5.14.2025 Commission on Disability

Okay, this is a conference call.

Hi Lisa.

Hello. This is the record. This is the uh meeting of the conference call meeting of the Fall River Commission on Disability for Wednesday, May 14th 2025.

and I will read. Um, pursuant to the open meeting law, any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or retransmit the meeting through any medium.

Attendees are thereby advised that such recordings or transmissions are being made whether perceived or unpersceived by those present and deemed acknowledged. Okay. Roll call. Chairman Dennis Pauli present. Vice Chairwoman Debbie Pico present. Commissioner Lisa Silva present.

Commissioner Dan Robelard present.

Commissioner Ann O'Neal Souza present.

Okay.

Um, next is public input and I'll ask three times. Is there any public input? Is there any public input?

Is there any public input? Okay. Hearing none, we will move on to the approval of the minutes for the meeting of April 9th.

Motion to accept the minutes of April 9th, 2025 of the disability commission.

Do I hear a second?

I'll second that, Lisa.

Okay. Roll call.

Okay. I need we need a roll call vote.

Sorry, that was my phone. Chairman Dennis Pelli.

Yes. Vice Chairwoman W Pico. Yes.

Commissioner Lisa Silva. Yes.

Commissioner Dan Robelard. Yes.

Commissioner Ann O'Neal Souza.

Yes.

Okay. We'll move on to updates. Um, under ADA, um, the municipal the municipal ADA improvement grants by the Massachusetts Office on Disability, which is over a million dollars or so roughly, um, was announced on May 1st. And um um the I forwarded that material to the um to um Al Aa who's the director of city operations along with Dan Aguiar and other members of the team. Um and they are going to get back to the ADA

work group um about any projects that they're going to try to go after for this grant for this year. The deadline is June 13th. Um I'm not sure the reason for the short turnaround time. In my opinion, it is a short turnaround time, but um but the deadline is Friday. Is it Friday? Yeah, Friday, June 13th. So um we'll see where that goes.

Um um I me I mentioned I think in the last meeting that I was going to send some material and I still am but it's just that this is an item that we don't need to vote on because we voted last year to to support the accessible rail trail project. They have reissued or they've refiled legislation for this bill um concerning rail trails in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Governor

Healey did implement, however, a lot of the legislation by instituting a study group to look into the trails in Massachusetts and how they can be made accessible, but the legislation was refiled so that it's kind of made into a permanent law. Um, so I can I I would be glad to send everybody fact sheets on it or details on it to look over, but there's really nothing that we need to

vote on because it's an ongoing issue.

um um from last year. Another ongoing issue that we took a position on is uh the wheelchair repair bill and that's this year. It's going to be S uh 210 and H 1278. They refiled that legislation.

They did make some changes in the House version.

Um um I just need to look it over again just to kind of because I don't want to give out anything that's um you know that's not accurate but it's been refiled in both branches. Um Commissioner Robelard and I Commissioner Dan Robelard and I both this year submitted written testimony for this bill to pass. So it it passed the Senate last year. It did not pass the House.

So, we're hoping this year that it will people who may hear this meeting, if you have any um relatives or friends who are wheelchair users who have had lots of issues with wheelchair wheelchair repairs and I am going to send everybody again just for your own um you know your own awareness or education. I'm going to send you the link to this year's hearing that took place because there were some

real stories about people who um were unable to return to work, for example, for months at a time because they had trouble having their wheelchairs repaired, issues that they ran into with the companies that they had to have them repaired by. Um, but some of the testimonies that are just are just really um um heartbroken in one sense, but it'll make you angry in some sense, but I think it would also stir people to

write letters of support. So, if you're interested or anybody's interested, um, it is Senate number 210 and House number 1278.

Um, and that's what you have to ask for when you write a letter to legislators concerning their support for this bill.

Um, so are there any questions about that?

That that is very briefly. Um, uh, I'd love to, uh, I look forward to getting the link because the day of the hearing was when my new wheelchair was delivered. Uh, unfortunately, it's not usable at this time. It's sitting in the back of my house. But uh uh I'll tell you, Dex, uh Destiny Maxim from DPC, she is a real asset. Uh I I never realized the uh the level of community

organization they have over there. I mean, she is she is a trailblazer and uh worked really hard on these bills.

I've had several conversations with her.

uh was able to craft some written testimony and submit that uh I'm not going to go into my own story here, but uh uh wheelchair repair can be a real nightmare and there's only uh several companies that do it and there's a lot of red tape and regulation uh that this bill seeks to eliminate and and change. Uh, so I I really look forward to getting that link and and being able to watch the hearing. I

wanted to watch it live. Uh, but it so happened I had the wheelchair delivery person here for two and a half hours.

Uh, and I I still can't use the brand new wheelchair. So, uh, that's another story. I hope these uh some version of this bill passes in in doing a quick review of both versions of the bill.

There are some stock differences. So I think that uh eventually there'll be a there'll be a conference if uh if both chambers house and senate pass their own version. Uh um so I will definitely send all of you the link because it's it's a it's it's a I'll just tell you it's a 4-hour hearing. So um you know um you may not be able to listen to it all in one

sitting, but it's good to it's good to get an idea of how how a legislative hearing is conducted. And you only get three minutes, so it kind of reminds me of of citizens input at a city council meeting. budget. There's no limit to written testimony, but oral testimony, you're only given three minutes. So, um I'll I'll send you that link um for everybody. And I'll also send you um the fact sheets so you'll know the

difference between the House and Senate version. It gives you it gives you a brief description of what the bill is without all the legal ease and the language that goes into these bills.

Um so uh so that's that's that and I'll go on to the next item um which is uh finance. You all should have gotten the budget report for the month of April. Um and now we'll go on to outreach and scholarship. I just want to remind everybody um that the scholarship brunch is Sunday, May 24th at McGovern's restaurant. Um we would like to have everybody there by 10:30 a.m. so that we

can start the the program at 10:45 a.m.

and the food would be served after the program. So about 11:15 a.m. roughly I'm I'm saying because I we don't want to exactly rush it. We want to, you know, really celebrate the accomplishments of the students that work so hard um in their four years of high school. And I did send all of you um this year I sent to all the recipients and what institutions they they're attending. Um

this is the first year I was able to do it because because of our policy that we passed.

um all the guidance counselors have followed pretty much all the all the things that are laid out in the policy and that that allowed me to have um you know the names of the not only the names of the recipients by the April 1st deadline but it also allowed me to have all of their institutions and I really felt that since this is a commission thing um everybody ought to have what institutions people are attending. So,

um I'm also thinking that if FRGTV covers it this year, um I'm going to talk to them about posting this information at the bottom of the screen so that they'll know what each recipient, who they are, and what colleges, universities, and community colleges they'll be attending in the fall.

Um this year another thing that was made a little easier well is that um um our vice chair and has worked very very hard on uh establishing a link for our SVPs. Um and so that we've already put in for the number um for the brunch itself, but um the we've both Debbie and I have run into some interesting issues that we're going to have to go over. I I don't want to go

into too much of it on the record, but we're going to have to kind of go over uh maybe uh extraordinary steps or something like that in the future because um um people just people just weren't responding without reminder phone calls and things like that. And like I said, I don't want to go into too many details, but uh but we have we've we've found we found some some issues that um we're

going to have to try to um work on for next year. So, is does anybody have that? Um I'm going to ask the vice chair if you have any thing that you want to add to it and open the floor for anybody else too that may have questions.

What was that, Dennis?

Say it again. What what was it that you were asking me? I'm sorry. I was between muting and unmuting. Yeah, that's okay.

If you wanted to add anything to what I just reported about, you know, people people not responding and having to be reminded.

Yeah. So, um I did, you know, with Dennis's help, we created um an invitation that had I felt that based on last year just to kind of have the exact information, location, the time we wanted people to arrive and what time things were starting. And then they had a link to RSVP. So, we kind of had an idea of who was coming, you know, in discovering it is that I'm calling

parents, which I this is above and beyond what we really should be doing.

Families are not aware that they've got were issued a scholarship. So, um, definitely a little bit of an eye openener in talking with Dennis and we're definitely going to take a look at actually creating a letter or some sort of announcement that the schools will need to then send to the families and letting them know that there will be an um a formalized invitation, not a like there'll be an email sent out with a

link for them to RSVP. And I just think it'll help us to know exactly who's coming and who isn't. um and especially um whether or not any of the schools are going to be represented. Like we do have one school unfortunately that principal is not able to be there. So like we'll we'll know that ahead of time. So um I was just trying to streamline things a little bit better for the commission so

that way that day will go a little bit smoothly. So and unfortunately because of the date change I will not be at that um brunch this year.

Well, and that's the other thing I I think we're discovering that really the first weekend as we originally wanted and you know things happen, but I think um we we already have the date for next year which is always which is the first Saturday in May because what we found is as May progresses more and more things happen. spring sports that people have commitment to, graduations, which people

have permission um commitments to, and Memorial Day weekend and all of that kind of stuff. So, we're we're really I think originally, you know, the first weekend in May is really the best time for this before before stuff begins to happen. So, are there are there any other questions from anybody?

Mr. Chairman, very briefly, I I just want to clarify the date of this year's brunch is Saturday, May 24th, not Yeah.

Thanks.

Go ahead. Go ahead, Dan. Go ahead. I just want to so it it's Saturday uh May 24th with an arrival at 10:30 uh the program at 10:45 and then uh food immediately to follow around 11:15 or thereabouts uh following the program but the date is Saturday May 24th y 2025.

Okay, I yield. Thank you. Yep. No, thanks for the clarification. That's good.

Um, are there any other questions? Okay, hearing that. And I already I mean on the on the on the positive side of that, I I really think that that the policy that we voted on um in I think it was in the October meeting um for the most part has worked very very well. I my my job after the event is over, I'm not going to have to chase

around as much as I have in years past.

Um because everybody followed the outline, all the guidance counselors followed the outline very very well. And there's no reason why we can't have all the scholarship monies at the prospective institutions by the June 15th deadline that um that's in the policy cuz a lot of colleges have their new student orientation. They don't call them freshmen anymore. New student orientation, a lot of them have it in

June. So, it's really good and and you register for your classes and you know if if if money's aren't in on time and you're you're hearing it from somebody who worked in the system for almost 30 years. So, if the monies are late, chances are they're not going to get the classes they wanted. So, you know, it's it's it's really time is really short from the time that the event ends to

when new student orientation begins. So, that's just a little bit of inside baseball here. Are there any questions about that? Okay. The next item is old business. Is there any old business? Is there any new business? Our next meeting will be Wednesday, June 11th.

Um, so is there if there's no other new business, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

Motion to adjurnn. Second motion to adjurnn. Debbie Pico. Okay. Thank you.

Uh, roll call vote.

Chairman Dennis Pauli. Yes. Vice Chairwoman De Wigo. Yes.

Commissioner Lisa Silva, yes.

Commissioner Dan Robelard, yes.

Commissioner Annne O'Neal Souza, yes. We are adjourned. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Have a great day.