Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommission On Disability - Minutes - 11/14/2019Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. CIC Room, City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 11/14/2019 – MINUTES Page 1 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 1. CALL TO ORDER a. Terry Schlicting called to order at 12:17pm 2. ROLL CALL a. Present: Terry Schlicting, Mandy Morgan, Marilee Boylan (by phone) b. Board Members Absent: John Morris, Arianna Kilmer, Sherri Reichow, Jan Barela-Smith, Michael Marr c. Staff Members Present: Carol Thomas, Eric Keselburg, Michael Einstein d. Guests: none present 1. AGENDA REVIEW 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes from October will be approved at next meeting 3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 4. PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS 5. NEW BUSINESS • Michael Einstein: Bird E-Scooters, Community Relations Manager a. Mission: making cities more livable with the importance with aspect to ALL residents and its subsets i. Bird founded e-scooter sharing system 2 years ago in CA. Operates in 120 cities, 10 countries, 30 million rides. Largest provider in nation. ii. Riders: through the app or text-to-ride, map of city where “Birds” are available near you. iii. Chargers: trained chargers in local markets, they collect and charge and then drop into “nests” by morning iv. Nests can be moved if there are concerns with accessibility, etc. b. In-App Education i. Rider Onboarding – parking, safety messages ii. Rider Tutorials – correcting misbehavior or refresher on how to use Bird iii. Local Rules – each community has unique rules specific to Fort Collins, includes dismount zone information for Old Town iv. Ride Level Messaging – as you are entering different zones, specific messages will pop up, based on GPS location Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. CIC Room, City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 11/14/2019 – MINUTES Page 2 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 v. End of Ride Photo – must take a picture of where the scooter is parked, also required by Nest Drop offs. This is accountability for assuring that they are not blocking sidewalks and such. MANDY- has seen them in the middle of the sidewalk MICHAEL- some people do not follow the rules and some people who don’t want scooters in the community will intentionally move them to create problems and embellish complaints c. Layering with incentives + disincentives d. If people park in appropriate parking areas, they will get a credit on their next ride, also has fines or removal as an option to correct bad behavior MARILEE- is there a way to adjust to remove the bike paths? MICHAEL- There is a “geofence” on the scooter network, so the motor stops and the user is notified they have entered an area they shouldn’t be in. Only Mason trail is accessible. Known issue with this is that many riders are just ditching the scooter there, which is creating additional issues that have been addressed with the city. MARILEE- Her understanding was that Bird should be removing scooters when they are ditched. MICHAEL- There is a two-hour window for each scooter to be moved. There are also “Bird Watchers” who are employed to watch out for scooters that need moved. The model is being adjusted as they learn what is needed for this individual community. MANDY- Will there eventually be racks? MICHAEL- the model is to not create additional structures, but that virtual nests do create better compliance e. Community Mode – works like a 311 system i. Download the app, no account/credit card required ii. This reports issues, based on GPS location at the time, you can include a photo. iii. Also an phone number or email that can be used to make reports iv. Reports help them to take action and educate/de-incentivize riders and collect data on where education is needed f. Community Focused Engagement Plan i. Rider Forums ii. Rider Trainings iii. Distribute 3000 helmets over the next year g. Sharing Data Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. CIC Room, City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 11/14/2019 – MINUTES Page 3 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 i. Data is shared with the City of Fort Collins, which allows the city to see the use patterns of Bird riders h. Case Study from Portland, Oregon i. 1/3 of trips on Bird, would have been in a private vehicle or ride share in their city TERRY- what is the max speed? MICHAEL- 15mph based on a “geo speed” TERRY- CSU has implemented a speed of 8mph, is there a way to implement a slower speed while on campus? MICHAEL- yes and he will pass that on to his CSU partner MARILEE- What have reports been like in snow and weather? What has interaction like with clearing snow? MICHAEL- has “Weather Ops” team, when there is snow coming up they can restrict use, they work to keep scooters off the roads when it’s not safe. The amount of retrievals will improve with local operations team that are on the ground, as winter approaches. In the Spring the fleet would grow again as ridership increases. CAROL- In Bird App: Triangle with Exclamation Point in bottom right to access the Community Aspect TERRY- Submitting an alert about a badly parked scooter, is that done electronically? MICHAEL- the GPS is not quite sophisticated yet to show if where the scooter is parked is exactly on the sidewalk, it does have to be person initiated at this point and a bird watcher would be dispatched i. Accessibility concerns will be pushed to the top of the priority to have scooters moved as soon as possible. • Council Member Ken Summers: 2019 Periodic Review a. Transportation i. When we are talking about transportation issues in relationship to some of the Transfort mapping and such, one member of the senior advisory commission was talking about how the Transfort app offers so many alternative routes that it can be hard to navigate. ii. He appreciates the COD’s input about transportation in the Periodic Review KEN- How does Dial-a-Ride work for you? MANDY- I’ve seen it go through different ownership, and it worked better when it was run through the city, and it gets really costly. CAROL- checked with David Mullen and he thinks that Dial-a-Ride should cross over but will check on it. Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. CIC Room, City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 11/14/2019 – MINUTES Page 4 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 MANDY- maybe that changed when Dial-a-Ride changed to Z-Trip rather than the city. TERRY- they are contracted through the city, so they should still have to cover the same rules MANDY- Would like to see Dial-a-Ride expanded to include all of Fort Collins, example of one side of Trilby versus the other. Dial-a- Ride only operates with in boundaries and daytimes of Transfort TERRY- has had similar issues with addresses that are just outside of the border where they serve, but they aren’t willing to drop you off without a hard address. KEN- Is interested in how it compares to larger cities and will continue to have these conversations TERRY- There is a half-hour window, if something can be established that you get a text when your ride is 5 minutes away so we are not sitting outside it would be helpful. The technology exists, but Uber/Ride Sharing is NOT accessible for folks with physical disabilities. We need to use technology to help folks with disabilities to be able to have rides that can be in a reasonable time window and uses technology to make it work better for all people. MANDY- has missed rides because that time window is not convenient when the driver won’t wait more than a few minutes. TERRY- Technology would help solve that because you could use that to community that you are on your way out, but there are additional barriers to folks who are disabled. MANDY- Dial-a-Ride Taxi Vouchers are based on if a driver accepts a dispatched call. If no one picks it up, the wait period can last until you call and they decide that there is no one to pick up the dispatched call. There needs to be better notifications when rides will not be available. KEN- it seems like we need an “Uber” for people with disabilities. b. Employment TERRY- 30% of people with a disability in CO are employed compared to 71% of people without a disability. TERRY- we would like to see the city make a more specific attempt to hire people with disabilities and all identities as a whole. MARILEE- Diversity does need to intentionally include people with disabilities, when usually we only think about race/ethnicity KEN- This is a good reminder that council and all city staff should keep in mind when hiring. Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. CIC Room, City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 11/14/2019 – MINUTES Page 5 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 TERRY- Federal Government has “Section A Hiring” will have postings, and the applicants still have to meet the qualifications of the job, but people in “Section A” will have an additional point on their application based on their diversity. MARILEE- Would like to express that the COD should not become combined with any other commission as changes occur because the topics that this COD addresses are very specific to people with disabilities, and she fears that these important issues would be watered down and not all would be addressed. Example of the City updating accessible bus stops much faster after having advocacy; example of all new buildings would have a certain number of accessible rentals (ie: bathrooms, etc); example of advocating with Bohemian event staff to increase understanding and accessibility. Her concern is that if combined, the already-marginalized voice of this COD will disappear. (TERRY and MANDY agree as well) KEN- Reimagining boards and commissions is more along the lines of making sure that the boards and commissions feel that their work is valuable. It is true that the advocacy work, voice, and perspective of the COD is really important. The changes may include how often certain groups meet.IT is more recognizing the areas of cross-over, such as Transportation or Housing, those topics will cross-over to create a greater sense of coordinated effort and assessment, those are the areas that we need to be looking at in terms of various voices of community groups. The COD serves a critical population that is underserved and can be overlooked. MARILEE- As we are looking at efficiencies and commonalities, we need to broaden our focus from livability, safety, and transportation, to include all areas, including economic health, culture/recreation, and environmental health. KEN- Can you give me an assessment on housing and housing affordability? TERRY- it is an issue, one issue we have advocated in the past is rental accessibility, it’s something like 1 in 24 new units will have roll in showers. Before that and above that it is a cost of the tenant to renovate and then un-renovate. Some new companies, often the most modern, are accessible- but they are also the most expensive and typically not financially accessible. This has improved in the 22 years I have lived here. MANDY- would like to see more subsidized housing that are accessible to people with physical disabilities. She can’t move because her rent will be Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. CIC Room, City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 11/14/2019 – MINUTES Page 6 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 more than what she receives each month. No possibility to progress into a new place. c. Is the Board Effectively Accomplishing its Annual Work Plan? KEN- Boards and Commissions are made to provide meaningful feedback on their specific areas of focus. He doesn’t want there to be a reason for the COD to justify their existence. Your existence is justified because you exist, and your feedback should be if your needs are being met. You don’t need a reason or an excuse to address council, you have an open door all the time when council needs advisement on a specific agenda item. TERRY- Has been a member on the COD for 12 years and we have never and will never run out of issues that need addressed. Our voices still need to be heard but he doesn’t anticipate this being an issue that we will not contribute to the conversation. Our commission is the voice for people in our city who don’t have a voice, and we will continue to be that steady drip of water. CONCLUSION: d. In general if there are a few take-aways, what would they be? In terms of sense of overall contribution effectiveness? TERRY- Transportation, Housing, Employment – all things that are delicate issues for folks with disabilities, and to keep that in mind as the city moves forward and decisions that are made. Example: the cobblestones installed on Oak street are terrible for people with mobility issues. Keep the idea of “Universal Inclusivity”, things that make it easier for all people to live in a community. Example street lights that tell you what street you are crossing. Avoid the numbers game, “is it for enough people?”, we are small in numbers but we are a vulnerable populations where if things are not accessible enough for us, we are not able to access work and life. All large decisions have to be thought about by small groups too. KEN- don’t hesitate to be involved in public comment, one of the things that is important for a commission is to provide feedback to City Council. You are not an outside interest group, you are a vital part of our decisions. You provide the opportunity for council to connect to the disability community. He encourages someone from the COD to attend Council meetings and express that the COD exists and here is some feedback. Wants to make sure the COD feels like they are “on the inside”, the COD was created so you have a voice already and that you don’t have to fight for that voice. Part of reimagining boards and commissions is to create foundational and key concepts as to why the boards and commissions exist in the first place to advise and not to “fight for councils’ attention”. Lets make sure we have Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. CIC Room, City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 11/14/2019 – MINUTES Page 7 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 a structure for boards and commissions that serve council and the community in the best way. e. It would be good for the COD to address the board even when there isn’t something on the agenda, at least on a Quarterly basis. It’s important for council to know who you are. CAROL- the COD plays a big role in many planning projects, we aren’t just talking about ADA, it is about usability and accessibilities and the COD has been a voice on a lot of that already. • Eric Keselburg, City Parking Services Manager: Downtown Accessible Parking a. Downtown time spaces do not require time limits in ADA spaces. ADA spaces in Northern Hotel area have been used by residents rather than people who are using Old Town areas. i. Needing to find a balance between visitors of downtown versus residents. ii. If there is a code change for a 4-hour maximum for those types of spaces, how would that effect current policy? TERRY- Had this conversation with Kurt a while back, it was my assumption that we were against any sort of time limit. We wanted people to at least be able to work a 9-5 job or for some reason needed to leave it overnight that was an option. We had discussed a 24-hour limit, or a parking voucher to park in the garage on Laporte, or elder folks could use those spots in bad weather. There were many ideas to make sure people weren’t left out, but also to not interpret those spaces as personal parking spots. We were against the 4-hour limit, but it would need more conversation. We had talked about a continuous spot in the garage, and a 24-hour limit on the disabled spots. CAROL- new data will be coming from the “pucks” that are new in parking services to see how long people are actually parked. ERIC- There will be a total of 3000 “pucks” gathering data about how long people are parked. • 2020 Work Plan a. This is due now, looking at the 2019 plan and looking ahead, start b. MANDY- We need to address what is/is not happening with the Harmony Property. Community Livability. The sidewalk still doesn’t exist after the project has been in the air for three years. MARILEE- Employment- would like to talk to city about diversity hiring and work with Dept of Vocational Rehabilitation. Do some education with council to help them with diverse hiring goals. Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 12:15-2:15 p.m. CIC Room, City Hall, 300 LaPorte Avenue 11/14/2019 – MINUTES Page 8 COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES (COD) REGULAR MEETING – Contact: Carol Thomas, Equal Opportunity & Compliance Manager – 416-4254 c. These will be conversed about via email and prepared. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Community Recognition Awards: After-Action Report 7. ADJOURNMENT AT 2:05 Motion from Mandy, Second by Marilee NO COMMISSION MEETING IN DECEMBER