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| SFMTA home > About Us > Meetings > Paratransit Coordinating Council (PCC) > December 7, 2005, minutes | |
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Minutes PCC Executive Committee Members Present: Laurie Graham, Chair; Griff Humphrey, Vice Chair; Cheryl Damico, Secretary; Stu Smith; Jeanne Lynch; Ruach Graffis; Bruce Oka; Ioana Lawhorn; Byron Yan; Erma Brim; Sandra Fancher; Jewel McGinnis; Ruth Lawner; Griff Humphrey; Semyon Portnoy; Pat Lovelock; Dee Ann Hendrix; Lisa Rosene; Jacy Cohen; Kaye Griffin; Michael Gurevich; Shun Wah Tao; Lucky Walker for Hal Mellegard; Tom Staghlanini for John Lazar; Willie Mae Parish; Thomas George Williams PCC Executive Committee Members Excused: Vince Behan Guests: Derik Calhoun, MV Transportation; John Murphy, MV Transportation; Feyson Lodde, MV Transportation; Nikki Frenney, MV Transportation; Michael Kwok; Russell Green; Alex Kantos, TransMetro Express Paratransit Broker: Marc Soto; Richard Lesser; Kevin McNay Muni: Annette Williams, Kate Toran Read and Approve AgendaLaurie Graham, PCC Executive Committee chair, called the meeting to order at 10:40 a.m. Cheryl Damico read the agenda. The agenda was motioned/seconded/passed (M/S/P) as presented. Approve minutes of October 26, 2005 meetingThe minutes were M/S/P as presented. Comments from the ChairLaurie Graham stated that she has appreciated being the Chair, and that she hopes to stay on the PCC Executive Committee as a member for a long time. Report from the November 19, 2005 PCC Annual MeetingKate Toran reported that the PCC Annual Meeting was a success. It was the most well attended PCC meeting in years; there were over 125 people there. Most of the Drivers of the Year were in attendance, and some brought their families. The drivers were honored with awards from Senator Migden and gift checks. Many elected officials came to show their appreciation of the hard work of the PCC, like Leland Yee. The food was outstanding and the PCC voted in some new members. Kate welcomed new and returning PCC members that were elected or re-elected at the Annual Meeting. New members include: Ruth Lawner, Silas Telfor, Shun Wah Tao, Sandra Fancher, Iona Lawhorn, Thomas George Williams, and Ruach Graffis. Kate stated that there was one vacant position in the Affiliated Elderly caucus, and that she had received a letter from the ARC stating that Jacy Cohen would like to run in that slot. Kate opened up the floor to other nominations in the Affiliated Elderly caucus. There were no nominations from the floor, and Jacy Cohen was voted in by acclamation. Kate stated that new PCC Executive Committee members were sent a copy of the By-Laws to help orient them to the PCC. PCC Officer Elections Stu Smith and Cheryl Damico were nominated from the floor for PCC Chair. Both candidates spoke briefly about their qualifications and commitment to the paratransit program. The vote was called, and Stu was voted Chair. Pat Lovelock, Cheryl Damico and Jeanne Lynch were nominated from the floor for PCC Vice Chair. All three candidates made a brief presentation on their qualifications, and Jeanne Lynch was voted in as Vice Chair. Dee Ann Hendrix and Pat Lovelock were nominated from the floor for PCC Secretary. Pat Lovelock declined the nomination, and Dee Ann was voted in by acclamation. Report from the Paratransit Working Group Kate Toran reported that the Paratransit Working Group (PWG) met on November 21, 2005, which was its second meeting. The PWG discussed demand projections for SF Paratransit and a series of cost efficiency and demand management strategies, including extension of the taxi medallion offset provision, equalization of paratransit fares, and improvement of conditionally eligible post-trip eligibility education. Ruach Graffis stated that the taxi medallion offset should be paid for by medallion holders through fees. Annette explained that the medallion offset is currently paid by the riding public. Originally the drop fee was supposed to increase to $1.75, but it was increased to $1.85, so that 10 cents extra collected on each taxi ride goes to paying a higher gate fee to the cab company, which then pays the Broker the difference in rates to the paratransit program spread out evenly based on the number of medallions per company. Jewel McGinnis stated that taxi drivers have a hard time making a living in San Francisco and the money for the medallion offset should not come from the drivers. Thomas George Williams stated that the cab companies wanted a gate increase and the drivers agreed to it in order to get health insurance. Taxi drivers don’t make minimum wage in the city, and drivers want the offset to expire in December. Michael Kwok stated that as a Taxi Commissioner, he sponsored legislation to improve the benefits for taxi drivers. The drivers need to organize and support the legislation. Annette added that the discussion of the paratransit demand and cost projections by the PWG was important because originally the demand projections were labeled low and high growth. The low growth was a 3.2% growth rate, which only included a cost of living adjustment (cola). The group discussed that this should be termed “no growth” because it does not include a provision for any growth in demand, but simply the cola. The high growth included 5.5% growth over the first five years of the projections and then 4.5% after. Annette pointed out that the high growth projections are really the anticipated growth, and should therefore not be labeled high growth. The next meeting of the Paratransit Working Group will include a discussion of new long-term funding sources. 2006 PCC and PC&O Calendar Kate Toran stated that the draft meeting calendar was included in the agenda packets. The schedule mirrors the schedule for 2005 – the PCC meetings are all scheduled for the last Wednesday of the month, except the Annual Meeting which is always held on a Saturday in November and the December PCC meeting, which is scheduled on the first Wednesday of the month so that the PCC Officer elections can occur in a timely fashion. There are no PCC meetings scheduled in February and July. The PC&O meetings are scheduled for the first Wednesday of the month, alternating between the Group Van, Lift Van/ADA Access and Taxi/Ramp Taxi. The PC&O meeting in December will be held on the second Wednesday of the month because the PCC meeting will be held on the first Wednesday. There was a question about the PC&O Group Van meeting in July. Because of the July 4th holiday, the group may want to change the scheduled meeting date from July 6th to a later date. This will be discussed further at the PC&O Group Van meeting. The PCC Annual Meeting date of November 18, 2006 may not work for some members. This date will be discussed in more detail as we get closer to November. Kate will send out the final meeting calendar and the updated PCC roster to all PCC members before the next PCC meeting. Report from the November 2, 2005 PC&O Taxi/Ramp Taxi Subcommittee Kate provided the following report:
Paratransit Broker’s Report Marc Soto gave the following report: Lift Van/ADA Access RFP: At the last meeting, Marc reported on having received a termination letter from MV and Connex/ATC having accepted their termination. Since then, there has been communication between the Broker and MV, and MV has rescinded their termination letter. The Broker is continuing with the competitive RFP process as previously planned. At the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) Board meeting on December 6, MV representatives and a number of supporters raised concerns during public comment. MV’s Points:
Transport Worker’s Union’s (TWU) Points:
The MTA Board asked if a delay was possible. Marc responded that he could not agree to a delay, but that he would meet with Muni staff to discuss any ramifications of any delay in the process. New Office Location: The Broker issued 120 day notice vacate to the current premises to the landlord, and the office will be relocating in April. Marc has met with the space planners and is finalizing the list of needed IT equipment. The Broker will be relocating their servers to 365 Main Street, which is a remote IT support center that provides 24/7 support and up-time. They also provide emergency service with minimal interruption in the system. Taxi Training Curriculum: At the November 22, 2006 Taxi Commission meeting, there was a robust discussion of the training curriculum for taxi drivers. The Taxi Commission would like to see unity in the training. The paratransit training component was presented and received very well by the Commission. The item was continued for further discussion, and no action was taken. Also, while SF Paratransit works to ensure that all cab companies that meet the minimum requirements participate in the paratransit program as required by local law, Supervisor Peskin has drafted legislation to change the Police Code to require that before a medallion from one color scheme may move to a different company, that company must be in compliance with the paratransit requirements. The Chair then asked if there were any questions regarding the Broker’s report. Ruth Lawner stated that she has a concern with the new van contracts. MV is often late and she has experienced nothing but problems with MV. Ruth had a doctor’s appointment in August and the van was an hour and a half late. She missed her appointment, but MediCal was still billed. A resident in Ruth’s building had a chemotherapy appointment and the van was three hours late. Ruth stated that there should be some sanctions associated with this type of service. Marc responded that there have been service issues with MV and the Broker’s staff is working with MV to help improve service as they do with any provider that is experiencing service issues. Marc encouraged Ruth to make a formal complaint when she has a problem. Marc added that the RFP process is fair, and that it is not a low-bid process. The selection committee will take past experience into consideration, and there will be two lift van providers selected. So at the end of the process, the consumer will have choice in both the ADA Access and the lift van services. Pat Lovelock stated that on a number of occasions she has encountered disabled women waiting for the MV van to arrive. Some of the service is so bad, and that should be taken into consideration, and people shouldn’t cry that the process is unfair. Kaye Griffin asked if chemical sensitivity will be considered in the build-out of the new office space. Marc said that he would follow up with Kaye, and that maybe she can meet with the build-out team to provide in-put on chemical sensitivity. Kaye also asked about the debit card and what will happen in an emergency because the system is centralized. Marc responded that the standards for 365 Main Street are to a high level and they have back-up generators. There will also be a manual back-up system for drivers, and the Broker has an emergency plan. Announcements: Annette Williams announced that the Accessible Services office will be moving to 1 South Van Ness in February 2006. Pat Lovelock stated that some wheelchair consumers asked her to announce that they want a letter that states that they can call another company if the van doesn’t show up. Derik Calhoun stated that he will talk to Ruth Lawner off-line. MV has been going in the right direction in the past two years. Muni only runs 70% on-time. MV’s trying to provide the best service we can. Derik invited people down to his office to give in-put to MV and see how MV dispatches the drivers. Feyson Lodde stated that she was a paratransit driver for many years and she provided stair assist service. Her bottom line is the rider. Also, we should bring some of the drivers in because they know what’s going on. 98% on-time reliability is hard to achieve with a door-through-door service. MV does not want to leave people waiting. We need to get together as a group with the drivers.
The next PCC meeting will be held on |
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