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# Christopher Knauf: A time to look out for those with disabilities
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/localstate-10-tuesday-october-17-2006-a-newspaper-with-issues-a-time-to-look-out-for-those-with-disabilities/
- Published: 2006-10-17T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T01:08:35.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*By CHRISTOPHER KNAUF Special to the Daily Press*

Editor’s note: In recognition of October as Disabilities Awareness Month in Santa Monica, the Daily Press presents a month-long series of articles written by members of the City of Santa Monica Disabilities Commission.

Since 2002, the Santa Monica Disabilities Commission has advised the City Council and city staff on numerous issues concerning people with mental, physical and other disabilities. We are the disability community’s sounding board and we are proactive and informative on the most important issues facing our constituents.As people with disabilities continue making strides to overcome stigma and become fully integrated in society, we pride ourselves on helping Santa Monica improve as a disability-friendly community.

On Oct. 28, at 1 p.m., as part of various Disability Awareness Month activities, the commission will host a special event at the Main Library, featuring Lyena Strelkoff’s critically acclaimed performance “Caterpillar Soup,” along with various speakers and artists with disabilities, both to inform and to celebrate the disability community. We invite all to attend this free event, along with your families, friends and co-workers.

As part of the Oct. 28 event, Samohi’s Circle of Friends will receive the first annual Disabilities Commission Award, honoring a local group or individual who has made outstanding progress in promoting inclusion of persons with disabilities in community life. Circle of Friends has impacted dozens of young lives by matching high school students with and without disabilities to promote integration, understanding and friendship. We are very pleased to be able to honor them.

As we celebrate Disability Awareness Month, the commission also celebrates its recent accomplishments: 1\. We requested that the City Council provide an electronic captioning system at City Council meetings for atten-dees who are unable to hear the proceedings. The council approved this request at their June 20 meeting. 2\. We produced and distributed a landlord-tenant “rights and responsibilities” informational brochure that includes resources for landlords and tenants alike, as affordable accessible housing remains a top concern for people with disabilities throughout the region. Please contact the commission if you would like a free copy. 3\. We advised the city regarding issues and concerns of people with disabilities, including the lack of sufficient accessible parking spaces throughout Santa Monica’s various beach parking lots. The city plans to increase the number of accessible beach parking spaces. 4\. The commission held a Mental Health Awareness town hall meeting featuring city homeless “czar” Ed Edelman and various prominent mental health professionals and consumers. 5\. We continue to advocate for construction of additional accessibility features and a disability-friendly children’s park at the 415 PCH project and project staff has met with one of our commissioners to review the plans and discuss these issues. 6\. With the Fall election approaching, we have advocated for CityTV to caption election-related programming. CityTV recently agreed to caption the live debate for the 2006 election.

The Disabilities Commission also hears public opinion and advises the City Council and city staff on positions the city should consider taking on prominent legislation and actions pending in state and local government that affect our city and its disability community. Recent advocacy topics include: 1\. Implementation of a “visitability” ordinance that provides incentives to homeowners to make their homes more accessible in order to allow greater “visit-ability” as well as increase the stock of accessible homes over the long term. 2\. Opposing state cuts to essential in-home supportive services (IHSS) that are crucial to allowing independent living by persons with disabilities who do not have family or other resources to assist them. 3\. Making appropriate changes to developer “in lieu” fees in order to increase the availability of affordable accessible housing in Santa Monica.

The Santa Monica Disabilities Commission meets the first Monday of the month at the Ken Edwards Center, at 6:30 p.m. We welcome all public input. If there is an issue or concern that you would like the commission to take a position on, please let us know. We are here for the community, with the hope of improving the quality of life for our residents and visitors with various disabilities.

Christopher Knauf is the Chair of the Disabilities Commission and an attorney specializing in disability and education law. Contact him at or the Disabilities Commission at (310) 458-8701.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 17, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/101706.pdf?ref=smdp.com)