2026-09-15 - Accessibility Advisory Committee

00:02Good evening, everyone. This is the

00:05September meeting of the Accessibility

00:07Advisory Commis- Commission. This is the

00:10regular monthly meeting. Today is

00:12September 15th, 2026. It's 4:27 p.m. My

00:17name is Patricia LaFour. I'm the

00:18Director of Human Rights and

00:19Accessibility

00:21uh for the City of Worcester.

00:23We do have enough members to go ahead

00:25with the meeting this evening. And so,

00:27I'm going to take a roll call of the

00:28members present. Dawn Clark, our staff

00:32member in our office who will be taking

00:34over as staff liaison next month, is

00:36going to partially run the meeting. I'm

00:38going to partially run the meeting. And

00:39then we have our Vice Chair who's

00:41ultimately the one who's she's by

00:43default through us running the meeting.

00:45So, um if you have to speak, you can ask

00:48for her permission to speak. That would

00:50be great. I'd appreciate that. And I'm

00:52going to take a brief roll call right

00:53now, please. Vice Chair Elizabeth Miska.

00:57>> Elizabeth Miska present on the phone.

00:59>> Thank you.

01:00Member John Finn.

01:02>> John Finn here.

01:04>> Thank you. Member Dee Karuna.

01:07>> Dee Karuna here.

01:09>> Thank you.

01:10Member Steven Stalberg.

01:16Member Kate McGrath.

01:19>> Kate McGrath here.

01:21>> Very good. Thank you all. First of all,

01:23I wanted to say um

01:25sadly, today is Kate's last meeting with

01:27us. Um and I wanted to acknowledge that

01:30and thank her for everything she's done

01:32for all of us, uh for us in the office

01:35working. She's a really good partner,

01:37especially when working for an event.

01:39And uh I really enjoyed getting to know

01:42you, and I wish you all the best, and

01:45hope our paths cross again soon.

01:48>> Same here, Pat. Thank you for all the

01:51opportunities this commission has um

01:55given and offered. And I do hope we

01:57continue to work together and um our

02:01paths continue. Thank you.

02:03>> so.

02:05I'm admitting Steve Stollberg. Steve,

02:07are you present?

02:11Steve?

02:17Steve, are you present?

02:24Hi, Steve.

02:37Steve, are you present?

02:44Well, for the record, I show that I

02:46admitted Steve Stollberg at 4:30. So,

02:49I'm not sure why he's not responding.

02:52Um but in any event, we're going to move

02:53ahead here with our agenda. Um it's very

02:57>> isn't on.

02:59You know, maybe his microphone isn't on.

03:02>> No, it looks like it's on. Steve, can

03:04you hear me?

03:05>> Yeah, I can hear you.

03:06>> Oh, perfect. Good. Thank you. So, I have

03:09you admitted. Um we now have We had

03:11quorum before. We definitely have quorum

03:13with you here. I appreciate everybody.

03:15Um we have Liz, we have Daria, we have

03:19Kate, Steve, and John Finn. And we have

03:23Don and myself tonight with the

03:25interpreters and a few members of the

03:27public. So, um again, I I wanted to just

03:31say you missed this, I think, Steve.

03:32Tonight is Kate's last meeting with us,

03:34and I wanted to thank her for her

03:36service and tell her how much I

03:39appreciated working with her, getting to

03:40know her, most especially on the ADA

03:43events in the park um behind City Hall.

03:47I think they were fun. I think they were

03:48really tremendous. And she did a lot of

03:51work that helped us out in the office

03:53and really helped make the event a

03:55success. So,

03:57so having said that, um I we have the

04:00minutes to approve for April 21st, 2026

04:03and July 21st, 2026.

04:07Do we have a motion to approve those?

04:12>> Yeah, I motion to approve them.

04:15>> That's Daria?

04:16>> Yes.

04:16>> Yes.

04:18>> And this is Liz Miska Theron.

04:20>> Thank you, Liz.

04:23So, we have a motion here to approve the

04:25minutes of April 21st and July 21st.

04:30Excuse [clears throat] me, a roll call

04:31of members present, please. Vice Chair

04:33Liz Miska.

04:35>> Liz Miska votes I.

04:38>> Member John Finn.

04:39>> John Finn, I.

04:41>> Member D. Karuna.

04:43>> D. Karuna votes I.

04:45>> Member Steven Stahlberg.

04:47>> I.

04:48>> And member Kate McGrath.

04:50>> Kate McGrath, I.

04:53>> Thank you all, that motion carries.

04:56>> I like to take the next agenda item.

05:00>> Okay.

05:01>> It's update on accessibility policies.

05:05Can you hear me?

05:07And this

05:07>> Yes.

05:08>> I I like to introduce Patricia the

05:10fourth who is our human resource and

05:13accessibility

05:15uh director. And she's going to help us

05:17with some policies.

05:19Thanks, Pat. Come on.

05:21>> Yes, okay. So, I wanted to let the

05:24members know that we have expanded our

05:28training for reasonable accommodation

05:30and the policy as well.

05:32Um internally we have rewritten the

05:33policy.

05:35Um

05:36I predominantly rewrote it for the

05:37entire city within the last year. We

05:40implemented it for the last year and um

05:43it's been greatly successful. We have at

05:45least quadrupled the amount of people

05:48that have gone through the program. Our

05:50office oversees in conjunction with

05:53one of the labor relations attorneys the

05:55program, so it's no longer vested in the

05:58department supervisors themselves. We've

06:01made it a confidential process. Um

06:04most of the employees have been

06:05extremely happy with the outcome. And

06:09obviously it's our goal to if people

06:11have something going on to accommodate

06:13them as we can and then move on and then

06:16retain our valuable workforce as we can.

06:20We've had very few very limited

06:24unsuccessful

06:25uh cases. I would say 99% have been

06:29highly successful, so we're pretty happy

06:31about that.

06:33Uh we also expanded training for the

06:37youth services people that are doing the

06:39parks

06:40trainings and we also

06:42train both the actual youth employees

06:45and the youth the the division of youth

06:47staff who are actually quite impressive

06:51in their knowledge of what

06:52accommodations are. I think because

06:54they're really familiar with working

06:56with schools and school-age kids and

06:58parents who are advocates for their

07:00children.

07:01That went very well over the summer.

07:04Obviously it's wound down now because

07:06the programs are winding down as we get

07:08out of the uh summer.

07:11We also have incorporated

07:14uh language access, especially American

07:17Sign Language access through Language

07:19Line

07:20in our new employee orientation. We have

07:22broad broadly expanded language access

07:26through our participation in the Welcome

07:28America

07:29audit of the city.

07:31I don't know if it's been announced, but

07:34the city was given three stars in this

07:37national review of um

07:40policy

07:42programs etc. for immigrants. Um We had

07:45to essentially put a team together,

07:48answer all these questions, provide

07:49information, and then Welcome America,

07:52which is similar to the Human Rights

07:54Campaign, came in and audited us. And

07:57so, we initially got a two, and then we

08:00challenged the review of some things,

08:02and we just got boosted up to a three.

08:04So, there's actually going to be some

08:06type of a reception at City Hall, I

08:08think, next month. Um so, watch watch

08:11for that if you can. Um I'm sure when we

08:14get that to give out to the public, Dawn

08:16will circulate circulate that to

08:18everyone.

08:19Um again, the language access policy,

08:23I rewrote a well, created a language

08:25access policy for the city. We're still

08:27in the

08:29We're still reviewing that

08:30in our office internally, but we are

08:33rolling that out to various departments.

08:37We've expanded language access to the

08:39Worcester police, Worcester fire. We've

08:41even expanded language access to um

08:45the medical providers for the city,

08:47because we've had instances where we've

08:49sent individuals for physicals, like

08:51pre-employment physicals, who were

08:54limited English proficiency people, and

08:56they were unable to communicate with

08:58them. So, we have done a lot on that

09:00front.

09:02In terms of accessibility and

09:04accommodations, not sure if everybody

09:07knows, but we've they've made quite a

09:09few improvements on the paver issues

09:12that are out and around City Hall. I

09:14believe that they were addressed

09:16adequately. Um we gave them pretty

09:19specific list of things that needed to

09:21be looked at. Kate, I don't know if

09:23you've looked at that yourself, what

09:24your thoughts are. I'd happy happy to

09:26have you chime in and tell what your

09:28thoughts are about those repairs.

09:32>> Uh the thank you, Pat. I Last time I saw

09:35them was I want to say

09:38July, maybe also like last month. I did

09:44see some. I took a photo. [snorts] There

09:46was some patched and some still like

09:48especially in front of City Hall. There

09:51was some patched, but some also

09:54deteriorated. I figured they were still

09:56working on them, but if they're done,

09:58then

09:59maybe not. There's still [clears throat]

10:01some on French Street, but I don't know

10:03if they're just making their way around.

10:06>> If you want to send me that, I'll

10:08forward that on because my understanding

10:11was they did quite an exhaustive I mean,

10:12I was going over there every morning to

10:14check in and see what was going on. And

10:16it seemed like they had, you know, it's

10:18possible that they missed some, I guess.

10:20I I'm not going to make any excuses for

10:21anyone.

10:22>> Who knows? And I also didn't thoroughly

10:24check when I was there most recently

10:26last week either. So

10:28>> So why don't you send me what you have

10:29and we'll take a peek at it.

10:32Okay?

10:32>> Absolutely. Thank you.

10:35>> You're welcome.

10:35>> I just want to shout out to them for for

10:38fixing those pavers. It's awesome that

10:40we can actually use the whole sidewalk,

10:42especially on the Franklin Street side.

10:44So

10:45>> No, absolutely. Absolutely.

10:47And that's all I have for item number

10:49three, Don.

10:51>> Okay, thank you, Pat.

10:52>> You're welcome.

10:54>> Let's move on to the fourth item, the

10:57update City Hall accessibility items.

11:00This is part of what I call a transition

11:04plan. You may know and may not know that

11:08they and as far as Chamber,

11:11there's been several pieces done. Last

11:14year, they put in a separate space for

11:18people using chairs to speak from the

11:22gallery from the audience. And that

11:25worked out well. There's also been a um

11:29a a push button at the chamber door for

11:35our

11:36for our counselor who uses chair.

11:40They were also in They were also added a

11:44piece underneath this chair so that it

11:48could be elevated so he can sit at the

11:50chair. So, that's great.

11:53The two restrooms have now it got

11:58push buttons for entrance to the

12:02restrooms.

12:03The accessibility restrooms.

12:07I think that is the whole

12:10uh

12:12for the second

12:13third floor improvements that we have at

12:16this point.

12:17So, that's

12:19Are there any questions about that?

12:26Don't hear questions.

12:28Can we move on to

12:30uh the fifth item?

12:33New members.

12:35The we will have two new new members for

12:38October meeting.

12:41>> Well, we will have Dawn I will make a

12:43slight correction. We will have our

12:45friend John Finn will be reappointed or

12:48has been reappointed and we have a new

12:50member as well coming in um

12:53uh who's a member of the disability

12:55community. Um we are still actively

12:57soliciting members for this board. Um

13:01and we actually did that extremely

13:03actively on election night by handing

13:06out um flyers at all the election um

13:11areas uh for districts 2, 3, and 4

13:13particularly which we have a big gap in

13:17um in our boards and commissions in our

13:19office. So, um we're we're working very

13:22diligently. We're trying to get HR to

13:24really pull some people in here and um

13:27if anyone knows anyone,

13:29they can contact the office, they can

13:31contact me, they can contact Dawn, and

13:33we can direct them.

13:36>> Thank you, Pat, for that addition.

13:40Uh, and number

13:43six, [snorts]

13:44we're we're hoping to do elections in

13:47December.

13:49So,

13:50uh, we're waiting for December for the

13:53new members

13:55to and John

13:57to um, to uh,

13:59elect new officers.

14:02Uh, anything about that, Pat, that needs

14:06to be said?

14:08>> No, but our our point in waiting is not

14:10because we don't want to have people

14:12elected. We We want to have a robust

14:15process, and we'd like to have as many

14:16seats filled as we can. And that's

14:19really what has been the determining

14:20factor as to with all the boards and

14:23commissions, um, we have several that

14:25really have no

14:27locked-in leadership right now, um,

14:29because of lack of membership numbers.

14:32So, um, we're really trying to work

14:34diligently on that.

14:39>> And, uh, I am number seven of the AAB

14:43applications and notices. Uh, there was

14:47a hearing on 69 Grove Street, and

14:52the other actions were done for Pleasant

14:56Elm Street, and uh, 2247

15:01Franklin Street. Uh,

15:05So, that is

15:08there are no uh, city properties

15:11involved in that.

15:13So,

15:15we really unless there are people on the

15:18on the um,

15:20on the meeting that want to speak to

15:22those issues,

15:24uh we can move on.

15:27Uh

15:28the next item is I I we we knew this

15:32would be a short meeting. The next item

15:35is uh on the

15:37uh our announcements and I wanted uh

15:41Kate and

15:42for your last meeting, do you have the

15:45agenda there and can you read the

15:47announcements?

15:50>> Yes, Don. This is Kate. I do have the

15:53agenda.

15:55The announcements are first

15:57announcement,

15:59tour of City Hall for people

16:02disabilities and allies.

16:05That has already occurred on Tuesday,

16:07September 8th.

16:09It was at 10:00 a.m. to noon at City

16:11Hall.

16:13Uh next accessibility advisory

16:16commission meeting

16:18will be on Tuesday, October 20th of this

16:22year, 2026,

16:25starting at 4:30 p.m.

16:29And then the quarterly WRTA Paratransit

16:33Rider Forum,

16:36virtual. I do believe they mentioned it

16:38will be hybrid at the meeting last week,

16:42but that is not said on this paper. The

16:45paper says virtual for the quarterly

16:47WRTA

16:49Paratransit Rider Forum and that is on

16:53December 8th, 2026

16:57at 1:00 p.m.

17:00And emergency preparedness tip,

17:03you can always click here for a list of

17:05items and other helpful ways to prepare

17:09for any type of emergency

17:11on www.ready.gov.

17:17>> Hey, thank you for that update on the

17:19virtual for the for the quality of the

17:23CTA presentation by the form. That's

17:26helpful.

17:27That will be in the That will be in the

17:29minutes.

17:30Uh

17:32Uh we I do want to say that everyone

17:36offered wonderful ideas for next

17:40meetings.

17:41And thank you for that. And at this

17:44point um

17:46there is no other business, I would ask

17:49for a vote to adjourn.

17:56>> Uh John Finn, I make a vote to adjourn.

18:00>> Thank you, John. Second?

18:03>> D. Cronin, I second it.

18:05>> D., thank you.

18:07>> You're welcome.

18:08>> Uh let me take a roll call.

18:11Uh

18:13Um

18:14So, Liz Miska?

18:21Liz?

18:23>> Yes, Liz Miska.

18:26>> Okay, thank you.

18:29Uh John Finn?

18:30>> John Finn, I.

18:32>> Dahlia Corona?

18:34>> Dahlia, I.

18:37>> Uh

18:39Steve Silber?

18:41>> I.

18:42>> And Kate McGrath?

18:44>> Kate McGrath, I.

18:47>> Okay, thank you, everyone. And we now uh

18:52adjourn at 4:46

18:56p.m.

18:58>> Thank you.

18:59>> Thanks, Don.

18:59>> Everyone, have a good night. Bye now.

19:02>> Thank you.

19:04>> Thanks, Kate.