For the third year in a row, CDR (and I) have tried to illustrate the problems that people with disabilities, particularly, those who use wheelchairs, encounter when trying to navigate snowy sidewalks. In February, 2007, the Mayor and the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Services (DES) came to CDR, got in wheelchairs, and tried to get through the snowy sidewalks. Of course, it wasn’t happening! The Mayor was so struck by his experience that he allocated more money for snow removal in the city budget. Last year, about the same time, Chris and the Mayor did an op-ed piece in the Democrat and Chronicle, our local newspaper, asking neighbors to be good citizens and clear the sidewalks on, or near their property. On Monday, January 5, 2009, R News (Channel 9 on cable), one of the local cable stations, did a piece about this same issue.
By now, I am really frustrated. Here are my thoughts on the matter:
What I really hope is that the city begins enforcing its own policy. I know that they want fines to be a last resort, but as I said to the reporter, people will follow the city’s lead. No one will take the city seriously on this unless they get tough. Otherwise, we’ll be hearing about a tragedy, and I don’t want that to happen. Somehow, though, I feel that a tragedy is what it will take for the city to open its eyes, and get serious. The message that I take away is that people with disabilities truly don’t matter. Yes, there is more money allocated in the budget for snow removal, but people must understand that it is also their duty to remove snow, and if they can’t do it, they have to see if they can get it done for them. More important, the city, itself, must abide by it’s own rules! The city must clear the sidewalks around any property that it owns, including vacant property. People will not clear the snow if they know that the city is not doing it’s part. Once the city begins doing it’s part, then, they’ll be able to fairly enforce the policy, and hopefully, people will get serious.
Anyway, here is the link to the news story:
http://www.rnews.com/Story_2004.cfm?ID=68231&rnews_story_type=18
In case you can’t get to the video, or you are Deaf, here is the text:
City Streets Discourage the Disabled
In the dead of winter, many of us spend most of our time indoors – most times from the house to the car and back inside.
A group of folks forced to spend more time outdoors to get around is having problems in the City of Rochester. City residents could be unknowingly making it difficult for the disabled.
“To travel in the street? It is extremely scary,” Anita Cameron of Rochester said.
Cameron gets around the only way she knows how.
“People yell, they scream ‘get out of the street’,” Cameron said.
Wheels on a wheelchair spin out just like those of a car. It’s a problem the disabled, like Cameron, find challenging in a western New York winter.
“I have to wait for the bus right here because there is no way we can get on. The last time I did this, I had the police called on me and I was considered a danger to myself,” Cameron said.
City streets are the city’s responsibility right? Not so fast. According to a Rochester snow ordinance, shoveling is up to you.
“The property owner or the first floor tenant must keep the sidewalk area free of snow and ice,” Neighborhood Empowerment Teams Director Molly Clifford said.
An ordinance the City of Rochester says can cost you up to $75 if not followed.
“That’s really a last resort for us. We really want people to take a proactive step and keep their sidewalks shoveled,” Clifford said.
The city plows sidewalks as long as there’s more than three inches of snow. Fine print in the rulebooks Cameron believes needs to be even clearer.
“I think that the city should begin enforcing its own policies because otherwise there’s going to be a tragedy,” Cameron said.
