Minutes Disabilities Commission Monday, March 7, 2016 Ken Edwards Center 1527 4 th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401 1. Call to Order Chair Arroyo called the regular meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Roll Call Present: Absent: Also present: Chair Christofer Arroyo Commissioner Mariana Bidart Commissioner Glenda Berg Commissioner June Hagen Commissioner TJ Hill Commissioner Kathryn Kosmeya-Dodge Commissioner Marielle Kriesel Commissioner Marti McCarty Commissioner Neil McLean Commissioner Audrey Parker Vice Chair Nanci Linke-Ellis Anna Topolewski, Staff Liaison Stacy McClendon, Staff Assistant III 2. Approval of minutes of the Monday, February 1, 2016 regular meeting was presented. Commissioner Parker moved and Commissioner Hagen seconded to accept the minutes of the February 1, 2016 regular meeting as is. Motion passed on a 9-0-1 voice vote with Commissioner McCarty abstaining and Vice Chair Linke-Ellis absent. 3. Public Input: The Commission will hear from the public on topics of interest to the Commission that are on this agenda. Each speaker is limited to two (2) minutes.
Chair Arroyo moved and Commissioner Hill seconded to move item 7A to after item 3. Motion passed on a 10-0-0 voice vote with Vice Chair Linke-Ellis absent. 7. New Business A. Presentation and possible action related to the Local Coastal Plan was presented by Liz Bar-El, Planning and Community Development Liz Bar-El, Senior Planner for Planning and Community Development gave a presentation on the Local Coastal Plan and answered Commissioner s questions about parking, Santa Monica Pier access and the history of sand replenishment. No action was taken. On order of the Chair, information was received and filed. 4. Announcements and Correspondence Commissioner McCarty announced that Gary Rhoades, Deputy City Attorney from the City Attorney s Office Consumer Protection Unit helped her with a tenant harassment case where the new landlord took away some accommodations for her daughter, she urged Commissioners to talk to their friends, families and neighbors to inform them of this unit ready to help against tenant harassment. 5. Commission Liaison Reports A. Arts Commission Commissioner Berg Commissioner Berg did not have anything to report on the Arts Commission. B. Commission for the Senior Community Chair Arroyo Chair Arroyo did not have anything to report on the Commission for the Senior Community. C. Commission on the Status of Women Chair Arroyo
Chair Arroyo did not have anything to report on the Commission on the Status of Women. D. Planning Commission Commissioner McCarty Commissioner McCarty did not have anything to report on the Planning Commission. E. Recreation & Parks Commission Commissioner Parker Commissioner Parker reported on the Recreation & Parks Commission. She reported that they held a meeting in January to present and hold a workshop for the Los Angeles County Parks Assessment needs. She said the community and Commissioners gave feedback and gave lists of support items. The information gathered at the workshop was considered at the February Recreation and Parks Commission meeting and the Commission came up with a list of priorities. F. Santa Monica Pier Corporation Commissioner Linke-Ellis Commissioner Linke-Ellis was absent and did not report on the Santa Monica Pier Corporation. G. Housing Commission Commissioner McLean Commissioner McLean did not have anything to report on the Housing Commission. 6. Report from Staff Liaison Topolewski Staff Liaison Topolewski informed the Commission that she met with Gary Rhoades, Deputy City Attorney from the City Attorney s Office and with Keri Stokstad about captioning City TV programs. They concluded that City TV doesn t make the 3 million dollars in revenue in programming to require captioning. The Commission would like to meet with representatives from City TV to inquire about possibly including captioning in their master plans. 7. New Business
B. Discussion and possible action related to Mental Health Awareness Month planning was presented by Chair Arroyo The Commission discussed possible May is Mental Health Month activities. Possible activities include panel discussions on Voting for people with disabilities and collaboration with local agencies and resources to keep voters informed. C. Discussion and possible action related to the Boards & Commissions Video was presented by Chair Arroyo Chair Arroyo will work on the Boards & Commissions Video Report and return to Anna. 8. Old Business A. Report from the FY 2015-2016 ad hoc committees regarding goals, benchmarks and timelines was presented by Chair Arroyo. 1) Voting Access The ad hoc committee informed the Commission that Commissioners already visited all of the Santa Monica Voting sites and reviewed for accessibility, the next step will be to try and make inquiries to those sites on how they are making them accessible. Chair Arroyo moved and Commissioner Bidart seconded to have the Voting Access ad hoc committee to draft a letter to the City Clerk with their findings and bring it to the Commission next month. Motion passed on a 10-0-0 voice vote with Vice Chair Linke-Ellis absent. 2) Accessible Public Facilities.
The ad hoc committee reviewed the final draft of the Walk & Roll flyer to make Santa Monica more pedestrian friendly. The Commission requested to post on the Accessible Santa Monica City Website, and requested to print about 200 flyers. The next step will be to come up with an outreach plan. Chair Arroyo shared the draft letter to City Council about Santa Monica Pier accessibility challenges, Staff Liaison Topolewski will distribute to Council and any relevant Boards & Commissions. Chair Arroyo moved and Commissioner Parker seconded to send the letter addressing Pier accessibility challenges to City Council and any relevant Boards & Commissions. Motion passed on a 10-0-0 voice vote with Vice Chair Linke-Ellis absent. 3) Housing Accessibility The ad hoc committee reported they met with Ron Takiguchi, Building Officer, Planning and Community Development to discuss what percentage of developments are utilizing in lieu of fees and possible incentives for people making remodeling jobs or new construction jobs visitable. The meeting was successful and the next step will be to come up with some sort of incentive like a certificate from the Commission or a proclamation from Council on being a Santa Monica Universally Designed Home. The ad hoc committee will come up with ideas for the Commission to consider and make suggestion to Ron Takiguchi. 9. Future Agenda Items Upcoming items include begin process to make recommendations for Commission terms expiring June 30, 2016, smoke-free living, and May is Mental Health Awareness Month. 10. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 p.m. Approved: S/ Christofer Arroyo, Chair Attest: S/ Anna Topolewski, Staff Liaison