City of Newton, Massachusetts: Reconsider how it treats its citizens with disabilities
It is my belief the City of Newton staff need to organize a Commission for Person's with Disabilities, with a focus on protecting all citizens with disabilities in Newton.
The Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities is nota commission, but rather a committee paid by funds from HUD's CDBG committee. This CDBG based committee for person's with disabilities is organized under Steve Gartrell and the Planning Department.
Although there has been talk about organizing a CDBG based task force to review the architectural access problems in all of the schools, and public buildings, and exterior structures, the emphasis has been to focus on private entities (real estate) and non city entities.
The Mayor's Commitee has supported and allocated funding to certain projects, with other projects obtaining focused attention after private citizens filed AAB complaints to the state, and they were forced to comply. We believe there is a better, more organized pro-active approach bringing together bright people with talent.
We continue to advocate for the implementation of a trained ADA Coordinator staff, preferably someone with a physical disability. We have been unable to locate any paid staff in Newton who are wheelchair users, for example.
Although there has been talk about organizing a CDBG based task force to review the architectural access problems in all of the schools, and public buildings, and exterior structures, the emphasis has been to focus on private entities (real estate) and non city entities.
The Mayor's Commitee has supported and allocated funding to certain projects, with other projects obtaining focused attention after private citizens filed AAB complaints to the state, and they were forced to comply. We believe there is a better, more organized pro-active approach bringing together bright people with talent.
We continue to advocate for the implementation of a trained ADA Coordinator staff, preferably someone with a physical disability. We have been unable to locate any paid staff in Newton who are wheelchair users, for example.
The article is about an event a private volunteer organization in Newton (Citizens for Access, Inc.) held at the Newton Police Station Annex in the summer of 2003. A young man was carried up and down the stairs in his wheelchair at the Newton Police Station Annex for 6 years. The reason? They claimed they could not afford a ramp.
"Carry An Employee Up the Stairs Day" was a disability advocacy event held at the Newton Police Station Annex on August 20, 2003 . The concept was to have all the police, staff from the Planning Dept and Building Dept, go to the police station and be carried up and down the stairs on this day, and enjoy ice-cream inside the station. The concept was devised to place the people who are accepting for someone else to be carried by wheelchair up stairs, to be placed in his shoes, or wheelchair seat, as the case may be. The anticipated fear of them experiencing the same humiliation worked to prompt them to pro-active actions.
Two hours prior to the media coming to see the police being carried in wheelchairs, a new temporary ramp was installed. Advocates were told by the police that they would not allow themselves to be humiliated in front of the media with being carried in wheelchairs up stairs.
What this speaks to is the unacceptable apathy of city officials to respond to a clear violation of someone's civil rights and a disrespect for common sense. This carrying had been going on for 6 years, up several crumbling stairs. If it were not for media attention and advocacy, he probably would still be carried.
