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‘Progressive’ City Council abuses vulnerable persons—and free speech
Schuster: prepare kids for the long term
East Cambridge Property
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Only one disability here
© 2006 Roy Bercaw
The Cambridge City Council indicated on August 7, during their summer special meeting that they are as unaware of the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as the City Manager and the Police Commissioner are.
When asked about the ADA the Manager showed surprising evidence of his ignorance in an area of law that has applied to the City for more than 30 years. He was not alone. Councilors Toomey, Galluccio, Davis and Sullivan showed that they were as clueless. Councilor Kelley admitted he was unsure. The other Councilors remained silent, showing they either didn’t know what the City is required to do, or they were not interested.
The Manager guessed that “if all of the (water) fountains are wheelchair accessible then we’re meeting the intent of the uh ADA.“I don’t know if we can meet every single uh disability that may exist in the uh citizenry.”
People think disability laws only apply to persons who use wheelchairs.
Councilor Toomey said that if “there’s someone who needs to gain access then Councilor Kelley should bring that individual forward to enlighten the City Manager and our uh Handicapped Commission where we are non compliant. Other than that I just don’t know what the point of this conversation is. ... Has anyone filed a suit against us saying our water fountains are non compliant?”
Cambridge Local First! but not us
At its June 26 meeting, the City Council gave the City Manager (another!) award recognizing his 25 years of service. The Council did not shop locally. But they congratulated the businesses that formed the Cambridge Local First project. Talking but not walking the walk?
Mayor Reeves noted that the City Manager is a Cambridge native. In addition to the certificate Reeves handed (and almost dropped) to the City Manager, the City Council gave him tickets to a Red Sox baseball game and a gift certificate for Border’s bookstore. Why did the Mayor get a certificate from a national bookstore chain, instead of from one of the few remaining independent bookstores in Cambridge?
At the special summer meeting Toomey pleaded for a return to the standard civil service list of Cambridge residents. He believes they should havea preference in hiring for police and fire personnel. He said, “And, Cambridge First. I think we had an order in here tonight about Cambridge First for something. My God if Cambridge kids aren’t first, then nobody else is.” But as you see the Council congratulated the group of local businesses lobbying as Cambridge First. But the Council ignored the group when they bought the Manger a gift.
There was no discussion as usual about hiring persons with disabilities who live in Cambridge. The Affirmative Action policy of the City applies as well to persons with disabilities as it does to other groups. But the Council never requests that the City Manager try to hire persons with disabilities so that the government work force reflects the percentage of persons with disabilities in the city.
The Manager could say, “It never entered my mind.” Those were the words Special Agent Robert Greenleaf used, when asked whether he could have prevented the 19 murders committed on his watch by FBI informants James Bulger and Steve Flemmi.