[il-talk] Invitation and Encouragement to Apply for Pace Suburban Bus ADA Advisory Committees

[Ray Campbell]

Hello:

Note for all who see this on the Illinois Council of the Blind and NFB of
Illinois Email lists, this will only be of interest to folks in the Chicago
area.  I am writing as a current member of the Pace Suburban Bus Suburban
ADA Advisory Committee.  I want to encourage each of you, along with people
you may work with, to consider applying to be on either the Suburban ADA
Committee, or on Pace's City of Chicago ADA Advisory Committee.  Bryen,
please make sure this gets forwarded to the Chicago Deafblind Alliance; I
promised you all at last October's forum I'd let you know when committee
terms come available.

So what do these advisory committees do?  We meet six times a year during
the odd numbered months (January, March, May, July, September and November).
The Chicago Committee meets the fourth Monday of each month, the Suburban
committee meets the fourth Tuesday of each month.  When you apply and if you
are chosen, where you live will determine which committee you are placed on.
The Chicago committee meets at the offices of the Chicago Metropolitan
Agency for Planning (CMAP) located on the eighth floor of Willis Tower in
Downtown Chicago.  The suburban committee meets at Pace Headquarters, 550
West Algonquin Road in Arlington Heights.  Meetings run from 1:00-3:00 p.m.,
and Pace will arrange for a ride to and from each meeting if you need it.
Once a year, both committees meet jointly.

We advise Pace staff on issues and concerns affecting people with
disabilities who need to use transportation services offered by Pace.  The
Chicago committee concentrates solely on Paratransit because that's what
Pace runs in Chicago.  The suburban committee looks at paratransit and Pace
fixed routes, van pools and other services.  Some of the initiatives which
have come from the committees are videos on Jays List on how to use Pace
services and the recently introduced Pace ADA Newsletters which come out
quarterly.

Each committee consists of 15 members.  Membership terms are two years.
Eight members' terms are up in the odd numbered years on the Suburban
committee, seven in the even numbered years.  I am not sure how that
rotation works for the Chicago committee.  Guess what, there are eight spots
available on the Suburban committee.

I've attached the Committee member application to this message.
Unfortunately, it is in PDF format and not a fillable PDF either, so you may
need to get assistance filling it out.  Alternatively, contact Linda
Swedlund at Pace, linda.swedlund at pacebus.com and see if she can send you a
word version of the application.

Thank you for reading, and I hope many of you will choose to apply.  The
same people usually end up serving over and over again, and that does not
foster new ideas.  Also, there is a lack of disability diversity on the
suburban committee.  For example, no one from the Deaf or Hard of Hearing or
Deafblind communities has ever served on that committee, I don't know about
the Chicago committee.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any
questions.

Thanks,

Ray Campbell
Ray153056 at gmail.com

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