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The City Council met on May 15, and voted to approve the creation of a Disabilities Access Coordinator. On May 1, the ordinance had failed with a 5-4 vote because a super majority of 2/3rds of the City Council was required. The council decided to revisit it on the 15th and it passed 7-2 (Quinn and Corey Rahme voting against) when it was resurrected.

There is a delicate balance that has to be struck when presented with such an important issue. I voted against the newly created job based on my belief that the position represented bureaucratic layering and in my opinion it would be redundant. Let me explain. The city already has an inspection’s department. I believe that the city does not need to hire someone to tell us what we already know and what an existing department is already charged to do.

My decision to vote against a Disabilities Access Coordinator proved to be something that could have been misunderstood by my constituents.

I did not vote against this position because I do not care about the needs of the disabled. On the contrary, I voted against it because I do care.

Councilor Debbie Quinn said, “I know the plight of the disabled. I have an 86 year old mother who lives with me and faces these challenges on a daily basis. Fix what’s wrong and do not hire someone to do someone else’s job.”

We were presented with a job description that I felt lacked the qualifications needed to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The ADA has specific conditions that must be met and it requires a person capable of understanding those specifications. Check out the ADA document numbering 120 pages of guidelines (source: Dept. of Justice, Code of Federal Regulation, ADA Standards for Accessible Design).

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adastd94.pdf

The purpose of this document is described below.

This document sets guidelines for accessibility to places of public accommodation and commercial facilities by individuals with disabilities. These guidelines are to be applied during the design, construction, and alteration of such buildings and facilities to the extent required by regulations issued by Federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA, rev. July 1,1994).

The City Council was presented with a job description that described the duties and responsibilities as follows:

“This individual shall report to the Mayor or his designee on all issues relating to the Handicapped Community including but not limited to: access to public facilities, parking, employment, discrimination, proposed legislation both federal and state and the availability of grant funding for handicap issues. This person shall act as a liaison to the Methuen Disability Commission and shall coordinate services and programs offered to handicapped citizens.”

Furthermore, the qualifications required for hire reads, “The incumbent needs to be a High School graduate and have good to excellent written and oral communication skills. Computer literacy is desired and the ability to follow instruction and take direction is required. This person needs to be familiar with and sensitive (my emphasis) to the needs of handicapped individuals. This person needs the ability to interact with people respectfully insuring a level of comfort and understanding.” (Position description, May 9, 2006)

In the interest of full and fair disclosure, the job is further described as, “This position is experimental in nature and will be continued or eliminated at the discretion of the Mayor. Any incumbent serves at the pleasure of the Mayor.” The position will have a salary of $400 per month and not participate in any insurance or retirement programs.

It will be effective from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 and needs to be renewed by the City Council, and reports are expected to determine effectiveness. It should also be noted that the position is funded by all the fines accumulated from people parking in handicap spaces without a permit. To date, there is $47,000 in the pot to fund this position.

I think that work ethic and job accountability should be paramount and not replaced by adding someone else. I do not care if the money is not coming out of the city’s coffers. That money that has been accrued could be better used to fix the existing problems known to the city and further, provide disabled children with accessible playground equipment, cut curbs, open door ways, and the numerous other needed fixes in our city.

I would like to publicly acknowledge the good works of the Methuen Disabilities Commission and their all-volunteer group for being the watchful eyes of the city to insure compliance of all the accessibility codes. I have a problem with letting the inspectors, engineers, architects, contractors, subcontractors and others off the hook.

Since we now have this position as voted on by the City Council, I think it is important to make it the best position possible to serve our disabled. I do not think the qualifications listed in the existing job description will serve the disabled in our city.

I think it would be much more effective if we expected more from the selected candidate than being “sensitive.” For me, it should be someone who can understand the specifications that are clearly set forth in the ADA. Verbiage such as slopes and rises, horizontal projections and runs, and much more should be understood by the appropriate candidate.

The perfect candidate should have a command of technical terminology and some technical background that includes architecture, civil engineering, or the like.

It will be interesting to see who is chosen to fill this position. I am hopeful it will be someone qualified to understand the real needs of this community. Hopefully, we are all sensitive to the needs of the disabled so that qualification is a moot point.

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The June, 2006 Edition of the Valley Patriot
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Prior Coluns by Councilor Rahme