[NFBN-Lincoln] Animal Control update - Conversation with Asst. City Attorney Rick Tast

[markmurraycoleman at gmail.com]

Hello,

 

Friday afternoon I had a telephone call with Assistant City Attorney Rick
Tast which I initiated to follow up on a couple of questions related to his
letter. Specifically I sought clarification regarding whether Animal
Control's refusal to assist Brent Heyen resulted from a policy, a common
practice, or an impromptu decision by those on duty at the time. Mr. Tast
informed me that because he is representing the interests of Animal Control
and because I suggested Animal Control is violating Title II of the ADA, he
is unable to comment on the facts of the case at this time. Because he made
it clear that he was not willing to discuss the details of the case, I did
not follow up with questions about whether they had reviewed a recording of
the phone call between Brett and Animal Control or other factual questions
about the case. Mr. Tast said that he has reached out to an attorney who has
expertise in the ADA to review the case. Mr. Tast said that he or somebody
else will get back to me when they have completed their review, but he was
not able to give any indication of how long this will take.

         

In a best case scenario, this could be good news given that an attorney with
ADA experience is being brought in to review the case. However, if the
strategy of the city attorney's office is to continue a practice of
defensive law in which they are stubbornly resistant to acknowledging that
anything a city department does is wrong, then the consulting attorney could
be involved simply to provide expertise in creating doubt about the ADA's
relevance to this situation. Either way, I am inclined to wait until after
state convention to take any further steps.

 

Following convention, we may have a resolution in hand to demonstrate that
the NFB Nebraska Affiliate takes civil rights violations against the blind
seriously. I believe that following convention, we should broaden our
efforts beyond dealing with the city attorney's office. City departments
exist to serve the public and elected officials are elected to lead. When
city departments and elected officials convince themselves that they need to
take a back seat to a junior part-time city attorney on issues of making
policy, they are not understanding their jobs or the limited role of the
city attorney's office. We have no guidance on how long the city attorney's
office will take in getting back to us. Without some outside pressure, there
is no telling whether they will get back to us at all or provide a response
that is substantive and cogent.

     

Feel free to share any thoughts or suggestions. 

 

Thanks,

Mark Coleman

NFB of Nebraska Lincoln Chapter VP

 

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