Access Appeals Commission
ACCESS APPEALS COMMISSION
MINUTES
Wednesday, August 23, 2000
1:00 P.M.
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Way, Room 416
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
The meeting was called to order by President Stables at 1PM and roll call was taken. A quorum of three members was present.
COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Mr. Linton Stables, III, President Ms. Enid Lim, Vice-President
Ms. Enid Lim, Vice President
Ms. Alyce G. Brown
Mr. Francis K. Chattilon
COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Ms. Roslyn Baltimore was absent
CITY REPRESENTATIVES: Mr. Rafael Torres-Gil, DBI
Ms. Susan Pangilinan, DBI
Ms. Miriam Stombler, Deputy City Attorney
Ms. Doris M. Levine, Reporter
2. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Mr. Michael Kwak, a member of the public and the Mayor’s Council on Disability, spoke of his attendance at these meetings for almost five years. He voiced his concerns about canceled meetings, complimented the Commission and stated that the meetings are a source of training for the public on disability issues.
There was no further public comment.
Public comment was closed.
3. REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION ITEMS:
There were no items to discuss.
4. COMMISSION ORIENTATION AND TRAINING SESSION:
Commissioner Brown and Commissioner Chattilon presented a short biography of themselves and their experience with disabled access issues.
Presentations by Miriam Stombler, AAC Counsel, Nancy Curvino and Jim Whipple, Building Inspectors, regarding general orientations topics.
5. COMMISSIONERS’ AND STAFFS QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS:
Mr. Torres-Gil requested Vice-President Lim to contact Ms. Aherne, Secretary to the Building Inspection Commission.
President Stables inquired if agendas and minutes are posted on the DBI Website.
President Stables discussed past cancellations and meeting notices and schedules.
Ms. Stombler responded with procedural guidelines regarding meeting notices and schedules.
6. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Edward Evans, an organizer for the Community Resources Action Project a nonprofit community organization project in District 6, emphasized that he files regular complaints with the Disabled Access Division and is a regular attendee at AAC meetings. He asked if administrative decisions can be appealed to the AAC. President Stables and Ms. Stombler responded yes if it applied to a particular case or property. Mr. Evans asked if an Administrative Bulletin can be generically appealed to the AAC. Ms. Stombler responded that she has reviewed that question in anticipation of the training and also because of discussions at a prior meeting. Her office’s interpretation of that is that this commission and the general statement of its authority under 105.3 are that the AAC has jurisdiction over the actions taken by the Department to enforce the Code and that they have taken the more narrow view that that means enforcing - take action with respect to a property, so that, generic Code Rulings are not at the point of enforcement. But once that Code Ruling is applied to a particular property, then it is an enforcement action.
Mr. Torres-Gil restated the actual code section 105.3.3 and that the issue of whether ’Aisles’ will come before the AAC in any way, is a future concern.
There being no further Public Comment the Access Appeals Commission adjourned at 3:25 PM
_________________________________________
Rafael Torres-Gil, Senior Building Inspector
Department of Building Inspection
Secretary to the Access Appeals Commission