and who care deeply ideally about helping to close the divide. >> it's a humbling experience. it's something simple to ask in our daily life, but to someone that doesn't know and to help somebody gain that experience in any way is awesome. >> [speaking in spanish]. >> no matter how tired or cranky or whatever i might feel, when i walk into this place i always walk out feeling great. >> if you feel comfortable using computers and you have patience, we want you on our team. >> would you show me how to type? >> [speaking in spanish]. >> will you help me learn more?

>> it looks like we're ready to begin. >> very well. >> [ gavel ] >> good afternoon. this is the january meeting of the mayor's disability council. my name is chip supanich, interim co-chair today. chip, i'm sorry, we don't seem to have captioning yet. >> could we get captioning, please?

do we have it? >> >> are we ready? okay. once again, welcome to the january meeting of the mayor's council. my name is chip supanich and i'm interim chair this afternoon. now we'll have our introduction. >> good afternoon everyone and happy new year. welcome to the mayor's disability council friday, january 18th, 2013. here at city hall in room 400 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. city hall is accessible to persons using wheelchairs and other disabilities. the polk street catalon b. goodlett is accessible via ramp and wheelchair lift. the other three entrances are accessible via ramp.

assistive listening devices are available and the meeting will be closed captioned and sign language interpreted. other materials in alternate format upon are request. with persons please refrain from wearing scented products. this includes perfume, scented lotions, hairspray. thank you for helping us to provide meetings that are fully accessible to all people with disabilities. members of the public who wish to listen and/or participate in this meeting, but are unable physically to attend please call into the council's bridge line at area code

415-554-9632. thank you:thank you. denise. we'll have our roll call now. >> >> council member james? >> present. >> >> council member burgett? >> present? >> council member kostanian? >> present. >> council member senhaux? >> present. >> council member supanich? >> present. >> council member wilson? >> present. >> council member wong? >> present. >> and roland wong is on excused absence. >> thank you. >> we'll now have public comment on items not on today's agenda, but within the jurisdiction of the mdc -- adoption i skipped something. i'm sorry. we need the reading and

approval of the agenda and i need to mention we have one addition to the agenda. item 14 will be an information item from ken stein. item 15 will be adjourned. >> okay. regular meeting mayor's disability council friday, january 18th, 2013. one, welcome, introduction and roll call. two, action item, reading and approval of the agenda. three, public comment. four, report from the chair. five, report from the director of mayor's office on disability. six, information item new time sheets and payment process for ihss. seven, public hearing. services and programs for adults with disabilities and seniors in san francisco. what is working? what isn't? what is missing? 2:30 break. 8, report from the disability disaster preparedness committee.

9, report from the physical access committee. 10, sfmta multimodal accessibility committee update report. 11, public comment, 12 information item, correspondence, 13, discussion item. 14, adjourn. >> thank you, ken. >> now item no. 3 public comment. items not on today's agenda, but within the jurisdiction of the mdc, each speaker is limited to 3 minutes. first i have mr. bob planthold. >> good afternoon.

this mic is not on. >> good afternoon. i am bob planthold. i want to bring to your attention what i think is a lack of consideration of people with disabilities and of responsiveness when there is some construction going on of various nature. the one example, i will bring up that is really irksome. the art commission got approval to put some chairs actually fixed to the sidewalk. i reported this about six and a half weeks ago and it's an obstruction. i have been told by a staffer it's partly in the path of travel, but even if it's moved the fact is that this art project, which is permanently affixed is of a dark bronze color. so that at night many people whether or not they have got a visual impairment aren't going to see these things. it's a trip liability hazard. and so far there has been

nothing really done to move this. somehow it seems nobody at the art commission or dpw public works thought of this. we are too often the back-end of various projects. there is other projects within the mta regarding trying to promote bicycle usage and safety. these bike tracks now, ones are proposed for 2nd street for folsom street, possibly and for market street, possibly for polk street in addition, to the one that is already in place in golden gate park. i bring it to your attention because we hear sometimes that there are meetings and yet these are held at night, meetings to gather community input and support. so when the night meetings happen, and we're not there, then there is a biased response from the public. and therefore, planners, whether planning commission, mta, public works or wherever, get the idea oh, this is great,

because people who came like it. but the people who didn't come are the ones that are going to be at-risk for various reasons that have already been explained at length. i'm suggesting that the disability council might want to have a forum about bike tracks, or just try to get some better idea in the future about what exactly are city departments required to inform the staff about when they are proposing a project? whether it's a building construction, sidewalk expansion, any street furniture or anything else. thank you. >> thank you. next i have john alex lowell. >> good afternoon. members of the mayor's disability council, my name is john alex luol and on the pedestrian safety advisory council i hold seat no. 7, representing senior and disability organizations in the context of pedestrian safety.

i concur with the point -- one of the points that bob planthold made on the obstruction of the sidewalk by immovable art at the intersection i invite you to go participate in it. visually, if you can, it's at the corner of church and dubois. there is 13 pieces of solid brass model imbedded in the sidewalk that impedes the movement of people in wheelchairs and there is not the legal space around it to the corner building. it is not two yards. it is not over 72 inches. so that it represents an obstruction of the causeway of somebody in a wheelchair. i really encourage you to investigate this. i object to it. thank you.

>> thank you, john. >> next we have mr. michael nulty. >> hi. i wanted to hand these in. my name is michael nulty. i'm the executive director of alliance for better district 6. i wanted to first talk about bus shelter removals on the tenderloin. at 1027, back in 2007 we removed a bus shelter at hyde and turk. in january of this year we removed the bus shelter at the corner of eddy and leavenworth. that is the 31 bus line. and people are advocating to remove the hyde and farrell at 38 -- -- which is the 38

geary line. i also want to mention the housing authority is not doing its due diligence when it comes to medical expenses. people that have -- can use that deduction are not getting it and their rent is higher because of it, which obviously has ripple effect. people are paying more rent that are low-income. i also, which was in the packet that obviously you are not going to get, which i will put up on the screen. multiple ways of doing this. can we have the screen? the 101 hyde post office is going to be removed, which is general delivery. they are going to be putting housing there. they are going to be putting housing there. the 101 hyde is the main post office site, where we have general delivery. those are people who don't have a mailbox go there to get their mail. so if you are on ga or whatever, that is where you go

to get your mail if you don't have an actual physical address, if you are homeless. it has 4,000 box holders. if their mail is being stolen, this is again where they get their mail. they have to pay to have their po box and, by the way, the postal service rate keeps on going up. so where will these people have to access to their mail? lastly, i want to point out that yerba buena community benefit district is currently installing dark, bronze benches within their boundaries. so this is a -- right now they are asking their members where would you like to have a bench in front of your business? so this is a current thing and obviously, this could be addressed right now, getting them bright-green or whatever, before they get installed.

thank you. >> thank you, mr. nulty. and next we have derrick sarda. >> council members, it's always a pleasure to stop by and update you all on some of the community activities that are going on for the next couple of months. there is one coming up it's being put on bit systems change network a statewide initiative run by the california foundation of independent living centers. they have an event coming up in berkeley called the access now regional power summit, going throughout california and happening throughout the month of february. i'm going to go ahead and read a two-paragraph intro from the flier and provide information afterwards. joining people with disabilities and our partners from your refuge of california for a few two-day summit to organize for access in 2013.

together we'll address the next steps to advance access to our communities for better independence where we live, work, learn, shop and play. we are asking participants to commit to attending the access now regional power summit for both days. the discussions and priorities we explore together on the first day will inform our choices for building access now campaign on the second day. we'll see you at the summit. there is free registration and sponsored lunch options. the one going on for northern california is february 7th and th from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the center for independent living in berkeley. and there will be a number of sf bay area communities and coalitions there as well. so for information about this event and how to register, you can contact me my phone number,

1415-543-6222. again it's 415-543-6222. and with about a minute left, the website address, if i can really quickly. it's at scnetca.org. with that, i will leave you all to have a great rest of the meeting. thank you. >> thank you, derrick. our next agenda item is report from the chair. did you want to make a comment now? i didn't have a card. i'm sorry. >> i did. >> well, come right up and give us your name. >> hi my name is deborah benedict. i am a member of senior disability action. i actually wanted to share my

experience in getting to this meeting. i was held up down in the carlton or actually on the grove street side of the entrance to this building. i had previously had a problem. i use a razor scooter as a mobility device. heather contacts the sheriff's office because i was given a problem getting in and out of the building for meetings. i got a letter from the building manager that stated that they apologized and they understand that i use this as a mobility device and that there would not be a problem. well, unfortunately, that word has not gotten through to all of the people that work at the sheriff's department. so i was held up through two or three different people coming out, until someone came down the hallway. this has happened more than once. so i don't understand what the communication issue is in the sheriff's department or

why they have to make it a big deal each and every time i come into the building. as if i am, you know, 20 and i'm going to be riding my scooter willy nilly racing up the hallways. it's pretty obvious i'm not of the age group that i need to be a big concern. maybe i am and i don't know it. also, you know, it's not mentioned, but it's pretty obvious. as i say, i do use a razor scooter for mobility. and walking down sidewalks with tons of chips of missing concrete, and across streets that also have cracks and miss -- at the walkways, mind you, not out in the middle of the street. just where i'm supposed to walk as a pedestrian is always a challenge. go forbid i have to go over van ness. it's like going over a rocky road.

it takes me longer because i have to go through all kinds of hassles to get over the rough road at van ness or market street at the walkways and the fact of the matter it takes me so long that i'm constantly trying to rush and sometimes triping in the process, because the light is going to change and the light is going to change for normal walking people, but timing-wise, unless there is a fix, on the actual pedestrian walkway areas, it takes me more time than is absolutely available to get across the street. so in particular van ness, what a nightmare. market street, the tracks, the cracks, the this, the that. they are awful. i don't understand. i know there was supposed to be money for fixing highways. if they would focus some of that initially on the walking areas, for pedestrian and disabilities, it would be a

huge help. thank you. >> thank you, ma'am. >> good afternoon mayor's disability council. ain't no city mountain high -- ain't no disability low -- ain't no city hall wide enough to stop us. if you need me, call me. you will be there in had a hurry hurry, don't have to worry. ain't city mountain high enough. ain't no valley low enough. ain't no city river wide enough to keep from talking to you. remember the we set you free, you know you can always count on mayor lee. we'll make a vow, we'll be there some way, somehow. ain't no city mountain high enough, no wind, no rain can stop us. we're on our way.

love, love, love, exciting and new. come aboard, the mayor's disability's expecting you. the love disability boat soon will be making another run. the love disability boat promises something for everyone. set a course for adventure, your mind on a new public comment city chance and disability won't hurt anymore. come aboard, through that city all distant shore. welcome aboard. it's city disability love. >> thank you, walter. [ applause ] >> are there any further public comments?

>> i am short. i am marty godard and i work at san francisco public library and i'm here because i want to hear from people in the next agenda item. but i also wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that yesterday, joanna fraguli spent nearly three hours at our public library with me, doing a presentation about title 2 and about our obligations to people with disabilities. she was fantastic. she got rave reviews in our evaluation and there were people from 21 of our facilitis there. so it's really, you know, people from throughout the city. so i'm so very grateful and i thought you all should know that. i have two announcements coming

up. on february 15th at the library we'll be celebrating black history month with a program about crip hop. so we have performs and folks talking about african-american artists, who are doing hip-hop and other kinds of performing arts. so we're really excited about that. on march 1 coming up is a presentation about universal design from professor ricardo gomez from san francisco state. and the purpose is not only to talk about what is universal access and universal design, but he is going to be announcing there a two-day symposium at san francisco state, whose intention is to attract young people with disabilities into design professions. so i think it's really exciting and i'm happy

we're going to be doing that at the library. so thank you for your time. >> thank you. any further public comment? >> is there anybody on the bridge line? >> yes. >> go ahead. >> hello. >> go ahead. >> yes, my name is keith dennis. and i would like to say god bless you board members and god bless the city and county of san francisco. today i want to ask a question. do other committees or groups have public phone calls, where when they have public comment, like they say for the board of sups if i wanted to make a public comment over the phone,

is that available to me? >> hi, mr. dennis, i apologize to you, there is a problem with our bridge line. if we could have someone from the control room come up here and mr. dennis, if you wouldn't mind staying on the line. we're going to get the bridge line working and then try to get back to you. perhaps we can go to our next item and as soon as we get the bridge line working, we want the people in the room here and the council members and the audience at home and people who are rely on captioning to have the benefit of all that you are saying. >> thank you. >> could you just hold for a bit and we'll get someone up from the control room to assist us and move on to our agenda and get back to you as soon as we can. >> thank you very much. >> i apologize for the technical difficulties. >> okay. > >> all right then.

we'll move on to agenda item no. 4, information item. before i go with that, i just wanted to say that the mayor's office on disability and the mayor's disability council want to express our best wishes for former co-chair jul parsons, that she enjoy good health and that she is comfortable and well in her new environs. the bart elevator study. following a decision made by the oakland mayor's commission on persons with disabilities, to address the decline of both sanitary conditions and mechanical dysfunctions of the system-wide bart elevators the oakland commission in collaboration with the city of san francisco's mayor's disability council and the city

of berkeley commission on disability is in the process of gathering information from all bart elevateor riders. we are asking participants to keep a log or journal of their bart elevator experiences. the log should include the following information: your name, and contact information. location of the elevator. dates and times of use. the condition of the elevator. was it satisfactory or unsatisfactory? and a brief description of your experience. please turn in your log or journal to myself, chip supanich at the following email address. i will spell it out slowly twice. chipsupanich@gmail.com.

once again, chipsupanich@gmail.com. the deadline for reports is january 31st, 2013. are you still working on the bridge line? there we go. we'll move on to the next agenda item then. you may be ready? shall we try the bridge line now, roland? okay. do we have our caller still on the phone on the bridge line? >> yes, you do. >> okay, could we see -- great. we're good to go. thank you for your patience. go ahead, please. >> it is very interesting that

we had this little problem because the exact thing i want to talk about is do other committees and councils like the board of supervisors, or parks and recreation department, is there a way to call in if you want to make a public comment? >> you know, there isn't. i'm sorry? >> you should repeat the question. >> go ahead, i'm done. >> okay. the question was do other boards, commissions, public meeting bodies have an opportunity to have a bridge line or call in? if any other mod staff have additions or corrections, feel free, but my understanding is that they do not. it's