Commission for Persons with Disabilities

September 30, 2015

Present: Henry Milorin, Natalie Breen, Jeanette Spaulding, Rachel Tanenhaus, Sue Bibbins, Steve
Honeycutt, and Diane McLeod
Audience: Matthew Lieberman and Melanie McLaughlin, Co-Chair of Medfords Special
Education Advisory Council.
Introductions
Public Participation
None
Minutes
New Business
The Mayor came in and presented Steve Honeycutt, who has resigned, with a key to the city for
his over 25 years of service to the city in disability related work. The Mayor highlighted some of
Steves contributions.
Member Introductions
Each member introduced themselves and their interest in the Commission.
Diane gave an overview of some of the Commissions work over the years for informational
purposes. We can revisit or build upon many of these projects or develop new ones.

Melanie highlighted some of the projects that her Council is interested in; being Understanding
Differences as one of them. They are going to be trained in Newton. Jeanette noted that she is
interested in that raining as well. Diane reviewed both the Kids on the Block program as well
as the Understanding Differences program they conducted, which was so long ago it was called
the Understanding Handicaps Program. Diane noted that she still has much of the equipment
for the Blindness Program, and some for the others.
Melanie also asked about funding of or for ADA Coordinators. It was noted that no funding
exists with the federal mandate. Many ADA Coordinators are not certain of their duties due to
the title being an add on title to an existing job.

We discussed possible directions for the Commission, which include; reviewing previous goals,
collaborating with the schools, marketing and publicity for the Commission, and community
inclusion. Community inclusion speaks to race, gender, ethnicity, class, etc. so everyone can
participate.
Rachel spoke of her background in Public Health including Health Disparities and Emergency
Preparedness.
Variance Updates
None. Diane explained the process when we do have variances and that the Access Board truly
values local commissions input.
Old Business
None
Correspondence & Announcements
Henry provided information on National Disability Employment Awareness Month and a Photo
Contest Showcasing Individuals with Developmental Disabilities.
Meeting adjourned at 6:55PM
Next meeting date
October 28, 2015