2015-07-02-COD-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commission on Disability Meeting Minutes July 2, 2015 Members Present: Victoria Buckley, Chair; Joe Pato, Chair, Board of Selectman; Julie Miller; Len Morse-Fortier; Francine Stieglitz Guest: Shaun Grady Today's Meeting: Due to July 4 holiday, there is not a quorum today. We will discuss what is needed to cover without any voting. Selectman Goal Setting Ideas: We reviewed final draft, as follows below. The Commission on Disability is charged with promoting accessibility and inclusion for the citizens of Lexington. The Selectmen can help in this effort by actively integrating considerations of accessibility and inclusion into their policy and decision- making process. We can see the positive impact of this kind of collaborative and systemic support in the recent efforts to move beyond awareness to action with the passage of Article 42 during Town Meeting. The Selectmen's support to enter Article 42 into Town Meeting this year helps set a new vision and tone for public discourse on safety and access considerations for new public pathways. Looking to the coming year, the Commission on Disability would like to better recognize, address and answer the needs of our citizens with sensory issues, especially visual and hearing problems. To address this priority, we need to start addressing the hard question: are we as a Town making the accommodations needed for these citizens to participate fully and inclusively? At this time, we know that we are falling short on answering this question, but if we work together to take this on as a priority, we believe we can be more confident in addressing this important concern. As a Commission, an important task that we can undertake is which rooms are truly able to address the needs of our citizens with sensory issues. An example of a room well done is the meeting room at the library, but there are too few other public spaces that meet the needs. The Commission will develop a priority list of which public rooms in Town need hearing-enhanced improvements so that citizens with hearing issues can attend public meetings successfully. We also need to look at what those with visual problems could benefit from: such as designated spots in bleachers at Town events, reverse contrast on screens such as black background with white type or high contrast, appropriate walk signals, private voting place solutions like enlarged reversed contrast screens. Furthermore we feel that it might be helpful to offer Town employees specialized trainings in accommodating people with disabilities. We would like everyone to take a pro-active stance to integrate accessibility and inclusion into their plans, policy and decision-making. We feel that the above suggestions are in keeping with the Commission's commitment to fostering a welcoming community, and we thank the Selectmen for their assistance in these important matters.