City of Jacksonville Commission on Disabilities and Human Relations met March 1.
Here is the minutes provided by the Commission:
Members at the Meeting:
Brenton Allen, Guy Crumley, Alan Bradish, Mary Watts, Joan Engelmann, Cyndy Benton
Guest:
Eddie Lowe
Meeting to Order:
The meeting was called to order by Chair, Brenton Allen, at 4:08 p.m.
February 2018 Meeting Minutes:
All members present at the meeting received the February 1, 2018 JCDHR meeting minutes prior to the March 1st meeting. There were no questions or suggested corrections from members when asked. Alan Bradish made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, with Guy Crumley seconding the motion and all members present voting to accept the February 1, 2018 JCDHR meeting minutes as presented.
Sub Committee Assignments:
Chair Brenton Allen tabled the assignment of members to the Commissions Subcommittees until the next meeting of the Commission.
JCDHR Brochure:
It was explained to Commission members that the current JCDHR brochure has not been updated since Article X of the City’s Municipal Code was revised in 2015. Secretary Benton told members the brochure needs reviewed against the current Article X and changes made to it based on the updated Article X. It was suggested that this is the time to also make any other changes to the brochure that members might want to see. Secretary Benton gave a hard copy of the brochure to members present. Commission Chair Allen asked members to bring those recommendations to JCDHR’s April 2018 meeting.
New Member Packets:
When asked, Mr. Allen said he was not sure if the Mayor’s Assistant, Karla Stice, had made each member a copy of the proposed new member packets for their review and considered for future use with new JCDHR members. Secretary Benton reminded members that she had used the resource packet for the last four new members but the packet as a whole had not been approved by JCDHR members for use in new member orientation. She explained that at some point each of the documents contained within the packet were previously approved as individual documents by JCDHR but no formal action had been taken by the Commission to use all the documents together as JCDHR’s packet for new members. She explained that when new members came on the Commission there was nothing in place to orientate them to JCDHR; so, she put the packet together to help new members become more aware of the guidelines, roles, functions and responsibilities of the Commission. After Mr. Allen determined that the packet was given to him in December 2017 to ask the Mayor’s Assistant to copy, he told the Commission that he would check with her to see if the packets have been copied for JCDHR members review and consideration.
Jacksonville Police Department (JPD) Communication Policy:
Alan Bradish, Chaplin to the JPD and Commission member, handed out a hard copy of the new JPD Communication Policy. He asked members to review it and give any feedback they might have at the next JCDHR meeting. Mr. Bradish told members if they had any questions or concerns about the revised policy to let him know so he could take them back to Police Chief, Adam Medford. After a short review, Chair Allen suggested removing the use of TTY from the communication policy because videophones and relay services are what is used by Deaf people today. Members reminded Mr. Allen that the TTY is a piece of equipment still required under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and, therefore, JPD is meeting ADA legal mandates by listing it in their communication policy. Mr. Bradish pointed out that other modes of communication, including videophones and video relay services, were also included in (“tools used to communicate with people who have a disability or are impaired”) JPD’s revised communication policy. Secretary Benton stated she was pleased to see the communication policy had been expanded to include foreign language translators for people who speak languages other than English. At which time, Joan Engelmann, pointed out that the term translator applied to the written language while interpreter is used when referring to aid provided with the spoken language.
Information to be Sent to Members Not Present Commission:
Secretary Benton told members she would mail the three members not able to make the meeting the JPD Communication Policy and the JCDHR brochure handed out at today’s meeting so they have time to consider the material before it is discussed at the Commission’s March meeting.
(Note: JPD Communication Policy and JCDHR brochure was mailed on 3/6/18 to each of the three members unable to attend the meeting)
Senior Citizen Presentation by the Jacksonville Police Department (JPD):
Mr. Bradish announced that Chief Medford was scheduled to speak at the Senior Center in Community Park, at 10:30 a.m., on March 7, 2018. He said the Chief was going to talk with senior citizens about the police department’s vision for protecting and serving that segment of Jacksonville’s population, as well as obtain feedback from them. He encouraged members to inform Jacksonville’s older citizens about this opportunity to listen and give feedback to JPD Chief Medford.
Election of Officers:
The slate of officers nominated at JCDHR’s February 2018 meeting were voted on. After a short discussion, it was decided that there was no need for motions to be put forth prior to voting on 2018 Commission Officers since they had already been nominated as the 2018 JCHDR Officers through this process at the February 2018 meeting. JCDHR members voted on the person nominated to each of the three offices of the Commission they were nominated to. They are as follows:
• Larry Whewell who was nominated as the Chair of JCDHR at its February 1st meeting was unanimously voted in---by members present---as the Commission’s 2018 Chair.
• Alan Bradish nominated who was nominated as the Vice Chair of JCDHR at its February 1st meeting was unanimously voted in---by members present --as the Commission’s 2018 Vice Chair.
• Joan Engelmann who was nominated as the Secretary of JCDHR at its February 1st meeting was unanimously voted in---by members present---as the Commission’s 2018 Secretary.
It was recognized that the new officers will begin their responsibilities at the end of the Commission’s March 2018 meeting. (Note: An exception to this is any outstanding Secretarial duties that may need to be finalized—ex., March meeting minutes finalized for review and consideration by JCDHR)
City Representation on the Commission:
Secretary Benton pointed out to members that JCDHR currently has the maximum nine community representatives sitting on the Commission. She told members that JPD’s Volunteer Chaplin, Alan Bradish cannot serve as the ex officio City representative on the Commission for now. She explained that Article X of the City’ Municipal Code----which directs the functions of the JCDHR---- currently requires the ex officio City representative to be a “City Council Member”. Therefore, Mr. Bradish must currently be seen as serving as a community representative on the Commission. She explained that when Article X was revised in 2015 the city representative sitting on the Commission was a City Council Member. It was pointed out to members that before the 2015 revisions to Article X, the definition for a city representative included employees of the City and was not an ex officio member. Ms. Benton speculated that since there was a City Council Member sitting on the Commission when Article X was revised in 2015, the definition of who the City representative could be was probably revised to meet JCDHR’s current situation. Commission members also recognized the difficulty it has had trying to get a City Council Member to sit on the Commission since the one who had been on it had resigned. After talking about the definition further and Marry Watts reading the part of Section 2-180, of Article X, that defines (appointments, terms of office and ex officio requirement of) its members; it was suggested that the Commission ask the City to modify Article X, Section 2-180 to read that the ex officio City representative on the Commission includes “an appointed volunteer member or paid employee” of a department “of the City of Jacksonville”. After it appeared Commission members were in agreement that the JCDHR Chair should write the Mayor to ask the City to modify Article X’s definition of its ex officio city representative, Cyndy Benton made a motion to have the Chair of the Commission write the Mayor asking for the above revision being made to the definition of the ex officio city representative in Article X of the City’s Municipal Code, with Joan Engelmann seconding the motion and all members present voting in favor of the motion. Motion passed.
Meeting Adjourned:
Chair Allen informed members that the business of the Commission had concluded for the month by reminding members present that the next JCDHR meeting is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., on April 5, 2018. After which, Joan Engelmann made a motion to adjourn the meeting, with Mary Watts seconding the motion and all members present voting in favor of adjourning. The meeting was adjourned by JCDHR’s 2017 Chair, Brenton Allen, at 4:45 p.m.
http://www.jacksonvilleil.gov/city_government/boards_commissions_and_committees/docs/Boards%20Commissions%20Committees/Disabilities_&_HR_Minutes/2018/Minutes%203.1.18.pdf
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