HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-DAC-2017-09-06Disability Advisory Council Meeting Minutes
September 6, 2017
Present:
Chair Roberts
Vice Chair Scriber
DAC Members:
Andrew Rappaport
Erin Sember-Chase
Lisa Monroe
David McElrath
Others Present:
Information Management Specialist – Myers
CC Liaison Brock
Chair of the Board of Fire Commissioners – Gilligan
Members (not of the Working Group to Restructure City Boards and Committees:
Megan Wilson, planner for the City of Ithaca
Ari Lavine, City Attorney
Dan Cogan, Chief of Staff
Deb Mohlenhoff, 5th Ward Alderperson and Chair of the Working Group
Approval of Minutes:
Approval of July 12, 2017 and August 2, 2017 Disability Advisory Council Meeting
Minutes - Resolution
By DAC Member Sember-Chase: Seconded by Vice Chair Scriber
RESOLVED, That the minutes of the July 12 and August 2, 2017 Disability Advisory
Council meeting be approved as published.
Carried Unanimously
Discussion Item:
Discussion of Restructuring of the City’s Boards and Committees into Four
Separate Commissions:
Chair Roberts, with support from DAC members, confirmed the following statements
that the DAC wants to make sure are included in the new commission structure:
Issues related to disability and accessibility need to be included in each commission’s
mission statement.
Each of the four new commissions should have at least one member with a disability
The need for the City to have an ADA Coordinator, whose primary responsibility is
related to working with accessibility and disability issues from both staff an d the public.
The Mayor, Common Council, and the City’s Human Resources Department should be
encouraged to review the ADA requirements related to ADA Coordinators for agencies
with 50 or more employees.
Chair Roberts reported that City Clerk Holcomb, who is also a member of the Working
Group but unable to attend the meeting, stated that she would talk to the members of
the Working Group about the ADA Coordinator position. The role of ADA Coordinator
has been assigned to her as part of her job responsibilities.
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DAC Member Sember-Chase shared that most of the initial statements in the resolution
that created the DAC remain true today. In fact, in some ways, the City of Ithaca seems
to be backsliding in some of the areas. (the resolution creating the DAC is included in
the “DAC’s Recommendations” which will be attached to the minutes).
Chair Roberts referred to the DAC’s Recommendations which had been provided to
members of the working group prior to today’s meeting, and shared that the DAC would
discuss a few them today during the meeting to make sure adequate accommodations
are made by the City of Ithaca for people with disabilities in the future. He then would
like to listen to concerns that members of the working group may have about the DAC,
provide time for feedback, and then discuss what the next steps should be in order to
implement a smooth transition to the new structure. He also wondered whether
members of the working group had any particular objections to the recommendations
from the DAC or any concerns that they would like to share. The members of the DAC
feels this is a very important discussion that should take place before the DAC is
disbanded.
Chair Roberts shared that he was one of the people who made the initial request, along
with Brenda Kuhn and Ritchie Farruggio, to the City of Ithaca to create a Disability
Advisory Council. The three of them were, at the time, part of an advocacy group in the
community for people with disabilities. Their work continues today through the ongoing
work of the DAC. He further shared that one of the DAC’s first goals, unfortunately, still
has not been met. It was to provide complete access for everyone to Clinton Hall. It was
and continues to be an education on how hard it can be to achieve complete access to
all locations for everyone in the community. The DAC has done a lot of work on snow
and ice removal from sidewalks, and worked with the City of Ithaca so that good
progress can be seen in that regard. The DAC has also been a resource for advice to
the City on ways to achieve compliance with ADA rules and regulations. The DAC has
also participated in other efforts of the City including the comprehensive plan, the
reconstruction of the Commons, the Workforce Diversity Advisory Committee, and it has
also established a good working relationship with each city department – particularly the
Planning Department, the Department of Public Works, and the City Clerk’s office. He
reported that David McElrath is the longest serving member of the Disability Advisory
Council – longer even than himself!
Chair Roberts stated, that in addition to the DAC, he has heard that the Board of Fire
Commissioners has also expressed their concern and opposition to the proposed new
commission structure.
The DAC would like to highlight the following recommendations as priorities for the
members of the W orking Group to insure are included under the new commission
structure to carry forward and maintain:
1. Accessibility/disability awareness language should be written into the charges or
mission statements for each of the new commissions. The consideration and inclusion
of these two things needs to be part of each discussion on the various topics under
each commission’s purview.
2. Related to item #1 would be to require that at least one member of each
commission be designated as the disability/accessibility content expert or have a
disability themselves.
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3. The City of Ithaca should create and fund an ADA Coordinator position whose
primary responsibility would be related to ensuring that each commission consider
disability and accessibility during each and every discussion, and be the point of contact
or resource for both staff and the public in this area.
4. The DAC would like to hear back from members of the Working Group, after
today’s discussion, about any input or feedback that they might want to share.
Chair Roberts stated that several DAC members are considering applying to continue
as a member on one or more of the new commissions in order to provide some
continuity through the transition period to the new structure.
Alderperson Mohlenhoff responded that the goal of the new structure is to incorporate
the DAC’s recommendations under the charge for each new commission. In order to do
that, they would like advice and feedback from the DAC as to what kind of language
should be used. City Attorney Lavine shared the following proposed language for the
“Mobility, Accessibility and Transportation Commission’s purpose:
“The purpose of the Mobility, Accessibility, and Transportation Commission is to provide
the Common Council, appropriate committees thereof, the City’s quasi-judicial boards,
and City staff with advisory research, public input, and analysis for matters related to
mobility, accessibility, and transportation, including but not limited to bicycles,
pedestrians, sidewalks, parking, traffic calming, and management, public transit, multi-
use trails, taxis, and accessibility for persons with disabilities”
Alderperson Mohlenhoff asked whether the above language is acceptable to the DAC or
would they propose it be re-written. Right now, the Working Group is very open to any
feedback and suggestions for language because it is important to them to include the
DAC’s input. As far as having a “disability” expert, the working group discussed this a
lot about what the best way to proceed; right now, the DAC functions as the go to expert
on disability related issues and as a place to go for advice in the City of Ithaca. The
members of the Working Group are open to whatever the DAC may feel is the best way
to distribute the expertise amongst the four new commissions. She further stated, that
as far as the recommendation for an ADA Coordinator – that has nothing to do with the
establishment and purpose of the new commission structure.
City Attorney Lavine stated that the new commissions won’t have any type of budget
with which to cover the cost for such a coordinator.
Alderperson Mohlenhoff explained that there would be a different process for the City of
Ithaca to follow should the City want to move the DAC’s recommendation forward
concerning the hiring of an ADA Coordinator.
Chair Roberts responded that the DAC would be happy to discuss, today, why they feel
that an ADA Coordinator is vital and essential to the City of Ithaca.
DAC Member Sember-Chase agreed and explained that there is a big change about to
happen as far as ADA laws, plus the requirement for any agency with 50 or more
employees to have an ADA Coordinator on staff. Right now, would be the best
opportunity for the City of Ithaca to hire or appoint such a person.
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Alderperson Mohlenhoff stated that this kind of discussion with members of community
is what the City of Ithaca is looking for in its new commission structure. The
development of an ADA Coordinator position might be a solid task to assign to the new
commission who can then provide feedback to Common Council.
Vice Chair Scriber stated that this is a discussion that needs to happen since current
DAC members feel very strongly that the topic of disability falls into and under all four of
the new commission’s purview. Another topic that is not addressed through the new
commission structure is the topic of baby boomers aging into senior citizens and what
accommodations they will expect be provided to them in the future. Right now, as she
understands it, the City of Ithaca wants to encourage people to come here to retire, so
this particular discussion needs to happen sooner rather than later. She also shared
that she is one of the newest DAC members, and that she has found that members
depend on each other for input and consideration of each one of their particular area of
expertise in discussions.
Chief of Staff Cogan stated that there might be two ways to address the DAC’s
concerns/recommendations. What he heard when he attended a recent DAC meeting
is that there is power in the collective of the DAC members’ area of expertise and
experience brought together in the format of the DAC. In addition, if people don’t bring
issues to the DAC before proceeding, then, typically, disability issues are not discussed
until after the fact. The DAC would rather be proactive than reactive to different projects
occurring in the City of Ithaca. So, if one DAC member is appointed to each
commission, it will provide a little bit of a perspective.
CC Liaison Brock noted another aspect of the new structure is the number
(approximately 10-12 different topics) that fall under the purview of each of the new
commissions, and the challenge that creates to ensure all views and areas of concern
are shared and discussed before recommendations made. Having only one member on
each commission with a disability or to be the “content expert” that has experience
working with disabilities and accessibility related items will not be enough to carry
forward the current collective mind and momentum that the members of the Disability
Advisory Council have created. Therefore, the collective focus and push by the DAC
that the City hire an ADA Coordinator will be lost. The DAC has been struggling with
how to make a recommendation to the Working Group that would continue to provide
for the accessibility needs of each and everyone in the community with proposed new
commission structure.
Alderperson Mohlenhoff responded that the Working Group will need to work with the
City’s current boards and commissions during the transition to the new structure in order
to ensure continuity of their past work. In order to assist the members of the Working
Group with that effort, they have been reviewing the past 2-3 years of agendas of all the
existing boards and committees to pull the topics for the four new commissions, as well
as some topics that are not being covered. A good example of that would be the topic
of aging in the community. Another example would be that a lot of the current work of
the boards and committees is the perfunctory approval of items that may become the
responsibility of staff under the new commission structure. It may also be a good idea
to maintain the DAC and call it a working group under the Mobility, Transportation and
Accessibility Commission. Some of these types of questions still need to be discussed
and addressed.
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Chair Roberts responded that the DAC has made a set of recommendations that it feels
will work under the new commission structure. He stated that just because there is an
identified member on a commission doesn’t mean that others won’t also put their efforts
into ensuring that disability related issues are addressed. Further, the DAC is not
interested in continuing to function as an advisory group to the new commissions. The
DAC’s sense is that the four “content experts” must also be sort of driving th e efforts of
the DAC forward. The DAC would strongly encourage those “content experts” to meet
routinely to check in with each other so that, where needed, discussions related to
disability and accessibility can overlap from commission to commission.
DAC Member Rappaport Andrew stated that it is not enough to have someone with a
disability on each of the new commissions; there should also be the “content experts”
who will also focus on disability related topics and then those four experts should meet
regularly to provide one another with information about discussions at each of their
commission meetings.
Chair Roberts stated that he is not comfortable leaving the request/need that the City
hire an ADA Coordinator to the new commissions; he would like the DAC, along with
Common Council and City Staff, to come to some agreement about that
recommendation because this paid person will be the key to making the proposed new
commission structure work. One of the roles of an ADA Coordinator would be to work
with each of the four commissions, and in particular with the four identified “content
experts” to move disability related issues forward. The DAC is willing, for the next
several months, to work on this in order to provide a complete recommendation for
presentation to Common Council for their consideration of the request. The DAC would
strongly encourage the City to hire an ADA Coordinator in order to get that person hired
and onboard as soon as possible in order to work with the four new commissions.
CC Liaison Brock noted that the City of Ithaca’s budget for 2018 will be approved within
the next couple of months. She stated that it is one thing for the DAC and the City to
research the need and requirement to have an ADA Coordinator and to come up with a
proposal to meet that goal; however, it is not realistic to expect that there will be a
person in that position before 2019 – at the earliest.
Chair Roberts responded that the easiest way to come up with a proposal for the
position would be for the DAC, since this has been a topic of their discussions, and as
such knows what it would like the ADA Coordinator position to look like, to work on it
through the end of the year and provide a proposal for 2019 that can be presented to
the Mayor and Common Council prior to the commencement of the new commission
structure.
City Attorney Lavine shared his opinion that it would be more appropriate for the
Working Group to discuss this topic, and he would recommend that it be considered
separately from the restructuring of the boards and committees discussion. He did
note, with the caveat that it is not a substitute for a specific ADA Coordinator, but the
position of Sidewalk Program Manager that was created four years ago has
meaningfully enhanced the City’s responsibilities related to disability and accessibility.
He further referred to the new ordinance that was recently approved by Common
Council regarding the establishment of the four new commissions and the fact that the
charge and purpose of the Mobility, Transportation and Accessibility Commission
includes language related to diversity, accessibility, and sustainability goals which
should address the concerns raised by the DAC. In addition, the Working Group is
working on a manual that contains rules of procedures for each commission. They were
discussed in more detail at that August City Administration Committee meeting.
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Alderperson Mohlenhoff read some of the language from the draft rules and procedures
and noted that it would be helpful for the DAC to review them as well and provide
recommendations to the Working Group on any changes they feel should be made
before they are finalized.
Chair Roberts responded that the DAC would be happy to do that, as well as to
continue their discussion and work on preparing a recommendation to the Mayor and
Common Council concerning the need for an ADA Coordinator for the City of Ithaca.
DAC Member Rappaport Andrew agreed that the DAC should be able to provide a final
recommendations to the City on the requirement related to the position of ADA
Coordinator for the City of Ithaca before it is disbanded at the end of the year.
Chief of Staff Cogan expressed his thanks to the members of the DAC for putting the
well written recommendations together for the members of the Working Group to
review. He also agreed with CC Liaison Brock that there would be major budgetary
impacts to the City related to the hiring of an ADA Coordinator. This will a major
stumbling block, funding wise for the City, assuming that there isn’t someone currently
on staff that has that role as their primarily job responsibility. He did note that at one
time the City had two staff members whose duties included the responsibilities of ADA
Coordinator. One has been retired for a few years and the other is Julie Conley
Holcomb, City Clerk and Department Head for the Department of Public Information and
Technology. He acknowledged the fact that when he first came to work for the City as
Chief of Staff, about 15 months ago, he met with the DAC. The DAC did ask for the
ADA Coordinator position at that meeting. Since then, he has been trying to determine
what other communities are doing, and how and where within the City this position
would be best placed. It seems to him, right now, that following this recommendation
from the DAC, would be the key to making the new commission structure work and be
successful. Some questions would still need to be answered as the City considers the
recommendation, such as should the ADA Coordinator have the responsibility to attend
each commission meeting.
Chair Roberts responded that the DAC supports the appointment of “content experts” to
each of the commissions. They also support and encourage city staff, as part of their
job, to continue to contribute to discussions at each commission meeting related to
disabilities and accessibility.
DAC Member Rappaport shared that he feels, in his 10 short years on the DAC, that the
DAC has worked on and contributed to a lot of various projects and needs around the
community to improve accessibility for everyone. However, all of the work of the DAC
has been reactionary (i.e. the Commons Playground), and the majority of their time is
spent on reviewing and proposing solutions for new projects that have already been
completed. He has done some research by “googling” ADA Coordinator positions, and
found that the position, typically, is being advertised as a higher level position. As such,
the ADA Coordinator would attend, for example, Common Council meetings, standing
committee meetings, internal project meetings in order to listen and learn about what
projects are coming down the pike so that accessibility related issues are addressed at
the beginning of each project. He would like to see the role of the City of Ithaca ADA
Coordinator be a high level position within the administration for the City of Ithaca.
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DAC Member Sember-Chase explained that any agency with more than 50 employees
is required to have an ADA Coordinator; not just someone who responds to requests
related to accessibility as needed. It is a specific position that is recognized and known
as the place for grievances to be taken to either by staff or community members. The
City of Ithaca has taken the lackadaisical approach about where someone would go in
the City to file grievances or to request assistance. She feels that if the DAC is not
going to exist, then it only makes it more important that the City of Ithaca hire an ADA
Coordinator.
City Attorney Lavine noted, for the record, that the City of Ithaca is in compliance and
does have an ADA Coordinator; however, it is not their only responsibility.
Chair Roberts responded that the City’s current ADA Coordinator, because that is not
their only responsibility, may also not have the staff or resources to support their role ,
which is why the DAC is making the recommendation that the City hire a ADA
Coordinator; because the current arrangement is not meeting the needs.
CC Liaison Brock stated that she would like the City to clearly identify just who is its
ADA Coordinator, and to clearly define and recognize what their job responsibility is.
She has not seen evidence that the designated ADA Coordinator for the City of Ithaca is
the one charged with upholding and enforcing the A DA regulations; otherwise the DAC
would not have had to become involved to react and rectify problems at various
locations around the City – such as a “pop up” park in Collegetown or obstructions to
sidewalks due to construction projects. The person designated as the ADA Coordinator
should be charged, in their normal job responsibilities, to advocate for provision of
accessibility and accommodations for all members in the community to insure that
projects occurring in the City are compliant with ADA requirements. The DAC receives
complaints and yet does not know who the ADA Coordinator is for the City of Ithaca that
might assist them in becoming more proactive rather than reactive related to
accessibility for everyone. It has been a real challenge to the DAC to have to address
problems after projects have been completed.
Chair Roberts shared that if he never talks about snow and ice again, or designated
parking ever again, it will be too soon because of the years of ongoing discussions by
the DAC on these topics. Those discussions have provided for real and tangible
improvements in keeping sidewalks clear of ice and snow and that handicap parking
violations are being addressed on a regular ongoing basis. However, one piece
remaining undone by the DAC is what should be done about snow and ice removal at
curb ramps. He feels this would be one of the top issues that the ADA Coordinator
could work on to provide a solution to this ongoing and hazardous situation. The main
benefit to the City of Ithaca, by hiring an ADA Coordinator, is going to be the difference
between someone being able to come and go and participate in particular programs or
not being able to. Therefore, the DAC feels it is very important and strongly encourages
the City to hire an ADA Coordinator.
City Attorney Lavine noted that the focus of today’s meeting and discussion should be
on the proposed language in the Rules of Procedure Manual that all four new
commissions will need to follow.
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Vice Chair Scriber stated that she has a certain area of expertise, if she were appointed
to the commission, she would still feel like she is not qualified to discuss all pertinent
issues in a way that she could be effective and contribute to the work of the
commission. She would encourage the City to consider additional education to the
members of the commissions on the areas to focus their discussion on for each topic
under their purview.
Chief of Staff Cogan shared that the benefit of having at least someone thinking about
certain issues, for example, accessibility – is that they might know someone they could
go to for advice and then provide that information at the next meeting of the
commission.
Alderperson Mohlenhoff reiterated that these four new commissions are advisory only.
Whatever changes or recommendations emerge from each of the commissions will still
need to go through the standing committee meeting process before reaching Common
Council for final approval. She agreed that if there were a member on each of the new
commissions specifically looking at DAC related concerns that it would be very helpful
and beneficial to the City.
DAC Member Sember-Chase agreed that it will be very important for there to be
someone on each commission that focuses on accessibility and disability related topics.
It will also be very important for those four members to meet outside of their regular
commission meeting to share information between commissions, and to be a consultant
to one another.
Chair Roberts asked what the mechanism would be for making sure that the new
commissions have a designated space for an “accessibility content expert”.
Alderperson Mohlenhoff responded that it could be added as a statement under the new
Rules and Procedures for each commission. In addition, the Working Group will
continue to meet to discuss how to incorporate the “accessibility content expert” into the
rules.
Chair Roberts wondered whether it would make sense for the DAC to meet again with
members of the Working Group or whomever the group wanted to designate to go over
the recommendations from the DAC and review issues raised during today’s discussion.
CC Liaison Brock noted that the DAC would have a great opportunity, in addition to
spending next month's discussion on the topic of an ADA Coordinator, to use the time to
create that “bridge program” to ensure a better transition to the new commission
structure. She would also like to see at least four, hopefully, of the current members of
the DAC be appointed to each of the new commissions to establish that practice of
ensuring accessibility discussions are held at each meeting, and to encourage the City
of Ithaca to hire an ADA Coordinator.
Alderperson Mohlenhoff asked what type of work plan or transition plan the DAC would
envision about the transition to the new commission structure.
Chair Roberts responded that the recommendations provided to the members of the
Working Group should be considered as their vision to follow for the transition plan to
the new commission structure.
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Chief of Staff Cogan wondered whether it would make sense to have some sort of joint
meeting between the DAC and the four people who will be the “disability/accessibility
content experts” or the member with the disability to share information between each
other to assist in the transition.
Alderperson Mohlenhoff reported that the Working Group will be looking at the new
member application today. She wondered whether the DAC would like a question or
statement about the members’ disability requirement on the application.
Chair Roberts responded that the DAC could discuss that; and asked when Alderperson
Mohlenhoff would need that language.
Alderperson Mohlenhoff responded that it would be needed by the October City
Administration Committee meeting, which will be held on October 18, 2017. The
deadline to submit items for that agenda will be Friday, October 6, 2017.
Adjournment:
On a motion the meeting adjourned at 2:02 p.m.
______________________________ ____________________________
Sarah L. Myers, Larry Roberts,
Information Management Specialist Chair