San Jose names Sheila Sanchez as disability affairs officer, seeks public input on accessibility plan

Sheila Sanchez, the City of San Jose’s new disability affairs officer in the Office of Racial and Social Equity, introduced herself and outlined an outreach plan aimed at improving accessibility in city programs, services and events. "My name is Sheila Sanchez, and I use sheher pronouns," she said as she described the office’s priorities.

Sanchez said the office is creating a strategic framework to guide accessibility work over the next several years and asked for community input from people with disabilities, family members, caregivers, service providers, nonprofit organizations and advocates. "We are creating a plan to help guide this work over the next several years, and we want to hear from the people who care about these issues most," she said.

The presentation laid out three participation options. The advisory group will "provide feedback and guidance throughout all phases of the strategic framework," Sanchez said; organizers described it as a roughly four- to six-month commitment with two to three meetings beginning in July and a half-day retreat in the fall, and they said the city hopes to provide some form of compensation for members. Community feedback sessions will be small-group discussions lasting about 60 to 90 minutes, likely held in September. One-on-one feedback meetings are planned as one-time 60- to 90-minute sessions available between July and September.

Sanchez directed interested people to a web form or to contact the Office of Racial and Social Equity by email to sign up and said the feedback will help make San Jose more welcoming and accessible. "Thank you for your time, and I look forward to meeting you," she said as the session closed.