suggested that regular attendees Theresa Battisti-Cole, David Bulkley, and Ed Swayze could apply to help fill empty seats. PARKING: John said that handicapped parking spaces at the Green Street parking garage are not well marked. Pat said she thought that until a decision is made about whether to rehab or demolish that garage, striping of spaces is not a priority. She said she would get more information. BUS SHELTERS: Wendy reported that, at the chair's request, she is representing the DAC on a client group for three new bus shelters downtown. Accessibility was not high in the designers' or client group's consciousness until it was brought up to them, Wendy said, but now they have incorporated language that seems to indicate awareness of the need to follow ADA regulations. Larry asked that Wendy stay alert to things that might be overlooked, such as push-buttons on interactive features being reachable from a chair. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: Karen said she had become aware of the need to incorporate concerns of people with disabilities into emergency preparedness plans. She said that the National Organization on Disability has a curriculum. Wendy said that she is a regular attendee at the County Emergency Management Planning Group and that she would bring the topic up there. The meeting was adjourned at 1: 15 p.m. c4e7 S� 7A/ U l Ali � � zx,,,te� exz DAC meeting notes July 03 Visitability Meeting with Ed Stienfeld, SUNY Buffalo expert, with possible PowerPoint presentation at future meeting. Tracy looking into concept in other than new housing --rental and rehabbed. Map (Access) Revisions have gone to Ruth Eslantis, the GIS person at the City. Larry, Karen, and John will approve letter--no objection from members. Parking Striping is a bit behind due to weather and priority of DPW. BPW liaison Communication about DAC's support for a liaison with BPW. Human Rights Ordinance The DAC supports using the federal ADA language in the City ordinance.