body,date,page,text,path
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,1,"COMMISSION ON DISABILITY ISSUES
MEETING MINUTES OF
Wednesday, December 14, 2016 6:30 p.m.
1. ROLL CALL
Elizabeth Kenny: Call to order, the meeting of this Commission on Disability Issues for December
14th, 2016.
Kerry Parker: Roll call. Chair Kenny?
Elizabeth Kenny: Here.
Kerry Parker: Vice-Chair Brillinger?
Arnold Brillinger: Here.
Kerry Parker: Commissioner Aghapekian? Commissioner Deutsch?
Susan Deutsch: Here.
Kerry Parker: Commissioner Franco? Commissioner Hall?
Lisa Hall: Here.
Kerry Parker: Commissioner Lewis? Commissioner Linton?
Jennifer Linton: Here.
Kerry Parker: And Commissioner Tsztoo?
Michaela Tsztoo: Here.
Kerry Parker: We have six present. We have a quorum.
2. MINUTES
Elizabeth Kenny: So the first item on our agenda is approval of the minutes from October 12th, 2016
meeting. Did anyone have any corrections they wanted to make? I looked through it and, again, I'm
happy with the service. I think we should keep using it.
Kerry Parker: Excellent. Public Works is very happy to hear that.
Elizabeth Kenny: Alright, so can we vote to approve the minutes from October 12th, 2016?
Arnold Brillinger: I so move.
Susan Deutsch: I second.
Elizabeth Kenny: Alright. All in favor?",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,2,"All: Aye.
Elizabeth Kenny: All opposed? Great. Six to zero. Now we have oral communication on non-agenda
items for public comment.
3.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS/NON-AGENDA (PUBLIC COMMENT)
Kerry Parker: We don't have any speaker slips for this. Oh, and I would like everyone to know there
are speaker slips if you want to speak on any of these items. So we can move on to new business.
4.
NEW BUSINESS
Elizabeth Kenny: First up, we're going to have Captain Sharon Oliver discuss the Alameda Fire
Department's Disaster Response Planning. Welcome. Thank you for coming.
Sharon Oliver: My name's Captain Sharon Oliver. I'm with the Alameda Fire Department here in
town. I have been with the city for 22-plus years. I am currently assigned as the city's Disaster
Preparedness Coordinator and Emergency Manager for the city. So what that means is I do planning
for the city. I coordinate the planning; I train city staff; I manage the Community Emergency Response
Team training, and the broader group that volunteers with us. I work with partner agencies such as
yourselves, and I do a lot of sundry things throughout our department that pop up; I seem to get
whatever rolls downhill.
Sharon Oliver: We're going to talk about preparation planning and resiliency. What we look at in the
city as a whole community resiliency. I put up a definition of what resilience means because it actually
kind of embodies what we're trying to do here. So I'll just read it aloud. ""Resiliency is a noun, the
power or ability to return to original form position, etcetera, after being bent, compressed, or
stretched. Elasticity, the ability to recover readily from adversity, or the like. And buoyancy.""
Sharon Oliver: That's the point when we look at being prepared for disaster or anything that comes
our way, is that's something unusual, it's not part of our daily activities but we are able to spring back
up. The city wants to be able to spring back up. We want to just stand right back up and get back to
our normal business operation as soon as we can. That means you can go shopping, and the streets
are drivable, and the water flows, and the toilets flush, and everything works. And Public Works
handles an awful lot of that. When we say a whole community, having a community that's resilient in
the whole community, it means each and every part of our city, not only our infrastructure but our
people., so everybody's able to get back to the business of living daily life. We do expect that some
buildings may be damaged, but we want to get people back into their homes. We want people to be
able to stay in town and be okay.
Sharon Oliver: So I'm just going to talk to you a little bit about our planning effort. This coming
year in 2017, we're going to be refreshing our Emergency Operation Plan and that's probably going
to take the better part of a year. The Emergency Operation Plan is what we work from. It's a document
that was adopted by the City Council, and when we go through our revision of this plan, there's a lot
to add. Laws have changed and things have changed. For example, we know we have the risk of
tsunami inundation now. It's not a very big risk but it's there, so we have to address risks that we've
identified.
Sharon Oliver: Over 2016, we put together a Hazard Mitigation Plan which is a required document,
and we just looked at all our hazards. We looked at our population, we looked at our infrastructure,
we looked at diversity, we've looked at many, many things. You might remember having a
presentation from Erin Smith from Public Works about that mitigation plan, and SO we have that in",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,3,"place. When we look at planning, we look at a few things. We look at our plan in the city which helps
us operate in a disaster, gives us guidance or what we're going to do and how we going to handle a
disaster. We also look for continuity of operation within the city. That's making sure all our staff
comes back to work and we're able to continue to conduct business as a city. Then we looked at shelter
planning for disasters, and this is really a key component. As you probably know, there's a lot of laws
and rules around functional needs individuals and it's really important.
Sharon Oliver: We have learned throughout the United States that we need to be inclusive. That
means everybody, no matter what language you speak, what color you are, what kind of need do you
have, we need to provide for that. That and our pets, so we also include our pets, it's like our whole
community. When we look at shelter planning, the functional needs community is a diverse group all
in itself, because you can't say functional needs as you know and one size will fit all. It does not. First
of all, we hope that we don't even have to move you from your home, but if we do, we have to have
a place where your needs are met. Access for wheelchairs, cots that you can sleep on, we just talked
about braille as I was walking in so that we can sign properly SO that you can get in and get out without
heartaches. That's part of our planning processes as well.
Sharon Oliver: And then once we get these plans in place, and I mentioned sheltering because
sheltering is a big deal for us. We have old infrastructure and old buildings, they're not all entirely
accessible. We work towards accessibility, we have policies in place for accessibility, but older
buildings don't always come up to code because they haven't need re-building or remodeling yet. If
you do a remodel, you have to bring things up to code. If you build a new building, you have to build
to code, but we're an old city. When we plan, we have to look at what are all our options for sheltering,
and what would we need to do even right there in the moment to bring something close enough so
that everybody could use the shelter.
Sharon Oliver: And then we work with the public to have the public prepared. We're a small city
staff in the big scheme of things. So for example we have 24 firefighters on duty each day, we have
78,000 residents. You can see the numbers outnumber us by a great deal, so training our citizens,
training you, the public, to have a preparedness plan so that you are as self-sufficient as possible helps
us all because there are people who will never plan and we're going to have to help them. So the more
people we have trained and have a plan, the better off we are.
Sharon Oliver: We also plan for pets. In this community there's probably a lot of service animals,
and they have a special place in sheltering and others. But it doesn't really matter, we love our pets,
regardless whether your pet is a service animal or not, that pet's important to us and we plan for that.
We affiliate volunteers, I mentioned before the Alameda CERT teams, Community Emergency
Response Teams, so we have close to 300 active members and they are engaged every day. We just
had a walking search for a child from one of the schools here. She turned up safe and sound, she had
gone to a friend's house but she wasn't in school. The police rallied our CERT teams and they did a
walking search for her. So, that group is very engaged and affiliated with us. Then we also want to
look at our business districts and encourage them to have continuity of operation plans. That means
that if they get knocked off out of their business, that they are able to re-bound and re-open. We know
if businesses don't have a continuity of operation plan, they often don't reopen, and that's a direct
impact on our citizens' ability to shop and do business.
Sharon Oliver: Okay, so, planning for the functional needs community. So we're encouraging all
citizens to prepare. Preparedness might look different to different people. In fact it does, there's really
no one size fits all regardless. Having a plan, having your community connected and networking,
having a system of welfare checks. I will tell you in the past, at least three times we attempted to
register folks who had some sort of special needs so we could, in a disaster, do welfare checks. What
we discovered and it may have changed, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, the functional need",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,4,"community wasn't interested in giving out information like that. It was a scary thought to give
information even to the city to do welfare checks because there was a trust issue, I believe. We never
conquered that hurdle.
Sharon Oliver: But it's very important to be able to network in a way that the community feels safe,
your community feels safe and there's somebody to check on folks that need to be checked on. Welfare
checks are important, having a plan for moving if you can't stay in your location, and that can mean
a lot of different things. That might actually require paired transit or some other vehicle that's
specialized and relocating. Having a plan to be able to stay in your home as best you can, having a
welfare check, having some supplies of food, water, medicine, anything you need to keep you going,
and then having a back-up plan where you might go if you cannot stay in your home.
Sharon Oliver: What can you guys do? Well, you can be partners with the city in our planning effort.
So you can attend trainings to learn personal preparedness, that would be great. You can make plans
ahead, whatever that looks like for you. You can assemble a kit that you have in your home or your
car. Water's super important. We can go a long time without food, but water's essential, SO having
some in your vehicle, at your home, whatever you can keep, even a little is better than none. And then
having your contact phone numbers at hand so that you can network. Networking, we encourage it in
the general community and this community in particular. We know that if you have a mobility issue,
you could get stuck in a room just because some books fell off the shelf. You're fine, you're not hurt,
but you can't get out of that room and if you don't have a phone or something, you could literally be
stuck in your own house for days and days. Some of these things, taking some preparedness efforts
to make sure you're safe, and then having a network that says, ""Hey, are you okay?"" Call each other
each day. Especially after a big event like an earthquake, then, it's simple to pick up books in a book
shelf. We can get people to do that. But to have you stuck in one room because a few books fell off
the shelf and jammed the door would be a horrible thing if nobody knew you were there.
Sharon Oliver: So when I talk about assisting with a planning effort, we are going to be developing
or refreshing our Emergency Operation Plan, and it would be great to have a task force for this
community to help us address some of our challenges, for example having older buildings. We
identify shelters that are already up to code, but we can't be 100% guaranteed that they withstand in
a large disaster, so we may have to look at others. We have some equipment we're going to need, and
some signage. We just identified needing something that can print braille signs. Somebody who could
actually tell us if they're printed properly, because most of us cannot read it. That partnership from
your group would be really amazing. We will ask you to participate and we hope that you do.
Sharon Oliver: Helping us identify who are needy citizens. If we can't actually keep a database,
which has proven to be challenging at least three times over the past, close to 20 years, we've tried
several times. We recently tried, just about three-and-a-half years ago, we tried again, and again it
didn't fly. Your suggestions on how we know who we need to check on in a disaster would be very
helpful. And then education and outreach into your community. We have a great resource in Eaton
Information and Referral Center, it's the 211 system. Are you familiar with 211? Yes? You've heard
of it? We have a person that's been hired there and they used to work for CARD which was
Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters, and they're no longer there. But this gentleman is
available to give presentations. They've done a lot of presentations for various functional needs group,
and they're phenomenal. Their motto is, ""Fear-free disaster planning.'
Sharon Oliver: It's just very creative, it's fun and they really make it nice. We would love to host a
gathering with that individual. And I already asked him before I came, I said I'm going to speak with
the commission and I hope that they'll set up a time to do that. It's kind of hard to read but all you
need to remember is www.ready.gov and that's a FEMA site, and it has information. Tonight I printed
a few copies, and we're going to upload this all for you, I was a little late in getting it and I apologize",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,5,"for that. I printed quite a nice handout from FEMA and it's particularly helpful for your community.
We can make more copies and get them from the website. This is specifically for the functional needs
community, it's a little bit of a list. It's got some other tips and the one thing that was really quite
interesting to me as I read through on the second page towards the bottom is the thing on managing
finances if you're getting social security checks or anything else to make it really easy SO that you
don't lose your income if we have a disaster and you can't get to the bank or do your regular banking.
It's got some really informative tips. It does mention a registry program that I mentioned that has not
taken flight in Alameda. But we're open. If you have ideas or suggestions, we're open.
Sharon Oliver: I think that what we're really encouraging though is your partnership in planning and
getting some training to the community that meets your needs. You're, of course, all welcome to come
to our CERT training regardless of whether you think that you're ready to go out in your
neighborhood. I think you would get a lot out of it. And we tailor it to anybody in the class. It's open
to everyone, so you're welcome to come to that. We have not set up our schedule for 2017 yet, but we
teach a 21-hour course four times during the year, so there's a lot of opportunity to take it. And it's
free, and we love free. And that's paid for through grant funding that we get regularly every year.
Elizabeth Kenny: Sharon, will you state again what CERT stands for?
Sharon Oliver: Community Emergency Response Team. That's a FEMA program, so it's nationwide.
You're welcome to come, and I would welcome you into the class. That's pretty much it for me. I'm
open for questions, comments, whatever you'd like.
Elizabeth Kenny: I'm going to start with the commission questions, and then we'll go to the public
questions. Thank you for being here tonight. I've seen the efforts before of trying to create the registry,
and we do have to come up with something different. Is there any centralized point, say, where people
with disabilities, if an emergency happens, could come and receive assistance? If I have medicine
that needs to be refrigerated and I've lost power, or something along those lines, where I could come
and get services from the city?
Sharon Oliver: We don't have an exact location cause sometimes depending on the incident, the
planned place winds up not working for us, and we'll have to move it. But usually with the
refrigeration issue, we try to get ice coming in as soon as possible SO that you can keep medicines
cool. If you have something that requires power, we do have some portable generators in the fire
department. And if you had to leave your home because we couldn't manage that, you would be a
high priority to move to another facility. We do have a robust amount of assisted living and care
facilities within Alameda and the Alameda Health Care System, which is Alameda Hospital and a
few others, they're in a whole network, and they have a very robust plan for taking in surge or having
to move people, not to the hospital, but to someplace where care can be provided. I believe a good
number of those locations have back-up generators, so refrigeration and power and things like that is
there.
Sharon Oliver: The biggest thing is letting us know that there's an issue, and that's why we tried to
do the registry so that we could have a way to check. In fact we were going to use our CERT volunteers
with background checks to partner with people who needed welfare checks. We thought that was a
good option, but it just didn't fly. But yes, it's definitely a high priority, anybody who has a need like
that.
Elizabeth Kenny: The other question I had was again medication focused. I understand that Alameda
has to be prepared to be cut off for a while because we're an island, and I get my medication from
Oakland. Are there programs in place where I would be able to get my medication in Alameda during
that time?",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,6,"Sharon Oliver: There's not an actual plan in place for that, not that there couldn't be. But we do
recommend that you keep a - I say this, and I understand because I've been in classes where I say it's
nice to have a little extra medication, and then people say, ""But my insurance won't do that. They
won't let me have an extra month."" But if you can swing it in some fashion, if it won't go bad, it's nice
to have the next month's supply and rotate it so that if something happens, you're not, ""I have to fill
it every week."" Unless you have to fill it every week, and that's just the way it is. But it's nice to have
extra on hand. And when we talk about preparedness, there's a lot of reasons why just to have extra
on hand makes sense day-to-day. It's very stormy, or you don't feel good and you don't make the trip.
There's other reasons to have some supplies on hand that's a little above and beyond just a few days
so that you can be resilient all the time, not just when we have a big disaster. That's what we
encourage.
Elizabeth Kenny: I have one more question. Is there going to be mental health services available?
Because, I imagine, people will be feeling strained during an emergency.
Sharon Oliver: Yes, there are. We use Eaton Information and Referral. And I will tell you the East
Bay has more services than any other county in the Bay Area. It's really fabulous. They're networked,
and they're there for us, and we're going to be working with them very closely. In fact, we will feed
them information, and they'll feed you information, and we'll go back and forth. We have a very strong
partnership. But I just want to back up to the medication thing. So when we're talking about planning,
if that's something important to your group, that's a place where we can plan. We can put agreements
in place with the local pharmacies to say, ""Hey, in a disaster, we would like you to service our
population. If we have some folks who are really critical, we're going to ask you to service them and
we're just going to get it done.""
Sharon Oliver: So when we talk about planning, the reason everybody has to contribute is because
I might not think of it in the way you think of it, and that's the importance of the partnership and the
team building to have a plan that works for our city that's not just a nice book on the shelf that gets
dusty, but actually has some meat on the bones that gets looked at every year and say, ""Is it still fresh?
Does it still work for us?"" Because when we wrote our plan literally, and I'm just going to stop there,
we have the word 'VCR' in the plan, nobody's using a VCR - Well, I shouldn't say no one, most people
are not using VCRs. [chuckle] Technology moves, this is a living document that needs to be looked
at and refreshed. So that's why I'm encouraging you to put together a task force that can work with
the city in understanding what needs to be in our plan, that actually has meat on the bones that we
can have agreements with our businesses over. So I just wanted to go back on that.
Elizabeth Kenny: Yes, I think that's a great idea about the task force or forming a work group
specifically for emergency preparedness and to work with the functional limitation planning.
Sharon Oliver: Absolutely.
Elizabeth Kenny: Any other Commissioners have any questions or comments?
Arnold Brillinger: I do. Captain?
Sharon Oliver: Yes.
Arnold Brillinger: I realize that you're talking about city preparedness
Sharon Oliver: I'm talking about the whole community.",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,7,"Arnold Brillinger: It boils down to each individual making sure that they have it for their family or
for their neighbors or whatever. I was just going to ask the question, because they change this number
all the time. In Alameda, how long do you think that it could possibly be that a person could be
waiting to see first responders?
Sharon Oliver: We do a thing called 'triage' when we have a big disaster. Day to day when you call
911, they dispatch somebody right away. If every one of our units is out in Alameda, they send
somebody from Oakland or Piedmont or Berkeley. They just keep reaching out, and it takes more
time to drive, but they're dispatching somebody immediately from throughout Alameda County, and
beyond if they need to. In a regional disaster when every city around us is impacted as well, that's
when we run into trouble. So then we have to go to a situation where we're looking at the calls as they
come in, and we're having to sort of make a choice about what's the worst call and where can we go
next? It's sort of in the queue. So it could take a while, it really could! That's why we really encourage
citizens to have a plan on their own, have a network, be able to help one another so that our resources
can go to the most critical situations. The most critically injured, the fires.
Sharon Oliver: If you look at our city, some of our houses are built inches apart, so we don't want a
fire to burn all the way across town, so for us fire could be very, very important because it could burn
right across town, which would then take away from some of our abilities to get right to a medical
call. If we have a big regional disaster, it's going to be a big challenge for us, but if we plan
appropriately and we have our network set up, there's other avenues, there's other folks who could
help and get you to the hospital. Not to lie, it could really be a wait, and that's why we want to plan
ahead.
Arnold Brillinger: I was thinking in the regional disaster.
Sharon Oliver: That's the one that's going to hurt us, yes.
Arnold Brillinger: Yes, because there are certain people that are going to get the response right away,
but they usually tell you to have enough food and water for how many days, what's the minimum?
Sharon Oliver: We look at a minimum of three days, because we believe we can start getting food
and water into the city. We should be able to get some bottled water from our stores and things, and
water coming in within, we hope, 24 hours, but it takes a while. When everybody is asking, it's a lot.
It's not like it's not coming, but it doesn't come really quickly, and we are at the end of the line for the
water supply, so if the water breaks up stream, then it's going to not be here. They have a great plan,
but if they have a lot of breaks, it's going to just physically take some time to bridge those gaps. Water
is very, very important to store, and we will be looking at bringing water in just as quickly as we can,
and food.
Sharon Oliver: When we do that, we set up what are called commodity PODS', points of distribution,
and they're often a drive-thru so you come with your car, you tell how many people, they put flats of
water and ice in your vehicle and whatever food we have, and then you drive on. If you can't get
there, or if you can't get a friend or something, those are going to be the kind of things where you're
going to have to reach out as best we can, and that's part of the planning. That's why we tried to set
up the registry, how does somebody with a functional need say, ""No, I'm not just anybody, I'm really
in distress here, and please get to us."" That's one of the things we need to look at in our planning.
Susan Deutsch: I also have a question, because you talked about somebody getting stuck in a room,
where the buildings are very old, and I'm thinking what the plan would be for somebody in a
wheelchair who gets stuck in an apartment that might be on the second floor, and the elevator could
be out. In a small disaster, the fire department could probably come in and help that person out.",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,8,"Sharon Oliver: Yes.
Susan Deutsch: In a big disaster the response could take a while. I worked in a school district that
had evacuation chairs on the walls of the school so that when there was a disaster, people who worked
in the school could actually get the students on to evacuation, take them down the stairs, because you
couldn't use the elevator. So just thinking along those lines, doing this CERT training, people in the
community, maybe they could learn how to assist people if they are in a wheelchair and that could be
of help.
Sharon Oliver: Yes. I would say that anybody can be trained, but some folks are heavy, and it takes
a certain skill to understand how to effectively move somebody without hurting them. And then some
people have issues that even takes more skill in moving them from wherever they are into one of
those chairs. But that's not a bad idea. In fact, I see those chairs showing up places all over. Evacuation
chairs hanging in a hallway, a few things like that. But moving people, I would say in our fire
department, the things that hurts people in our department the most, is moving people. Somebody's
fallen down in a precarious spot, and there's no room to lift properly. I wouldn't say that the average
person couldn't do it, but it takes several people. It does pay to have a little bit of training, or you can
actually hurt the person you're trying to rescue.
Susan Deutsch: And hurt yourself!
Sharon Oliver: And hurt yourself. So I would say we don't necessarily want you to leave your
residence, if you have what you need, food, water and somebody to pick your books up off the floor.
But honestly, you should have your bookcase secured to the wall so it doesn't tip. Those are some of
the things you can do ahead to make your environment safer. Then we hope you can stay there. It's
pretty disconcerting to leave your home, and shelters are not fun. They're important, we want them
for people, we don't want anyone on the street, but it's not fun to be in an auditorium with a whole
bunch of other people, sleeping on a cot. Our best case is to try and keep you in your home, if your
home is safe enough, and you have food and water and your medicine, then maybe you don't need to
leave. And you have blankets, so if it's chilly, your bundled. That, and you have somebody to check
on you regularly, and a battery-powered radio so you can get some information, then you're going to
be a lot more comfortable, I would guess. I know I would be in my home, even though my home
doesn't have power, I would be more comfortable there, you have all your equipment and stuff. That's
our goal, is to keep you in your familiar environment if we can, if it's safe.
Elizabeth Kenny: I think that's the commission's questions. We do have a question from the public.
Doyle Saylor?
Doyle Saylor: Hello. It's more of a comment about one thing I heard. I'm with Renewed Hope, and I
heard you talking about signage, and so first a comment about signage. Sometimes there's an illusion
that if you put some braille up on the wall, that it'll help people who are visually impaired, but how
is a visually impaired person going to find the braille? Braille often times is just what you hand out
to people for information, but in my old job, we talked a lot about this sort of thing too, and what we
looked at was smart tags.
Doyle Saylor: And these are just tags that you put around that carry information about the location,
and it's a rather big disability-related issue. It's been 10 years since I've looked at that very much, but
what I would say about that is, Smith's Kettlewell in the city, which is San Francisco, does research
on visually impaired issues, and they're leading experts in the world about signage for people with
disabilities. One of their professionals, Josh Mealy, could be asked to come over to the city and talk
to various city departments about signage for people with disabilities. I'm just putting out an idea for",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,9,"you guys to think about, that signage really is a big disability issue. It's relatively cheap to do, and it
could have a big impact on everybody's lives here. Thank you.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you very much. If you could just state your name into the mic when you
talk. Thank you.
JoanAnn Radu-Sinaiko: Hi, my name is JoanAnn Radu-Sinaiko, and I am a member of this
community of disability people, and you brought up an amazing point that I had not really processed
through. My disability is muscle spasms, and when I get really stressed, or the weather is cold, heat
and ice are paramount to my quality of life and it never occurred to me that if the energy went out,
where would I go? I would just panic at home. But going to the police department, fire department,
the hospital to have that bit of information. I've been plagued with this for 20 years and it's just really
vital to have that and so I appreciate that you provided that. And the other concern I have, when that
information came out about providing information, being a person with a disability and wanting to
have somebody know that I need help. Maybe some objectives on why are people afraid about
providing that information. People pay for services that seniors and people that live by themselves
that they pop a button and emergency, your calls are checked in.
JoanAnn Radu-Sinaiko: There's creative energy and there's got to be a way to overcome that
obstacle, because yes, I was intimidated and even in my complex I've talked to you a few minutes
ago. Ilive at the Willows, 201 units. There was a point where the office asked us to submit information
about ""In the time of an emergency, provide us with what you needed."" And I didn't trust our
management, so I did not submit my information. And there were some valid issues about why I
didn't trust them, but as a society and a community, that bridge has to be made, because I need to
know where I go. At that time, my husband worked the graveyard shift, so I was home by myself at
night, he was sleeping, if anything ever happened during that time. There were a couple times when
I had to call the police and it was really scary, because I was like, ""Well, I can't get to the door because
I'm immobile and so how are we going to make this happen?'
JoanAnn Radu-Sinaiko: And everybody has issues and there's got to be a way to invite people. It's
a small group and there's got to be a way to just bridge that gap. Somehow to do it through the
newspaper. Next Door is really good. Is that a bell telling me I'm done? Okay, but Next Door is really
helpful to communicate with my neighbors about challenges that come up. It's really important to
overcome that just because they say no, don't shut it down. Think outside of the box.
Sharon Oliver: So, we literally only had about four people register, and then a year or two passed,
then we went, ""Are they still out there?"" And then we couldn't reach them. Then it was like, ""Well,
then the list is old."" If we had hundreds of numbers, it would have been a different thing. We know
we have got to update this list but we couldn't even get a hold of the four.
JoanAnn Radu-Sinaiko: I know, that's true.
Sharon Oliver: Yes, so we were like, ""This doesn't have enough buoyancy to move forward.""
JoanAnn Radu-Sinaiko: Well, how about at the Senior Center? It just occurred to me, I'm dealing
with some issues that our community, and inside the condo perhaps could reach out to the Senior
Center and to get help. There was a point in our community in our society that the Gray Panthers
were alive and well. And it's like what happened to that community of people? Does everybody know
who the Gray Panthers were?
Beth Kenny: Are.",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,10,"JoanAnn Radu-Sinaiko: Are. I'm here. I'm in between places. So I'm not going to be a good
advocate. I was excited I got an email from Kerry reminding me about this tonight, that's why I'm
even here because I totally forgot about it. It's great to see everybody and it's really important because
there's a lot of people that don't feel that they're disabled and that they need the help because they're,
""I can do it. I'm strong enough. I can figure this out."" But when panic comes in, your brain just goes
to water. It just melts and you don't know that until it happens, and then you don't know what to do.
I've been there SO I understand that. I tried to anticipate but I never did ask a question further, ""Where
do I go?"" So, thank you.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you. Do we have any more comments or questions? Commissioner
Brillinger?
Arnold Brillinger: Yes, the Paratransit put together a booklet. Beth, if you could hold yours up. It
has in it all kinds of things that you need to compile, so that when the big thing happens, the big
disaster happens, you know first of all some of your information. You don't have to go hunting all
over the place for it. It shows you what you need to put together so that you've got some supplies for
yourself and maybe even that you would use this kind of a thing with your neighbors. I was
wondering, does the fire department or does Alameda have anything like this?
Sharon Oliver: There's a lot of people making lists, I brought some tips from FEMA. We have
another list that we hand out at fairs, it's a real short list. But I can tell you, one size does not fit all
with lists. You need water, you need food, and after that what else do you need to make your life
resilient? I'm a coffee drinker, I have a little extra coffee on hand, toilet paper's nice, and there are
some things like that. I don't know your living situation, so if you say one gallon of water per person
per day just for drinking, you might want another gallon for washing. If you have a family of five and
you start doing the math, that's a lot of water, but some water's better than no water. So it's like where
do you stand now? How does it work for you? What's your living situation? What else do you need?
Medications, refrigeration? If you really want to be a preparedness nut like some of our folks are,
they love it, maybe you can install or have on hand a generator if you have a need to keep a small
refrigerator going. It has a cost, but if it's that important to you and your well-being, maybe that's
something you save for or decide to do. There's a lot of ways to handle it.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you very much.
Sharon Oliver: You're welcome.
Elizabeth Kenny: Sorry. We have one more public comment. Can you say your name into the
microphone first? Thank you.
Austin Tam: My name is Austin Tam and I do lots of social justice work in Alameda especially when
it comes to disabilities and affordable housing. I came in late, but I was the one doing most of all
because I had a conversation with my friend Doyle this morning and I was just thinking about people
who are hearing impaired, especially in a disaster or something like that, right? For instance, when
you have to call somebody, is there a simple way for those who are hearing impaired?
Elizabeth Kenny: Yes I think I understand what you're saying, like the TTY programs, are those
going to be still available in an emergency?
Sharon Oliver: The phone lines could be down, so there are some challenges. Let's get a task force
together to talk about so many different issues. Signage, braille, how does somebody who can't see
get to the braille sign? It's a requirement for us to put braille signs next to bathrooms and things like
that, but if you can't even find the bathroom, then how can you read the braille signs? These are the",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,11,"things, like you said, you have to overcome. So getting input from the group and the diversity in your
group alone, not to mention the diversity all throughout Alameda. We speak 41 different languages
in Alameda, so there's a lot of diversity here to work with, and that's the point about pulling in the
community to say, what does it look like for Alameda? What does it look like for your group? What
kind of disabilities are we facing? How can we plan and prepare so that we are able to serve the
community and work together in answering some of your questions?
Sharon Oliver: We are a small city so we don't have enough staff to meet everyone's needs, it's
imperative to engage the community to help us come up with solutions and be part of the solution in
the planning effort and figuring out what will really work. And then once we make that plan, we have
to test it. We really need to set up a shelter and have you folks come and say, ""Well that was great,""
or ""That didn't work at all."" And then we'll go, ""Okay, we thought it was going to work and it didn't.""
So that's the circle and the way you have to go to make it work. I know you have more and a long
presentation coming, so if there's no more questions, I will let you get on with business.
Elizabeth Kenny: Yes, I would just like to make the motion that we create a work group that will be
part of the task force on functional limitations for emergency preparedness and I would like to
volunteer for that group.
Sharon Oliver: Yes, thank you. I volunteered the whole audience, I don't know if you noticed.
[laughter] You don't want the group to be too big, but you definitely want to have people on it who
are interested most importantly, and that understand the diverse group that we have.
Kerry Parker: And I hear you have fun meetings.
Sharon Oliver: We have fun meetings. I know it's Disaster, but we're a fun group. [laughter] It doesn't
have to be all doom and gloom to have a great plan. I encourage it. Will you work with Kerry to get
a group and once you feel you have a group ready to go, we'll plan a kick-off meeting in 2017?
Probably more like February than January.
Kerry Parker: We can make sure this gets out to the group if there's a task force that's building, we
can send it out to the listeners so that everybody knows.
Sharon Oliver: Yes if they want to be a part of it.
Sharon Oliver: How long can you keep water? I don't have the definitive answer, but if you talk to
East Bay MUD, they say they never wanted to stop moving. I keep water in a large 55 gallon drum
that I dump and refill every 6 months. And I keep some bleach on hand SO if I have to purify it further
and I have some little purifying straws. I have a variety of ways, but our water is awesome so I water
my plants and refill. I don't buy flats of water because of my ecological bent.
Sharon Oliver: You just want to rotate everything. You want to have it in your normal daily business
to rotate, so if you buy water. Whatever you do, use it. Eat it, drink it, rotate it, buy some new, put a
date on it because I can tell you, ""do this,"" and you think, ""I got it,"" and then you look and you go,
""Oh, 10 years has passed."" And I'm not even kidding, and there's cobwebs and it's horrible. We did it
in the police station. We had some bottled water and we went to look and they were all deformed and
weird, and it was in a cool dark place and it was deformed from age. You just have to put it in your
daily practice of checking. You put soup cans in, you eat it, you get some new, you rotate it or you
donate it to the food bank, and you rotate more in. You're making a paradigm shift in the way you
handle life.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you very much.",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,12,"Sharon Oliver: Thank you for having me and starting the conversation. It's actually perfect timing.
5.
OLD BUSINESS
Elizabeth Kenny: So next up on the agenda is old business and we're going to have Gail Payne talk
to us about the citywide Transportation Demand Management Plan. Welcome, Gail.
Gail Payne: Good evening, Chair Kenny and Commissioners. My name is Gail Payne. I'm the city's
transportation coordinator and I'm here because the city is experiencing unprecedented congestion
because with the regional growth that's been going on. We have a great economy, and so we see this
is a real urgent need to resolve. And I thought this was really urgent, but then Sharon's presentation
on disasters makes me feel like, ""Oh, that's probably even more urgent,"" and makes me want to go
home and get my water situation organized a little better.
Gail Payne: I'll just go over the background of why we're doing this, existing conditions, and then
we can get into some draft strategies and projects that I'd like to show you for the first time. Last time
we were here, or I was here in earlier 2016 to go over the existing conditions. So, I'll just give you a
little reminder and some reminder ideas on it. And then, now, it's the draft strategies, and we're about
halfway through this 18-month process. We hired a consultant earlier this year and now they've come
up with some draft strategies and projects, and so we'd like to get your input on those today. And then
we'll come back in later about spring of next year to go over the draft plan with you. And then we're
hoping City Council will adopt it in summer of next year.
Gail Payne: So just stepping back, why are we doing this? Like I said, we're having unprecedented
growth. And I've been living in the Bay Area now for many years, we used to be at five million
people, now we're at seven million. We have a great economy and it's tough to get around. And this
photo here is of my stepmom, and the reason why I have it here is, is it's not only about the transit
operations or the infrastructure and how we can improve it as a city, but it's also changing our mindset
and our thinking, just like Sharon was saying is how we live our lives a little bit, and really looking
at trying to make the existing transportation system more efficient, and the least efficient way of
traveling is driving alone. And so, how can we provide better options for people to make it more
attractive to use these more efficient options like buses and ferries and walking and bicycling? And
so we're looking at all modes and we're looking at it from near term to the long term.
Gail Payne: We have two main goals, one is to reduce those least efficient ways of traveling, that's
driving alone. Especially we're having problems at the estuary crossings, getting on and off the island,
because we're a bedroom community so getting off the island in the morning, returning in the
afternoon, evening, and then also getting around Alameda as well. Objectives that are important to us
like equity and safety and greenhouse gas reductions, and we put together a draft project list which is
Exhibit 1 in your packet.
Gail Payne: So just real quick before we get into those draft strategies, some reminders about existing
conditions. This one chart shows that the Bay Area congestion is at all time high since 1998, and that
because of that, there's so much congestion people are actually getting out of their cars for their
commutes. And so this other chart shows reduction in auto commuters in the Bay Area. Another chart
here shows increasing transit use. Keep in mind that in the City of Alameda, we also are expected to
grow. We really actually are finally back to the population and housing units that we were after the
base closure. We're starting to have the growth. We have had a substantial growth in jobs, but a lot of
the congestion we're seeing is actually due to the regional issues and backing up because of the
freeways.",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,13,"Gail Payne: And this chart shows that some of the low-hanging fruit is actually, a lot of drive alone
trips happen for commuters going to Oakland in the inner East Bay. And that's a pie chart showing
that 78% of people drive alone to work from Alameda to the inner East Bay. But then, the opposite is
true for San Francisco, 78% commute via transit to San Francisco. What's really working is transit to
San Francisco and how can we get more people taking transit to inner East Bay? The strategies when
we look at these geographic issues, we have four strategies here. How can we improve access to and
from Oakland? We see that as a low-hanging fruit because a lot of people are driving alone right now.
And how can we improve also access to and from San Francisco? And some people say, ""Why are
you even focusing on that? It's obviously working."" Well, people are actually attracted here because
of our proximity to San Francisco and it's causing the Transbay buses to be super packed, tight.
BART's hard to access. Super packed tight, crowded BART trains, and then ferries are hard to access
now. They sometimes have to turn away people, can't take everyone. So, we have to keep up with this
demand.
Gail Payne: And the third strategy is access within Alameda. Some people, they don't have cars, they
can't drive, and so how can we make that better for them? We hear a lot from youth and wanting it to
be better for youth as well. Fourth strategy is just really internal, how can we as staff do a better job
of managing and monitoring our efforts? First, I'll go over the four strategies real quick. This is the
one to and from Oakland that we see as a low-hanging fruit because so much of the trips are happening
are drive alone. And then second strategy, access to and from San Francisco. How can we keep up
with the demand? Multimodal access within Alameda is the third strategy. And the fourth one is
effectively managing and monitoring the transportation efforts.
Gail Payne: I just want to go over some of the in-progress projects and actions with you here. There's
a lot here, but some of the ones that I think you'd be more interested in, and then I'll go over some of
the near-term projects, mid-term and long-term, pick out a few. One of the ones that's happening in
March is Line 31 in the West End is going to be changed SO that it actually goes directly to Target.
Right now it doesn't quite get as close as it could, so they're rerouting that, so that'll be much better
for the West End and everyone can get to Target a little bit easier.
Gail Payne: The city based Paratransit program, because of measure BB, we have the ability for the
shuttle to run every 30 minutes. Right now, it only runs the one-hour loops, so that's in the works. We
also have the ability to hire a part-time Paratransit coordinator. She will be working at Mastick Senior
Center and her name is Victoria Williams. She is a retired staff person, Paratransit coordinator from
the City of Hayward. We're really fortunate that she accepted the position, and she's a real specialist
in Paratransit. When I come to you, I come to you every year on Paratransit so when we come in
February, hopefully that will work out and hopefully she can come and introduce herself to you.
Gail Payne: A couple other projects on December 18th, we're restoring Line 19 mainly along Buena
Vista Avenue. So that's exciting to get this restored bus line in town. And then out of the bike
pedestrian improvements, we have the construction of the Cross Alameda Trail in the West End along
Appezzato and in Jean Sweeney Open Space Park. And that's about two miles, so that'll be a
significant way that people can walk for recreation or commute by bike or whatever along that two-
mile stretch. This map is in your packet.
Gail Payne: Now I just want to go through real quick some near-term, mid-term and long-term
projects that may interest you. For AC Transit policy changes - right now, it costs money to transfer,
and so we've requested AC Transit to change that and to have free transfers like they used to. And
this is an equity issue and within Alameda, we do require transfers to get from one side of the island
to another. It indirectly, or it directly impacts people who have the worst transit, bus service, so it's a
little counter-intuitive why they would do that. That's what we're advocating there. Bus stop
improvements, why this is important is there aren't benches at all of our bus stops and there are",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,14,"sometimes places where we could put benches, so that's one thing we're looking at. Actually, an intern
is looking at that right now. Transportation awareness campaigns, what we've heard is, is a lot of
options, yet people just don't understand what's all out there. Just getting the word out better and in
various languages in different ways and getting the word out about how you could change your travel
patterns.
Gail Payne: There's this concept of vision zero and we plan on rolling that out and what that means
is, it's a way of thinking and prioritizing projects that it really focuses on safety. Looking at where
there's some severe injuries and fatal collisions is really looking at how we could improve that
intersection or that corridor so that those types of collisions don't happen anymore in our community.
We are lucky that we only have 25 miles per hour speed limit on most of our streets, and so we are a
community with fewer severe injuries and fatalities, yet we want to even reduce it to zero as this
policy states.
Gail Payne: And then for the mid-term projects. The ones that I thought would be most interesting
are these: one idea is this bus queue jump lanes, and that's from a complaint that the bus is so slow.
How can we get the bus to be faster than people driving alone? Just have it jump the queue in various
places when it can. We found a few places in town where it could do that. So focusing on making
buses faster. In general, we also heard that it would be great to have transit more frequent. That's true
for ferry service. That's true for Transbay buses, local buses, so that's a big push there.
Gail Payne: We also have heard a big interest in using our water more efficiently. The estuary, we're
an island right off Oakland, so how could we maybe have a water shuttle system, better use of that
with the new developments along northern waterfront? I also think it's interesting too is we have this
autonomous driverless vehicle policy and implementation and how we can work towards having those
driverless vehicles here in town, and what we need to do to change our infrastructure to make that
happen like traffic signals that communicate to the driverless vehicles. We really need to, as a
community, think ahead and when we upgrade our signals and signage, etcetera, so the driverless
vehicles can understand our streets easier.
Gail Payne: And people are saying, ""This could even happen, driverless vehicles could be out and
about within five years."" I think that sounds a little ambitious personally, but we need to really prepare
cause for a local jurisdiction, five years is like yesterday. [chuckle] That makes me really nervous,
and that's something that's definitely on our mind. But if you think about it in terms of disabilities,
that that is a real game changer. And so that could be a real exciting change once we gradually get to
that. It's just that, hopefully, it can all be done safely.
Gail Payne: And for the long-term projects, we realize this is very long-term thinking, yet BART is
looking at coming to Alameda, and it's part of this third larger, much larger third crossing project that
would go third crossing to San Francisco. It's part of a new route basically as another second Transbay
Tube that in case of a seismic event, as the Transbay Tube is over 40 years old, we have some type of
redundancy in the Transbay routes. That's just something that we're tracking and I was actually at a
meeting about it last night. It is something that takes some staff time even though it's not expected to
come, for say, 30 years or SO. But it is something we need to monitor as a community and what types
of impacts that could have on our community.
Gail Payne: And then the last one, is we heard a lot of the frustrations of using the tubes and the
congestion in the West End because on the East End we have several ways getting in and out, whereas
on the West End we just have the tubes. So when the tubes go down for whatever reason, collision or
what have you, it really does cause havoc and it's tough for bicycles, it's tough for people walking,
and how can we make that better? So that's something we really delving into. Again, if there's a
seismic event, we're very sensitive about that. We don't know if it would function after a major seismic",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,15,"event. And so do we look at replacing it before a seismic event, make it a stronger structure? That's
the idea here, is that tube's redesign and if we redesigned it, it would have a dedicated bus lane, we'd
consider that, a dedicated bike way, a dedicated walkway that's all best practices.
Gail Payne: Unfortunately, the bike pedestrian bridge, there are constraints because of the US Coast
Guard, they have requirements. They don't even want to see a drawbridge. And if it were by
drawbridge, it would cost about $1.5 million to operate, because it needs to be staffed. So that's a little
bit of cost prohibitive, in my eyes, being that here we have the tubes that might need to be redesigned
and replaced, because they're not seismically fit. So we just need to prioritize as a community, and
that's where we're at. I think that's it. We have discussions. What we're looking for is, what do you
think about the projects? I know I went over them real quick and not all of them. What do you think
about the projects? Are there other ones that you'd like to see? Are there some that you'd like us to
prioritize? That's what we'd love to hear from you tonight about. We'll be going to the City Council
to seek their comments as well on January 17th. Thank you.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you very much. I have a few questions or comments. Under the near-term
projects, one of them is transit signal priority and adaptive traffic sign control. Can you talk a little
bit about that? Is that adaptive signs or it just the traffic sign itself?
Gail Payne: It's just the traffic signal. What that is, is extending the green time for when a bus is
approaching an intersection, and say it's yellow, they can press a button and get to the intersection.
Or it's green, so it just allows them to reduce their delays a little bit and prioritize their operation. And
then the adaptive traffic signals do a better job of understanding real time dynamics of what's going
on in a street. I think we've all been frustrated waiting at an intersection and the traffic signal is not
picking up quickly enough that we're there and nobody else is there but we're still waiting. So there's
more efficient ways that we could use technology to make the whole system more efficient.
Elizabeth Kenny: Yes. That item above it, bus stop improvements. Is that something I've seen in San
Francisco where you can press a button and it'll tell you when the next bus is coming? I know we're
not working on operating on a San Francisco level, but something along those lines would be greatly
appreciated.
Gail Payne: Yes, and I know that AC Transit is doing a lot of work on trying to get their real time
mechanisms in place with the next bus so you can track the buses. I'd actually just discovered the
Next Bus app on my phone and I put it on my phone actually just yesterday. That really is the worst
part of a bus ride, is the wait. If you know when the bus is coming, then you don't have to run, you
don't have to wait as long, you can manage your life a little better. Yes, that's great to have.
Elizabeth Kenny: My other comment is that the Commission would definitely love to be a part of
any driverless vehicle policy. Like you said, it can be a game changer for the disabled community and
just so you know, there are some driverless cars. Uber is happening in San Francisco right now. They
started today.
Gail Payne: Oh, today. Okay.
Elizabeth Kenny: Yes.
Gail Payne: Wow.
Elizabeth Kenny: Yes. [chuckle] Also it's coming quicker than we realized.
Gail Payne: Yes.",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,16,"Elizabeth Kenny: Alright. Do any other Commissioners have questions or comments?
Michaela Tsztoo: I do.
Elizabeth Kenny: Commissioner Tsztoo. Go ahead, Michaela.
Michaela Tsztoo: Okay, I'm totally blind, and I hate to compare, but I kind of have to. I notice when
I'm in San Francisco, their talking signal lights are much louder in the volume than ours in Alameda.
I don't know if it's because of budget cuts or money, but I can hear a lot better. Like when they say,
""Cross"", you know, ""Fourth street,"" and it's much louder and sounds easier to hear and understand,
whereas ours because of the traffic flow, I had to lean over to hear the button or push it again and
pound it because I'm so frustrated, because I'm trying to listen to see when it's safe for me to cross
with my guide dog or with my cane. And I kind of wish that Alameda can use San Francisco as an
example and use some of the things that they have. They're very technology savvy it seems like.
Gail Payne: What would be most helpful is if you could tell us the exact intersections where you're
having problems. It doesn't have to be now, but if you could give me that email or call me or
something, because our challenge as a community is we are such a heavy on residential units that
most intersections are near a resident. I haven't heard the complaint you've said before, but the more
frequent complaints we have is they're too loud, because the ambient noise, because it carries to the
adjacent homes, which is understandable. What we try to do is to have balance the needs of everyone.
What would be most helpful is to know the ones where you're having problems. We can do it on a
case-by case-basis and work with the adjacent community members.
Michaela Tsztoo: Robert Davey Jr. Drive, that one in Park Street. And there's probably a lot of other
ones, but I don't go out a lot across the different streets. I just notice by just hearing.
Gail Payne: Robert Davey Jr. Drive and what's the
Michaela Tsztoo: That's the Bay Farm Island.
Gail Payne: But what's the intersection?
Michaela Tsztoo: Island Drive.
Gail Payne: Okay.
Michaela Tsztoo: Or Packet Landing.
Gail Payne: So those two?
Michaela Tsztoo: Yes. There's probably other ones around the city, just because our city's so noisy,
there's trucks, there's cars, there's ambulances, and there's things that drown out sound of the talking
signal light.
Gail Payne: Although we shouldn't be noisier than San Francisco. [laughter] So that shouldn't be an
excuse.
Michaela Tsztoo: But I don't know, the volume under traffic signals all over are louder than ours. I
just notice that.",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,17,"Gail Payne: Okay, that's great to know. Thank you.
Michaela Tsztoo: And all of you guys should put them in all over the city, not just some spots.
Gail Payne: Great. That's our plan. It's in our pedestrian plan.
Michaela Tsztoo: Because if I don't have assistance then I depend on that heavily.
Gail Payne: It's in our pedestrian plan just so you know, for all the signals to have accessible
pedestrian signals. It would be helpful to know where you're most needing them because what we
have trouble with sometimes is where to prioritize them with our limited time and money. We recently
put some in near bus stops. I don't know if you saw that. There's nine around, more than there used
to be, like Grand and Otis because it's next to a bus stop. I think Central and Oak has one now because
of that, near buses. So let us know what's not working and it's easier for us to prioritize.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you. I did have one other question. What is the plan for addressing the
development that's going to be going on out at the Point, and how that will impact the transit plan?
You've mentioned about the ferry terminals and stuff. I believe I heard something about the new
developments coming with transportation passes.
Gail Payne: The one that you're describing, Alameda Point. There's different developments, so each
new development that's been approved has transportation requirements. They are required to pay the
residents who move in an annual fee, that's a transportation mitigation fee and that pays for more
transportation services. Like they all will obtain these easy passes, these bus passes that allows them
to get on easily and use buses or transit. In Alameda Point it's actually not only buses, but ferries. So
everyone who moves in will automatically get them. It's free, so they might as well use it, gives them
incentive not to drive. That's just an example, but there's of requirements, transportation requirements
on these new developments. That's just one of them. And so we are working in collaboration with the
new developments to implement those requirements.
Elizabeth Kenny: Go ahead, Commissioner Brillinger.
Arnold Brillinger: You said there was a ferry transit consultant coming onboard?
Gail Payne: She's actually going to be a staff person, a part-time staff person. Yes, and she's a
specialist in Paratransit.
Arnold Brillinger: All right. And she's located at Mastick?
Gail Payne: She will be there, three days a week.
Arnold Brillinger: But she isn't yet?
Gail Payne: She'll start on January 17th.
Arnold Brillinger: Okay, because there are a lot of things about our shuttle, not to get it mixed up
with East Bay Paratransit. But with our shuttle, that needs to be looked at and because it's got some
real possibilities, I think maybe sometimes it's not operating during the correct time of day. Sometimes
it's not going to the right places. I heard you say that you're going to increase the frequency, but if it's
still going to the same old places and not going to places like BART or the ferry, then we lose a lot of
things that are good reasons for it to be there because it spends a lot of its time zooming around with
just a couple of people on it. When they do the math, does it provide enough service for the demand?",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,18,"Where do we get our BB and measure B monies from?
Gail Payne: The Alameda County Transportation Commission.
Arnold Brillinger: Through those guys because I've been to some of their meetings and they say,
""Well, yes. Alameda's going to meet the quota,"" and all that kind of stuff. But we could really, if we
had it going at the right times, the right places, really make it efficient. I've been on some of the other
ones. I've been on the Emery Go-Round. I've been on the Lynx in St. Andrew. I've got a lot of time to
go and investigate all these things. Some of these give me some ideas of things that we can do here.
Gail Payne: Okay. So you've already given great ideas, which is why we actually switched our routes
because of your ideas. So once she gets on board, I think you two should discuss and she'll have more
time to really delve into it than here.
Arnold Brillinger: Sure.
Gail Payne: She'll be working three days a week there. Yes.
Elizabeth Kenny: Great. Thank you very much, Gail.
Gail Payne: Thank you.
Elizabeth Kenny: Great information to get. I don't believe we have any public comment. Oh, we do.
Alright, we do have one public comment. Doyle Saylor, please.
Doyle Saylor: Hi, I hope everybody can hear me. It's Doyle Saylor with Renewed Hope, which is a
non-profit organized around affordable housing. So three things. One is the Commissioner was
mentioning the audible signals. That's signage. Signage covers a lot of things and it can be a very
important issue in terms of accessibility for people with disabilities. Uber has been barred in some
cities because their robot cars go through red lights. But the big issue for people with disabilities is
Paratransit. You use Paratransit. It's very slow, it's unreliable. Many people are made to wait hours to
get their Paratransit. If the city is serious about doing multi-model transportation, it should really
address the poor quality of Paratransit which is what people with disabilities use. I just think the
Commissioner is really right to bring that up. There's a lot of work to be done with that, but this is the
place to advocate for it. Thank you.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you.
Arnold Brillinger: I have one more question.
Gail Payne: Sure, I could also respond to that comment in that we are looking at how to improve the
city's Paratransit program, which is also for seniors. It's not only Paratransit, but the monies we get
through Measured B & BB and one of these shifts is happening is this, the Uber or Lyft, and now they
have the car pool equivalent of the Uber and Lyfts. It's Lyft-line and Uber Pool. It does provide in the
future a potential opportunity for the city to expand its taxi program, and so it would allow for the
waits that are happening. Instead of the waits, it would just provide more on-demand services. That
does open up a little bit for us. We're not in a position though to use Uber or Lyft because they're so
much in flux and that we know it might happen in the future.
Gail Payne: But right now, that's one reason why you don't see it up here is that we're waiting for the
Alameda CTC to give us the green light to be able to use those services. But it would be a little bit
again of a game changer because it would make it, I think, easier for people to, instead of having to",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,19,"book a trip a day ahead of time, that they more easily would be able to call and get a ride in 10 minutes
or something. I think that's maybe where we're headed but we're just not there yet. One of the reasons
why we're not there yet is they're working on, especially Lyft, on how to have wheelchair accessible
vehicles and they do have some partnerships that they're experimenting with, yet it's not totally
resolved at this point. We're just waiting and listening and monitoring.
Doyle Saylor: I had a question about the AC Transit buses and their accessibility. I haven't gone out
on a bus in a long time, but I know in the past, a lot of people have complained that the AC Transit
buses that have the lifts on the buses break down and then the bus cannot take wheelchairs. So I'm
just wondering if that is still the case and is this something that we need to work with AC Transit on?
Gail Payne: I really don't know about that, but I have not heard that complaint a lot.
Doyle Saylor: Oh, okay.
Gail Payne: But that might not be because
Elizabeth Kenny: Okay. I'm sorry, can we just Let one person talk at a time and Ms. Payne has the
floor right now.
Gail Payne: Thank you. It might be because those complaints go directly to AC Transit, and so that's
why it's really great for me to come here, because then I can better understand from a community
member perspective. I can just ask them about the wheelchair lifts and complaints received and see
if we need to resolve something. I know they're actively working on purchasing some newer buses,
and so hopefully that will resolve as they do a better job of replacing their buses.
Arnold Brillinger: Could I talk about AC Transit for just a moment? I just recently, in the last four
to six months, started using AC Transit here from Alameda to the other side of Richmond to
downtown Fremont and all kinds of places. First of all, they have got ramps now that flap out, and
then you drive your wheelchair up. Second, I want to give kudos to AC Transit because of what I call
""AC Transit culture"". You could be in Oakland or somewhere around the street and there's people
yelling profanities and wanting to fight and all that kind of stuff. You get on the bus, it's a totally
different atmosphere. It's, ""Thank you, driver."" it's, ""You're welcome."" I've got a big wheelchair and
for a long time I didn't even go because I had some problems with it originally. But now the buses,
the drivers and everybody, they say, ""We hope to see you again."" What kind of thing is that? To say,
""Hey, come back again."" Part of it is that I'm a better driver now, but it's also the culture on the bus
that is better. Go ahead and use it again, is what I'm saying.
Gail Payne: That's good to hear. I just want to follow up on AC Transit, because I do feel like the
drivers are the unsung heroes of humanity. Bus drivers in general have got a tough job.
Arnold Brillinger: Yes. They do a very good job, and the atmosphere on there is very good, it makes
you want to come back and use it again.
Gail Payne: That's great.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you. We have one more public comment, Carol Gottstein.
Carol Gottstein: Hi. I just wanted to speak up after I heard this gentleman from Renewed Hope
talking about Paratransit. I stopped using Paratransit around 2006, because it was so bad. The waits
are hours long, you never get picked up from your doctor's appointment. If you have to go San
Francisco or Stanford, just forget it. To hear that it still sounds like it's about as bad as it was when I",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,20,"went back to driving my car, it means that this has been going on for 10 years. If our transportation
coordinators were spending half as much time as they are on bike lanes and streamlining those kinds
of modes of transportation to just getting Paratransit to working the way it supposed to work, that
would be great, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of outreach. Measure BB is my property taxes,
I
believe, I'm paying for this, it's not coming out of the sky. I would really like somebody to work on
the Paratransit better.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you.
Gail Payne: And just to respond to that, you're speaking of the East Bay Paratransit, so that's a
separate entity than the city, and that's why I'm not spending my time on it.
Beth Kenny: I'd like to thank you again, Gail, for another informative presentation and I think that
concludes our old business. Up next, we have Staff Communication.
6.
STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
Kerry Parker: So, yesterday I updated the website for the Commission on Disability Issues meeting
for 2017, given the formula that we have of on the even months, we meet on the second Wednesdays
at 6:30 PM, except August because Counsel Chambers is dark in August. So, the meetings for this
next year is slated for these dates: February 8th, April 12th, June 14th, October 11th and December
13th. I just posted all of those today. What is not yet scheduled is our extra meeting, our retreat, and
that's something that we're probably going to look at, at our next meeting, because we'll put it on the
agenda. It's not on the agenda for today, so we can't really make any decisions about it.
Kerry Parker: Also for that February meeting, we already have a couple of items on the agenda.
Gail mentioned one of them, the Paratransit program will be giving their annual update, and I expect
we'll meet the new staff person at that meeting, very exciting. At the February meeting, we're going
to vote for the Chair and the Vice Chair, because we do that annually. Be thinking about that. If the
incumbents want to go again, if there's anybody else who would like the role of assisting and running
the meetings and deciding on agendas, it's an interesting job to contemplate. Be thinking about that
for the February meeting. And then possibly for February, we might be talking about the universal
design ordinance. I don't know what the status of that is. I know the sub-committee has gone through
some various iterations of that, so that could very possibly be something we're discussing in February.
7.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Elizabeth Kenny: Great. Thank you, Kerry. To follow up on the universal design ordinance, yes, we
are going to try and have a meeting in February. However, the timetable for this has changed quite
often, but at some point in the very near future, we will have a universal design ordinance that the
Community Development Department has asked if the Commission on Disability Issues would
recommend it. That will be coming up at one of our future meetings. If it's not at our February
meeting, we may have a joint meeting with the planning board where it would be the first item, and
where we could either recommend it or not recommend the universal design ordinance at that time.
So keep that in mind, and I'm very excited about how it's going. The other announcement, I think Lisa
Hall. Commissioner Hall?
Lisa Hall: On October 22nd, I had the pleasure of attending the Making of the Invisible Visible
Summit 2016, held at Will C. Wood School. This event was sponsored by the AANHP, the Asian-
American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Disability Awareness Project. The program started with
a
warm welcome from Reverend Michael Yoshii of the Buena Vista UMC Church, whose church also
have a disability ministry. It was very informative. A strong disability advocate also spoke, Mr. Austin",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,21,"Tam, on making the invisible visible. There was also a wonderful performance by the Dream
Achievers. They're a trio of autistic young adult performers who engaged the audience to sing and
dance. They were unbelievably wonderful.
Lisa Hall: The panel discussion and workshop groups were informative and touching. The multitude
of disabilities and challenges faced by many were vast, whether they were physical or mental. This
was a learning experience and brought awareness of all the different programs out there, and different
ideas that we all pool together. This was put together by a lot of hardworking group of volunteers,
and it was attended by approximately 80 to 100 people, and it was wonderful. I was very graciously
happy to be there and represent our city.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you Commissioner Hall. Are there other announcements that you would
like to make?
Arnold Brillinger: Someone, when I asked if CIL was putting an office over in Alameda, somebody
said yes. Could you tell us where?
Elizabeth Kenny: I welcome you to contact the Center For Independent Living to get more
information if you'd like. I believe they did come here about a year and a half ago and give us a brief
presentation, so they're familiar with the Commission on Disability Issues. The final announcement
that I have is for any Commissioners or members of the public who would like to join me on the task
force for emergency preparedness for people with functional limitations, please contact Kerry before
the end of the year.
Kerry Parker: That'd be great. If we could just get a list together. Go ahead and email me, if I sent
you an email about this meeting, it means you know how to contact me. Otherwise, it's fairly easy to
find me on the website, I also have my business card here.
Elizabeth Kenny: Great. Thank you.
Kerry Parker: You're welcome.
Elizabeth Kenny: No other announcements. I move that we adjourn for the night.
Lisa Hall: I second.
Arnold Brillinger: I'll say ""aye"", but I wanted to say, and this is like Michaela was talking, the way
that Gail and various city places will know that certain things are not functioning well. It is for us to
say, ""Okay. Here's a button over here that needs something louder"" or ""Here's a button that needs to
do this."" Or, ""There's no way in the world I'm going to get it sitting in my chair,"" and I found some
of those over in the new section over in the area of Target, and there's a possibility that I could sit
there for the rest of my life because the cars are going to keep on going; they've got a green light. My
point is until we tell someone, they're not going to get fixed. So I'm just saying, everyone, when you
notice something that doesn't work for you, just call, and if you don't know who to call, call Kerry.
She's got an idea of who can look at it.
Kerry Parker: I could reach them for you.
Arnold Brillinger: Me, I'm mobility impaired. There's a lot of things that don't work for me. For
persons that have problems hearing, they also need to speak up when they find that there's something
that needs to be fixed, or seeing or whatever the impairment is. So I just want everyone to speak up.",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities,2016-12-14,22,"8.
ADJOURNMENT
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you, Commissioner Brillinger. I'm going to again move for adjournment.
Lisa Hall: I second.
Elizabeth Kenny: All in favor.
All: Aye.
Elizabeth Kenny: Thank you for a great meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:17 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kerry Parker
City Staff Liaison
Commission on Disability Issues",CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities/2016-12-14.pdf