Dearborn Commission on Disability Concerns

Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, Studio A
March 18, 2004
Public Meeting Minutes

Commissioners & Staff Present:
Cathy McAdam
Kim B. Hetrick
Dale Swanson
Gary Filiak
Nancy Bowers
Sonya Tishler
Susan Fitzmaurice, ADA Coordinator

Commissioners Excused
Mary Hodak
Mona Ramouni
Claudia Damian
Jane Thomas
Cheryl Kreger, arrived and had to leave

1. Agenda: Approved.

2. Minutes: Approved. MOTION: I motion to approve minutes as written with addition of missing guest titles. Commissioner Swanson, Seconded by Commissioner Filiak, Unanimous approval.

3. Public Comments - none.

4. ADA Coordinator Report
• Michigan avenue construction changes to the construction site were made as promised.

• Construction at City Hall has been completed and simply awaits final walk-through approval. Commissioner Swanson complained of the weight of the door of the newly constructed men’s restroom.

• A resident requested a sign placed in her neighborhood cautioning the presence of a blind child. It was discovered that the city no longer creates these as they create a hazard to the child. If this is the case shouldn’t all existing signs be removed? The commission agreed that the ADA Coordinator will check into neighboring communities policies and a decision about this issue will be made at a future meeting.

• Commissioner Filiak mentioned that there was a sign at the south entrance near City Council Chambers - was it not supposed to be at the East Entrance? The ADA Coordinator will determine if it is placed correctly, and if not, get it moved.

5. Chair Report
• Commissioner roles. Chair McAdam thanked Vice Chair Hetrick for all his hard work and respected his decision to step aside and no longer be Vice-Chair. There will be a new vice-chair election in May.
Commissioner Bowers and Kreger will co-chair the education/ employment committee. Commissioner Hetrick is moving to education. Commission Chair McAdam is moving to Accessibility. Commissioner Tisher and ADA Coordinator Fitzmaurice will co-chair the visitability committee.

• By-laws. There was a discussion of whether to pursue increasing the number of commissioners versus increasing number of committee members. Commissioner Hetrick noted that larger committees offered more flexibility and the ability to fluctuate in size as needed. Commissioner Swanson commented that he thought more commissioners would be unwieldly. Commissioner Bowers thought we should first try to encourage more public member participation in committees. There was further discussion of whether the by-laws should be changed so that committees could include nonresidents. Legal will be consulted before we pursue this further.

• Conferences. Having a booth at RIM was discussed. There was no objection. Senior Health Fair 3/25 was discussed. Mary has things Al set up but needs help from 10:30-12:30. Susan will help from 10:30- 11, and Gary will help from 11-12.

• Housing. Follow-up on the Jacobsen’s project was discussed, in addition to another new condo development. ADA Coordinator will contact Bob Creamer of Building and Safety and see what information can be found out.

• Voting. In contact with League of Women Voters it was discovered that they had already had a voting forum and it was too early to do another. It was proposed and agreed that we cancel plans to have a voting workshop on April 16th.

We have had no response from letter to City Clerk. A discussion ensued as to the ramifications of the HAVA surveys were not completed. It was decided a letter would be drafted and sent to the mayor, legal, the treasury, Kurt Giberson and others as deemed pertinent outlining the importance of the HAVA surveys and the potential loss of income. MOTION: I move that the Chair and the ADA Coordinator draft a letter to be sent regarding the HAVA survey and moneys to be gained by completing it to be sent to the City Clerk’s office and to be cc’d to Kurt’s office and other appropriate city officials. Commissioner Swanson, Seconded by Commission Hetrick. Unanimous approval.

6. Disability Awareness Day Report
October 20th the Dome and the Theatre are reserved. October 4th was discussed as an alternative as our preferred speaker Kemp cannot make that date. An afternoon or evening presentation was discussed with a general conclusion that evening was preferred .
There was a discussion of the impact of the Abilities Expo on DAD and what changes we needed to consider. A reduced role of vendors and workshops was explored with no immediate consensus. It was definitely decided that we would have our Town Hall meeting and an awards ceremony banquet accompanied by dinner or just appetizers as part of DAD.
Commissioner Swanson is working with the Arts Council and VSA Art to bring entertainment to our DAD event in some capacity.

BREAK

7. BY-LAWS
There was an extensive discussion of by-laws changes with the following changes agreed to:
ARTICLE VIII - change Ad-Hoc to Working
SECTION A - change ad-hoc to working
Delete - all such persons......non-residents....
No capitalization in Committee Resources.
Typo on page 25 - change reframe to refrain
MOTION: I move that we change the by-laws to replace ad-hoc with working and delete ( All such persons must be residents of Dearborn. Non-residents of the City of Dearborn may be consulted as committee resources. Commissioner Swanson. Seconded by Commissioner Tishler. Unanimous approval.
MOTION: I move to change Article VIII, Section B to decapitalize Committee Resources. Commissioner Swanson. Seconded by Commissioner Tishler. Unanimous approval.
Send by-law change proposal to legal to verify.
8. Recreation
The enclosed list refers to playgrounds with accessible equipment. Commissioner Filiak described a typical playground as having ramps, transfer points, and a wheelchair accessible surface.
Commissioner Swanson commented that he thought larger parks got more use than playgrounds. Greg Orner has key to park restroom so that they can be inspected. A list of fully accessible playground should be posted to the website.
9. Committee Reports.

Education and Accessibility Committees did not meet.

Public Relation minutes were provided by Commission Ramouni.
Commissioner Swanson. March 31st deadline for Enews. Need a secure list serv or email list. ADA Coordinator commented that our ISP server has something new available that she will investigate.

10. Strategic Planning. April 16th was considered a first choice, Extending the may meeting a second choice.

11. Commissioner Reports
Commissioner Tishler thanked the commission for the opportunity to attend the conference in Washington DC. She discussed the acronyms she was getting accustomed to.

Commissioner Bowers had nothing to add.

Commissioner Hetrick thanked everyone for the kind emails and support. He and Commissioner Ramouni put together a packet of material for ACCESS. They are hoping to meet in order to share info on both sides.
Commissioner Hetrick also spoke about our need to impact the way people view people with psychiatric differences.

Commissioner Swanson had nothing more to add.

Commissioner Filiak mentioned that there was a homecoming meeting on the 24th he planned to attend. It was questioned whether the carnival would be discussed and it was assumed it would be.

12. Adjournment. MOTION: I motion we adjourn. Commissioner Swanson, seconded Commissioner Tishler. Unanimous approval. 4:36 PM