folks are trickling in. My name is Andrea Patton with the Disabilities Commission. The open meeting law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is recorded. Therefore, please be aware that an audio and visual recording of this meeting is being made
by Boston City TV, a part of the City of Boston Office of Cable Communications, and is being broadcast on Xfinity channel 26, RCN channel 13, and FiOS channel 962, as well as livereamed on
YouTube, where the recording will live uh later on. With that, I will turn the meeting over to our board chair, Jerry Boyd. >> Uh, good evening everyone. Good evening. Thank you, Andrea, for for uh for that
kickoff. Um, and now it's time for um happy to to chair the February meeting and it's time for introductions of the advisory board.
And I will start off with Tara. Hey everyone, I'm Tara Southernard. Um, I live on the Jamaica plane, Roxberry line. Um, I am a woman in who uses an
electric wheelchair. I am also of little stature. Um, and today I'm wearing a pink leopard sweater. >> Great. Thank you. Uh, Paul. >> Hi, my name is Paul Karen. I live in the
west end of Boston. I serve on the disability committee advisory board and serve as a mental health advocate, families and friends, and work as a supervisor in the city of Boston planning department. Thank you.
>> Great. Thanks, Paul, and thanks for all you do. Um, Olivia. Olivia. Olivia, you're muted. >> How's this? Oh, we can hear you now. That's great. >> Okay. Um, my name is Olivia Richard. I
come from Brighton and uh I serve on the board as the vice chair. I'm a woman uh in her 40s with closed cropped hair,
glasses, and I'm wearing a red t-shirt and headset. Great. Thank you. Thank you Olivia very much. Um and let's go with Zaryi. >> Hi everyone. My name is Zary. I'm a
I'm a person with a disability. I use a wheelch wheelchair and I live in South Boston. >> Great. Thank you so much. Um, Carl. >> Yes. Hi, my name is Carl Richardson. I
live in Brighton. I identify as deb blind and um I am a middle-aged guy with salt and pepper hair and I have no idea what I'm wearing for a shirt
because I can't see it. I just put it on. So, >> it looks like a blue polo to me, Carol. >> Okay, then it's the blue polo. Okay. >> Occasionally I randomly match by luck. >> And it looks like you have a polite tag
on as well or a sweater on. >> Yeah, I'm in my basement. Thank you. >> Great. Great. Awesome. Uh, great. Uh, Andrea, I will I will rely on your eagle eyes. I don't think I'm missing anybody.
Did what? Did somebody come in and maybe did I miss anyone? >> I think Pette, >> you missed me. >> Pette, I'm sorry, Pette. Please, best for last. Go ahead, Paul. >> That's okay. That's what I get for logging on early. Good evening, everybody. I'm Pette Dret. I'm an older
black female um living in the area of Madapan and I'm a member of the board. >> Great. Thank you. And my apologies, Paul. See >> Richard as well. >> Oh, and Richard as well. Richard as well. >> So, you you're ahead of yourself. to
save the best for last now is what you meant to say, right? >> Okay. All right. >> All right. So, uh, Richard Levki, I am I live in Back Bay. I am severely hearing hearing impaired. Um, I hate to admit it, but I have a fair amount of gray hair. Um, and I have a sport blue shirt,
a sport jacket that's uh, brown, blue, and uh, black. Um, and it's nice to be with everybody. >> Great. Uh, thank you, uh, Richard. Um, and I am uh Jerry Boyd. I am the chair
of the advisory committee. Uh, and I live in West Roxbury. I am also a power wheelchair user uh with uh salt and pepper hair. I have eyeglasses on on currently. Um, and even with that, I I
miss uh introducing my colleagues on the advisory committee. Um, and I uh am wearing a just a t-shirt uh at this point, a gray t-shirt with a with an American flat tag on it. Um, from one of
our our re retailers. Um, and moving right along, we have the approval of the um of the minutes. Do I have a motion to approve? So move. >> Okay. Richard, do we have a second?
>> Oh, Paul, I second. >> Okay, Paul. Sure. Uh, we have a second. All in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> I. >> Great. >> Any nays? Any discussion?
Uh, the motion passes then. Um, and next on the agenda, hold on one second, uh, is a presentation on curb ramp construction
uh, uh, by Dolores Carbona. Did I, did I get that name correct? >> Yes, you did. >> Great. Go right ahead. Um just um thank you all for inviting me to present here today at the disability
advisory board. Um you all do amazing work and if it wasn't for the advocacy that came out of this group. My job wouldn't exist and this presentation wouldn't exist. So thank you all for being here today and for always
advocating for the community for persons with disabilities. And with that, I um I'll introduce myself. I'm Dolores Perona. I'm the senior ADA manager um with the streets cabinet. Um I've been with the city for about 10 years. Before
I was with the streets cabinet, I did um disability reasonable accommodations um and grievances and appeals with Boston Housing Authority. Um, so I have a long history of disability advocacy
and strongly believe in the disability commission and its purpose um, and everything that this board stands for. So with that, I'm going to screen share and present what we submitted on behalf of the city to class council in response
to the consent decree. >> Um, so I'm going to hit screen share. Um and then at the end I will pause for any questions. Um okay. So
confirming that you can see my screen. >> Yes. >> Yes, >> we can see it. >> Awesome. Okay. Um, just want to make sure that Okay, perfect. All right,
so just a brief overview um of what we're going to dive into with the presentation. Um, we're going to be chatting about how many ramps we constructed in 2025. We had an amazing construction season. We began construction on 2,152
ramps and completed construction with completely compliant all the way done everything with 1,723 ramps and the remaining 421 are 29 are slated to be completed at the beginning
of the construction season. Um, we're also going to chat about our adoption of ProWag as well as our third party review. Um, we did a huge update with our geospatial asset management
environment. Um, that somehow went seamlessly without any issues even though they were all much anticipated. Um, so yeah, we're going to dive into a well-rounded view of the ADA compliance program for the streets cabinet for year
2025. Um, so this chart that I have displayed on the screen represents different ramp data throughout the life of the consent decree. So we're looking at 2021 through 2025. And there are
different lines here um that represent different things. The red is the gross deficit. So, we made a commitment to build 1,630 ramps every year. Um, and the beginning
of the consent decree gave us some grace so that we could update our staffing, our funding, all of the things that we need to actualize construction. So at the beginning we had this high deficit
um which grew and now we are starting to to eliminate because now we have built up a system um to support the needs of ADA compliance for the city. Now moving on to the next line. The blue line shows actualized construction year-over-year.
Whereas this this short dash line at the top shows gross cumulative construction over time. So this blue one shows with each dot you can see year one we did not
reach our goal of 1630. Year two we did not. Now, reading this out loud, I realized I should have had a control line that's just stood still at 16:30, but basically, so I can highlight
it for you, um, 2022, we barely made it over 1630, and then 2025, this was our first true year of surpassing our goal and diving into that deficit.
Um, and we have constructed over the last 5 years 600 6,448 ramps. And to give you a picture, we have about 30,000 program ramps in the city of Boston.
Um, jumping into my next slide, we adopted PROWAG. So, for some context, um the Americans with Disabilities Act gave explicit instructions for the Federal Architectural Access Board to sit in a room with their team of experts and
draft a guidance document specifically for the implementation of the ADA in the pedestrian ride ofway. And um the city made the decision to adopt this document um effective the 2025 construction season. So this time last year, we began
to roll out um trainings both internally and externally and we worked very closely with our um construction contractors and this year was actually the first year in the consent decree where the response by class council was
not picking apart our designs. So ProAg has been very beneficial. Um, it offers clear guidance and whenever we have a question about compliance with PROAG, we go to the MAV, we go to the disability
commission and we make sure that whatever decision is being made is in alignment with um with what the community wants and needs if it's not explicitly stated in the rules. Um, so
moving on now, I'm going to go over a bunch of ways that we ensure compliance with ADA. Um, and one of those is reviewing plans with the public improvement commission. So, um the
public improvement commission reviews requires that any development um impacting the public right of way like cutting construction um changing something in the sidewalk.
Whenever this is um done, we receive the plan set and we go back and forth with the proponent until a design is provided that is compliant with ProAG. So, this right here is you're not really supposed
to be able to read it. It's a really zoomed out shot, but basically the there are little pink and and purple boxes circling different components of the ramps with different notes about engineering design um elevations or
grades that might need to be changed so that we can make sure we get that compliant design. And then um that plan will not move forward or be approved by the city until it is confirmed um by our team of engineers um that this is ADA
compliant. Moving on to the next. This is um our review when things are actually constructed. So, um, you have to get a permit to cut into our sidewalk and, um,
when you want your money back, you have to prove that it is to city standard, which includes PROWAG. So, we updated all of our documents to the public, say, hey, it needs to be PROAC compliant. Um, and so we inspect and make sure that um,
it is PROAC compliant. And if it's not, you are going to the MAB. if it's not PROAG compliant, but also it doesn't violate an MAV rule because MAV rules aren't that direct either. They're also
updating to align with PROAG, then we will ask them again for that maximum except feasible argument so that we're making sure we're having that same analysis that the MAB would have um even if no rules cover. So that we're making sure things are compliant before giving
them their money back. Um, another thing, um, jumping into the curb request system, this is directly tied to the consent decree. Anybody, um, on behalf of a person with a disability or a
person with a disability can request that any um, corner within the city of Boston be brought into compliance. It will be captured within a two-year timeline within the consent decree and we will make an immediate action plan to
either have it designed brought into a project or field maintained to ensure that it is brought into compliance immediately and any patchwork that needs to be done like immediate repair that gets done immediately. I'm going to be circulating the report if Andrew hasn't
already and we have very detailed information in there on that data if you want to get into that. Um but we were very um timely with our curb ramp requests. So feel free to utilize that system when requesting curb ramps. Um
it's the best way to get to us and get things in our stream. Um now jumping into some challenges and resolutions that we came to throughout the year. Um so just at the forefront like just that notable accomplishment that the team was
able to begin construction on um 2,150 tunes um and deliver 1723 compliant. Uh this year we hope to deliver 2050 compliant. So more and more each year. Um but that
was an incredible accomplishment. and um construction planning. Um we updated our geospatial environment and with that we um we didn't have any hiccups or issues. So our asset management database and
system is a lot easier helping navigate knowing where construction is happening and just facilitating that planning process. Um and we also enhanced our variance program. We began a very direct
affirmative relationship with the MAB keeping a very open honest line of communication about any ramp question, any trigger so that we're we always have an action plan um for any particular
ramp that we may need to address. Um and then spatial asset management is a separate contract that we have just awarded where we are hoping to have the city surveyed annually um for
um excuse me for pavement quality index and for different data that we can get to know the quality of our assets and what we need to do for each specific um thing.
And then uh in terms of like construction um and making plans. So it will give us basically a heat map of the city to know which areas need to be addressed and when. Um and then staffing. Our staffing is exceptionally
poor. We are functioning basically at a 50% staffing deficit. um we continue to post and we hope to continue to um seek positions but with the residency requirement um and lower wages that we
continue to fight against. Last year we got the position boosted and we continue to advocate for higher wages for engineers. um this is something that that we deal with and as a result this year we have
um we were able to secure um basically a staff supplementation contract for that team that we hope to phase out as we increase staffing but that is a continued challenge that we continue to face. Um, another um, thing
that we focused on was training. Like I spoke to earlier, making sure that everybody that is involved in ramp construction from planning to design to construction execution compliance is aware of the rules. Um, and then the last thing that I'm
going to chat about is increased cost for ramp construction. So, one thing that we did this year is we did an in-depth analysis of cost. We looked at every contract that constructs ramps and we figured out that we are spending
between 7 to 14,600 to construct each ramp. And um we were funded at 5,000 per ramp. So we had the team over time learning to make these decisions that sacrificed different
components of construction trying to reach compliance with this budget that was really not working in anyone's favor. So, we brought that to the Office of Business Management and we advocated long and hard and were able to get a
budget of 15,000 per ramp and we were able to get the city to fund the construction of 2,450 ramps annually with 1,000 of those ramps being designed by an engineer as opposed to in the field. So, this is huge. This
is the most the city has ever put towards grant funding ever. Um it um is basically going to be the focus of the cabinet for this year is solely designing corners and ramps. And with
that, I advocated for the fact that we have these lovely ramps now, but we're ignoring the sidewalk in between. And that is unacceptable because we need an accessible ramp to an accessible path of travel to another accessible ramp and the pavement between the ramps also
needs to be accessible. So we were able to secure funding for a sidewalk only contract too. One focused on brick and one focused on as on concrete. So that
way we can have our ramp contracts focused on ramps and we can bring in our only sidewalk contract to do portions of sidewalks. So we're not leaving the the pedestrian rightway in disrepair like it
has been in the past because we didn't have a vehicle that considered both. Um, so we are hoping to do more sidewalk work in conjunction with our ramp work um over time that we'll be able to do more and more. So we secured this
funding for the next 3 years. Um, and I I think that is just incredible that we will be able to actualize this through the staff supplementation, through the contract, um, construction contracts, through the design contracts,
um, that this is something we have all of the tools at our disposal that if all goes well, we will be able to execute properly. Um, and that is all I have for you. Um, I'm gonna pause right here and
open it up to questions. Thanks so much for your report. Does anyone from the um advisory board have any questions? in regards to the presentation. Um I know I do. Um so so let me be the
be the first. Um so when uh when you say construction, I I didn't look at the I didn't look at any of the materials um I apologize sent out prior to this meeting. So when you
say construction and building out of of of new ramps and and you know you know the certain percentage uh are those new uh new uh curb ramps throughout the city uh and
was there a particular area of focus any any neighborhoods that were focused on uh could you could you provide some clarification in terms of that? >> Yeah. So um I think brand new complete
every element of the ramp construction was about 50% of that number like slightly over a thousand. The other were elements of construction um that were either incomplete for years prior or didn't need a complete
reconstruction. Um and I'm sorry what was the second part of your question? Oh neighborhood. Um, >> yeah. >> So, we have ramps in all of the um
I'm actually I'm looking for a map that I can pull up to show you, but we have ramps um all over the city that we um that we brought into compliance. We had
our contracts focused by neighborhood. So last year we had work done in Dorchester, High Park, um South Boston, North End, um
Brighton, um and then this year, sorry, I'm trying to look on my other end. If I can't find it now, I will share it. Uh I'll have Andrea circulate it, but I have a map that
shows where every ramp was that we constructed this year is. And you can click on it and see um the report for each one and where it is. >> Okay, great. Um now, how how are the the those ramps identified that you need to
go in in and work on? Um so we first we look at um 311s and the curb ramp requests and then we
work with the disability commission. So they will also tell us we also try to figure out what are what's triggered what are we triggering what other work do we need to do that's going to result in this ramp needing to be constructed.
Um, and by before the consent decree, everybody was kind of doing their own ramps. And now that we have this like expert ramp team, we like to funnel everything to go to just
the ramp team. So folks will let us know like, hey, I need to move this push bullet. I need this push button. I need to do this work. I'm going to be triggering this ramp. and they will tell us and we will add that into our
workload so that before we look at anything else we're looking at what are we triggering what are we responsible to do and then after that we have our chain of command of that's outlined in the
consent decree that's like first we're going to look at hospitals and facilities and then like it goes down the chain of command um from there to identify which ones and I'm hoping that this time next
year we'll be able to add in that heat map to the mix where we can literally see a visual representation of which ramps are worse so that we can also throw that into the conversation.
>> Great. Thank you. And I see Zary has a question or comment for Dolores. >> Thank you, Jerry. Uh this was great. I really appreciate all the work you've done. Uh my question uh is about how you
the process in which you identified where these ramps should go and um is there a plan in the for the future if um if community can be more involved in
help you identify uh where the ramp should go? And when you talk about ramps, are you talking about actual physical ramps to buildings or are you talking about ramps that go
into a certain section? For example, all the hospitals should be physically accessible. But I just wonder what you mean by maps. Is it because it automatically is going to talk about curve cuts?
>> Yeah. No, that's a great that's a great point and I should have been clear cuz even in 521 CMR ramp means so many different things. So, um thank you. So, I am just narrowly talking about a curb ramp to cross a roadway,
>> right? Okay, that makes a lot of sense. So based on that um for example how did you prioritize which hospitals which areas was it communicated through those
businesses or was it from community feedback? >> So definitely both. Um, and you like the public, anybody can also be a member of being a deciding factor in
where curb ramp should be. Um, even if one doesn't exist right now and you would like one there, put in a curb request and we will do a safety study to see if a curb ramp can feasibly go there and if it can, we will install it there.
Um so when it comes to deciding location um there are uh a few things. Number one is like do we have a crew there? Where do we have our crews is really where we're constrained the most. And that
will really dictate how we go down that chain of command of what's most important is having construction crews in a certain place. And that's really our biggest limitation is getting into a geographic area and then once we're
physically there we can pick up whatever we can pick up. Whatever can be done in the field we will do. um it's just hard to get people to move their construction operations to different parts of the city. So that's why each construction
season, we have our city planners map out where our construction should be. And in doing that, our city planners will look at where were we physically last year? Let's not go there. Where were we
physically? so that we're just narrowly focusing on like minor things in areas we were before and we can we can do like big operations in areas of the city that we didn't touch that year or the year prior. So that's really what dictates and then we will go down that chain of
command to be like okay we're stuck physically here where are the hospitals where are the schools where are the community centers like go down that list that we have to go down but usually we
trigger so much work doing other things like fixing other assets or maybe a tree needs to go or maybe like a pill box or a um utility pole. So, usually what
we're doing is playing catchup and we're running after our own tail to fix all of the ramps that we couldn't touch cuz we didn't have the resources to touch when we were there for the original project. So, that's where most of the resources go. I really hope that we'll be out of
that game soon now that we're moving towards using like data and science and having this heat map that we'll be able to strategically plan based off of pure need and build up. Um that's my goal for the future. But right now we're doing a lot of playing catchup and just making
sure we're not triggering something and forgetting about it because that's the problem. We if we trigger something we need to own it. we need to make a plan for it and we need to come back to it and bring it into compliance. And unfortunately, that's the game that we're playing right now is saying what
do we what did we trigger ourselves in some other work and where we can we go down that chain of command based off of physical location. >> And this is Andrea Dolores if you don't mind me adding um this program will continue until all the ramps um you know
have been touched. So, um, we're doing as many as we can and we love the public input on which one should be prioritized. Uh, but I I feel somewhat comfortable saying, rest assured, we'll touch yours eventually if it's one that that is a ramp and needs to be a better
ramp or one that's not a ramp and is safe to be a ramp because we do sometimes get requests for crossing that are not safe places for pedestrians to be in the street. So, we won't add a ramp just anywhere in the curb. Um but if there could and should be a crossing
there or if there is one now we're going to touch it um and make it compliant. >> Great. Thank you. >> Green will be here until all ramps are compliant and even then there is a requirement for ongoing maintenance so that the city is not back in this position. So this will be a forever
effort of the city. Thanks for that clarification, Andrea, and thanks for all your hard work and your commitment, Dolores, um of of your staff and your your your department and
the city, uh as well. Um >> um thank you. Thank you for your report. >> Thank you all so much. >> Great. And next on the agenda is actually my
report uh which is going to be very very brief tonight because we do have we do have u a packed agenda and and most important on the agenda is uh elections uh for the um for the new uh executive
committee and and chair. Uh so I want to leave plenty of time for that. But I I just wanted to reiterate as I h as I did last month uh what an honor it has been for me to be uh to be me to be you know
chair of this uh body yet again for a second time and and I wanted to commend everyone on their their great work uh this past year and I just really look forward to continuing to work u you know with everyone u you know as part of the
the commission and the executive committee if lucky enough to be elected uh for for this coming year. So I appreciate that uh very much. Uh, one of the highlights of of last year that that
was very very meaningful to me was the uh and I want to thank again uh Andrea and the commissioner and and and everyone's staff putting it together was the was the ADA day uh and particularly the march uh down down uh Tmont Street.
I think it was uh tremendous to have so many uh advocates and so many people. I think over 1,400 people marched with us last year. Uh and it was a it was a tremendously tremendously uh moving uh event and and
energizing event showing showing how much work that we've done and the city has done and so and how much u more work we have yet we have yet to accomplish uh you know in the 35 years since the ADA.
So, I look forward to uh to continuing that work in the coming year with the with this party. I really do. And um with that, next on our agenda is the commissioner's report. >> Go ahead, commissioner, whenever you're
ready. Thanks, Jerry. Um I believe Andrew is going to pull out my slides. Excuse my voice. I have a little bit of a sore throat happening right now. Hopefully the weather's turning for the better, though. It was a little warmer today than it's been.
Okay. Welcome everybody. I'm happy to share my report with you tonight. Uh first up, I have some updates from the city of Boston. So, as I was just speaking about, the weather's been pretty rough this winter. Um on January January 30th we had a snowstorm that dropped 2 feet of snow. It was actually
the eighth biggest storm in Boston's history which I was surprised to learn. Um but you know it was very um cumbersome because it was a lot of snow in one storm and afterwards the temperatures were freezing so we didn't have a lot of melting. So even now we still see a lot of giant mountains all
around the city. Um but melting has finally begun. I think it was over 40 degrees today with rain. So, I saw a lot of melting in my neighborhood and just wanted to touch base um to let everybody know about some of the city's responsibilities. I know Andrea did a presentation last month on snow, but
it's actually been four years since we've gotten a major storm. So, you know, you can kind of forget about it when it's not in front of you, but when it's right in front of you, it's like, oh boy, what's the city doing to help out? So, the city always prioritizes cleaning streets and sidewalks as well as city property at the libraries,
Boston Centers for Youth and Families, and Boston Public Schools. The City of Boston Snow Ordinance requires property owners to shovel sidewalks and curb ramps set up at their property. Um, the city gave out um hundreds and hundreds of violation tickets for people who
didn't uh clear their sidewalk or who didn't clear a wide enough path. So, enforcement was working. Um, the city plowed the streets. They did a bunch of snow removal, which they do in big storms. But all this to say is that we know it wasn't perfect. Um, we did hear
from residents that they had a hard time getting around some curb ramps, some sidewalks, but um, just to let people know like the main responsibilities are on property owners and the city does what it can do with the resources resources it has. They did deploy over
700 pieces of snow removal equipment. Everything from big trucks and plows to the smaller um vehicles that can go on sidewalks on city property. Um and did um the best they could do with clearing and removal. Um next up, I want to let you know about
the mayor's office of housing. They are seeking input on um some grant funding upwards of $27 million. It's going to be invested in housing, homelessness assistance, and community development programs. They're offering two information sessions where people can uh
give input. One is in person on March 4th at 6 p.m. at 26 Court Street. That's directly across from Boston City Hall. The second one is March 5th at 6 p.m. and that's on Zoom. So, registration is not required and you can request um
interpretation for Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and other languages including ASL. So, if any of you would like to attend, that would be great. And if not, I'm really hoping this is one of the opportunities that you can share with your networks to see if people are interested in giving input because it's a lot of money and we want to get a
disability lens on where it is spent. Okay, next slide. So now I have some updates on our department. So we have a couple of dates to run by you. Um the disability community forum is confirmed for Tuesday, March 5th at Suffach University
Law School. Um again, we hope the board will play um a significant role in attending the forum. And with new leadership, we may have um some new input on how you want to work the forum if you'd like to make any changes. Um, as you know, typically we all sit at the
front and we invite residents and staff from the city to talk about what's working, to listen to input from the residents about what's not working or what could be improved. So, we really value your partnership in this event and are looking forward to having all of you who can uh attend. Our ADA day is a save
the date at this point. We're looking at Wednesday, July 15th at Cochley Square Park and that is because the um FIFA World Cup games are going to be played in in Foxboro and there are going to be a lot of parties on City Hall Plaza. So the plaza is going to be pretty much
booked up in June and July. So we don't have any dates that we can do on the plaza at this point. So we're looking at Copley Square and we had our ADA there five or six years ago, 5 years ago and um it worked out pretty well. So now they've re renovated the park and it has
a lot of hardscape. So we are looking forward to um hosting our event there. And I know we've talked a lot about elections and voting access, but just wanted to give a brief update to let you all know that we are continuing to work with the elections department, people operations, and the registry, the city
registry to improve access for voters with disabilities. Um Sylvia is currently working on training for city pole workers and we are exploring some policy issues including um technology that may be more reliable for voters with disabilities. We don't have
anything uh in the mix yet but we are in conversations with all these colleagues and um we'll be implementing trainings at least um in the next few months. Um, another thing that we're working on in my office is a disability commission civic academy. So, our office had some
funding. So, we are working with the disability policy consortium to create a civic academy which will be a cohort of residents with disabilities who will learn about civic engagement and share information with their communities. We're currently in the planning stages of the curriculum and we're hoping to
launch in late spring. We're really hoping to get residents with disabilities who haven't been involved um in advocacy and things like that because we really want to reach people who um who don't reach. So, if you have any recommendations of uh neighborhood groups or um people that you know who
don't regularly do advocacy but may be interested, please uh let us know and we'll be doing a lot of outreach once we get the curriculum a little bit more solidified. And then finally um from our department, our disability housing task force is starting back up. I know Olivia, you
were on it um a few years ago when we um made some policy changes. We created a brochure which kind of gave an outline of ways you can um acquire housing if you're seeking out whether to rent or to buy or um if you're experiencing homelessness or eviction. So um we'll be
pulling that together hopefully meeting next month. I will get an email out soon, but if anyone on the board is interested uh please email me. Next slide is some advisory board updates. So elections again announced last month
were Zari for a chair, Jerry for vice chair, Olivia and Tara. So looking forward to the elections tonight and like I said um new leadership is always exciting and we thank uh Paul who's stepping off the executive committee and um thank all of you who've been on the
executive committee. Several of you have already been on and it's like a love. So thank you all for your hard work. looking forward to that and we will be welcoming three new members very soon. So stay tuned for more information on that. And at last month's subcommittee um we discussed some subcommittee ideas
the executive committee meeting we discussed some subcommittee ideas. One thing I wanted to run by the board was um there's a group in city hall called the mayor's youth council. And this is a group of youth who engage um they're engaged become engaged and empowered in
civic leadership and community development to voice their opinions, collaborate with city officials and develop solutions to young people's challenges. So I thought it might be nice if you were interested in having a liaison from the NYC to the board. We did something like similar to this a few
years ago, but it might be nice to reach out to them and ask if they don't want to pick one or two people who would like to attend our board meetings and and work on some initiatives with the board. Um, other ideas were for legislation. I know Carl always updates us on state bills, but um people could pay attention
to city council hearings that have come up that you might want to write a letter on or testify at and proposing ordinances like the captions ordinance. That might be something to look at. And then we've talked about disability history, Boston's 250th anniversary is this year and other ideas. Um we've also
done architectural access in the past which is a heavier lift. But if anyone is interested um please let us know. And then um some other advisory board updates are some opportunities
um that you can pass on. We'll go to the next slide. Oh, sorry. A few more advisory board updates. Um, the Mass Office on Disability is the state office that sort of oversees all the disability commissions in the state and they provide resources, support, and guidance
to all disability commissions. So, if you're interested, you can click on these links for guidance and disability rights information. You can always contact MOD for a one-on-one consultation if there's an issue you're interested in. They've come to meetings in the past to do different presentations, so if you have suggestions for that, you can let the
chair person know. And they're also looking for um advisory board members to complete a questionnaire and the link is right in the slide deck. Um they're looking for um as much input as they can get. So every member of the board can fill out a questionnaire and let them know like what you're working on, what
you're interested in, what kind of support you need. Um they do a great job. They have a lot of um like one pages and trainings on their website. So I would encourage you all to go on their website and take a look at the support that they offer and it might spur some site some ideas about what you want to
work on. And they also offer a statewide commissions on disabilities board boards meeting um where you can learn about their initiatives and meet other CODs and get tips on achieving your goals. There are two dates, April 15th and October 8th and you can click on those
to register. I'm actually not sure if they are in person or virtual. Um, but maybe my staff can check on that, but we can definitely let you know. And then again, just sending a shout out about the monthly KOD meetings, the Commissions on Disability Alliance, which are organized by the Disability
Policy Consortium, and these are a group of local disability commissions who meet once a month, the first Wednesday from noon to 1:30 on Zoom. I know a few of you were interested in attending. I'm not sure if you actually did, but um these are great resources to, you know, to network with other towns and see what
problems they're dealing with, what issues um they're finding challenging or what's working like as a success that we could implement in Boston. And then my next slide is some opportunities for you to pass on. Um we'd really appreciate it. I know a big
part of your role is to give us input, but the other part of your role is to share the information that we give you. So, um, the Boston Public Library is offering a whole series of free ASL classes for the community. They're in a bunch of they're on a bunch of Saturdays in February and then there's an ongoing
one from March through April and that is um at the central library. So, we would love it if you would um pass this information on. Most of them are in person on site, but there is one that's virtual on March 12th and they had one
just last week at the central branch and over 70 people attended and that was the emergency ASL training. So very excited about this prospect and we'd love to see this information get out to the community. Uh again, the city is doing free tax
prep through the Boston Tax Health Coalition. Uh it offers free tax services and provides accommodations for people with disabilities. Anyone who has an annual income of 70,000 or less is eligible. And I believe Lynn is here to do a few slides on tax prep. So I will
turn it over to win. Lyn, you're on. >> I saw her on. >> This is Jerry. I saw her on. I don't see her now. >> She's on mute. >> Oh, she's on mute. She's in.
Lyn, I'm sending you a request. There you go. >> Okay. Okay. It's off now, right? >> Yes, we can hear you. >> The mute's off. >> There you go. There you go. >> Okay. And I have um Christine, I'm
sorry. Um Colleen, I've put a um group I'm sorry, a uh >> I don't know if it's there. Hi. >> Hi, Lynn. We're excited for your few minutes. Would you like us to share your slides?
>> Please do. I am um a white woman with clear glasses um and a black sweater with a car a maroon scarf. And I'm here at the office and behind me
is my wherever you wheel remember to yield poster that I love. I haven't left it from my space when I got it a few years ago. It's one of my favorite dis um displays um of activity.
So um is the >> Okay, I am sharing slides now so you can >> Okay, I'll be quick. The Boston Tax Help
Coalition. Next screen, please. The tax help is the keystone of the center for working families to since t since 2001 and we've provided direct services to low and moderate income
residents but also out of um the city of Boston near nearby locations. Next, please. This is all it's under the IRS and it's uh called VITA. It's a veteran a
volunteer income tax assistance program and people are trained to be um it's volunteers that are trained to be um volunteer uh review and tax prepare for over 100
200. It's very active location in the different places. There are different 35 25 different cities. You can go to the next um when I say cities, organizations
with um the local communities, 25 sites. Um here is the Boston get your taxes done free. the initial poster that's going out on the back side of it um or
the opposite side is the list of all the 25 different locations as well as the list of the documents required to bring to get your um taxes done. Next, please.
An issue actually go to the next next screen. The free tax preparation is for the dis for the disability community and it was over a decades ago that this program
began but initially with deaf and over time we have expanded um partnered with the mass commission for the blind and right now the program outreaches the specific location is to the um Copley
Square um Boston Public Library next Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the public library. It's called the Kirsten Business Center at 70 um Boilston Street. And the days it starts um next
week, this weekend, and ends April Saturday, April 11th. Nextly, please. And here is the poster for this specific program. You saw just a minute ago, the
one for the entire city. This one is the specific for the disability community with the dates, the CPley um square branch of the Boston Public Library and the
um specifics. You can click through. The next one is um yeah it's um not in order but the thing that you can do is contact me um about
sh sign signing up to whether you want to attend um and the dates and times on a Saturday of the public library from 10 to 4. the questions about the um tax
coalition and what's going on. And that's something um you can also you'll see um the disability my disability address and the Boston.gov gov department center working families
the entire um email um location to go to to get more information about the disability preparation disability community. So any questions? I know I
wanted to get through this but basically it's been really well attended. Um we have four um five a day at on Saturdays depending on times but right now everything is getting booked very
quickly more so than we ever have. I think we've given more um information or information out to more organizations and more we just went to the um con uh Carol School school for the blind
yesterday and that's just one of many places um that we are fortunately getting connections with in different ways this year and I'm really glad to have the chance to talk with you directly and I'm going to sit through
this meeting a little longer because I really enjoy getting to see and going what's on. Thank you. >> Great. Lynn, uh this is Jerry. Thank you. Uh it's always good to have your presentation annually. You said the
slots are booking up. Uh so that that's that was my question. Uh so the so the spots for the disability community, whether wheelchair users, whatever, at the at the central library, you can't just walk in. you have to make an appointment. Is that correct or
>> Yes. Yes. So that we can have the the specific timing um organized. There is a you can go into the organizations. There are the 40 different organizations um that are accommodating and this one is
the specific that you can make a plan for getting your entire tax um filing committed all at once. The majority of them require um your information, your tax information is the drop off and pick
up. Um, and so that's one thing that I really like being able to do is to have someone get their taxes filled all right then and there. Um, so and it's essentially t 10:00, 11:30, 1:00, 2:30
are the time periods um that we have available. But as time goes on, they're going to are going to be more interested. And so we'll see how it goes with um getting people curved in to the
process a little bit more within the time period. So I am very excited for this to be happening so well this year. So thanks for giving me the time to talk. >> Thanks so much. Any quickly any questions from the advisory board for
Lynn right now? Uh Jerry, can I just make one uh comment? Um Lynn also sent us a flyer which we will send out to the board that you can share. You can just email it on to your networks. And there's also a flyer for the ASL classes. So we'll make sure that we get both of those flyers
out to you. It's very very easy to just forward this information and get it out to all your networks. >> Yeah, definitely. That's great, Commissioner. >> That's a good point. Yeah. And that's the flyer that I put out and showed, but that's exactly the source that we have that flyer. Good.
>> Awesome. Thanks. >> That wraps up my report, too, Gary. >> Great. Happy to answer questions. >> Thanks. Any questions for either Lynn or the commissioner? Seeing none, uh we'll move on to the uh next part of the agenda. We've we've
decided to to shift the agenda a bit and move up um move up elections for u for the uh executive board members now to make sure that we give each other we give uh enough time for that. Andrea, if
you wouldn't mind going over the going over the process again. I know it's a little bit uh can be a little bit complicated. >> Absolutely. So, um we are uh ready to take votes. We have nominations. Uh
however, there's still time to make more nominations. What will happen is, uh Jerry will say, um Zarya Moseni was nominated to be chair of the board. Uh he will ask for any additional nominations from the
floor. He has to make this request three times. Give everybody a chance um to nominate themselves if they wish. Uh then assuming there are no additional nominations, he will open the floor to motions. Someone else needs to make a
motion to vote for in this case Zaryi as chair. We vote a full vote yes, nos, abstensions, um but no discussion. And if she's elected, great. Then we move on to the next one. Um although uh
Jerry has the ability as chair to see if um the incoming or outgoing person would like to say a few words. So he'll repeat the nomination, ask for nominations from the floor three times. Someone else, one of you needs to call for a vote. Um and
then the vote is taken. Great. Uh clear clear as uh as uh can be at this point. Uh Andrea and if uh if I if I screw up, I'm sure somebody will will correct me yet again. Uh I will
hold folks to that. Um but um but I think we're ready to move forward with the uh with the election. And the first nomination on uh on the uh slate is for uh chair. And um as the
commissioner confirmed in her report, the uh nomination that was put forth um uh by the commissioner last time last month for chair would be Aari. Um
and uh you know this is my first call for do we have any additional uh nominations for chair from the floor at at this point? Seeing none, I will ask again, do we have any additional nominations for
chair? Either uh either yourselves or or another person uh from the floor. Seeing none, I will ask for the third and final time any nominations for chair
from the floor. um currently. And seeing none, I will ask someone to uh make a motion to uh to um to accept
or to elect um Zaryi to as to a one-year term as chair of the uh disability commission advisory uh board. Don't be shy. Someone has to nominate. I mean, someone has to move
or we can't move forward with the elections. >> Juan Carlos. >> Yes. Hello everyone. This is Juan Carlos. Apologies to everyone. I was able to join to that meeting. This is Juan Carlos, board member um from Boston
South End. Um I would like to make a motion to nominate it or voting or vote um sorry as chair of uh our board. >> Great. Uh and we need a second. Is that correct? Uh Andrea,
>> I second. >> Okay. Um uh Paula seconds. Um all in favor say I. >> I raise your hand. >> I I The motion carries. Zari, welcome.
Welcome uh as chair of the advisory uh board um for the coming year. I'm sure you'll uh do uh I'm sure you'll do a great job. And would you like to say any
a few words at this time? Vary, you're muted. This is Andrea. I'm afraid she may be um frozen actually. >> Yeah, she Yeah, she looks frozen. Um well um if she comes back on and and
I'll give her the opportunity to say a couple words uh later on if we you know if she comes back on. So, um, the next is for the, uh, vice chair. Um,
and correct me if I'm wrong, um, uh, Andrea, since I am, uh, nominated for that position. I cannot, uh, control this. I cannot, uh, chair this part of the elections. Correct. >> That is correct. Luckily for you, Olivia
is on and ready to run this vote. >> Great. Go right ahead, Olivia. >> Yep. All right. Uh, step one, uh, call for any additional nominations.
>> Okay. Uh, does are there any other additional nominations? Take one. Are there any other additional nominations? Take two. >> Are there any other additional
nominations? Take three. >> Mrs. Carl, I make a motion that we accept Jerry Boyd as vice chair by unanimous consent. >> This is Paul. I second the nomination.
Okay. Uh, all in favor say I. >> I. I. >> I. >> Any nays? >> I. >> All right. The eyes have it. Congratulations. You are vice chair.
>> Thank you, Olivia. Thank you. Um Um >> Jerry, we do have Zary back if you want to rec. Just want to let you know. >> Great. Zaryi. Uh congratulations on your um on uh being voted on as the chair uh
for the next year. Did you want to say did you want to say a few words before we move on with the election? No pressure. You don't have to, but I'm giving you the opportunity to if you'd like. >> Thank you, Jerry. I'm sure there will be
plenty of time to introduce myself, but I just want to say thanks to um you for chairing this group and um really leading it. I really appreciate all the work and effort that you have put
through uh the past couple years and I'm sure we'll make a great team with everyone and uh I'm looking forward to really kind of moving you know I really believe in that term nothing about us
without us is not just a value to me but a responsibility so I hope as we move forward that we can work as a team and really make some um the important changes for our community.
So I look forward to getting to know one um the door is always open to the community even outside of these meetings. So hopefully I get to uh learn much more about how the how this group works and
um although I've been here forever, but uh I appreciate your your votes. >> Great. Thank you, Larry. I know I know you're going to do a great job. Um but moving along with the election, uh forgive me, uh Andrea, who is the next
uh what is the next office we're voting on right now? >> Olivia Richard was nominated to be secretary. Great. Great. Um uh so that that's our next uh task right
now is to vote on that uh nomination. But in order in order to do that, we do have to follow through with the process. Uh and this is again the opportunity to to either nominate yourself or or others from the floor. Uh so uh does anyone uh
does anyone uh choose to nominate themselves or anyone else from the floor for You said it was secretary, correct, Andrea? >> Correct. >> Correct. Okay. >> Seeing none, I will ask again. Uh anyone
from the floor choose to nominate someone for secretary? Seeing none, I will ask for the final time any nominations from the floor either for yourself or others to to be secretary of this commission advisory
board. One second, Colonel. Go right ahead, sir. >> I move that we close the nominations and put in um Olivia Richard as secretary by unanimous consent. >> Great. All in favor say I.
I >> I >> I >> I The motion carries. Olivia, welcome as secretary. You can't get off the executive committee. Uh Olivia, even though you may be trying, you have you
haven't got off in a while. So, congratulations. Would you like to say a few words? I uh being vice chair was fun. Secretary is going to be fun and I look forward to continuing the
good work of the board. >> Great. And we continue. Um thank you for all you do, Olivia. I really appreciate that. Um and um Andrea, if I moving along and if I'm correct, it's Tara for
treasurer. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> Tara, you have such a hard I I don't know if you realize what what a hard job you you'll have, Tara. Um but but anyway, um this is our our
election for the last person uh on the uh executive board uh for um treasurer. Uh this is the opportunity again to nominate yourself or someone else from the floor uh for treasurer.
Seeing none, I will ask again. Does anyone want to nominate themselves or someone else for a treasurer for the next year for the uh Boston Disability Commission Advisory Board? Seeing none, I will ask for the final
time. Does anyone want to nominate themselves or anyone else for treasurer for the disability commission advisory board for the next year? Jerry, >> go right ahead. Carl, >> I move that we close the nomination
process and put in Tara as treasurer by unanimous consent. >> Great. Paul, I'd second. >> Great. Um, so let's vote. All in favor of having Tara as our treasurer for the next year,
say I. >> I. >> I. >> I. >> Great. Tara, welcome. uh welcome as treasurer and continuing on uh the executive uh uh committee. Would you like to say a couple words? If not,
that's quite all right, but if you want to, I'm giving you the opportunity. >> Hi everyone. Thank you very much. Um I look forward to being as frugal as possible this coming year. >> Great. Um thank you. That was the uh that was
the election of officers for the uh for the coming year. Um that process went a little smoother than I than than uh I thought. So that was great. Thank you for all your your hard work and making that as smooth as process as possible.
and and uh thank you for uh choosing to uh you know putting your trust in us to uh to move the group forward for uh the coming year. I know we'll work great together as a small group and the as a
as a larger group. I I'm I continually get I'm so impressed by the uh by the commitment of of the larger group. I I really really enjoy working with all of you. So um so uh the work continues um
and towards that end u the next thing on our agenda is the architectural access report with Patricia Mendes. Is Patricia here? >> Hi Jerry. Thank you so much. >> Patricia, how are you?
>> I am awesome. Congratulations to the new board. Congratulations Zary, Jerry, Olivia, and Tara. >> Great. Go right ahead, Patricia. >> My name is Patricia Mendes. I'm the director of architectural access. I have
a very brief um architectural access update. I'm basically going to share a flyer that I received from the parks department. I'm going to um share my
screen. This is going to be fast. Oh, actually I don't see how I can do this. Sorry, I'm getting Oh, I'm getting stuck with my my windows. I don't see the window that I need to share.
>> If you drop the link in the chat, Colleen can share it >> if I um So I have my present in my tab but I'm not able to see the >> I think she
>> window documents folder. >> No but she >> I'm pulling it up right here. Okay. >> Technology. You think we'd get it? You know, you think we'd have it by now, but
>> Oh, >> and now she got it. Okay. >> See my screen. >> Great. >> We've got it, Patricia. >> We see it, Patricia. >> Okay. Now I'm trying to change I'm so sorry to change the the to the next
slide >> down in the corner bottom left. >> Thank you. Okay, so the update is about uh the Ringer Park and I'm sharing the flyer in three languages. The first one
is the English with a QR code and the date is Wednesday, February 25th at 6 to 7:30 p.m. And the information for joining virtually is on this flyer. And
the next um graphic is showing the same information about the ring park in Spanish. And then the last one is in Chinese. And if you would like me to email this
flyer to you, I'm happy to do to do that. Just um shoot me an email. >> Patricia, can you say what neighborhood Ringer Park is from? >> Oh, yeah. I was going to ask the same question. Thanks, Andrea. >> What's the question? >> Where is Ringer Park?
in Brighton. >> What's the name of the park again? I'm not here. >> Finger Park. R I N G E R Park. >> Okay. Where is that located in Brighton? Do you know exactly? >> I do not have the address uh from the
top of my head. I'm sorry. >> Okay. cuz I know there's I'm also seeing signs around Rogers Park also um being ready for upgrade too and there's a QR code outside the park. So I must be working on a couple parks in the
Brighton area. >> Yes, that sounds correct. >> Carl looks like Ringer Park is behind the West End House Boys and Girls Club. It stretches sort of from Kab Al Street
up towards Cambridge Street. and we can include this flyer along with the other ones that we'll mail to the board after the meeting. >> That would be really helpful, Commissioner. I appreciate that. >> And one more push. We really hope you'll share this information with your networks.
>> All right. So, with that, that is my favorite. Thank you so much. >> Great. Thank you, Patricia. And uh apologies on the slides not working. We'll get that technology someday. You know,
it's always a battle. >> Thank you, Jerry. Thanks, everyone. >> Next on the agenda is board member shoutouts. Don't uh don't feel shy, but this is the opportunity or don't feel put on the spot, but this is the
opportunity set aside every every meeting to talk about um for us individually to talk about the great work that we've been doing since since our last meeting. So, uh if anyone has anything to share, please feel free to
uh to do so. >> This is Paul. I just wanted to um give a little shout out on um some mental health advocacy. >> Please Paul. >> Yeah, there's um five C's of mental
health provide a framework for well-being focusing on developing essential strength most commonly cited as competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring or compassion. Though variations exist with some adding
control and community, these elements help build resilience by fostering a sense of capability, self-belief, belonging, ethical behavior, and empathy, supporting personal growth, and healthy relationships. And I think during this time of year and you know
although we're leaving winter time as we still are in the midst of winter, it it goes a long way with the weather and the way people are with mental health and strength. And on another note, I just want to say thank you, Jerry, for a great year. Seems like we were just
having this conversation with Wes who did a great job and I'm glad you're still serving on the Eboard. >> Oh, thank you very much, Bo. I appreciate it. And again, thank you for all your years of service as well. And thank you for always putting a spotlight
on mental health. I think it's uh you know, it's so important uh that that we you know that we keep that in the forefront of all the work that we do. So, >> of course, >> any any other folks have uh anything they'd like to share uh for this month?
Again, no no need to be put on the spot, but if anybody has something, now would be the time. And seeing none, we can move on. But, uh, I know you've spoken up, uh, Juan Carlos, but, uh, you did come in late,
so, you know, I I want to give you an opportunity to introduce yourself as well. Yes, of course. Uh, hello everyone again. Sorry to the board arriving home late after work. Um, my name is Juan Carlo Ram Estapia. I live in Boston
South End. I'm a Hispanic with a spinal cord injury and have been living in Boston for a while and very happy to serve in the board. And again, just wanted to echo uh what everyone agrees. Thank you for all the work that
the board is doing to represent us and to advocate in many manners and to everyone who all the staff who is always involved in making the best of of this council. So thank you everyone. Thank you everyone again. >> Thanks Juan. Appreciate it and thank you
for your work. Um seeing no more shout out uh shout outs we'll move on on the agenda. We have an old business item of the abilities expo. Uh I know that uh
commissioner shared uh shared a letter that she composed to the um to the uh director. Was it the director commissioner of the abilities expos? Um did we send that out or do you need a vote on that or or what's what would be
the appropriate next step? >> Yeah, it's the um the new owners. Um the previous owner sold it a few years ago and he had already stopped coming to Boston before he sold it because the price point of Boston is really expensive when it comes to hotels and
transportation. It's very much one of the places in the country. Um but after the board expressed interest in having them return, we did reach out with a letter and that was last May. they were interested in looking at uh future um or
future abilities expos coming to the New England area. Um so I did reach back out to them. I haven't heard from them yet as of today, but if I don't hear from them again, I will reach out um again next week. And again, it wouldn't be this year. It may not be next year, but maybe they would keep us in mind for like 2028.
>> Yeah, I would hope so. Um, and I don't know do uh uh commissioner, do you have any sort of uh do you have any sort of not poll necessarily, but do you have any sort of uh creative ideas or
creative ways that maybe we could incentivize, you know, the Abilities Expo to come? Do we have any discounted rates on on hotels or space that we could we could we could, you know, offer? Yeah, you know, they hinted around at the same thing, just saying like, oh, if there's
any any places you can point us to that, you know, may make it work for us. Um, they did mention that they were looking in Connecticut. I don't know what's in Connecticut, but um, you know, we can certainly explore if there are any, um, you know, any businesses that would want to get involved in hosting them. Um,
again, it would be hotel rooms and convention space. So, um, we'd have to reach out to our office um, opportunity and inclusion office. um to see what they would say, but we can do that and um hopefully we can roll them back to Boston.
>> Yeah. Well, I appreciate your continued uh advocacy efforts on it. I know that uh you know, I enjoyed going there the couple times that I was able to attend. I know when I I used to play soccer with the Breakers, um we used to do demos,
you know, at at either one or two of them in the recent past. So, so I think it is a good good resource. So, I mean, if we could um get it back here, I think it would would be a win-win for for, you know, exhibitors and and you know, the
disability community in in in greater Boston. So, >> and if anyone is interested in traveling, it is still being held live in different cities. The next one come coming up is in New York. It's actually in New Jersey, right, just south of New York City. And I believe it's in like
late May because I've gone to that one before. It's probably like a four or five hour drive. Um, and then they they're also held still in um California, I think Chicago and possibly Texas, but there's a website that's still active. Abilities Expo. People can
check it out. >> Great. Yeah, I've seen online that they have, you know, several coming up or or whatnot. So, I do know that they're still active, but it would be great if they uh if they came back to uh to Boston or New England. That would be
great. So, thanks for your advocacy on that, Commissioner and keep us keep us posted. Um, next under uh new business, we have several uh we have a couple of of items anyway is voting machines and I think
the commissioner did touch on that u you know on her report. I don't know if if either she or Andrea or staff has anything to add. Um, >> Carl >> and or Carl, go ahead, Carl. >> Yeah, I asked uh the commissioner and
Andrea to put this on the agenda because um many disability groups are working with DLC to try to reach out to the secretary of state's office to buy new machines because at this point the automark machines which they make to the
disability community are falling apart. They're 15 years old now and we need to buy new machines if we want to make sure that people with disabilities have full access. However, DLC um and many other disability advocacy
organizations have been frustrated with the lack of um communication from the Secretary of State's office on what the next steps are. So, I was wondering if we could possibly if the city of Austin could possibly work with other CODs or their
government office could work with other towns and cities to approach the secretary of state's office to ask them what the next steps are and if they can make funding available to purchase new accessible voting machines. And I'd like to um I
don't know, bring up a motion and just say, can we write a letter or start a collaboration or something? whatever we think this form should take. >> Uh, Commissioner, I don't know if you or Andrea or any of your staff have anything to add. >> Yeah, I can say that we brought that up
with the um the chief of um the registar of um the city of Boston registar who also um oversees the elections department. So we we told them that there was a lot of advocacy around um getting new equipment and the elections department knows that the
automark is not great. We did get detailed information from them about um the maintenance of the machines, the testing of the machines um the replacing the machines even like day of if they're reported to me not working and they are vigilant about all these steps. However,
we know in the field people don't experience that because like Carl said it's very old technology. So despite the election department's best efforts, the Automark has not been super reliable. So we did tell um the city registar that we were interested in exploring other
technology. Um we are scheduling a follow-up meeting with them. So if the board does have any advocacy they want me to put forth, I can certainly do that. I've already shared my um desire to look at that. But if the board wants to take a vote, write a letter, um I can
share that as well. >> Yeah. I would support I would support you know at least as a first step you know writing a letter to the uh secretary of state and you know ask them to to explore new technology cuz I you
know I think we've discussed in in prior meetings that one of the barriers right now is that that you know it's it's by state statute that that uh that um the automark is the only machines that can be used currently.
So it would be up to the Secretary of State's office to to you know re to you you know get a a new technology. So so I definitely think we should should at least write a letter and and begin that process of having them having them
explore new technologies. And I'm disappointed that that so far, you know, other agencies haven't haven't gotten much traction from the Secretary of State's office on the on this so far. >> Yeah, I know that um
my counterpart who's on the COD in Worcester is also approaching the out city of Worcester to do the same thing and they have serious concerns. I know that there are probably other CODs such as Somerville and Cambridge that probably do. So, I think the potential
is I think we would have a greater impact if a number of us certainly Boston because we're the largest city in the state. Um, but I I just think so I would like to at least make a motion to at least start with the process of writing the le
letter and maybe explore potential collaboration with other cities. >> I think that's totally reasonable. Who wants to make a motion? >> All right, I'll make it. Who wants to second that, please?
>> I second the motion. This is >> uh all in favor say I. >> I. >> I. >> I I. >> Any opposed?
Any discussion? So um so >> I'll be happy to work with Andrea. >> Yeah. Okay. So Carl will work with uh Andrea to draft a letter um you know encouraging the Secretary of State's
office to begin uh to explore uh other technologies to use uh to use for accessible voting for people with disabilities. >> Can I just ask that you um copy me, Carl? >> Oh yeah. And um I can share it with the city registar.
>> No, no, I would never not copy you. Yeah. >> Great. And um yeah, we can bring you can bring the draft back to the board for our final approval and vote. >> Yeah, definitely. I I wouldn't want I wouldn't want us to send something out
without without the final a final going out from the commission anyway. >> Yeah, >> this is Andrea. So, the letters that you all draft come on special letter head with your name and the board's name on
it. Um, they're we have a different process for whether we send anything signed by commissioner. Um, but as you heard, she's definitely, you know, talking about that as well. >> Great. Awesome.
Thank you for bringing that up, Carl. Uh, and I also see under new business is a service animal state legislation. So that's something I again I think you can speak to Carl. So go right ahead. >> Yes, there are two bills in particular. One I think is further along than the
other one. So I'll I'll start with the first one who I think is further along and that's S1 1714 and that's an act to form a commission to study the discrimination against
service animal users because a number of us have pointed out to the legislature that the current system found through MCAD is not um a good process to find people who are denying service animals in through the public accommodation.
That would be a joint task force between DLC and DPC and MOD and members of the legislature on that commission that did get out of the children, families and persons with disability committee. It is
now in Senate Ways and Means and I would like to suggest that we write a letter and we only have to write a letter to the Senate Ways and Means members only. um which I think is what seven of them. Um eight of them I forget how many but
we only have to write a letter the Senate ways and means because the goal is just to get out of this Senate ways and means to get on the Senate floor because if it gets on the floor it'll pass. We just have to get out of committee. So, uh, >> yeah, and I would suggest that we write
a letter saying we support this u legislation and and send a letter to the Senate Ways and Means Committee, >> Carol, has this already been um what's the House process? Has this already been voted on? >> The rules are different this year. Okay.
They're totally different. Although in theory, they're joint committees. If it's an S bill, only senators can vote on it. If it's an H bill, only H people can vote on it to start with before it gets out of committee. So the House has
no role on getting it out of committee. >> Well, what about making it making it state statute, state law? >> Well, so once it gets out of committee, it would go to the Senate floor for vote, meaning the Senate floor at large with the 40 senators, and then it would
go to the House floor. I just want to get it out of committee first. And very rarely do the legislature put things out of committee onto the floor. They won't pass. But we just have to get it out of committee. >> Okay. >> Does that make sense?
>> It it does. It does. Um Okay. So, uh, who would like to make a motion that we, uh, that the disability commission advisory board write a letter to the Senate, uh, Ways and Means Committee and
ask them to to move this bill along out of the committee. >> I'll make a motion to >> go ahead, Carol. Any second? >> I second. >> Tara seconds. All in favor? >> I.
Any nays? Any discussion? >> I just have a quick question. >> Oh, go ahead. >> If you can um add the bill number um because I just want to learn more
about it. If there's anything that I can read, put that in the chat. >> Uh yes, I can. Um I can send you a link when the meeting's over to the actual bill. It's okay. Uh, >> is there is there a one pager, Carl?
>> Uh, I'll just send you the link to the I mean the text of the bill, but I'll send you a link to the website that the bill's on and you'll be able to see the text of the bill. >> Okay. >> And Andre's put it in the chat, the number of the bill, too.
>> Great. Thank you. Uh, thank you, Carl, for your, uh, >> and then I got one more, as you can see, >> bringing those to our attention. Yeah, go ahead, Carl. Go ahead. >> H 2066. This one's a little more problematic, but basically
it's a bill that will fine shared transportation drivers if they deny access to service animal users. Um there was a hearing back in November. We
had more than 22 people testify in support of this bill from the disability community. They all did an amazing job, but because of the fact that the drivers are in the process of forming or trying to
form a union based on the referendum last year, the legislature is hesitant to do two things. One, find a driver because they don't want to they think it might hurt them in terms of forming a union and they don't want to upset the
union. and B, they're worried about many of the drivers are from the minority community and given what's going on politically, they're worried about finding drivers and the appearance of that even though it's at the expense of violating civil rights of people with disabilities and
being prejuditial towards them. So, um, this one I I I'm a little more concerned will not get out of, uh, committee, um, because they're trying to find alternatives to finding drivers. But it is my belief that unless there's a um,
the driver faces consequences. They will not stop denying us access through shared transportation. and it gets to the point where sometimes I've been late for work or sometimes it's taken me an hour and a half to get home because I've been denied three times in a row, you
know. So, um it it to me it is I will admit I'm I'm a bit biased on this one and it is a bit personal. So, I I'll say that up front, but um so it's 8:26. It's currently with labor and workforce and we would have to send a letter to the
chair McMerry to um try to get this out of committee and and and this is um again an act to find service uh shared transportation drivers when they deny
access to service animal users. >> Carol, this is Jerry. Thank you again for all your bringing these to our attention and and your your your diligent uh your your uh your diligent work and making sure that that that this
body is always made aware of of legislation that can impact uh people with disabilities. I appreciate that. I'm going back a little bit uh and you said that that um that this had a hearing back in in November and I and I
seem to remember that a lot of disability rights organizations, you know, were were there and were advocating for >> correct >> for for this? Is it would it be possible for us to sign I mean sign on to a
letter or or or do you think we should have our own >> I know that cat I can't remember her name but Cat with BCIL was involved >> right >> I think um I think DPC might have been involved so that's the potent there is a
possibility I I I haven't reached out to them but I just so I'm open for suggestions but I also would potentially like a letter sent to on behalf of the commission sent to uh House Labor and Workforce.
>> Yeah. Well, what I'm saying is is if if we could sign on to a letter, do you think that would be effective or do you want do do you think we should send our own? >> I'm open for discussion on that one.
Uh what any any thoughts from any other members of the commission? Oh, I would be willing to support you in any way. If we need to write a letter, we'll write the letter. I think maybe um
again reading more about it to understand what's going on but the other than just finding the drivers maybe including something about education and awareness around service animals. So
people are not just getting fined um but at least we're making an effort into educating people as well. So, let's uh Does anyone want to make a motion to uh to write a letter in
support of this uh of the House legislation? >> I'll make a motion. >> Any seconds? >> I second. Call second. >> Okay. Uh um let's vote on the motion. All in
favor say I. >> I >> I. >> Any opposed. >> Any further discussion? So, what we will what we'll do is we'll have uh Carol work with the uh work with
the Andrea and the commission on drafting a letter in support of this uh this legislation as well. the appropriate party. >> A lot of work to do with him from that. >> Well, again, you're you're a great advocate, Carl. So,
>> I don't care. I'm just >> Always a pleasure to work with you, Carl. >> Uhhuh. >> Great. Great. Um, and now I think it's time for public uh public input. So, uh
uh so Andrea, if you could do your uh do the uh rules for public input, please. Absolutely. Thank you, Jerry. Hi, everyone. Um, this is the time when if you have a question or a comment that you would like to make to the board, you are free
to do so. Um, you do need to be recognized by the chair so that we can, you know, call on you and and work through everyone's um, questions and comments. Um, you may have noticed that you cannot unmute yourself on your own.
We ask that you please use the Zoom raise hand function if you're able to indicate that you have a chat or a question. You can also use the chat uh to either ask your question if you don't wish to voice it um or to indicate that
you have a question. I will also scroll through the gallery. If you turn on your camera and just wave, I will try to find you that way as well. You will have two minutes to make your question um uh to ask your question or make your comment. If you wish to ask
your question in ASL um please indicate that in the chat or on screen. I will pin you so that in the recording um folks have access to your question if they rely on ASL as well. With that I will turn it back to Jerry and I will
keep my eye out for any chats hands or Zoom raised hands. Thank you. Please do. This is the opportunity for uh members of the public who are attending uh tonight's meeting and we thank you for your attendance to uh have their voice
heard and your community's voice heard. So, please feel free to take the opportunity to uh to be recognized and and to share your thoughts uh with with us, please. So, Andrea, I am not seeing anyone. Am I
missing anyone here? >> If you're missing them, I am too. I don't see anybody. No. >> Oh, okay. Well, we have a time every month at these meetings at at the end uh for public input. I would encourage
anyone uh and everyone to uh to uh avail themselves of of the time uh to uh to participate. Um, >> we do have one comment in the chat from
a a previous um commission staff member who you all may remember uh who says they are yielding their time to current Boston residents, but they really admire the way this board operates and they miss working with you all. So, thank you for your comments.
>> She is she all the way down in the Carolinas accessing our meetings? Wow. Yes, they are down in North Carolina and they join us pretty much every month if they have time. You bet. They say, >> "Oh my goodness, Kai, thank you so much. I didn't know we were uh nationwide. My
goodness. I I I'll have to dress up next time, I guess." >> What are you wearing for a t-shirt today, Gary? No. >> Oh, no. Bruce Springsteen. It's an Old Navy shirt. Uh it's an Old Navy shirt, but it does have the flag on it. So
anyway, uh >> can I make a motion? >> It is your time, Carl. It is your time and this is my last time as chair, at least for for this round anyway. So go ahead and make your motion, please. >> Okay, I make a motion to adjurnn.
>> This is Paul. I second. >> Great. Great. Last official duty, Paul. I appreciate that. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Great. Uh, everyone have a safe uh safe month.
Let's bring uh let's bring Winter to to an end and uh and we'll see everyone uh next month and we'll have Zaryi as chair and I know uh she will do an excellent job. I appreciate everybody's hard work.
Thank you so much. >> Thanks everyone. We'll see you next month.