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Wednesday, July 30, 2003

I don't know if many people in Duquesne are aware that handicapped people cannot attend city council meetings.

City officials have come up with what they feel is a solution to this problem. They decided the handicapped people could sit in the City Hall lobby and listen to the council meetings via a two-way intercom.

How people are going to make sense of the meeting using this system is beyond me. This is running the city slightly under $800. But there is another glitch to their system. To enter the building, if you are handicapped, you must enter through the police entrance, which is locked at 3:30 p.m. So, in order to go the meeting, you must sit outside the building and call for a police officer to open the door for you.

The simplest and least expensive solution to this problem was, according to the Americans With Disabilities Act, to move the meeting to a handicapped-accessible building. All the money that has been put into the high school to make it handicapped accessible is going to waste in this venue.

When I approached David Poljak, the city business manager, about this solution, he said one day they may need an important paper while they are at a meeting. However, he admitted this seldom happens.

How far is it from the high school to City Hall to get the paper? But how hard is it to attend a meeting in voice only? How will you know who is speaking? Will they identify themselves each time they come to the microphone? No.

What if a handicapped person wants to run for an office on city council or any other position on the second floor? What options does he or she have? None.

City officials would rather waste money than admit they are wrong. I am imploring anyone who is handicapped: Please call your council member and ask why we are worth only $800. The solution doesn't need to cost them a penny but would open the door to many people.

MARILYN KURUTZ
Duquesne

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