[NFBSATX] San Antonio meeting minutes September 2020

[wendy Walker]

National Federation of the Blind San Antonio Chapter Meeting Minutes
September 19, 2020
Amelia Pellicciotti, secretary

Meeting comes to order at 11:30 a.m.

Today's speakers for nfb San Antonio chapter will be Athalie Malone
representing the Yes For Transit campaign and Marisa Bono representing
Keep SA moving.
Marisa started by introducing keep SA moving to the group.
This is an initiative on behalf of via to find out what transit riders
need, so that via can fill gaps in service.
Through their research, keep SA moving has found out individuals in
underserved areas, such as the Medical Center and Stone Oak, have
access to 20% or sometimes only 10% of job opportunities.
Many of these individuals may have only one, or no vehicle at all in
the household.
In addition, Viatrans serves 15,000 customers in San Antonio with
disabilities. They see significant overlap between customers that use
both via and viatrans to meet their various needs.
Through market research, keep SA moving has determined it would be
best to fill gaps in service with increased weekend and nighttime
service, to meet the occupational needs of their customers.
As well as filling in gaps in service in underserved areas by seeking
alternative options such as the use of via link this will connect
riders to places of business within the via link service area, or
traveling to other parking rides and transit hubs.
For those who don't know, via link is a small pilot project in
northeast San Antonio that is open to the public, where riders share a
van that will connect them to other parts of the city.
Via hopes to expand this project to the medical center and southwest
part of San Antonio.
Another goal for expansion is to increase the frequency of existing
routes, as only 40% of existing bus routes run 15-20 minutes.
Bryan asked Marissa if there were plans to expand via link service to
Callaghan and 410.
While Amelia asked about the possibility of using services like lyft
to fill in gaps for customers in the last mile of a trip, for routes
that run on a low frequency.

Next, Athalie will talk to the group about the advanced transportation
district ballot initiative, Proposition A.
Much of Via's ability to bring these plans to fruition depends on the
one eighth  cent sales tax initiative, on the ballot for the general
election in 2020.
Via has been historically underfunded compared with other transit
authorities, so this Advance Transportation District authority, ballot
initiative will increase the proportion of the sales tax allotted to
Via.
However, Athalie points out that due to COVID 19, this one eighth cent
sales tax will be given to via in perpetuity, starting January 1,
2026, at present, if this ballot measure passes, the additional funds
will be used for a workforce development program to recover from Covid
19.
As part of a compromise reached between via and the city.
In support of via, Amelia indicates that members of the board have
prepared a resolution in support of the advance transportation
district ballot initiative.

Next, we turned to chapter business.
Bryan read the treasurers report, and Amelia read the secretary's
minutes from August.
For a Newsline report Wendy points out we are very close to reaching
our grant, but the chapter just needs two more Newsline articles from
our members.
Next, Wendy wanted to share some information with the group about
registering to vote. She attended a web&r about options that are
available to vote for persons with disabilities.
To begin, applications for ballots to vote by mail need to be
postmarked by October 13th.
Amelia informs the group that the state affiliate has created an
accessible form that blind voters can fill out with their information
for an application to vote by mail.
Likewise, other first time voters need to register to vote by October
23rd. These deadlines have been extended for Covid 19.
Wendy informs the group that it is very important to note that if you
decided to vote by mail, and then changed your mind, that you must
surrender your mail ballot to a poll worker, so it is important to
commit to one or the other before voting.
If you are disabled, or 65 or older you have the option of curbside
voting from a tablet, however this needs to be reserved in advance
from the election’s administration office in Bexar county.
The person who is traveling with you, however cannot vote curbside
while they are assisting.
Athalie points out that each polling location should have one
accessible voting machine, it has a screen reader and braille labeled
buttons, and the polling place should provide you an intact pair of
headphones to listen to the screen reader.
Bexar county will also be adding a few additional mega polling place
sights for voter registration. These are larger than traditional
precincts, they can meet additional needs and might be more accessible
to disabled users. Wendy or Amelia will post a link to the list serve
so that members can check their voter registration.

Finally, the chapter turns to a vote on the resolution in support for
via advanced transportation district Proposition A.
Amelia read allowed the proposed resolution.
Athalie raised a point of order, and asked that the resolution undergo
minor amendments.
The proposed changes were minor, and as follows.
One clause was modified to read that the sales tax amendment is for
one eighth cent, instead of 1% of one eighth.
This language was confusing to the reader.
Also, she suggested that we remove any clauses regarding deficit
shortfalls and service reductions.
These were of concern, prior to the compromise reached with the mayor's office.
The NFB only seeks to support the ballot measure in this resolution.
Finally, the correct wording of the ballot initiative is Advance
Transportation District-proposition A.
There was a vote to accept the resolution with these minor modifications.
The vote passed, and a date was affixed to the resolution to denote
its approval.

Finally, last but not least, for personal corner.
Wendy informed the group that Avery Grace was born on September 13th.
Harry and Tambra could not be in attendance because they were busy
with their baby shower.