Commission on Persons with Disabilities - Regular Meeting

Okay. Good evening. We'll call to order the regular meeting for the Commission on Persons with Disabilities. It is 01/14/2026, and we'll start with roll call. Chair Mullings? Here. Vice chair Bondsmith? Here. Commissioner Beeler? Here. Thank you. Joining us remotely, commissioner Kannadler? Here. Commissioner Lip is absent. Commissioner Lyons?

Here. And commissioner Schmitz is also absent. Okay. This goes into non agenda public comment, and there isn't any. So we'll go straight into the minutes to review and vote to approve the minutes submitted for 11/19/2025.

Were there any questions on the minutes? Okay, if there aren't any errors or anything, if someone wants to make a motion and a second to vote to approve.

I move to approve.

Second.

Okay. Alright. And so everyone, if you would just wanna, at the count of three, say aye or nay. So the, for the minutes to approve them. Aye. One, two, three.

Aye. Okay. Thank you.

Right, those are approved and will be entered in. And now moving forward to the main point of this evening is our main regular agenda item is a twenty twenty six six planning session, for commissioners to propose and discuss areas of focus, networking opportunities, possible presentations, and future agenda items, again, for the year 2026. So this will be a little bit of an open discussion just amongst the commission, and feel free to speak out of turn, that sort of thing. It won't necessarily go in order. And then, Chermolines, however you'd like to lead the discussion or kick it off, if there's a particular way that you'd like to handle it, we'll go ahead and get started.

I'm open to having a more informal approach to it. You know, I'm happy to go through in order of how we how you have it laid out here in the agenda, like areas of focus, networking opportunities, presentations, because those are kind of different areas to discuss.

Mhmm. Mhmm.

That might be a good, like, just managing our time effectively. So if that works. And then do you wanna start? Because you you told me about having some ideas coming in or if somebody

Sure. Yeah.

Ideas off the bat. Not to put you on the hot seat.

No. I'm happy to. So well, I'm still pretty new, but I did wanna share an idea that I'm interested in learning more about Mhmm. And supporting this year. Mhmm. So building on last year's emergency operations plan Mhmm. I'm particularly interested in how emergency and city communications are actually experienced by residents with different access and processing needs, especially around digital accessibility and neurodiversity. So has has the commission ever looked at communication accessibility, or would that be new territory for us?

I'm trying to think. Like, I think we've talked about, like, outreach. We've talked about, like, making sure we're casting a wide enough net and in a way that people engage with it. I haven't I'm not sure about in the notification aspect specifically. What do you think?

I don't think we've talked a lot about notifications. I know digital accessibility has been a focus of the city and there's either a project that just concluded or is currently underway to focus on that. But we haven't, I think, interacted with that very directly except for coming up in previous meetings. Mhmm. But as far as the emergency operations plan and especially the the I forget the name of the list that we discussed at a previous meeting where there's like a special you put you put

yourself on the special list. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I think that we haven't really focused on a lot previously. That was kind of included in your

They came up with the fire department representatives Mhmm. Presentation Mhmm. Mhmm. About, like, you can opt in. Yeah. And

that one is scheduled to return to us once it's in more of a draft phase. Right now, it's, like, very early rudimentary stage of for the EOP, but I look forward to that one. Commissioner Beeler has her hand raised.

Oh, great.

Thank you. I do believe we've talked about the accessibility and digital accessibility specifically of certain materials or handouts or projects as they've come before us, before where they're very specific about community outreach. So maybe not in a global way, but we've addressed them individually. And I do remember we have also discussed whether we are appropriately or sufficiently engaging with specific communities or known maybe like areas where people with disabilities live or commune. So in that sense, we have.

For the digital accessibility, we've also talked about different formatting and testing. And I'm sorry, can't see all the commissioners from my eagle eye view here, but whoever was saying that that it's been a focus of the city, it's come up a couple times. But I just wanted to mention that it's more by project by project or talking about community outreach specifically that we've addressed the digital accessibility of those methods.

I think a couple of things.

I think, well, one of the reasons I think it's interesting to think about this is because information can be really hard to process when people are anxious or overwhelmed. So even something like dense or unclear instructions can become barriers in those moments. And then as far as digital accessibility,

it might be interesting to think about having an audit of the city websites from an accessibility standpoint? I feel like we have discussed that. Right? Like, in having Lillian, sorry if I'm being too informal, as the a like in like our first, I think, ADA coordinator. I feel like that's that's been something we've discussed a few times. And maybe we're right for an update, like, on that, or maybe if you have something you could help us jog memory.

Yes. So digital accessibility is a big thing right now because the DOJ's rule about it is about to go into effect at the April for our for the size of our municipality. So we're working through lots of things and doing a lot of department training. I'm hoping to host another website user testing session, that helps with some of that auditing because it gives community feedback directly, that I can relate directly to, departments who manage their own sites or pages. So hoping to do that in February or March.

This this time, it'll be a virtual one. The last one I did was at Mastic, which was great. We had a few participants, and went through prompts, everything. It was great. But I think hopefully having it virtual will just cast a wider net for who can join. But yes, that's a that's definitely a big conversation point, a big a big area of focus right now in the ADA world. So I think it would be a great presentation as well.

Who are the test users or the test groups that we reach

out to for that?

So for this last session, I shared it specifically with our my newsletter audience and then Mastic. So they shared it through the ARPD channels and the Mastic channels and then just posted it at Mastic. Yeah. Unfortunately, I didn't get anyone to sign up from the newsletter. So will try to work with our communications department at the city to just get it maybe shared a little bit more broadly for this upcoming one.

Because I would love to get as many people as possible. And I even specified in the invitation the last time to people who use all kinds of assistive tech to join us because obviously we want to audit the website with that in mind as well.

Given with the deadline coming up in April, could we propose some sort of report out post April deadline? I'm sure it's going to be difficult to get folks in here maybe in March because of that deadline to talk through the compliance guidelines, your point commissioners that you know, is it, you know, a CAG, triple a? Are we going which what what compliance rules are we adhering to? And then maybe a little bit more, Lillian, from your test groups. It would be kind of interesting to hear the different feedback, maybe different pages. I think that's really important, and definitely agree with my fellow commissioners here. That would be a great session.

It seems like part of your proposed topic is about the emergency notifications in particular, which obviously, like, it's a heightened importance. But I think, obviously, the rest of this discussion has been, like, kind of the building blocks to be in a position to have effective emergency notification, but just making sure that doesn't drop off. But maybe with the return when the EOP is more ready, we could bring it up again.

Yeah. It's kind of a a crossover.

Yes. A couple ideas that got mixed up

in there. But, yeah, the emergency operations plan. I'm just I am curious about how how people with different processing needs respond to that. If we've asked how how they respond to that, if we know people that have, I don't know, been ex have experienced it and have had any issues or if there's been any feedback. Mhmm.

Yeah. That's great.

Because I think, like, just as a baseline, sometimes those notifications can be hard to decipher. Yeah. I think from a

Yeah.

Just not adding any layer of complicated or Yeah. You know, neurodiverse or any other processing challenges or Absolutely. I mean, just

myself when an emergency preparedness alert comes on my phone and that loud

you know, we've all Oh gosh. Yeah.

Like, it sends I I get a little bit, like, frazzled and disoriented. So I can only, yeah, imagine Mhmm. In an actual emergency

Mhmm.

What that might be like. Yeah. Mhmm.

I got and I think, like, maybe there's a layer of that to, like, proactive, like, before an emergency, outside of an emergency, and just kind of, like, I don't wanna go totally apologize for 09:11. Back when remember when we did like, we're at red threat alert or, you know, like, but just kind of like we have this, like, background education, you know, or kind of like getting you used to like, here's what these messages mean in an emergency. Like, think that might be helpful

Yeah.

Not just about the communications themselves.

So just

a thought about that.

Well, didn't they I when I used to watch TV, they used to do that, right? The test of the emergency broadcast system.

Oh yeah.

This is only a test. Yeah. And so you get used to it if it had been an I can tell you the whole thing. If it had been an actual emergency, you

had been instructed

to blah blah blah. So we maybe something like that could be implemented to get people aware of Mhmm. What it is and and even to test the system to make sure it's working and and people are getting the message. Yeah. So it would be best to test it before an actual situation. Yeah. Like a drill.

Mhmm. It makes me think of the great shakeout Yes. Is I think a lot of businesses and companies and Stop, drop, and roll.

Like, it's just those things that, like, if you can ingrain it

in Mhmm. Yeah.

In the moment of panic, or just kind of if you need to do something when it's challenging to process and

Mhmm. Mhmm.

Executive function through it. Yeah.

The great shakeout, like, happens I think every October. And a lot of organizations in nationwide and like certainly in California Mhmm. Do like a test drill on that day. Mhmm. I think I asked about it when we had the presentation with the EOP and I think there was no no plan or funding to do it. But I wonder if maybe even a digital version of that could be done.

Or maybe that's a nice timeline for a target. Yeah. Like in between the April deadline and the October,

like Mhmm.

You know, broader To do effort.

Some kind of a simulation. And maybe just the slice of that is focused on the community that we serve

Mhmm.

And and trying to reach out to those people and say, hey, was this at least received? Yes. And how was it interpreted? And

Yeah.

You have the information that you need to make a decision about what to do next. Because I think unless you practice it,

you really don't know. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly.

And and if we can align it with other activities that are happening in the city, like, in the city or in the state in the same time, there might be a little bit of, I don't know, increased momentum Yeah. For it.

I like that idea.

I don't know who to talk to about that. Do you know? It'd be the same the same team working on the emergency operations Yeah.

I would probably start with fire captain Andrews. He's the one who came and did the presentation. And then, yeah, maybe go from there. It's a good idea, though. Okay.

I wonder if also locally we could connect with the Alameda CERT people. And bring them into it somehow so that we could maybe ourselves get educated if you don't already know about what CERT is

Mhmm.

And have them know who we are. And then maybe somehow build a relationship that way that if we're doing, I don't know, outreach or do plan and will go through the certification and, you know, just build some bridges that way so that we know all the the small pods of cert cert people, whoever they are, throughout Alameda in the different neighborhoods. And they should, you know, connect with them, they can be aware of us, and maybe know when Captain, I'm going to call him Captain Dallas, Captain Dallas, Captain Andrews comes back. Maybe they might be interested in hearing what he has to say during that presentation or something like that.

I think that's a great idea, and I think it's a good opportunity kind of the way we've had traffic presentations and transportation presentations. And then to your characterization, like for the community or the portion of the community we represent, kind of we have this lens of thinking about things about, you know, if you're not thinking of standard usages or standard communication methods, like it could be a great dialogue. Like where we get educated, they may think about things they hadn't thought about before. So I I like that idea.

They're pretty active, so that's a good idea.

Yeah. They're very active. They're usually at the events when they have them on

Park Street.

Mhmm. And I I knew I do know a couple of people. I have to remember their names and see if I can contact them and ask more information. Oh, like, I have the sort of stuff, so I can find them that way. Mhmm.

The only other other opportunity to do possibly something like this again would be on the neighborhoods that maybe do the I think it's called the night out. Mhmm. I know we do it in the Fernside where I live, and I don't know where other other neighborhoods do, but that would also be a way to, again, just bring information to the local community at that point that that certain neighborhood and get them involved. And so hopefully, each little neighborhood can have their own also support network and and build from that. So, I think, yeah, I I think like you were saying, like, if you get that emergency alert, you're like, if you have a community that's close by within your community, I think that's that's soothing in itself and so you've you know the drill, you know the people, you've meant, you've met them, and you know the bigger group, which is the city of Alameda and fire departments and whomever is responding.

But I think having all of that would be would be relaxing during a horrible situation. Yeah.

Wonderful. Other areas of focus, like, if we're comfortable moving on from I think that was a great topic. Yeah.

Ideas. One thing I wanted to bring up that kind of moves into, I guess, like networking opportunities, which is the idea of outreach. Mhmm. When Lisa Hall and I were at the fourth of July parade Mhmm. It was so fun Mhmm.

Because there were a lot of community members that, you know, they were watching the parade and they would lock on to us, read our big sign, and then start clapping and cheering. And there's just a lot of and I know it's like, I don't know if people know who we are, but they seem enthusiastically supportive of the idea of this commission existing. And so it just made me think like there's probably a lot more we do to interact with the community. Mhmm. To try to balance like, you know, our time and availability, but certainly at city sponsored events. If there's, you know any interest in like having a booth or a table, I think that would be really great for

us to take advantage of. Yeah. I wholeheartedly agree, and I would be happy to man a booth at these events too.

It'd be so fun. Yeah.

I agree. And I would love to see an like kind of figure out a calendar, kind of like have targeted events, and then also have a standing agenda item, like in the build up to that where we revisit like, okay, what do we wanna how do we wanna show up? You know? And also, like, that puts it on the agenda. It also gives an opportunity, like, hopefully more, you know, community participation. Yeah. You know? But, like, maybe that won't happen yet, but, like, I think it will just help us, like, when we do show up, we'll Yeah. Have this more built out thought through Yeah. Presence. Because not to denigrate anything. Like you all actually showed up, so that's wonderful. I haven't done that yet, so that's great.

I think like the benefit of having a booth or something is you get more one on one interaction with the community. Yeah. And often in our commission meetings, we're like, oh, know, we hear about something and everyone's like, oh, I've never heard of this or I wish that other people in the community knew more about this because it would potentially be a benefit to the population of people with disabilities. So Mhmm. I feel like maybe look back through previous agendas to remember what all those things are, but like some of the grants and stuff that nobody knows about

Yeah.

Would be great to share at a booth like that where you could say, oh, know, here's something that we've heard about. Mhmm.

I'm thinking we could actually like even like recruit people for testing or you know, like for feedback. Like could you be part of our pilot pioneers or you know, like like we could just

Share word of the newsletter.

Exactly. Yeah.

That's what I gonna say.

Which has great content.

I read it all the

time. Yeah.

The newsletter is is the outreach but if nobody's aware of it or taking the time to read it or they're like, what is this? If they saw our faces and talked to us and knew who we were Mhmm. They might be more inclined to then, oh, yeah, that newsletter I remember. Yeah. They were talking about that. That might be

helpful. I'm excited about that. Mhmm. And I think because

I think the newsletter's

great. Mhmm. Is

there a list like a like a central list somewhere of those types of events?

Like, what are the city sponsors of events? Because I don't know what qualifies as city sponsored versus permitted

and Right. Right.

Which I'm fine with going to any

I'm thinking like ARPD type of, like, field day kind of, you know, things like that. Mhmm.

There's a couple of different places I can look for that. There is maybe a calendar of events that city sponsored. And then, of course, ARPD, I can check-in with them to ask if there's things coming up where they would want city representatives or even, like, if we were to volunteer and, you know, happen to be the commissioners or something. So, yeah, I think that's a great idea. I definitely wanna pursue that.

Mhmm. And then also, can you help us make sure we're Brown Act compliant? Yes. Actually, Yes. Like, earlier Yes. Conversation.

Chair Mornings, I was just going to ask that. Are there any restrictions that are places we cannot go? Or, like,

we can only have two people there and not Right.

Right. No. There are if we were to have three or more commissioners go to with the same event, we would just need to publish a special agenda or a special meeting announcement and say that it's a special meeting so that the commissioners can attend such and such event together. Okay. And that's how we would be compliant with that.

Great. But Great question. It's not a no. Correct. Yeah.

Wonderful. Be able to attend things like Alameda Pride, like, and stuff like that? Okay. Beyond just have to plan it out,

I think. Yeah.

Well, I'm always there.

Yeah. I think there was

What was the answer to that one?

I think it was yes. I think it's yes. Yes. Okay. Yes. Yeah. We can we could definitely look at some of those larger events as well. Yeah. Mhmm. So maybe

as a, like, kind of operating model for all of us as commissioners as we all navigate this, like, I've been on commissioner for a while, and I still have tons of questions when it comes to the Brown Act. But maybe, like, as these events pop up or we wanna attend either in our personal capacity or associated with the commission, if you have questions, again, like, further to, like, we do not wanna chill, like, our participation as residents much less what we can do as commissioners, we should just email Lillian with questions or just as a like, hey I'm thinking about doing this or can we bring this up and like just making sure everybody still feels empowered to participate. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I love that. That's great. Mhmm. And I think it also helps because I I feel like a recurring theme over many meetings has been, you know, is our scope wide enough? Are we focusing on the right issues? Like, what are we or this maybe an I statement. Like, I worry, like, I have this I have my personal experience I come to the table with, you know, as I participate in this. And then I'm always reminding myself it's more about it's not only physical disabilities. We need to think about other things. And so I just think that community engagement and just, like, being present and, like, more of a listening opportunity sometimes, like Yeah. It just seems like we'll we'll be able to show up better

Yeah.

Eventually. I agree. Yeah. Mhmm. So that's great.

So how do because I'm new, like, how would we go about setting something like that up as far as logistics? Is that something that we, the commissioners, worry about, a budget and all of that?

So I think I would still be the point person to set it up. For instance, with the fourth of July parade, Commissioner Bondsmith and former Commissioner Hall, like, coordinated the meeting of it and those sorts of things. But we had the supplies from the city for that little what kind of vehicle was that?

It was a bike bike car? Bicycle? Yep. What do you

call it? Like a Like

a pedicab? Pedicab.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you, commissioner Buehler. Yes. A pedicab.

Who's that? No problem. I'm happy to speak over the

The piece of god.

Yeah. Exactly. I know. A non face participant.

But as far as, like, what a budget would be or what level of engagement we can take to an event, I would need to clarify that with the city clerk's office because I'm not sure how that sort of thing gets established for commissions. Yeah. Thank you.

Yeah. Because I I think it would just be, like, the physical table, some kind of a sun shelter structure maybe. Mhmm. And then we already have a sign and so some chairs or something like that. And then whatever permitting needs to happen to get a spot.

Maybe something like, I don't know, some sort of game or activity that would get people engaged and Yeah.

Something

that would draw them over versus because I don't know, when I walk by and it's just people in a booth, a lot of the times I can't be the only one that just walks by because I'm like, I don't even know what they're offering. Right. And I'm too into you know, a lot of people might be too intimidated to go and talk to just people. But if there's something to draw them in there or a potential prize, could start a lot more conversations than if we didn't have that as an option.

That's a good idea. Yeah, I think a lot of the city boost at these events will have like stickers or bike bells, you know, something Yeah. With City Of Alameda on it. Yeah. But I have no idea how that happens.

I'm trying to think of like a adapted game Mhmm. That would be like, you know, come over and put this blindfold on and try to throw this ball into a basket or something like, I don't know. I'm just It's a little basketball. To get people to come over, think that's a great idea but I think we have to offer something for the community of people who would need some adapted sort of game. Or if you wanna try to see what it feels like to be visually impaired, we're gonna put on these dark glasses and ask you to do this thing.

That's act yeah. That's a great idea. It reminds me that MIT created this suit called the acronym is AGNES. It's like the age gain empathy

Oh, yes. Suit Yeah.

Where it's this it's a suit where the that mimics all of the the Sensations. Sensations. So, you know, your vision, your hearing, your mobility, like everything so that people can actually experience it before they experience it. Yeah. Something like that. Yeah. I love that idea. Yeah.

That's that's cool.

A game like that.

Just just to have the experience. Mhmm. And then that would be like, so this is who we are. Not that it's all just physical disabilities, but, you know, we're trying to get past obstacles. Mhmm. We're trying to create safe housing. We're trying to get safe entrance, safe bike, you know, obstacles. What obstacles do you have to get over? So maybe it's an obstacle course. I don't

know. Yeah. That's a great idea. I really like that.

I have to get creative.

Yeah. I'll think about it. Mhmm.

And then let us know if we're breaking any rules.

Yeah. Well that was the other thing

that

was

When

he gives things away, I don't know how.

But I'm like the liability like I don't let people try to I

know choke on I something. Was I was thinking all that too. Yeah. Can you do that?

There'll be like finger you know on the table. No. I love this. I love the creativity.

Then the other thing for networking opportunity if we're okay to move on. Yeah. Yeah. Networking opportunities was thinking about other boards and commissions that you might want to go visit or at least liaise with. Yeah. Think that's historically been done. Yeah.

I think I will confess, like in my time, I think we've talked about it as an idea and I'm not aware of there being official mapping mapping on, you know, where we have a commissioner for a designated counter board or counter commission. I love the idea of at least loosely kind of of interest where we think there's good crossover, good synergy, not necessarily a mandate that you go to those meetings and, like, you know, have a report out at our next meeting, but at least look at the agenda. Like, kinda keep track of the minutes, kind of have a Mhmm. A finger on that pulse of that. I I I feel like I wanna keep this, you know, as light touch with the like, a floor with no ceiling.

You know? Like, where we can you can do as much as you want with it, but not burden folks if they, you know, feel like it's too onerous. Mhmm.

Do you

know which boards are more active?

Yes. I we can go through that in just a moment. Commissioner Beuler has Yeah. Hand raised?

Please.

Well, had a similar idea as Commissioner Bondsmith except for the reverse. I was wondering who we might invite here to report out on specific projects maybe that they have upcoming in 2026 or 2027 maybe at this point. But perhaps the way to do that is to look at some agendas that are upcoming for those commissions or boards and then invite them here. I mean, off the top of my head, the one that stands out to me the most maybe is the library board. I know they meet pretty regularly.

They probably have a lot of programs that have a lot of that cross synergy for us. But then for ones that I really don't know much about, like, I think we have some, correct me if I'm wrong, a golf course commission, I don't know anything about that clearly, but are there things that they're doing or initiatives that relate to our community that we serve? So I was kind of thinking the opposite, but they could go together really well.

Not mutually exclusive at all. Mhmm. Yeah.

Yeah. Exactly. Exactly.

And I like the idea, like, I think, you know again, I don't wanna over commit or commit for others beyond myself. But I like the idea of, like, as a commission, this could be a way, like, we kind of direct some of our energy and attention, you know, and, like, we, quote unquote, get smarter or get educated on the agenda or like projects of the other commissions and then maybe have a targeted ask rather than say like, hey, can you come in and no offense, commissioner dealer or, you know, and I don't think is what you're proposing. Like, come in and tell us what you're doing or, like, tell us how you're already thinking about, you know, how you're incorporating folks with different needs potentially. But just maybe have a more pinpointed discussion or interaction. It could be a good or one way to do it, not necessarily the only way to do it.

And there are probably some boards where it's like, no. We really wanna like, more on the transportation level or the, you know, other ones that we get on a more regular basis.

Yeah. Exactly. I was thinking the same thing, Chair. I was thinking about how we would want to consider certain projects or agenda items that they have coming up. We'd obviously need to be a little bit more familiar or if they had anything in a general way that we thought they thought was applicable, then we would have might have to talk about those specific things versus, yeah, like you said, a general policy that they might be Mhmm. Talking about. And and that might open the conversation up for them to invite us if they have questions around certain areas of interest that overlap.

And then, Lillian, I don't see on here I know in previous times when we explored this avenue of commission work, I don't know if there's a police commission or I think there was something more like the patrol meetings or something like there was an opportunity. I don't see it on here, but, like, I definitely wanna make sure that is in the mix as well.

Yes. So the BEAT meetings are separate from commission or board meetings. Those happen I think they're, like, every other month or once a quarter or something, the the beat assignments rotate. I believe each beat or segment of Alameda gets two meetings a year. And I think that it would be very interesting to try to connect to those if at all possible.

Mhmm. So maybe that looks like a commissioner just going to their respective beat meeting for their segment of Alameda and hearing what they share there. And we could, yeah, see if there's some way to overlap some of that community engagement as well. Okay. And then if you don't mind, I'll just quickly go through just some of the highlighted ones that are active from the list that might be maybe not appropriate is the right word, but relevant to us potentially.

So commissioner Beeler, just so you're aware, I'm going through there's a general web page on the Alameda website, just boards and commissions. It's just a list. So I'm just gonna highlight some of the ones that are actively meeting and that might be, you know, reasonable overlap for us. Great. So the civil service board is staffed by our human resources department.

So that's kind of an interesting one that could be, you know, just talking about system policies and different things within, like, the employment and staff world. It is open to the public. It is staffed by residents of Alameda as any other commissioner board. So if, you know, employment type of things are of interest. Moving forward, I did not highlight the Gulf Commission because that the form that that commission has taken has shifted over the years. So it's probably a better use of time to look at recreation and park commission in general. Commissioner Lyons, did you wanna say something?

I'll wait.

Okay. And then there's, of course, the library board, which was already mentioned. I think that would be a priority for sure because they do have a lot of programmatic and service things, you know, at work all the time. The planning board, which is about development, improvement, and beautification of the city. And then, the Public Art Commission, if that's of interest, maybe to talk about representation of disability, with an art.

Public utilities board, that's an AMP one, so I don't know if that would be of interest to c p sorry. Commission on Persons with Disabilities, but maybe. Recreation and Park Commission, of course. Social Service Human Relations Board, their little blurb is to, the social service needs of the people of Alameda and to encourage the formation of private social welfare welfare organizations to serve unmet needs. And so that is a pretty important board for social resources. And then the Transportation Commission, just like it sounds. And that's it for that list. Commissioner Lyons, what did you want to say probably about the Gulf Commission?

Yeah, I know it's changed. So it's not what it used to be in terms of the Gulf Commission, the way it did function. I'm not really a 100% sure how it is now, but I'd still like to investigate something with with the golf course. And I don't know for sure, but I don't know that recs Alameda Parks and Rec really have anything to do or to say over the golf course other than I know it is its largest park in Alameda.

Correct. So the director of ARPD, Justin Long, he staffs the golf commission. And so, basically, he'll update them on any golf related things, and they'll update him. And then he will share that with the Rec and Park Commission as well. So it's not that the golf commission would, not be a place to go, and I think we could absolutely learn from them probably just to even check it out. Oops. Excuse me. But what I was getting at is that the much of the content that's shared in the golf commission would also likely come up in the recreation and park commission plus extra things. But I see what you're saying that I think it would still be

Yeah.

Yeah, worth a visit.

Did you what did you mean by Justin staffs the golf commission?

Oh, like I staff this commission. So just the staff representative slash secretary person. He doesn't

select the commissioners, I don't think. Like Justin Long doesn't appoint the commissioners.

No. Okay. I wasn't I've never been to a golf commission meeting, so I don't know who's there. So anyway, whatever. Okay. I'll check it out.

Yeah. Yeah. And please let us know. I will. Okay. So just the point of going over the list was just to, you know, bring those to your attention since there's a lots of boards boards and commissions that are active within Alameda and to talk through if any of those stand out to anyone here.

Lillian, did those commissions function similarly to ours where a lot of the content that we discuss is brought to us by different planning groups? Or are they their like, they crafting their own initiatives and bringing them to city council? Does that make sense?

It depends. So the planning board is one where they definitely offer stamps of approval before they get to council. So they are an important stop in the process. Transportation is similar. So some of those because they're related to infrastructure and development. And then

I also don't see the school board. Sorry. I just noticed that.

Yeah. AUSD is not Oh, it's not us.

I see. Okay. Oh, interesting.

That was

something we used to talk about, like, having a liaison with I just remember early in my days in the commission, like, there was a lot of talk about wanting to make sure we had a presence there. You know, that was a big area of focus.

Yeah. I I would definitely like to see if there's a way to connect us to the school district a little bit. I wrote that down as one of even the community engagement ideas is to contact the AUST to see what we can do because I think there's probably some ways that we can engage with the, you know, special education programs and different things that would be Okay. Maybe it's maybe it would be very simple to just, like, join in or maybe it'd be I'm not sure. So I would love to try that.

As far as, like, the question about initiatives and crafting those initiatives and things, it really depends on the the topic. And and so the board themself is not going to craft something and then submit it to city council. But just as we might receive a presentation and have, you know, insight and and feedback that they can take and develop after, some of these have a little bit of that, you know, planning board and transportation, I think, would be the two, and social services where they maybe those are the three where they can actually be pretty active as opposed to I don't wanna say passive, but you advisory. Yes. Thank you. Advisory is better. That's what I meant. Yes.

Well, we do have two commissioners not here tonight, so maybe that gives us an opportunity for all of us to mull over Mhmm. Opportunities that we're interested in. Maybe we revisited this when we have a full commission, you know, rather than folks, like, calling dibs on anything. I don't know if anybody's prepared to do that at this point.

Sure. We could do that. We could revisit it. And then just since you mentioned that, commissioner Lipp did get back to me that he would he is still curious about pesticides or types of treatment at public landscaping, parks, etcetera, and just would is curious about some of those environmental choices that the city has made. So I am following up on that for him slash us to see what that could look like.

Mhmm. Great.

Yeah. I like the idea of of thinking about the commissions that might be useful to kind of create a deeper relationship with and using the agendas probably to to drive some of that information gathering, at least for me. I know some of these some of these commissions have pretty long meetings, and so it may not be feasible to go, like, I think the transportation committee. But looking at the agenda and using that as a source

Mhmm.

To kind of filter how we wanna

interact. Yeah. Like in my experience, like some of the, like, real highlight moments have been when I feel like we've really just chimed in with questions or thoughts, like, for a transportation plan and just, you know, that's where I feel like there's been a real value add. And so I'm just, like, hoping that we can maybe hone in on some of those Mhmm. Opportunities to just say, like, hey. Think about this, you know, and just kind of get in a little bit earlier. Alright. And then possible presentations, is that receiving, not giving? Okay. Just triple checking.

And I think maybe I mean, I think we have an organic opportunity Mhmm. Like coming out here, like unfolding with other like asking other commissions, you know, as we find something of interest, as we participate or review agendas and just say like, oh, we'd like to learn. I feel like we've had a couple of suggestions already

Yeah.

In this discussion about cert, for example, you know, and just trying to Mhmm. Get smarter, have that overlap. Mhmm. Any other thoughts on possible presentations?

Now I'm curious commission agendas and kind of looking through those and seeing if we might wanna have a voice with some of the other discussions that they're having. So I'm not sure.

Me either. I think to clarify a bit of the process too, and then I'll get to commissioner Buehler is, for some of those, as as you're reviewing the agendas, if there's topics that stand out to you, just so I understand, are you then hoping to have, like, that same presentation come before this commission, or you're hoping to actually hear from people who serve on those commissions?

The first.

Okay. Alright. I just wanna make sure I understood what what we are asking. Okay. Thank

you. Mhmm.

Commissioner Beeler?

I want to have more up frequent updates. Lynette, I know this is a lot of work for you, but the the see click fix, some sort of regular cadence, whether it's once or twice a year. I think we were looking at data from 2024 when we revisited it in the 2025. So just want to throw that out there. And then, of course, more the presentations we've been seeing, especially around some of the social programs and the transportation programs, I'm really curious to hear about the basic universal basic income programming, all the types of pilots and things like that.

I find it really helpful when folks come in and give us those presentations. And I'm sorry I don't have that full list, but I I know there's a few we've had regularly in the last, say, two years or so come before us, and I think we should continue those ones.

Thank you.

I'm like, oh, I feel like, oh, we could just ask anybody to I think one thing that has come up in different conversations is I don't know the acronym. East Bay Regional Parks and kinda like how they have I mean, there's such a presence here or like there it seems like sometimes our conversations are kind of like shut down because they're like, that's the part at East Bay Regional Parks. So Yeah. I wonder if there's a way to cajole them or get

something Yes. That's on my list for sure. Yeah. Because it has come up so frequently that I would be curious to see who, yeah, we could get to talk from East Bay Park. It should be obviously ideal. And if not that, then some sort of connection person.

Yeah. That would be great.

And I'll throw this out there, like and, like, I'm so late on this, but commissioner Hall was excellent in just kind of having a network. And I know she talked a lot about annual conferences and kind of Mhmm. Knowing what other similar community service oriented folks were thinking about and doing. And, like, another opportunity we may have is, like I don't wanna use the term, but it's just easy and it's late in the day, but like benchmarking with other Alameda County cities or East Bay cities or, you know, Bay Area cities about like what are their commissions doing, which Lillian, maybe you have that network kind of more at your fingertips and just under understanding and maybe drafting off progress that other commissions have made rather than us sitting here and I mean, I think our creative process is great, but I I'm also, like, happy to copy with pride and, you know, kinda learning from our neighbors. Mhmm.

So I don't know how to effectuate that, but that would be something that might be a good opportunity for us.

That's a great idea. Yeah. One group that I think it would be great to hear from again would be from the group that was working on, like, bus transportation. They came and spoke to us about changes they were proposing to make Oh, yeah.

I know which one. Bus service lines.

Mhmm. And then also, like, the bus pass Yeah. Group. I think those are two distinct groups, but I'd love to hear from them again.

Was that the not the transportation commission. Was it AC transit?

I think one yeah. AC transit was one. Mhmm.

I think there was also a presentation from our transportation department because they were talking about the program that they were piloting with Uber, Lyft, eRideshare services, and then paratransit struggles successes. So yeah, that was a pretty robust presentation. So I could check-in with them maybe because I think they just re upped that program. And then also, of course, Woodstock has had great success. So that's kind of a fun thing to hear about maybe for our accessible transportation in Alameda.

What is Woodstock? I'm totally ignorant. Like, I apologize. Oh. Yeah. Okay.

The little yellow boat is great.

Oh, how cute. Yeah.

See, like, events like like the opening day of woods, like, when I think there was something that the city had. Okay. Like like some kind of a wood stock party that we could attend. Fun.

Yeah. There's things

like opportunities like that.

That would have been great. Unfortunately, sometimes I don't hear about those things until it's too late. So I don't I that's I'm not throwing shade. I'm just saying sometimes if I can't plan ahead with for the group or even for myself, then it does make it tricky. But, yes, there's lots of those little things happening where we could just show up and and celebrate somehow. So I'll I'll keep that in mind for sure.

Yeah. And maybe a topic of discussion is, like, maybe adopting kind of a a default game plan. Like, if any one of us is interested and willing and, like, wants to go into something and it could just be an ambassador, quote unquote, for the commission and just, like, we have maybe a spiel or some way to remind people what I don't even know. Every other month, second Wednesday or, like, whatever our, you know, default cadence. I know it moves, but just, you know, maybe we can kinda come up with, like, kinda to your point about the emergency notifications.

Like, have something that, like, you're just programmed, programmed, like, and we're all comfortable and you don't feel like you're speaking out of turn. Like, we we kind of come up with a consensus. Like, hey, if you wanna go do that and you wanna tout the commission or, you know, advertise it in some way, like, here's a convenient, easy, quick way to do that.

Yeah make it a little lift Have

our have our elevator pitch Yeah That we can all know and be on the same page. Mhmm.

Right. Because I think that's part of my problem is like well I'm like do wanna have a long conversation? I'll tell you my, you know, my experience and this and that. But Yeah. You know.

We could have a a thirty second version and a Mhmm. Five minute version. Yeah.

I like it. I like it.

Maybe we could have pins made that say, ask me about the commission offers Right.

Definitely. What I'm thinking about or, like, a QR code to your newsletter or something. It's just, like Yeah. Super easy, you know, but just kind of like we can go. It's not a commission meeting, but it's like we're kind of spreading the word, like Yeah. Just as we you I'm very impressed with the amount of engagement and activity already that I've been hearing about. Mhmm. As you can tell, I'm slow on the uptick on the Woodstock. I'd like some other things, but I'm like, what great opportunities you're already out there and, you know Yeah. In a position to to advocate and Mhmm. Get the word out.

It'd be

kinda nice to have like a like a tier one and a tier two. Like tier two is like we got the table and you

know Yeah.

The whole setup

A potential brown act like disclosure Publish that thing. This happened.

Yeah. Versus we hear about something two weeks in advance and we wanna and we have the capacity to go. Mhmm. And it's like, I don't know, like a one of those board things that you can just stick in the dirt or something. Yeah. And then a little pin I like it. To represent.

Yeah. We need to be identified in some in some way. Mhmm. I was thinking, oh, we're gonna get t shirts or but a pin. A pin would be

I really like the idea of just ask me about it. Right? Like, because then we're not I don't have the burden of Yeah. Hi, I'm People

self select. Exactly.

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So

I think it comes up sometimes in my experience for me. I mean, it just happened today. It just comes up in conversation. I was at the pool and someone asked me something and we just got into this conversation and I the woman who I was speaking with, I said no, there's a commission of persons with disabilities. Because she told me she had a disability as well. I said oh, there's a commission disability in the city of Alameda. She had just moved here. She's from another country. And so she's like well, what is that? What do you what do you do?

It took me a second, like, we try to make sure people have access to everything. You know, but but people but people are interested know what it is, and it would be nice to have that thirty second blurb of,

you know, what we do. Yeah. It's this whole conversation is also making me just question, like, where do residents currently get all of their information from? Do we know? How many different sources or channels of information are there? What's the most used? What's the most reliable? These kind of things are the are what I'm wondering. And can we identify

Mhmm.

The best and most effective method of communication? Maybe we're not even using it yet, but how do we find that out? Like, how do we figure out how we're communicating and where there's room for improvement?

Yeah.

I think it's gonna be best for most and multiple. Yeah. Right? Like, I'm just anticipating what answers to your very good questions are. Like, I I just I doubt there's a one size fits all.

Yeah. And I'm wondering, are we are we hitting all the different options then? And and how can we improve on that? Because I feel like there's my limited experience here so far, the common thing I'm hearing is people don't know about us and when they find out, they're like, oh my gosh, I didn't know this is so cool. Everyone should know because just that the knowledge and the energy and the excitement is all there.

Mhmm. I agree.

And also maybe the reverse, like, how can we give people a voice if they maybe can't necessarily come to our meetings? And, you know, what information like, how do they reach out to reach us via other means if it's emailing you or see click fix, like deciding how we want to advertise. When we have those conversations that we pop up at, like, a city event Mhmm. And people say, oh, I have feedback about x y z. Mhmm. And you say, here's the channel to use. Yeah. Making sure that we have a consistent a consistent route for that information so it's not gonna get lost.

Mhmm. Yeah.

What what is the best way do you think? Because I can refer people to the website.

I say the ADA coordinator.

I mean, they can always directly contact me. That's totally fine. I've actually been asking myself the same question, Commissioner Kneedler, about there are several communication channels that the city uses, but what are people really engaging with? Because even when I did the website user testing session, I mean, was only it was such a small group of people, and yet none of them were aware that our website was as robust as it is. So I think it's I don't know. Maybe if the four or five of you wanna share, how do you get updates about Alameda and what's happening here? What do you turn to?

I was gonna say, like, I have such a clear answer, but it's so me like, it's so personal. Like but it's like I'm just saying it's, like, it's my experience, and I just don't like, I was, I wanted to answer your question, but I'm like but that's what works for me. But it's the website, you know, like the city of Alameda, .ca.gov or whatever it is. Like I go there and I'm like, do my best to navigate. And like, that's where I feel like when I'm trying to figure out anything government, city government related, that's where I start.

But But did you mean just like how did we know about Woodstock?

That kind of thing. Okay. Not just about like the existence of

the Yeah. Like how do how does one find out information?

Yeah. Information. What's going on

in In general, anything. Yeah.

Yeah. Sometimes I think it's just casual. Like I hear it from my wife who's playing golf. So she hears it from other people. Or I used to hear it from my patients. Or Alameda Peeps, I hear people love that. I've I've never done it, but everything used to Well, I saw it on Alameda Peeps. I like the Alameda Post. There's always a long list of activities of what's happening in Alameda that comes as an email. What else? I I think, yeah, I think those are the those are ways I usually just randomly find out about stuff. Yeah. I wonder

how much people are finding stuff like social media wise through the city. Because it's particularly younger generations and those are the younger generations or those that are more highly identified as being neurodivergent or diagnosed these days. So I guess, yeah, I'm also wondering about the digital, back to the digital accessibility.

The information like things like the Woodstock, like that kind of level of of stuff I I sometimes will see on Facebook, the city of Alameda's Facebook posts. I think because I like liked it or joined it at one point, and so they're like go into my feed. But that's how I learn about a lot of that off, you know, random stuff rather than going to the website and like thinking, let me see what's on this month. I'll just it comes to me. And then emails because I get all the ARPD emails about events that are happening.

I see. I think I'm they're more like family focused, like Yeah. Kid camps kind of stuff. But so email is how I engage. Does does that allow me to have like a TikTok?

I have no idea.

That's my

next question too. Do we have a social media manager for the city? Or like who does all?

We do. We do. And and commissioner Beeler, I'll be right. Sorry. I'll get you one second.

Yeah. All good.

Oh, thank you. To the social media point, you're absolutely right. Younger generations and people who you, you know, you want to cast this wider net for your events and your community engagement. And so obviously, you wanna pull in the younger generations as well, like, of all ages. But my question with that is, but do they intentionally follow the city of Alameda if they use Instagram or you know what I mean? Like, if they're using those social media platforms, are they like, oh, I should follow my local government. I don't know. That's Bad question. That's and that's not even, like, a pointed question. That's an honest question of Yeah.

You know? So so if if we don't know who who is engaging with our social media accounts or specifically Alameda owned, then is there, like, a third hand or third party that we want to engage with? You know, like a local organization that would then get our words to the pew like, you know what I do you know I mean? So it's like side stepping just our own official account, but, like, finding those ways. Like, TikTok is that's that's funny. We should be making reels probably. K. Commissioner Beeler, thank you.

Yeah. Lillian, I actually have the same kind of thread. I got off most of social media. I don't qualify as a as a young generation. I don't think anymore. Now that I'm quite the elder millennial, but I do use Blue Sky. And like commissioner Lyons, I actually get a lot of my information from the Alameda Post. So I think to your point, Lillian, I'm kind of getting my information through a third party but also on social media, and it's not through the Alameda.

Thank you.

No, I'm fine. It's cooled off, so do want me

to close that one or this one?

Whatever one you want. I can close this one. Yeah. Temperature change.

I'm a Bay Area person. I layer. I'm good. You missed it. It was so hot. When we got into the room.

The one thing I wanted to mention is that I get a lot of info. I go to the library a lot and so the library always has like a lot of posters and

I just I

just stand by there and just read them all. And then I'm like, oh, I wanna go to that and then I'll like take a picture of the QR code and then I'll put in my calendar. And so that might be like just making a flyer that can live there for months.

We can get it. We can make a QR code.

Yeah. Yeah. To the newsletter.

Yeah. Yeah.

That's what I think. Like we just have like some kind of landing zone, you know, like I think that's really my vision is like what do we like how do we wanna be like ask us. Okay. You know, and like what do we want that first pitch or, like, you know, kind of we're here reception area, like, to bring people in.

Yeah. Maybe if we could make, like, a a flyer that would work as like something that we could post at the library or at Mastic that we could also have

Mhmm.

On our person like to hand out Yeah. Or really show people. And it could have like basic information about the commission, website, QR code for the newsletter, and then like some kind of a link for if you have comments, questions, or concerns, here's what here's like the next step. Mhmm. And maybe it's see click fix or maybe it's emailing Lillian or like something so that people know where to go about how do we continue engaging.

And I'm kind of tempted to have a sorry. We're like kinda diving into the substance of it, but like I'm I'm tempted to have maybe not necessarily verbatim from our bylaws that we recently revisited, like kind of what the commission is or the I can't remember if it was a mission statement or whatever.

Yeah.

Maybe we don't maybe we truncate it a little bit just so it's not a wall of text. But like, just look at it again, like back to the blurb, like just something here's who we are, here's what we do, here's how to engage with us, here's here's a few, like, we call it sorry, like corporate lingo, like BKMs, best known methods. Like, here are things, like, if you have, like, things you need to do, like, to your point, like, also have some, like, helpful stuff, like, right there in the I like that idea. You know, because people may be going there and being like, but I wanna do something. Right. I don't know. I think there's a lot we could do with that. I don't like that idea. I wanna ask commissioner Lipp to bring puppies

for a future presentation. Second.

Right. Right.

I'm just

gonna throw it out there because I feel like we have so much, like, we can just ask for we want.

Want

puppies. Future agenda item. Exactly. That's why I'm like, put my wish list out there, my stretch goal.

Actually, thank you for bringing him up. Commissioner Lip has mentioned in the past the idea of having the social worker or a similar program manager from Faz Faz?

Friends of Alameda.

Okay. I never remember if it's Faz or Faz. Sorry. I don't know about the question. So the soft a. To have someone come before the commission to just talk through, you know, what they do as far as like therapeutic services go even within the organization. So that might be something we could also look at.

Only if they bring puppies. Yeah.

No. I'm kidding. With puppies.

Kidding. Not kidding.

Kidding. Not kidding. Just asking. Putting it out there. No. That I think that would be great. And I think, like, it would just out of curiosity, but also substantively, I think it's definitely within the mission. But what a different angle of serving different parts of our community. You know, I just think we could learn a lot. That would be really interesting.

Yeah. I I think that would be good. I just recently filled out an application for emotional support animals. So I think for for all kinds of disabilities, animals are good. I think that would be a great presentation. Probably educate some people.

Yeah. Well, and just that just and absolutely and I remember commissioner Lip talking about, you know, just as folks age at home and, like, you know, trying to keep their animals. But I mean, I just think it's such a or just like a very interesting way to, like, engage with it.

Kind of off topic, but it reminded me of another question I had about emergency preparedness and people with disabilities and their pets, like Oh, that one came up. Okay. It's been talked about before?

Well, just like trying to get folks to evacuate and like if they aren't willing to leave with their pet.

Yeah. Making sure they have somewhere they can bring their pet as well. Yeah.

I don't think yeah. I don't think we talked about that aspect at our most recent presentation, but a prior one Mhmm. It did come up where they they had had someone mention that to them and that we were trying to integrate it into the plans Okay. To have like a pet space and a re wherever the reunification area is Alright. So that people with animals can safely do that.

I think that when captain Andrews was here, that was brought up and and discussed. And I can't remember if they had a plan in their emergency plan or if they did, they were reviving it. But it it was brought up in exactly like what you said. Mhmm. A place to have the animals sheltered and housed. Food and water and Mhmm.

Okay. That relief.

Do you think that we could get someone from the library to come talk about their programs? That'd be great.

I think so. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Definitely. I wanted to ask you all if you would be interested in possibly hearing from ARPD, from the Recreation and Park department. Okay, great. About what they're doing to be more inclusive in their services and programs. Or I think even just to offer insight or ask direct questions about something along those lines.

Absolutely. Okay. You took the words right out of my mouth. I was literally gonna say that because you brought up that you get the emails about camps and stuff. And Mike's gonna say, so how do you feel about that? Do you see, are you finding things that you like and what you see? Yeah, that's awesome.

Okay, anything else that pops into your mind?

I have this idea, and I don't want it to sound like a complaining thing, but it's something that's crossed my mind about the misuse of the accessible parking spots. And so when persons who may be in the spot that don't have a placard displayed or a license plate, there's some frequency in some specific locations in Alameda that it happens over and over again. And I I brought it up in a a group that I'm involved in just randomly to hear about it, and the one of the persons in the group said that where they lived, they were able to, as a citizen, write a ticket by They had some sort of app where they could take a photo and then it'd be submitted. And I was just curious about, first of all, if it's if it's a priority, if it's a complaint, if the traffic department, if the police department has that as a complaint, or if there anybody's aware of it, or if that program could even possibly exist, and what it what it would be.

So Also, how does it rank against street sweeping? Like, of traffic enforcement. Well, I No. I'm just saying, like, there's this is my sorry. This is my, like, maybe my editorial comment. But I feel like there's a there's a prioritization of that or, you know, that's something that I have observed personally. Like, there are quite a few tickets. And maybe just the area where I live, it's, you know, a very active, like, two different days a week. There's street sweeping, you know, a pretty regular cadence of traffic enforcement going through. And I'm just wondering, like, as a priority, like, are there stats or, you know, like a policy towards Yeah. Misuse mean of disabled or handicapped spaces.

Well, I have a phone number of the person that I can call in the city of Alameda Police Department because it came up and I had a question about it. But I think for something like that, it's such a gnome.

It's, yeah.

These things are random.

That's fair.

And so

Fair enough.

You

know, But you're, like, it sounded like you were saying there's kind of a habitual

Oh yeah, could tell you the spots, but I won't waste your time now. But, and I've jokingly said, when I call the non emergency phone number, and I say, you know, I'm at this location, and I joke to the officer if they do show up, they do, but sometimes by the time they do, the person's gone. I see. If you wanna make a lot of money for the city of Illinois, just just sit here

all day. Like it's regular.

Because this will happen all day long. And it's gonna be in front of a post office, or an ice cream store. And that's pretty much every single time.

Yeah.

Yeah. So, anyway, it's not a high priority. It's just, it's just, I mean, I don't mean to say it's not a high priority. It's, it's, it's, it's

a pet peeve of mine, I guess. It's squarely within scope. Mean, I think it's a

Yeah.

Very fair inquiry. Mhmm. So

Yeah. I I think is there a way to do that on see click fix that that it happens with enough like, isn't enough real time to do anything about it? Because that has a lag.

Yeah. No. I don't Yeah.

This issue has come up on a few occasions where I've been directly involved, and I'm sure it's it's come up more than that. So, of course, you'll see click fix. But, again, with the lag, it's going to be basically just documenting, like, oh, this is a trouble zone. It would be my understanding of it. And then there are direct contact information that you can try, like our our traffic enforcement department.

If it's on public city property, they're very good about responding as fast as possible to help with enforcement of that. If it's just general oh, sorry. I keep hitting this thing. If it's just general public property, like like a grocery store parking lot or, you know, something like that, then that can be up to the private management to then enforce it. So you can, of course, call APD and the police department and they can respond, but they are going to have to collaborate with the private management.

It it's a little bit funny how it parses out to just end up feeling like, okay. What what is the policy here and what is the plan for these things? So I think it would be an interesting topic for sure. Just in general, citywide accessibility.

Mhmm. Yeah. Alright.

Any other ideas for networking, areas of focus, future agenda items. We have a lot to work with. Yes, Mr. Bondsmith.

In previous years, I think the city has partially sponsored people to attend ITA focused conferences.

Think That was Commissioner Hall. Commissioner Hall.

Used to I think and she attended I think virtually

Mhmm.

One of those previously. I don't know if that's something that would be a possibility in the future. And, you know, she would have more details on how that mechanistically happened. Mhmm. But there might be opportunities for us to get more education on, you know, somehow, how the laws work. I think that was the focus of that conference, but there might be other things. Think that's in the spring.

Look how I remember her talking about one that was like the conference. Yes. I don't remember what it

hugely beneficial.

Mhmm.

Yeah. That's the Pacific ADA Network. Yeah. She really appreciated their conferences. They do a lot of really good webinars, all of the different nationwide ADA networks. I think there's, you know, gosh, maybe nine different ones, based on the region. They do, webinars all the time, and then also one of them will host, like, the nationwide conference each year. So, yes, that's definitely something I would encourage everyone to subscribe to or all those newsletters, specifically the Pacifica ADA Network, and then just watch for those webinars and things. But I can follow-up on the more the conference or something like that.

I just had a random idea. Disability Pride Month. Yes. Is it June, July?

Yeah. It's July, actually.

July. It'd be kinda

cool if

we hosted some sort of event, like maybe some sort of screening, like community screening or something. So there's a lot of activism in the Bay Area that led to the ADA and there's some pretty interesting films I've seen. And actually, people that were involved in that advocacy that still live and are active in the Bay Area, it could be interesting to have a community event or like a screening that we could also let people know we exist at and also bring people together and maybe even get some of the people that participated in the film. Like Jim Lebrecht is producer and director and involved in that movement, and he's local. Mhmm.

That's a great idea. I think last year, the city put up some banners

like above For the twenty fifth or I don't know thirtieth Yeah. I knew it. Yeah. Yeah. Of the eighty eighth passage. Yeah. I love that idea. Great idea. Mhmm. And it seems like it's not astronomically budget heavy.

I don't think so. I mean, because I see I know if wherever we randomly get information, I know there's city movies that happen at other times.

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. That's a great idea. The library was really helpful with me last year. We did an autism awareness, like, the celebration month in April. So we did a display of books and authors. And then, of course, the banners for the the anniversary, which wasn't a lot but it was something since it was my first year on. But I would I love the idea of a screening or some proper event to celebrate Disability Pride Month in July. That would be great. So I can follow-up with ARPD and library. Okay. Yeah. Anything else?

Idea. Great a

discussion commissioners. Thank you. So motion and a second to close this agenda item.

I'll move to close it.

Okay. I'll second. Okay.

Alright. Thank you. So we've closed that agenda item, and we'll move now to commission communications. So I know you all just, communicated quite a bit, but if there's anything specific that you wanted to relay far as upcoming events or, anything you're working on that you'd like to share with the commission, now is the time.

I don't have anything.

Okay. Commissioner Buehler?

Nothing on my end.

Okay. Thank you. So for the next is just staff communications. I already mentioned it briefly, but I'm in the works to do another website user testing session. So in February or March, I'm hoping I'm communicating with the independent for center sorry. Independent of oh my goodness. Center for Independent Living, thank you, in Berkeley to see if they'll help me promote to their, community base. And just be since it is virtual, you don't have to be a resident of Alameda to audit our website. So I'm hoping that something comes of that. But as I submit those details, I will definitely share it with you all if you don't mind sharing it with your audiences as well.

And then I already mentioned this as well, but the digital accessibility with that DOJ rule, that's something that we're working on across the city. Many departments, are in the works of auditing their web pages, hopefully, and, working on what that looks like to be more accessible in the digital space. And so that's that. And then the sidewalk program continues. We just had the city council earlier this month.

They re upped it again. So we're doing another year under the pilot, and it's just been a very successful program as far as almost 70% compliance when property owners are notified that they have sidewalk repairs that need to be done adjacent to their property, that they are participating in the program, getting the repairs done, paying for the work. And so that's just that's huge. As a side note, I spoke with a representative, in Oakland. They administer a similar program, and they have a less than 30% compliance rate.

So feeling very excited about our sidewalk repair program and how it's going. And then I believe that's it for my little portion. Oh, sorry. One other thing. I mentioned this last time, but just wanna remind everyone since it's this month, January 22 is the point in time count.

So this is a nationwide thing that's done where simultaneously representatives from each local area, goes out. This one starts at 5AM, and they it's basically like a census for people who are experiencing, unsheltered homelessness. And, and so they will go and they'll connect with them and ask them questions, offer resources, or purely just mark it down that there's a person, an adult person or something like that. So it's basically a census, like I said. They're looking for volunteers who might want to participate in that.

For people who are interested, you can also help pass out care bags and again, resources in the area. And then if you're not able to do the point in time count, there is a homelessness donation drive being managed by our youth advisory committee from the Alameda Collaborative for Children, Youth, and Their Families, and they have a donation list. So there's a QR code where you can scan and just donate things like socks, toiletries, you know, different things like that. Okay. Alright. That was it for my staff communications. So if there's nothing else, we can go ahead and move to adjourn.

Anybody wanna move to adjourn?

I'll move to adjourn.

Okay. And a second? Second. Okay. Thank you, commissioners. Have a great evening.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, everyone.