Council Okays Disabilities Task Force

By Lookout Staff

For months supporters have lobbied the City Council to form a Disabilities Commission and at its meeting Tuesday night the council approved the formation of a task force to study options for increased involvement by disabled community members.

In a 6 to 0 vote (Councilman Paul Rosentein had left for the evening) the council approved the 17-member task force, as well as its role, mission and agenda.

"The establishment of a 17 member Disabilities Task Force is a positive collaborative effort towards the timely creation of a Santa Monica Commission on Disabilities," said Jerry Rubin, who has helped to spearhead the coalition supporting the formation of a commission. "The City Staff, City Council and those involved in the grassroots effort to establish a commission should be commended."

The volunteer group will work for up to four months to identify issues facing Santa Monicans with disabilities, consider strategies to increase the involvement in the community and provide advice to the City about how to achieve those goals in the long-term, according to a staff report. The task force is also charged with studying disability commissions and task forces in other cities and holding focus groups to generate ideas.

In the spring the Council directed staff to study how to involve disabled community members by exploring the creation of a City commission or other approaches. Staff has conducted preliminary research and concluded that a task force should help determine the best long-term approach.