Disability coalition wins big victory with City Council

PostGlobe

People with disabilities won a sweeter-in-hard-times victory Thursday when the Seattle City Council gave unanimous approval to a budget proposal for creating a disabilities commission.

A coalition had complained that, despite its many commissions, the city had no group where people with disabilities came close to being a majority. After the budget vote, which involved the whole council, City Council President Richard Conlin asked about the status of legislation related to the commission. It will be handled soon in a separate vote, a council staffer told him.

The Committee to Establish a Seattle Disability Commission praised the council. In a press release, the committee's Julian Wheeler said, "The fact that the City Council acted even in these tough economic times shows that it cares about disability rights." Rachel Sachs, a University of Washington student, was quoted as saying, "It is in hard times that minorities need their civil rights protected the most."

The group said it encourages other cities to follow Seattle's lead. The committee's Web site is here.

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Tags: Seattle, City Council, Seattle Disabilities Commission, disabilities, commission, Julian Wheeler, Rachel Sachs + add tags

new commission for people with disabilities
I'm very glad to see a new commission for people with disabilities has been formed. I have a 39-yr-old daughter with Rett syndrome, a severely disabling condition. My frustration with the City Council's high tolerance for people who misuse special needs parking is growing---each time I see a contractor's truck with a parking placard parked in the diabled parking at Home Depot. Why doesn't the city regularly enforce parking there? Also, it is a ridiculously small fine, when you consider that I have often had to turn around and go home when I could not find parking. I need to open the door fully, to lift my daughter out of the car and pivot her into her wheelchair. Seattle gets an A for providing the spaces, but a D- in enforcement and making it economically painful to those who misuse the placards. The other place this is a huge problem is Costco. There needs to be someone there fulltime to write tickets to collect large fines for the city coffers for this infringement on the rights of those with real disabilities. The city of Seattle is missing out on a very lucritive source of income. WE NEED ENFORCEMENT!!! In these days of phones connecting to the internet, the attendent or police officer must be able to check on the dates and numbers on the placard electronically. The Department of Licensing needs to be connected to the department that records deaths, and then the placard number should be listed as illegal. Anyone using an illegal placard will get a letter of condolence from the DOL that also informs them that using the placard illegally carries a fine of $1,000. You will collect a lot of fines, I guarantee you. Who the heck are you afraid of offending if you raise the fines so they hurt? This is a moral issue and needs to be addressed. Also, doctors need to send in electronically) the names and disabilities of each patient they sign off on. You will see a pattern on those who are too complient to patients who want them, plus, it would not surprise me to know there are a few docs who get paid to do this. Word gets around. Please do something about this. Come on, don't we have anyone in government smart enough to figure this out? Isn't it at least as important as the issue of garbage? I'd like to think my daughter is more important than that. Respectfully, Claudia Weisz West Seattle Claudia Weisz 206 938-0099
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