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Due to a stern interpretation of the state’s open meeting law by the city attorney, several of Berkeley’s disabled city commissioners say they are more likely to be denied access to meetings. 

In an opinion released last June, City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque said commissioners and board members teleconferencing into city meetings was a violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act, unless they gave 72 hours notification and the remote location they were  

calling from was opened to  

the public.  

The city attorney’s office has remained firm despite an opinion from Arlene Mayerson, the directing attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, that her opinion is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  

“We would love to raise the requirements,” Deputy City Attorney Lindsey Urbina said, “But we can’t ignore the Brown Act.” 

Members of the Commission on Disability said the opinion is ridiculous and that it was never the intention of the Brown Act to reduce disabled access to public meetings. 

Last July, Karen Craig, a member of the Commission on Disability, was stranded on her way home when her wheelchair was jarred and suddenly lost power as she was getting off a BART train. 

Hours later, when she finally arrived home, she called Eric Dibner, Berkeley’s Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator, telling him her wheelchair was inoperable and she would require a teleconference hook up for two scheduled subcommittee meetings the following day.  

She had used the hook-ups before, as many disabled commissioners had, and was shocked when Dibner told her the city attorney had issued an opinion prohibiting short-notice teleconferences based on the Brown Act. Both meetings were canceled because she was unable to physically attend.  

Craig filed a grievance to the mayor and City Council on Aug. 6 and said the issue remains unresolved and the city must find a way to provide a reasonable modification to city policy. 

Since that incident, another Commission on Disability meeting was canceled for lack of quorum in late September because three members were unable to attend due to health problems. 

“We had a full agenda that night and we could of easily attended the meeting via teleconference,” said Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, the chairperson for the Commission of Disability. 

According to the opinion, the Brown Act would require Craig to give the city 72 hours notice for the hook up. In addition, the location she telephoned into the meeting from, her home or even a hospital room, would, by law, become a public meeting place and would have to make available to the public. 

Rodolfo-Sioson said disabled commissioners are subject to rapid changes in health and equipment failure and should be able to access meetings by phone when emergencies arise. The commission has five members who rely on wheelchairs for mobility. 

Rodolfo-Sioson added the disabled constantly contend with health and equipment problems and as winter descends mobility becomes increasingly difficult. 

“As it gets colder we’re more susceptible to pain and our wheelchairs are more likely to break down,” she said.  

In a letter Mayerson wrote to the city attorney, she said the City of Berkeley is in violation of both the general prohibitions against discrimination as well as the program accessibility requirements of Title II of the ADA.  

Urbina was unconvinced and said the Brown Act language is very plain and it’s the goal of the city attorney’s office to try and follow both laws. 

Craig said the city provided short-notice teleconferences for years without any problems. She added the city attorney’s office isn’t doing enough to resolve the situation. “I Think they thought we’d just give up on it but they were wrong,” she said. 

By John Geluardi 

Daily Planet Staff 

Due to a stern interpretation of the state’s open meeting law by the city attorney, several of Berkeley’s disabled city commissioners say they are more likely to be denied access to meetings. 

In an opinion released last June, City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque said commissioners and board members teleconferencing into city meetings was a violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act, unless they gave 72 hours notification and the remote location they were  

calling from was opened to  

the public.  

The city attorney’s office has remained firm despite an opinion from Arlene Mayerson, the directing attorney for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, that her opinion is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  

“We would love to raise the requirements,” Deputy City Attorney Lindsey Urbina said, “But we can’t ignore the Brown Act.” 

Members of the Commission on Disability said the opinion is ridiculous and that it was never the intention of the Brown Act to reduce disabled access to public meetings. 

Last July, Karen Craig, a member of the Commission on Disability, was stranded on her way home when her wheelchair was jarred and suddenly lost power as she was getting off a BART train. 

Hours later, when she finally arrived home, she called Eric Dibner, Berkeley’s Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator, telling him her wheelchair was inoperable and she would require a teleconference hook up for two scheduled subcommittee meetings the following day.  

She had used the hook-ups before, as many disabled commissioners had, and was shocked when Dibner told her the city attorney had issued an opinion prohibiting short-notice teleconferences based on the Brown Act. Both meetings were canceled because she was unable to physically attend.  

Craig filed a grievance to the mayor and City Council on Aug. 6 and said the issue remains unresolved and the city must find a way to provide a reasonable modification to city policy. 

Since that incident, another Commission on Disability meeting was canceled for lack of quorum in late September because three members were unable to attend due to health problems. 

“We had a full agenda that night and we could of easily attended the meeting via teleconference,” said Miya Rodolfo-Sioson, the chairperson for the Commission of Disability. 

According to the opinion, the Brown Act would require Craig to give the city 72 hours notice for the hook up. In addition, the location she telephoned into the meeting from, her home or even a hospital room, would, by law, become a public meeting place and would have to make available to the public. 

Rodolfo-Sioson said disabled commissioners are subject to rapid changes in health and equipment failure and should be able to access meetings by phone when emergencies arise. The commission has five members who rely on wheelchairs for mobility. 

Rodolfo-Sioson added the disabled constantly contend with health and equipment problems and as winter descends mobility becomes increasingly difficult. 

“As it gets colder we’re more susceptible to pain and our wheelchairs are more likely to break down,” she said.  

In a letter Mayerson wrote to the city attorney, she said the City of Berkeley is in violation of both the general prohibitions against discrimination as well as the program accessibility requirements of Title II of the ADA.  

Urbina was unconvinced and said the Brown Act language is very plain and it’s the goal of the city attorney’s office to try and follow both laws. 

Craig said the city provided short-notice teleconferences for years without any problems. She added the city attorney’s office isn’t doing enough to resolve the situation. “I Think they thought we’d just give up on it but they were wrong,” she said.