6.11.2025 Commission on Disability

This is a meeting of the Fall River Commission on Disability for Wednesday, June 11th, 2025.

Um, pursuant to the open meeting law, any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting um through any medium. Attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or transmissions are being made, whether perceived or unpersceived, by those present, and are deemed acknowledged and permissible.

Roll call.

Chairman Dennis Pelli, present. Vice Chairwoman Debbie Pacho, I'm here. Sorry, I'm still up. I had to go get I had to unmute myself. So, I'm here.

It happens. Commissioner Dan Roard here.

Commissioner Annne O'Neal Souza here.

Commissioner Katie Driscoll here.

Okay. I I want to start off with an apology. um that can be included in this month's m minutes of the meeting. Um I forgot to include for some reason I don't know why I did that but I had forgotten to include Katie Drisco when I sent out the agenda last month. Um otherwise Katie would have been here. Um and she the reason why she was absent was because of me. So um I apologize to

Katie for that. Um, and she's here this month.

Uh, I appreciate that, Commissioner.

Um, the next item is um Oh, next item is public input. So, I'll say it three times. Is there any public input?

Is there any public input?

Is there any public input?

Okay. Hearing no public input.

Okay.

Lisa.

Oh, thank you. Okay. So, Lisa is present.

The next item is the approval of the minutes for the meeting of May 14th, 2025, which I'm going to ask to be tabled because I messed up again. So, um, nobody got minutes. So, um, motion to table minutes of May 14th, 2025.

Second.

All right. Roll call vote.

Chairman Dennis Poselli, present.

Vice Chairwoman Debbie Pacho.

I I know she's here.

I did. Yes.

Commissioner Lisa Silva.

Yes.

Commissioner Dan Robelard.

Yes.

Commissioner Anne O'Neal Souza.

Yes.

Commissioner Katie Driscoll.

Yes.

Okay. Um, next we have workg groupoup updates. I have no ADA updates for this month. I don't know. Um, I can try to find out for our August meeting since we don't meet in July, but I'll try to find out if the city applied for an ADA improvement grant because the deadline is this Friday, June 13th. Um I have to say I think this is a very short period.

Um uh the period was May 1st and this is a very unusual short period. I don't know why it's so short but u maybe we can I can get an explanation from the Mass Office on disability between now and our August meeting. But I have not heard of any uh ADA improvement grants for the city going after it this month. Um but I'll find out and if they want to, they've got two days to do it.

So are there any questions about that?

Okay. Next is policies and going to turn the floor over to Vice Chair Debbie Pico.

Okay. I wanted to Is everyone able to hear me?

Yes.

Okay. I'm now I just want to make sure I was unmuted. So, at one of our um meetings, we had requested a legal opinion from um our corporation council on the policy regarding um donations for personal. It was we had received um it was a legal opinion regarding use of funds of 22G funds for private accessibility modifications. So, we did receive um that legal opinion and I'm just going to read um the conclusion of

that opinion and it is it is the opinion of this office that the for commission on disability may not lawfully expend public funds under MGL 4022G for the purpose of constructing a wheelchair accessible ramp at a private residency even where the recipient is a person with a disability. Such an expenditure would constitute an impermiss an im impermissible use of public funds for a private benefit and

would be inconsistent with both the anti-aid amendment and administrative guidelines from the Massachusetts Office on Disability. Um I will be sure to forward um the the whole document to the um to the commission. But based on this legal opinion um it is a recommendation that we not move forward with a policy around utilizing funds for um for private accessibility modifications at this time.

Are there any questions, Mr. Chairman? Yes, thank you very much. Uh, so I did uh I I I did uh uh uh understand what the vice chairwoman said but to me that only excludes one category of of so-called private youth funding. Uh that to me does not exclude this commission from maintaining the policy that was adopted because uh it it's not a given fact that every request would be around accessibility modification.

I think so.

I think we I think we should maintain the policy and as I said at once two or three meetings ago, look at each request on a case-bycase basis. This is the first request we've had of any type since the policy was adopted. I'll ask the chairman if he remembers exactly when the policy was adopted because it was him and I uh that put it together.

Uh but the uh this is one opinion about one category of excess of use of these funds. In my mind, it does not uh prevent or exclude this commission from maintaining a policy uh in general for people to request funding. Uh uh and and not to be critical, but I absolutely have to go on the record. I I I think that uh this this has never been tested. I think it's uh I

I I don't see anything wrong with doing this. Uh but I if that's the opinion, that's the opinion. But I do not want the policy in general uh to go away because I think this and the request that was before us uh or was about to come before us never formally did was based on modification. That to me is one category of of an infinite number of possibilities for private use funding. That's what the

policy uh spoke to, a general ability for people to come and request funding.

It was not solely based or ever intended to be specifically designed or exclusively or specifically used for modification purposes. So with that I yield.

Are there any other comments?

Okay. Um um Miss Mr. Patelli.

Yeah.

So from the policy um working group that was one update that I wanted to provide the group. The second one um is that I am also seeking that the commission um I also would like to request a legal opinion at this time for the um scholarship program that we are that we have been um providing at this point based on this legal opinion regarding this use. I also believe that it is in

our best interest to also obtain a legal opinion on the use of funds for scholarship.

Okay, let me um let me explain a little bit of um the vice chair and I we both read this opinion. Um and off the record, I also discussed it with the Mass Office on disability. I'm not going to go into their opinion right now, but I am going to say that the way this opinion is written, it is very broad and you can interpret the scholarship program as being under this particular municipal opinion. And that

is why I agree with the vice chair that I think we need to go and seek an opinion on the scholarship program because the city the um and and and in all fairness to the city they are basing their interpretation on the mass office on disability. Um, and I have some feelings about that, too. But I I don't, you know, I don't want to I want everybody to read the opinion, and I'm going to

put this matter on the agenda again.

Yeah.

Under under policy for August, for our August meeting.

Um, but I'm just saying that um that I did show this opinion to Jeff Dugan.

Um, and he pretty much agreed with the vice chair and I that we need to get clarification because he felt it was a very broad interpretation.

Um, and that's the word he used. He called it the city's interpretation, which is my problem all over with 22G.

Um, I think a couple of meetings ago, Commissioner Robelard said, "You get a bunch of lawyers in a room and you're going to come out with 25 different opinions, and this is an example of that." So, I think let let's get further clarification from the corporation council.

Um and and I I for the record, Fall River is not the only municipal disability commission that has a scholarship program.

Um I never had one when I chaired Framingham. We never had one in Framingham, but a lot of the surrounding communities did.

The fact that Fall River had a scholarship program in 2021, that's when we started ours was, you know, way way later than other municipal disability commissions, you know. So, it it would be regrettable if if this program, you know, is uh if we have to do away with this program. Um because I think it's it's an outreach program. Um we don't give the money to individuals. We go through institutions

um and institutions deposit the money into the students account and the schools make the determination based on being a resident of Fall River with a documented disability. So there are really checks and balances in our policy. So much so that Newton has decided to adopt our model for their policy. So it would be regrettable if if this program has to go. But let's get an opinion. Let's get

some clarification from the corporation council. But this is a very broad opinion. And under this particular opinion, the scholarship program would count as being something that we can't do because it does say in the opinion under expenditures that we can only use our money for public facilities, equipment, and other things in public facilities such as the public library or public schools or whatever. That's

that's really how the opinion reads and I'm just I'm just I'm just saying it straight that that's how it I'm just giving you the facts. So that's why I want everybody to see the opinion Mr. Chairman.

Yep.

Thank you. Uh well uh I'll have more to say when the the second part of the opinion comes back, but let me just say that if it's the opinion of the city's corporation council that the scholarship program should be eliminated. I I think before we take a vote on that, uh we we we we should have consultation uh with members of the state legislature and maybe uh the uh state legal council

uh to see what their fing is because uh I I I cannot see how the scholarship program uh would would fall under this except that that it uh well I guess I could in in some sense if I agree with uh corporation council runs opinion which I vehemently disagree with. Uh but I guess the the argument would be that the that money is only benefiting the students that are receiving it. So, it

would be five or six students or however many you had. Uh, we had 11 this year per year. Yeah, I I understand. But I'm I'm making the the general basis of this argument. Uh, and and I just think that's inherently wrong. I know uh uh you and I have discussed that other communities uh other other communities are have scholarship programs and other uh uses for their money. But no one said

anything about the paying of of a police officer. I assume because they would say that that broad that work was broadly done uh benefiting the entire community.

I I I assume that would be the argument uh to keep the uh parking enforcement program which we haven't been involved in for a while now. But I assume that's the general argument for that program.

I'll just say if it comes back that the scholarship program should be eliminated, uh I would imagine that would come to a formal vote and I I would hope before that formal vote is taken, we get some other opinion uh from the state uh level, maybe in consultation uh w with the the uh state reps of of Fall River. Uh Michael Rodri is the chairman of Ways and Means. Uh he

he is representing Fall River uh in the Senate. And I'd also like to hear from uh state legal council uh because uh chapter 40 section 8J and chapter 40 section 22G particularly 22G which is the account uh that are uh our revenue derived from handicap parking fines. no matter how those fines are collected.

Uh, in other words, we're still receiving revenue uh from the collection of handicap parking violations and other uh other violations that fall within the handicap parking code. uh those two laws uh chapter 40 section 8J and chapter 40 section 22G 48J allows uh disability commissions uh to exist in Massachusetts. Uh chapter 40 section 22G specifically allows municipalities to collect the money from handicap

parking. uh those are state laws. So I think regardless of the opinion that comes back specifically now on the scholarship program uh if it is interpreted and I have to say based on Mr. Run's uh first opinion I believe he will say the same thing. I hope I'm wrong. I don't think I will be. But before there is a movement to eliminate formally the scholarship program from something that has been highly

successful. Uh uh I think it's the best thing uh that this commission has ever done uh with its revenue by far. Uh I would like to see uh another opinion if his comes back before we just take a a broad movement and eliminate a program that has had now five years of success and given uh thousands of dollars in scholarships uh to assist uh students with disabilities. So I'd like to have

uh after the opinion uh Uh, I'd like to have discussions uh with the state reps a and uh uh definitely uh the mass office on disability as well as the state legal council because I think this is an overreach. Thank you. I yield.

Okay. Um the protocol that I want us to follow first of all is we'll need a a motion to contact corporation council regarding the scholarship program.

But before we start bringing in legislators and things like that, um we will I'm going to suggest that let's see what the opinion is from the corporation council and then the next step would be to work with the mass office on disability which exercises overhead overhead oversight responsibilities.

Um they also have legal counsel um which costs which would cost us absolutely nothing. Um I think you know so there are there are steps to be taken before we even start thinking about legislators and stuff like that. Um and there's time for us to work through you know and and and figure all this out. But um but I I am in agreement with the with um I read the opinion and also

the vice chair read it to me as well.

So, I actually heard it twice. So, um and I'm in full agreement with with that particular interpretation. So, um let's let's take things a step at a time. And um um I also have some ideas because I'd like to keep this as local as possible, but I'm also a little bit angry at the oversight responsibilities because I I think it has been lacking in several fronts. But that will be saved for

another discussion. So, I will entertain a motion to um with the vice chair's recommendation that we um submit a letter to the corporation council for an opinion regarding the scholarship program.

So moved.

Oh, you know what? I'm not allowed to make motions, you guys. Somebody has to make the motion. I make the motion that we um submit a request to um attorney Gary Harriak, our ADA coordinator, to obtain a legal opinion on the scholarship program.

Second.

Second.

Uh so I'm going to call for a roll call vote.

Chairman Dennis Paulelli, yes.

Vice Chairwoman W Pico, yes. Commissioner Lisa Silva.

Lisa, I think you need to unmute.

Oh, yes. I didn't know it was my turn. I was unmuting at the same time. It blocked probably what was being said.

Commissioner Dan Roblard.

Yes.

Commissioner Annne O'Neal Souza.

Yes.

Commissioner Katie Driscoll.

Yes.

Okay.

So, I want to thank um Vice Chair Debbie Pachico for being a dip to this. It's not an easy it's not an easy thing, but um thank you very much for um for all your help with this because I think but but it's something that needed to be brought up. So the next item is uh finance and you've all received the budget report for the month of are we in we're in June, right?

May the next item um is the scholarship program and um everything's done.

Um uh I all the information was submitted to Michelle and um um so right now everything's being worked out um um through Michelle but we are we are way early this year which is good in getting this the things out to the to the colleges. And just to clarify, Commissioner Dan Robelard, I can tell you that as of this year, with this particular year, the fifth annual, we have uh allocated $126,000

over the 5-year period uh for scholarship program. Um so that's $126,000.

that is how much we have um we have allocated in scholarship money for students with disabilities who are residents of Paul River in the different schools. Um, and I also want to say that on Tuesday, June 24th, at the city council meeting for Tuesday, June 24th, um, councelor Andrew Raposo, um, and the Fall River City Council will be awarding citations from the city council to the scholarship recipients and they are

handling all the details. They're sending out the letters to the parents and guardians and recipients. Um, and anyone's invited to attend that city council meeting at 7:00 on Tuesday night, June 24th, um, from the city council. So, that that's that's really good. Um, um, so the next item is old business. Do we have any old Let me go back. Does anybody have any questions on what I just reported?

None at this time.

Okay.

Um, next item is under old business. Um, is there any old business?

I'm hearing none. Is there any new business to come before the commission?

Our next meeting, we usually we will be taking July off. Workg groups will continue to work, but we take the month of July off. So, our next meeting will be Wednesday, August 13th at 300 p.m.

What's our next meeting? Do I hear any other new business?

Okay, I will entertain a moment a moment a motion to adjurnn.

Motion to adjurnn. Second.

All right. I will entertain a roll call vote.

Chairman Dennis Paulelli.

Yes.

Vice Chairwoman Debbie Pachico.

Yes.

Commissioner Lisa Silva.

Yes.

Commissioner Dan Robelard.

Yes.

Commissioner Ann O'Neal Souza.

We are adjourned. Thank you all.

Thank you very much everyone.

Have a great July.

Yeah, you too. Bye.