City staff asked council on Nov. 3 to approve formation of an All Abilities Committee to advise on policies, programs and services for Garland residents with disabilities.

Assistant City Manager Phil Urukia summarized a proposed mission for the group: advise the council and staff on All Abilities‑related programs, identify gaps in accessibility, raise community awareness and promote collaboration among schools, nonprofits and businesses. The proposed resolution would allow each councilmember and the mayor to nominate an appointee and would follow the city’s usual board application process.

Public comment opened the item. Resident Mary Ellenfeldt told the council the Deaf community has struggled for years to get interpreter services and closed captioning at meetings. She said lack of interpreters and unreliable captions make civic participation difficult and described a local advocacy success that changed the city’s playgrounds to a genuinely ADA‑accessible design.

Council questions and staff response: Council members asked whether the new committee would duplicate existing effort. Urukia and Councilmember Dutton said some accessibility components already exist in event staff coordination and special events but argued a dedicated committee would provide sustained, citywide attention to a range of needs — from interpreters to sensory‑friendly event design to grant opportunities for audio‑visual equipment.

Next steps: Council asked staff to clarify the committee’s duties and to add concrete examples of work on presentation slides for a future agenda vote. Council consensus favored moving the item forward for formal consideration on a subsequent meeting agenda.