[nfbmi-talk] request all info related state plan mcb

[joe harcz Comcast]

July 13 2012   Request MCB LARA All Information Related to State Plan Hearings

 

Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

1365 E. Mt. Morris Rd.

Mt. Morris, MI 48458

810-516-5262

 

E-mail: joeharcz at comcast.net

 

Re: Public Hearing Comments, Notes, Minutes Rehab Act, ADA, Etc.

 

 

Patrick D. Cannon

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE

Michigan Commission for the Blind

201 N. Washington, 2nd Floor

P.O. Box 30652

Lansing, MI 48909

Phone (voice): (517) 373-2062

Fax: (517) 335-5140

TTY (517) 373-4025

Toll-Free Numbers:

1-800-292-4200 (voice, answered in Lansing)

1-800-323-2535 (voice, answered in Escanaba)

TTY 888-864-1212

(Sent via e-mail)

 

 

 

Dear  Mr. Cannon,

I am a person who is blind, an advocate for those who are blind and those with other disabilities. I am writing today to request all documents related to the extremely illegal state plan hearings recently conducted. At a minimum I am requesting all written or spoken public comments submitted to MCB  and, if any, the recordings and notes, or “minutes” of these so-called “public hearings” on the state plan, which by the way very few people with disabilities even knew about because MCB  LARA  made no proper and adequate notice in any form except belatedly on its web site.

 

Make no mistake here I am not making a Freedom of Information Act request! I invoke the very Rehabilitation Act itself which funds and establishes the MRC to begin with. I invoke the requirement to make all public meeting and hearing information readily available and accessible to members of the public in a timely and accessible manner including those of course, like myself who are blind. I also invoke the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Title II, subpart e, communications, primary consideration), and the “auxiliary aids and services” provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act here for as I am blind the printed word is not accessible. An entity such as yours should be intimate with how to affirmatively  comply with this request and prohibitions against charging a surcharge or any Stallings or delays.

 

Now I request the written submissions as simple Word documents and/or e-mail attachments as my “computer talks”. I use a screen reader. This information must be sent to my e-mail listed above. Any responses, including inevitable stalling must also be sent in accessible format.

 

As per any recordings they may be sent on a thumb drive to my mailing address as an mp3 file.

 

Again under law you may not charge me one dime for this any more than you can charge a deaf person the cost of interpreter services at these bogus hearings. Which you didn’t have by the way as that would violate the surcharge provisions of the ADA and 504.



 

But you should and do know of your substantial violations Mr. Cannon as you are the State of Michigan ADA Coordinator, Director of the Michigan  Commission for the Blind for crying out loud and the former Chair of the United States Access Board!

 

A failure to timely respond to this let alone remit accessible information will result in complaints to OCR, the US Department of Justice, and legal action.

 

Sincerely,

 

Paul Joseph Harcz, Jr.

 

Cc: National Federation of the Blind, MI

Cc: ADAPT MI

Cc: MCB Commissioners

Cc: MRC Members

Cc: RSA

Cc: OCR, Ed.

  

Cc: Michael Zimmer, Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

Cc: Michigan Protection and Advocacy Services

Cc: D. Gaston as Comments to State Plan Itself