DASH Board Meeting Notes

14 March 2006

First Federal Savings and Loan

***The location of next month’s meeting is up-in-the-air. ***
***See the note at the end of these meeting notes.***

Who was there
Joannie Murayama, Annod Bickley, Kay Harper, Pat Teal, Susan Kinne, Lynn Gressley, Julie Duke, Kaheya Cunningham, Nancy Obert, Leslie Bunton, Lesa Barnes

Guests: Zach NeSmith

Introductions
Zach NeSmith is a local actor and playwright. He is interested in working on disability issues.

Committee Reports

Education Committee

No meeting this month. Nancy continues to work with OPEPO to arrange a presentation.

Public Access

They are working with Lorna Delaney on the county’s ADA Grievance Policy. The plan is to have the county’s policy adopted on April 3, at the same meeting the county proclaims April “Disability Awareness Month.”
The Committee met with Mary Heather Ames, from city public works, to review the plans for an upcoming sidewalk on Discovery Road between Sheridan and Sherman. Mary Heather said that the city will do everything it can, within its budget, to make the sidewalk fully accessible (and acceptable).
Mary Heather also reported that the city will be fixing the sidewalk by the Head Start building.
There was discussion about the placement of the accessible parking spots in front of city hall. Annod wondered why the accessible slots were not closer to the front door.

Arts Enrichment Committee

DASH will not be participating in Earth Day. The Earth Day coordinators seem to be a bit disorganized this year.
Centrum is hosting a state-wide two-day VSA-Arts training May 23 and 24. DASH will be providing three ASL interpreters for the training. Arts directors from across the state will be invited to attend. Annod asked who on the DASH board could act as “team leaders” during the facility evaluation segment of the training. Team leaders would be briefed ahead of time about the special accessibility features needed at arts venues. Pat, Julie, Kaheya, Nancy, Annod, maybe Leslie, and Zach NeSmith volunteered.
Joannie and Annod attended the Main Street Breakfast with the Leader. Annod will send her meeting notes to the board via email. Lesa will provide copies of the handouts to those who requested them: Kaheya, Pat and Nancy. Scott Wilson emphasized the importance of coming in person and speaking to the feature editor (Patrick Sullivan) at least two months ahead of a big event to improve the chances of getting a feature in the paper.
PT Shorts will feature a disability theme April 1. Contact Annod for details.
The Poetic Justice performances will be Wednesday, March 29, at QUUF, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Thursday April 20, at Centrum, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Board members volunteered to post fliers at specific locations throughout PT and the county. The committee created a $150 budget for publicity. With the $94 left over from donations at last year’s performances and the $25 credit they received for attending the Main Street breakfast, they might need about $30 from the DASH budget, depending on donations. The board approved this expense.
Joannie reported the Peninsula Daily News will give display ad space to non-profits free (as space permits?). Contact person is Kim.

Event Planning Committee

Lesa is speaking at the Chamber lunch March 27 and encourages all board members to attend. The DASH video will be shown.
April 3, the city and county are proclaiming April Disability Awareness Month. All board members are encouraged to attend the meetings. County: 9:00 a.m., courthouse. City: 6:30 p.m., new Fire Hall.
This year’s Event will focus on downtown and Fort Worden. Participants will be working in teams. Participants will be selected to use a wheelchair, a walker, or to be blindfolded. The kick-off will begin at 9:45 at City Hall; the debriefing will begin at 2:00 at the Seminar Building at Fort Worden. Curtis has made arrangements for Transit to shuttle participants. The debriefing is open to the public.
Kay, Kaheya, Julie, Nancy, Pat, Lynn and Leslie volunteered to be chaperones. (Leslie can be at the Fort about 10:15.)
Two students from Chimacum High School will be participating this year. Two of Mark Welch’s students will be producing a video of the Event as a part of their Community Service Project requirements. Mark will make arrangements for the video to air on PTTV.
Lesa reported that it is unknown if Rory Calhoun will be able to speak in April. (He is dealing with on-going health issues.) If he cannot speak in April, Rory has committed to speaking in May. When the date is set, Annod and Lesa will work on publicity.
DASH is sponsoring the Chamber again this April. As a part of that sponsorship, DASH will have a display ad in the April Chamber newsletter. The ad will feature a man using a walker and a man using crutches. The text of the ad will read: Good Access is Good Business, DASH would be happy to help you improve the accessibility of your business, [contact information].
Four messages will be on the Reader Board, each message will appear for a week: “Disabled does not mean unable,” “Attitude is the biggest disability,” “Good access is good business,” “DASH-Disabling barriers to access.”
20 “miniature” ads will appear in the Leader throughout April. Five 1”x1½” ads will be randomly placed throughout each of the four issues in April. The five messages are “Attitude is the biggest disability,” “Disabled does not mean unable,” “Disable barriers to access,” “April – Disability Awareness Month,” “DASH-Community advocacy at work.” Each ad will have DASH contact information.

Transition Committee

As of March 1, Disability Awareness Starts Here is a non-profit corporation in the state of Washington. The committee has completed its preliminary work on the 501 application and the articles of incorporation. The paperwork now needs legal review. Lesa will contact superior court judge Crad Verser (a past Event participant) about either reviewing the documents himself or recommending a qualified attorney who would do it for us pro bono. The committee has now begun to tackle the by-laws.

Reports from Outside Committee Work

Governor’s Committee on Disabilities

Kaheya gave a 1½ hour presentation about DASH to the Access Subcommittee. There is great interest in having DASH groups throughout the state.
Leslie and Kaheya attended the Independent Living Rally in Olympia. After the rally, Kaheya gave a packet of information about DASH (including the DASH CD) to the governor’s executive assistant requesting that the information be given to the governor.
Kaheya requested five more CDs.

Centrum Committee

Centrum report was included with Arts Committee report, above.

Housing Authority

Pat reported that Kaheya was appointed to the newly formed Resident Advisory Board.
A meeting about an upcoming affordable housing needs assessment will be held March 15. A charette will be held March 29, at the PT Fire Hall, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The housing authority will be holding meetings throughout the county on affordable housing in the near future.

Other Business

ADA Training, next week, March 22 & 23, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at the Chapel at Fort Worden. Lunch is on your own, brown bag or The Commons.
Leslie attended Transit’s meeting last month about the fate of the Community Van. Transit will continue to provide community van services to non-profit organizations that serve the elderly or people with disabilities. All other groups (e.g., for profits, private organizations, and non-profits that do not specifically serve the elderly or persons with disabilities) will need to use the commercial van services that are available in the community.
Lesa is concerned about the new sidewalks at and around the courthouse. She will contact Loring Bemis and make arrangements for him to meet with the Event planning committee tomorrow afternoon (since they will be at the courthouse, anyway, holding a planning meeting.)

News & Announcements

Joannie announced that New Old Time Chautauqua is holding a fund raiser for Bay St. Louis, Mississippi (Port Townsend’s new sister city), at the Upstage, March 23 and 24. Time: 6:30 p.m. Tickets: $45.
Nancy is participating in the Fantabulous Follies, at Wheeler Theater, March 25, 7:00 p.m.; and March 26, 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $12 general and $8 for students and seniors. Proceeds will go to scholarships for dance students.

Calendar of DASH-specific activities

March 22, 23	9:00 – 5:00	ADA Training, Chapel at Fort Worden

March 27	Noon-1:00	Chamber luncheon – “DASH,” The Commons

March 29	2:00 p.m.	Poetic Justice, disability theme, Unitarian Church

April 3	9:00 a.m.	County proclaims April “Disability Awareness Month” & County adopts ADA Grievance Policy, Courthouse

	6:30	City proclaims April “Disability Awareness Month,” Fire Hall

April 19	all day	The EVENT, downtown and Fort Worden

April 20	7:00 p.m.	Poetic Justice, disability theme, Centrum, Fort Worden

May 23, 24	9:00 – 5:00	VSA Arts training, Fort Worden

The Next Board meeting will be held
April 11, 2006
12 p.m. – 2 p.m.

Location: TBA

If Rory Calhoun is speaking, the meeting will be held at the Community Center. If he won’t be speaking, then we might still meet at the Community Center, or we might meet at First Federal. Lesa will let the Board know.