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City of Houston Commission on Disabilities met Nov. 9.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
Kayla Melcho called the meeting to order at 4:01 PM with a quorum present and welcomed attendees to the meeting.
Kayla Melcho to proceed with the roll call.
Roll Call of the Commissioners:
Position 1: Michael Cottingham Present
Position 2: Ricky Don Harris Present
Position 3: Ann M. Bacon Absent
Position 4: Daquan Minor Absent
Position 5: Sashikala Nisankarao Present
Position 6: Monique Mason Present
Position 7: AJ Morton Present
Position 8: Vacant Unfilled
Position 9: Mary Sias Present
Position 10: Meridith Silcox – Chair Present
Position 11: Lydia Nunez Landry Present
Position 12: Michaela Cueto Present
Position 13: Osvaldo Capmany Absent
Position 14: Alexis Smith Present
Ex-Officio: Angel Ponce Present
Ex-Officio: Marshall Watson Present
Legal: Rebekah Wendt Absent
MOPD Staff:
Angel Ponce, Kayla Melcho, Rey Herrera, John Serrano, Amanda Boyd
West Gray Multiservice Center Staff:
Nolan Griffin
Review and Approval of October Meeting Minutes
- Motion: Sashi Nisankarao
- Second: Vice Chair Harris
Public Comments
- Russel Klein: 101 mobility
o There will be a class at 101 mobility on the 16th- on home modification, project costs, funding resources, Russel can be reached at his email: rklein@101mobility.com
- George: Capstone project
o Working on a survey to see how accessible City of Houston is; has been working with MOPD and wants to collaborate with HCOD to send out survey for more responses.
Expert Speaker
- Stephanie Duke, Attorney at Disability Rights Texas
o Overview of Legal Landscape for inclusive planning in disasters and emergencies
o Programs that provide Disaster Assistance to survivors
o Response and recovery measures
o Programs that help us prepare
o Legal obligations, legal overview, and remedies
o VC Harris asked: Many people assume deaf individuals have someone to back them up/interpreter, how can you remove that barrier to provide to the coordinator who can provide the services? Response: Getting involved at the community level and making sure you are asking the right people the right questions.
What happened with the Supreme Court supporting a Deaf student in MI? Response: Unsure.
o Commissioner Mike Cottingham: What other Cities are taking approach?
Response: Emergency Management is complicated; you must have support to make it happen. It’s getting balance of local level to accommodate but also, we don’t forget about things in time. Continue to collaborate and educate.
o Commissioner Mike Cottingham: Why damages are not being asked for with planning?
Answer: City must look at planning and monitoring process. o Tom Munoz: Wants to thank Julian, Angel, and Stephanie for working together and wants to push forward with collaborating.
o VC Harris: When you speak on mass shooting, I don’t see material on how people with disabilities prepare for mass shootings. Texas HR code 121- did not make it on the PowerPoint list
o Answer: I did not put everything on the slide. If Ricky wants a full list Stephanie will give to Ricky
o VC Harris: What is the plan for mass shooting/ resources? Will that be in the policy for emergency preparedness?
o Answer: Mass shootings are a little different, scenarios are different, individually we need to be more aware. You should have a talk with your employer if they have a plan. There’s a lot more information coming out for responses to mass shootings.
o Julian Ochoa- new program manager for OEM, shares information on challenges, communication and team work to be prepared.
o Director Angel Ponce: What has the response been since incident in San Antonio? How can the City of Houston help them become compliant?
Answer: We are in litigation; lawyers have asked not to tell anything. In the meantime, we had to file to make change and continue to engage.
MOPD Report to the HCOD
- Angel Ponce (Director, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities)
o Information and Referral Services – 69 cases last month
o We’ve reached 345 people including outreach and events.
o Pedestrian Accessibility Review – for inaccessible sidewalk request call 832-394-0814 or email mopdmail@houstontx.gov
o July 26th MOPD recognized Mayor for Disability Inclusion
o MOPD has created a plaque to recognize the individuals at City Hall -Houston Civic Award
o MOPD newsletter will be coming out soon
o MOPD was involved in Getting it Right Workshop
o Chair Silcox and VC Harris joined to talk about HCOD in response to disasters.
o Angel was keynote speaker for Texas occupational therapist association.
o Planning Dept. will host the world day of remembrance road traffic victims.
o 1st week of January, we will have new Mayor and Council Members
o We will not be meeting in December.
MMSC Report to the HCOD
- Nolan Griffin (Houston Parks and Recreation Department)
o Finished up Metal and Muscle Expo
-450 athletes volunteered
-MetroLift made sure people rode safely and got where they needed to go
-UH Adaptive Athletics were great volunteers
-4,576 attendees came to George R. Brown this weekend.
o Rugby tournament and Volleyball tournament happening
o Return of dance class starts next week.
o Every night there is a different sport going on.
Committee Updates
- Community Access, Transit, and Housing
o Commission Landry mentioned Tx Doc survey that’s open until Nov. 17th- urging people to take the survey for transportation needs.
o Commissioner Mason mentioned Bread of life food delivery on the first and third Saturday of each month will deliver supplies and food.
o HCIL offers housing assistance and resources for the community, they’re interested in speaking at the commission.
o Alexis would like to be a part of Community Access, Transit and Housing Committee
- Emergency Preparedness, Response, and First Responder Training
o VC Harris – no report
- Employment and Transition to Employment
o Commissioner Cottingham will continue to share information and resources through email for the advocacy through the TEA takeover.
- Education
- Immigration and Refugee Services
- Planning, Membership, and Community Engagement
ADA Update (Marshall Watson, Administrative Coordinator – ADA, City of Houston, Human Resources Department, Civil Service & EEO Division)
- 54 in-take to city departments (email/phone call)
- 90 requests for 2023 for accommodation requests
Upcoming Event Reminders
Meeting Schedule
- Next meeting will not be open to the Public, December 14th will be orientation for Commissioners- Chair Silcox will be sending out training next week.
Commissioners Comments
Chair Silcox motions to adjourn meeting. Commissioner Cottingham seconds it. The meeting closes at 5:30 PM.
https://www.houstontx.gov/disabilities/agendas-minutes/20231109-minutes-english.pdf