The following video clip is of said meeting. Mention of the Seattle Commission for People with disAbilities is mentioned 32 minutes and some seconds into the clip:
Advocates for people with disAbilities who met each other at the Seattle Neighborhood Summit soon founded the ad hoc Committee for Establishment of a Seattle disAbilities Commission, and began a series of meetings at which the proposal for a new Commission was developed. These meetings were widely publicized within the community of advocates for people with disAbilities.
Whereas, people who have disAbilities are entitled to dignified and productive lives, the opportunity to choose relevant lifestyles, and the freedom to experience environments without barriers; and
Whereas, people who have disAbilities possess unique talents, insights, and values needed to ensure that Seattle, the nation, and the world become better and more productive societies; and
Whereas, governmental policies and practices have often introduced barriers that prevent people who have disAbilities from participating in the decisions that affect them, from realizing their full potential, and from contributing to the greater good; and
Whereas, it is the policy of the City of Seattle to resist and remove such barriers, to promote the full integration and participation of persons with disAbilities into all areas of economic, political, and community life, and to make it possible for them to realize their full potential and contribute to the common good.
Members of the coalition believe that a Seattle Commission for People with disAbilities is the best way to to ensure that City government reflects the concerns of people with disabilties. Members of the coalition also believe that Seattle's Office of Civil Rights is the best City agency to staff the proposed new Commission, and that it should have a close relationship with the Human Rights Commission, similar to that of the Women's Commission and the Commission for Sexual Minorities.
In language very similar to how the Seattle Municipal Code now deals with the Human Rights Commission, Women's Commission and Commission for Sexual Minorities, the proposed legislation states that the Seattle Commission for People with disAbilities would "be composed of fifteen (15) members appointed from among those persons who are conscious of the discrimination against, and oppression and neglect of people with disAbilities, and who are working to eliminate these injustices."
Following is a report that Chris Leman and Lucille Walls prepared regarding the relationship between the proposal for a Seattle Commission for People with disAbilities and an existing body, the Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging and Disability Services.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PROPOSAL FOR A SEATTLE COMMISSION TO ADDRESS THE CONCERNS OF PEOPLE WITH disAbilities, AND THE SEATTLE-KING COUNTY ADVISORY COUNCIL ON AGING AND DISABILITY SERVICES
Following is an analysis of the relationship between the proposed Seattle commission to address the concerns of people with disAbilities, and the existing Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging and Disability Services. The analysis concludes that there would be no inconsistency between the Advisory Council's existence and the proposed City commission, and that the two bodies would be complementary.
Information about the Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging and Disability Services can be found at
http://kingcounty.gov/socialservices/CommunityServices/Boards/AdvisoryCouncilADS.aspx, and at the Advisory Council's own web site at
http://agingkingcounty.org/advisory-council. This analysis is based on these web sites, review of the 2000 Interlocal Agreement, and phone interviews with County and City staff.
The Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging and Disability Services was established under the 1965 Older Americans Act, and is operated through an Interlocal Agreement (most recently updated in 2000) between King County, United Way, and the City of Seattle. For most of its history, the Advisory Council focused exclusively on the needs of the aging. State House Bill 1908, which was passed in 1995, expanded the Council's responsibilities, but only to adults (18 years or older) whose disability is not covered by an existing state social or health program.
The Advisory Council on Aging and Disability Services is administered by Aging and Disability Services (formerly the Division of Aging Services) which, under the Interlocal Agreement, the City of Seattle operates as a division of its Department of Human Services on behalf of itself, King County and United Way. The Advisory Council is funded as part of an annual federal grant under the Older Americans Act. The Council's meetings are held in the Seattle Municipal Tower.
The Advisory Council consists of 27 members, of whom nine are appointed by United Way of King County, nine are appointed by the King County Executive and Council, and nine are appointed by the Seattle Mayor and City Council. The Older Americans Act requires that at least 50 percent of the Council's members be 60 years or older, and in fact almost all of the current members are 60 years or older. Only a small minority of the current Councilmembers have a disability. Currently of the Advisory Council's 27 members, there is one person who has a hearing impairment, one who has a visual impairment, and others who may have age-related disAbilities.
Under the Interlocal Agreement, all responsibilities assigned to the Advisory Council have to do with advising Aging and Disability Services, with the exception that one responsibility is to "Serve as an advocate body on behalf of all elderly who reside within the Planning and Service Area by sponsoring and conducting public hearings, conferences, and other meetings designed to obtain and publicize information related to the problems, needs, accomplishments, and interests of the elderly and adults with physical disAbilities."
The King County web site has two statements about the purposes of the Advisory Council. The web site of the King County Community Services Division states that "The Advisory Council on Aging and Disability Services advises the Area Agency on Aging on issues affecting older people and adults with disAbilities." A section of the King County web site that deals specifically with the Council, states: "The role of the Advisory Council is to identify the needs of older people and of adults with disAbilities in our community, to advise on services to meet these needs, and to advocate for local, state, and national programs that promote quality of life."
Another mission statement can be found on the Advisory Council's own web site: "Our mission is to identify the needs of older people and adults with disAbilities in our community; advise on services to meet these needs; and advocate for local, state, and national programs that promote quality of life for these populations." Also, the Council's by-laws (available on its web site) state that its major responsibilities are to "Serve as an advocate body on behalf of all the elderly and adults with disAbilities who reside in King County, with special emphasis on the needs of those elderly and adults with disAbilities who are in greatest social and economic need"; to conduct meetings designed to "publicize information related to the problems, needs, accomplishments and interests of the elderly and adults with disAbilities"; and to advise Aging and Disability Services in its various activities, including development of an Area Plan and selection of its professional personnel.
The Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging and Disability Services is primarily focused on needs of people who are aged, and to the extent that it attends to needs of people who have disAbilities, its focus as authorized by state law is only on adults, and only those not already covered by a state social or health program. Also, the Interlocal Agreement that governs the Advisory Council assigns to it any advisory role only for advising Aging and Disability Services, not to any other agencies. In practice, the Council's efforts on behalf of individuals with disAbilities have focused almost exclusively on social and health programs, and do not appear to have involved the City of Seattle or any other government on the broader range of agencies, policies, and rights that affect individuals with disAbilities.
Conclusion: The existence of the Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging and Disability Services is consistent with the creation of a Seattle commission to address the concerns of people with disAbilities, and in fact the two bodies would be complementary. A City commission to address the concerns of people with disAbilities would provide them a degree of representation, a Seattle focus, and attention to the broad range of agencies, policies and rights, beyond what is possible within the framework of the Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging and Disability Services. In order to ensure that result, a majority of a Seattle commission would be people with disAbilities.