[il-talk] Fwd: ADA Advisory Committee Public Comment Process

[Kelly Pierce]

The policy prevents anyone with a claim against CTA from making
written or oral comments at the ADA advisory committee meeting. A
report to CTA management of a failure to call stops on a bus or a
train can be considered a claim against the agency because repeated
violations could lead to a federal lawsuit. The simple act of
reporting an accessibility problem or barrier creates a litigation
liability claim.  I mentioned to Amy Serpe that I understood the
intent of the use of the word claim in the policy was to prevent
people with personal injury situations from using public comment
periods from advocating for a settlement. However, the language as
written can easily mean that anyone who has informed CTA of an access
issue in the past year cannot make any comment to the ADA advisory
committee. In this interpretation, the policy absurdly stifles the
discussion and commentary on transit issues about people with
disabilities it was created to address. Amy responded that she is not
an attorney and did not write the language. CTA needs to clarify the
word claim in the policy so people experiencing access barriers or
problems can make the committee aware of them so the community can
resolve them outside of the court system.

Kelly

On 6/29/18, Robert Hansen via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Sincerely
> Robert A. Hansen
> hansen.robert70 at gmail.com
> Robert A. Hansen
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: Access <access at transitchicago.com>
> Date: Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 11:22 AM
> Subject: ADA Advisory Committee Public Comment Process
> To:
>
>
> Hello:
>
>
>
> The CTA will hold its next ADA Advisory Committee meeting on Monday, July
> 9, 2018 in the 2nd floor Boardroom of its headquarters office located at
> 567 W. Lake Street (SE corner of Lake and Jefferson Streets) from 1:30 – 4
> p.m. (CST).
>
>
>
> As part of every meeting the CTA provides an opportunity for Public
> Comment.
>
>
>
> As of the July meeting, the CTA is requesting that anyone interested in
> addressing the Committee during the Public Comment time to please sign up
> in advance of the meeting using the attached form. You may also call the
> ADA Manager at 312-681-2608 who can assist you with this process. There
> will also be someone at every meeting to provide assistance as needed.
>
> Both the process and form are attached to this e-mail. Please feel free to
> distribute as desired.
>
>
>
> Call 312-681-2608 if you have any questions.
>
>
>
> Thank you.
>