by intrepid in Accessibility, Civic Action, Development and Zoning, Pedestrians
Posted on October 17, 2009 at 6:47 pm
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In RE: Joe Lynch on Joe’s Original Crosswalks
The situation you describe, Joe, in which the Magoun Square project consultant told you that cost is the reason that a principal location, one where safe wheelchair access is crucial, will not be built in compliance with ADA specifications- is scandalous. I join you in believing that readers of Somerville Voices genuinely care that the rights of people with disabilities- in this instance mobility impairments have, yet again, been denied by a City Administration which fails to recognize that such rights are protected by federal law (the images and annotations compiled by our own photojournalist, Eila, deftly illuminate the depth and breadth of this problem citywide).
What if a group of us come together to acknowledge the City’s 2009 All America (sic) City Award, though in a very different way than it will be acknowledged tonight- as a self-congratulatory celebration at the Armory..
Imagine scores and scores of people- people who understand equal access as a matter of human rights, social justice, and government accountability; people who are the watchdogs of the economic health of Somerville and can predict how and how much the accrued violations of the ADA expose the city to potentially huge lawsuits… how the many human costs of the ongoing systematic exclusion of thousands of townspeople can be quantified monetarily; and who can then project the net costs the City could be compelled to pay plaintiffs- whether individuals or a class; imagine the people coming together to redeem the Somerville that coveted- and won- an award to which it was not, is not, entitled… that hasn’t done a very good job addressing the most fundamental needs of so many of its residents…who are so often relegated to the margins (and navigating outside the crosswalks that don’t line up with the curb cuts)…
We could hold an event outside- maybe on a traffic island- and hold placards saying “There’s Nothing All-American About Exclusion,” and “I Have a Disability AND I VOTE!” How about “I Tried, But I Couldn’t Cross The Street.” Or, “No One Asked Me!” We could find a magnanimous big box retailer to donate a snowmobile which we would raffle off, use the proceeds to resurrect a Disabilities Commission (in Exile, thank you very much). The reason for the snowmobile- this is the coolest part- is to dramatize what a person needs in order to safely navigate the sidewalks, curb cuts, lack of curb cuts, 20- seconds long pedestrian walk lights, streets, crater-sized potholes hidden beneath slush or snow, snow banks, slick, icy cobblestones, etc. We could display the big red snowmobile atop a giant ramp, like what cars drive onto so that the do-it-yourselfer can get underneath the car to work on it.
And we can announce to the public that next year in 2010 the Americans With Disabilities Act will be 20 years old, and that we’d better get ready to turn off our lights- inside AND out- and close the curtains- sort of like some people do on Halloween so that the little Trick-or-Treators will think no one’s home. Sitting in the dark- on an occasion that ought to be celebrated- sounds pretty sad…but at least it’s honest.
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Wow, thanks, intrepid.
Since 2005, this mayor has received numerous entreaties, information, resources and sincere collaborative offers to plan and implement realistic benchmarks for inclusion of individuals with disAbilities in Somerville. At every turn, he has coldly spurned these communications, and he has gone even further- he has promoted deceitful legal maneuvers, played out by his City Solicitor and ADA Coordinator, to deliberately deny the Disabilities Commission its right to hold accessible Open Public meetings when our published agenda included certain items, such as: inaccessible municipal facilities, the ADA, Transition planning (see ADA Title II at 28 C.F.R. 35.150(d))- and even our collaborative planning with 2 other nonprofits for a live TV Mayoral Candidate’s Forum on Inclusion during his 2007 campaign! In May 2008, 4 of the 6 seated Commissioners resigned in disgust.
Instead of spouting “Best Practices” at every turn, imagine if this Mayor set about to forthrightly honor his statutory obligations to affirmatively promote genuine inclusion, civil rights and equal opportunities for all Somerville residents- not one left behind… what an honorable undertaking that would be.
Disabilities, as the largest minority, identifies with all races, cultures, creeds, ages, gender identities…and it is certain that there are other minority groups that feel just as keenly excluded from this “All America Hurrah” in Somerville. I hope we’ll get to hear from those voices on SomervilleVoices.org
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