The Boston Disability Commission Advisory Board met on April 22, 2026, to discuss autonomous vehicle operations in other cities, the city's office-to-residential conversion program, updates on ADA compliance and community engagement, and to vote on several advocacy letters. Chair Zari presided, and Commissioner Crystal McCosh provided department updates.
Everyone, hello. Welcome to the recording in progress. Oh, and I gotta let people in from the waiting room. Apologies. Welcome. Uh the open meeting law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is being recorded. Therefore, please be aware that an audio and visual recording of this meeting is being made by Boston City TV, a part of the City of Boston Office of Cable Communications, and is being broadcast on Axfinity Channel Twenty Six, RCN Channel 13, and FIOS Channel Nine Six Two, as well as live streamed on YouTube, where recording will remain um on the cable channel. With that, I will turn it over to our board chair. Sorry, take it away. Good evening, everybody. Happy that you can all join this evening. Um, I want to start by uh introductions. Um, and as a rule from uh this point forward, I'm gonna ask if we can might introduce ourselves. If you can just give a little self-description of what you look like. You don't have to be very detailed, just a general description. So hi, my name is Larry. I'm Eva Saini. I'm the new chair of this group advisory board. I have been a part of this group for over ten years now. And I live in City of South Boston. I'm a female, white, short brown hair. And uh that's it. And uh Olivia, do you want to go next? Um, my name is Olivia Richard. I am a resident of Brighton. And I am a middle-aged white female with glasses, short hair, and uh wearing a hat. Um, next call, do you want to go next? My name is Paul Care. I live in the West End of Boston. I'm an advisory board member, proud to serve. I'm a white male, currently wearing a white laborers union, local 151 pullover. I worked as a supervisor in the City of Boston Planning Department and serve as a mental health advocate. I'm proud to serve. Thank you. Hi everyone, I'm Tara Lynn Suther. I am a female. I am a little person using an electrical wheelchair remobility. I am Caucasian, long blonde hair, um with glasses, and I am from the JP Rox Bay area. Thank you, Tara. Um Paul. Yeah, hi. My name is Carl Richardson. I am a middle-aged white guy with fountain pepper uh hair. Um, kind of look like Nathan Lang for those who are into theater. Uh I'm wearing a light blue button down. Uh and I identify as death blind and that I have a dual sensory law. And if I remember the um note from Andrea, I also ask us to tell a little bit about what we do to introduce ourselves to the new members that are coming on board tonight, give us a little more background than we normally would get. So I am the Massachusetts Day Health ADA coordinator. Work my role to work with the executive and legislative branch to make sure that all the program services and activities that they stay up to accessible to people of all abilities. I'm the president of the guide dog user group of Massachusetts and the co-chair of the audio description project for the American Council of Blind.