Though in a letter to Ho’ike Kaua’i Community Television she proposes “to cancel coverage of Police Commission” in the fiscal year beginning this July 1, Beth Tokioka, county public information officer, said yesterday that no firm decision has yet been
Though in a letter to Ho’ike Kaua’i Community Television she proposes “to cancel coverage of Police Commission” in the fiscal year beginning this July 1, Beth Tokioka, county public information officer, said yesterday that no firm decision has yet been made on that matter.
Wednesday’s newspaper reported that the filming and airing of Kaua’i Police Commission regular meetings were being “sacrificed” in favor of captioning of other county proceedings, including the Planning Commission and Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s weekly report, and timely captioning of coverage of County Council meetings.
The practice of airing County Council meetings without captioning the Friday after Thursday proceedings came to a screeching halt earlier this month after the county found out it may be violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by allowing the non-captioned proceedings to air.
The federal government advised state government that the County of Kauai risks exposing itself to liability if it allows governmental programs to air un-captioned before the shows are captioned for the hearing impaired.
For a time, council proceedings had aired in un-captioned form Friday, Saturday and Sunday following each Thursday meeting, replaced on Monday with captioned shows for the remaining four days of airing.
The U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the practice of airing County Council “time-sensitive” footage without captions, then later airing the same footage with captions, “represents illegal discrimination against individuals with hearing impairments who rely on captioning or other auxiliary aids and services for access to aurally delivered information.”
As a result of the U.S. Department of Justice information relayed to the county through the state Disability and Communication Access Board, the county has determined that no governmental programs shall air on Ho’ike before they are captioned.
Tokioka said the council sessions are now captioned, as is a show providing a weekly wrap-up of events in county government.
Previously, the mayor’s report, Police Commission and Planning Commission shows were not captioned.
But in order to stay within the $40,000 annual budget, reach the county goal of having all aired county governmental shows captioned, and remain in compliance with a settlement agreement regarding an ADA lawsuit filed against the county, it may be necessary to cut back on the airing of certain governmental programs, she said.
The island’s hearing-impaired community, Tokioka continued, said it was more important to them to have Planning Commission than Police Commission proceedings captioned and shown, so the tentative plan is to stop filming and airing Police Commission meetings, and air with captions only the business portion of Planning Commission meetings.
If additional money is needed to accomplish county objectives, a request will be included in the administration’s supplemental budget, which will be forwarded to the County Council by Wednesday, May 8, Tokioka said.
