>> disability council meeting on friday, april 18, 2014.

we will now have -- welcome everybody and we will now have our introduction read by councilmember senho. >> thank you. good afternoon and welcome to the mayor's disability council, in room 400 of san francisco city hall. city hall is accessible to persons using wheelchairs and other assistive mobility devices. wheelchair access is provided at the grove, van ness, and mc allister streets via ramps. wheelchair access at the polk street, garlton b, goodlett provide a wheelchair lift. assistive listening devices are available and our meeting is captioned and sign language interpreted. our agenda is also available in large print and braille. please ask staff for any additional assistance.

to prevent electronic interference with this room sound system and to respect everyone's ability to focus on the presentations, please silence all mobile phones and pdas. your cooperation is appreciated. we welcome the public's participation during public comment. you may complete a speakers card available at the front of the room or call our bridge line at area code 415-554-96 32 ~. when a staff person will handle requests to speak at the appropriate time. the mayor's disability council meetings are generally held on the third friday of the month. our next regularly scheduled meeting will be on may 16th, 2014, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. here in san francisco city hall in room 400. please call the mayor's office on disability for future information or to request

accommodations at 415-554-. voice, or tty at 415-554-67 99. reminder to all our guests today to speak slowly into the microphone to assist our captioners and interpreters. we thank you for joining us today. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> heather, would you do roll call, please? >> co-chair chip supanich? >> present. >> councilmember [speaker not understood]? absent. councilmember star laurel, absent. councilmember denise [speaker not understood]? >> present. >> councilmember harriet c. wong? >> present. >> councilmember roland wong? >> present. >> councilmember derek sardoff?

absent. >> i'm sorry. [laughter] >> item 1, welcome, introduction, and roll call. item 2, action item: reading and approval of the agenda. item 3, information item: the 2015 - 2019 consolidated plan. the 5 year consolidated plan is a planning document for san francisco's housing and community development investments and it builds on targeted stakeholder input including members of the disability community. presentation by teresa yanga, housing development director, and anne romero, project manager, mayor's office of housing and community development. public comment is welcome. item 4, information item: independent living resource center san francisco: towards full accessibility for all.

this presentation will focus on the role of ilrc-sf as a cross-disability organization serving san francisco's disability population, and also touch on its upcoming move to a new purpose built, accessible location in july 2014. presentation by jessie lorenz, executive director. public comment is welcome. break - the council will take a 10-minute break. item 5, public comment: items not on today's agenda, but within the jurisdiction of the mdc. each speaker is limited to three minutes. item 6, information item: report from co-chair supanich. item 7, information item: report from the director of the mayor's office on disability. item 8, information item: the paul k. longmore institute on disability and the ada's silver anniversary.

the presentation will provide an overview of the planning process and solicit the council's feedback to promote and engage the san francisco disability community. presentation by catherine j. kudlick, director paul k. longmore institute on disability. public comment is welcome. item 9, action item: co-chair elections. in accordance with the mayor's disability council's bylaws, article iii section 1, there shall be 2 co-chairs elected by the council to serve as officers. this election will select a co-he chair to replace the seat previously held by idell wilson. item 10, public comment: items

not on today's agenda, but within the jurisdiction of the mdc. each speaker is limited to three minutes. item 11, information item: correspondence. item 12, discussion item: council member comments and announcements. item 13, adjourn. >> thank you, heather. you may notice that the agenda is a little bit -- in a little bit different order today, you may have noticed during the reading. public comment has been moved to item 5 after the break in order to accommodate the schedules of our speakers. there will be plenty of time for public comment after the break. general public comment. of course, public comment after each presentation is welcome as well. all right, then, let's move on to item number 3, which is the 2015 to 2019 consolidated plan from the mayor's office and

housing and community development. ~ mayor's office of housing and community development. >> good afternoon, councilmembers. teresa [speaker not understood]. we wanted to have this opportunity to seek public comment from the disability council about our upcoming strategic plan, our 2015 to 2019 consolidated plan. and i have a powerpoint presentation to help us -- guide our discussion. so, we'd like to provide an overview of our office as well as the consolidated plan document. also review the disability council's resolution from 2013 as guiding principles to our office and other financing related to accessibility in affordable housing. and would like to pose a few questions to the council and to the public and solicit feedback about those questions that will

help inform our consolidated plan. thank you. so, an overview of our office. our office, along with the office of economic and work force development, also known as oewd, one of our primary functions of our department is to oversee four federal funding sources. specifically, the community development block grant or cdbg, the emergency solutions grant also known as esg, the home information partnership, or home as we know it, and the housing opportunities for persons with aids, also known as hopla. our office uses cdbg home and hopla funds to contribute to capital financing of our affordable housing. right now our projected budget for housing ~ development in fiscal years 2014 to 2015 is

approximately $70 million. it's a combination of the federal sources mentioned like cdgb home and hopa as well as local sources such as the housing trust fund. our current pipeline for affordable housing currently is approximately over 10,000 units. this is through -- probably over the next 10 to 20 years, with 60% of new construction and 40% of that housing priceline geared towards acquisition and rehabilitation of existing housing. the five-year consolidated plan, what we consider our planning document for our housing and community development investments for the next five years, and it builds upon a participatory process such as stakeholders such as yourselves. and this meeting in particular is one of many meetings with topic or neighborhood specific stakeholder groups. i apologize if this is hard to read, but we will distribute this to the committee -- councilmembers as well as we

can distribute it to the mayor's office on disability if they want to share it. scheduled to have at least full community meetings through the next coming months. the next one actually is next tuesday, april 22nd in the mission campus of city college. this is an opportunity to provide another public forum to get input on our consolidated plan. and then the following one would be tuesday, april 29th, at kelly cohen community center at 220 golden gate avenue, and then the fourth one is at golden gate park on may 13th. again, we will provide this particular flyer announcement about community meeting to the council as well as the public should they choose. i wanted to do an overview of the council's housing resolution as articulating broad goals for our funding. we appreciate the resolution

that your council passed and we will definitely be incorporating that resolution into like public comment and input into our consolidated plan. so, just wanted to highlight those particular goals just so that you know and the public knows that these are goals that we will be looking towards as guidance in our consolidated plan. the first goal being additional funding sources for affordable and accessible housing be explored. i apologize, this is a summation of the specific goals. number 2, lower the minimum income requirements to reduce barriers and explore layering multiple subsidies to provide deeper affordability. number 3 is affordable and accessible housing should be dispersed throughout the city. number 4 is to maximize accessibility in new construction and rehabilitation. number 5 is explore the

development of new permanently affordable efficiency studios as well as renovating existing single room occupancy buildings or units. number 6, stricter enforcement of procedures be developed for the maintenance of existing accessible features including elevators in single room occupancies or s-r-os. number 7, the city pursue creative financial mechanisms to help property owners maintain existing accessible features in s-r-os ~ especially those with contracts with the city. number 8, include design features that promote and enhance the mental health of tenants. number 9, the percentage of newly constructed accessible units should be allocated for people with multiple chemical sensitivities. number 10, the city should pursue the development and maintenance of a single accessible and affordable

housing portal. and number 11, the mayor's office of housing community development should consider community input mechanisms on policy discussions pertaining to permanent affordability of accessible housing in the city. with those particular goals in mind, these are the questions we'd like to pose to the council as well as to the public. how would you prioritize the goals identified in the mayor's disability council's resolution? and i also wanted to point out that ann ra more he owe is not with me today, but brian chu is here with me and he would like to poseedth second question because it's service related to housing. i'm not sure if you'd like to take the first question and solicit input or pose both questions and get feedback. i'll defer to the council. i can at least read the second question while we're here.

>> why don't you. so we know what's coming. >> sure. the second question is what are the greatest service needs of the clients you serve and what are the greatest gaps in service for them. again, we're posing these questions as a way to inform how we prioritize our investments for the next five years and prioritize what we do. and with that. >> he okay. so, how do we prioritize the goals within the mdc housing resolution? any ideas from the councilmembers ~? councilmember sardon? there we go. >> there we go. so, in looking over some of the goals, co-chair supanich, i'm seeing that there's different categories we can use to

prioritize which ones are the most important. one of the ones that popped out initially was number 10 the city pursue development and maintenance of a single accessible and affordable housing portal. that to me touches on information access, and that is one of the biggest key issues that is preventing a lot of our community from being able to access and go forward with pursuing housing. and, so, that is probably one of the major goal to pursue and being one i believe could be pursued. other ones are disability specific. still are important as far as trying to categorize and prioritize these such as that one, pops out as being crucial. >> others? well, i have one.

i -- you know, it's a bugaboo about the whole thing, the feuding. ~ funding. and we're seeing federal sources of housing funding decline rather -- well, regularly. and, so, i would like to see some activity around creative sources of funding for affordable and accessible housing that might include -- and that exploration was also -- hit on number 11 in that i think that developers, tenants rights advocates, disability advocates, advocates for families, for the poor, as well

developers, city staff, and even, even the financial community be included in a search for some -- some solutions to this ever declining pot that we have. it's hard to reach any of these goals without money and i know that's the hardest part. but that's my suggestion. >> i would go with number 6 because recently in the news there's been a lot of problems with the elevators. so, that's a very serious concern.

for someone -- for elevators to be out that long and someone living on the top floors, there's really not much of a life for them. and what if there are emergencies, how do you expect them to get down? i think elevators are a big priority. i've even seen that in the private nonprofit right now, that elevators are down and elderlies are staying inside. i mean, there's just no life. >> councilmember roland wong. >> yeah, as far as affordability of housing, you

know, lately the last three years, the rental market has been sky rocketing. so, basically number 4, number 5 maybe, you know, really look into how we can keep the housing more affordable. it is just astronomical the way the rents are just sky rocketing like crazy and people are moving out and people with disabilities need to really kind of stand up in san francisco because we do have a diverse, you know, culture here and transportation is awesome, you know, but we really need to emphasize, try to figure how to keep it affordable. thank you. >> councilmember senho.

>> well, you guys picked my top three, so, i'm going to go for number 5. i mean, it's already been discussed that basically there needs to be, you know, money -- excuse me -- money involved to explore housing and construction and rehabilitation of existing facilities for people with disabilities. and i think number 5 kind of touches on making it affordable for the efficiency studios that they have and remodeling of existing s-r-o's because we need to keep the existing facilities in place and s-r-o's, people with disabilities who can't afford the rent, who can't afford to move into, you know, other facilities. and because the money will take awhile to build new construction and make it accessible, there isn't enough housing for the supply and need out there. so, to make anything existing, bring it up to standards and make it comfortable and livable

and safe, and most of all accessible for people to stay in their community i think is very important. thank you. >> any other comments on question number 1? okay. then that's -- sorry [speaker not understood]. >> as far just being able to kind of categorize these or better kind of lump some of them together, just looking these over again, i'm just seeing, you know, there's issues regarding access within current infrastructure, right. that's huge. i mean, you know, there's the issue of looking for new housing. that will be a challenge. it should always stay at the top as well, but what is really going to be in place to maintain the current infrastructure? i agree with councilmember wong about, you know, the elevator situation is just ridiculous.

just slop it off as being that's just business as usual. can't do anything about it. that to me is -- that can't happen any more. that just can't be the reasoning behind the delay. there are even people, not just stranded up in their apartments, but they can't get out. they are trapped in their own homes. that is not what i call offering equal access in our community to member. so, i just want to second what councilmember wong said. >> thank you. thank you, everyone. all right. shall we have our question number 2? which was referring to -- could you repeat the question? thanks. >> the second question is what are the greatest service needs of the clients you serve and what are the greatest gaps in services for them?

>> let me just preface anything by saying that the disability community in particular is broad and includes so many different peoples. it's hard to speak for the community as a whole and say, these are the gaps in services, or, these are the service needs. but for particular populations of which many of us can speak of, there are differing needs. so, i just wanted to start by saying that. councilmembers, do you have anything to add? >> i would say security.

i mean, you can have people living like in affordable housing, but i mean, if you get like one bad egg in there, then they might be doing a lot of illegal activities in the lobby. so, there needs to be some sort of security. i don't know if it's the cameras or -- because your tenants in there are not going to speak up. oftentimes there is illegal stuff going on and people living there will not speak up. so, -- >> thank you. ~ i have a couple things. i guess first would be that for our most severely impaired

populations, transition or services that help keep people in their homes and out of institutions, that keep people in their communities and with their families is money very well spent. it's not only a quality of life issue for the individuals, but it's for society as a whole, to be integrated, fully integrated into the community, whenever and wherever possible. so, something like the community living fund needs to be funded fully to ensure that people aren't being swept into institutions out of convenience. and that every effort is made to integrate them into the community. my other area is referring to hopa funding and people living with hiv/aids. and we have so many facets

influencing this population. they're aging -- well, we're all aging, but the population as a whole is skewed, over 50% of people with aids and hiv in san francisco are over the age of 50. many of them have been on disability, fixed incomes for like 20 or 30 years and we're coming up to a point where two thing are happening. because rents are sky rocketing so fast, when people go off the hopa funding, for whatever reason, they move away or whatever, the money is eaten up by higher rents of our existing hopa recipients. so, no new subdifficulties are coming out of that. very few, if any. ~ subsidies so, you're seeing a declining pool of people being served. and the other thing is that seniors, when they reach 64, if they have a private disability insurance, it's canceled and

they must rely solely upon their own resources and social security. we're going to see a cohort of people who are very likely going to be ripe for eviction relocation and displacement. so, if you could keep that on your radar, that would be great. thank you. tanya. >> one of the things i think is very, very important is education within the industry itself, you know, to get more people involved directly with people with disabilities, seen and not seen. in many times they're just bypassed. everybody else is going to handle the situation, but not allow them to really be directly involved. i think that's paramount.

and as the society ages, it's not going to get any better. especially among people who don't speak english, i think that, that is the most bypassed community of all. >> councilmember zarda. >> i just want to go ahead and thank you for can you having today. this is a very touchy subject, as you must know, so, tensionseses can run high. so, thank you for coming here today ~ and talking about this with us. and among some of the great ideas that were already mentioned by our fellow councilmembers, i just want to kind of touch on what we can do to actually make some of these ideas stick. councilmember wong had pointed out something very important that does come up. for our community members living in affordable housing units, you know, there are people who are engaging in illegal activity. there are reports to the front

desk that go unheard consistently. i hear it again and again and again and, so, it almost makes me feel like what can be done to strengthen the voice of our tenants? what can be done to give them more of a voice besides just this bode and i other nonprofits? can there be a council made up of tenants that's better informed, that's better equipped with the feedback response system so that it can be in place, beside the one that's already in place, but something that can be more effective? because otherwise it just falls to the wayside and these complaints that come again and again, somebody stole my cane. somebody has [speaker not understood]. i'm all about being proactive, preventive measures first, instead of rushing in reactive trying to apply bandages. so...