[nfbwatlk] Listening Sessions, Disability and Public Transportation

Tue Aug 27 08:19:05 UTC 2013

Here is the information on the two upcoming meetings regarding Listening
Sessions Throughout the State, Disability and Public Transportation.
This is a great chance for people to make their voice heard in working
toward a special session of the State Legislature and passing a
transportation package that includes Public Transportation.

_______
Disability advocates - interested in meeting the
transportation needs of our community?

Hi Disability Advocates,

As you all know, people with disabilities have significant challenges
when it comes to transportation - paratransit shuttles have long wait
times, sidewalks are incomplete, bus service keeps getting cut back,
and many parts of the state have no transportation service at all.
While the state has a funding stream for "special needs"
transportation, it's too small and doesn't come close to meeting the
needs of our community throughout the state. We need to change that.
For those unfamiliar with the special needs transportation program, it
provides grants for paratransit via transit agencies and community
organizations that provide accessible transportation options to serve
people with disabilities, seniors, low-income individuals and youth.
However, the bulk of the funding goes to organizations serving people
with disabilities and seniors.

Luckily, legislators are discussing how to fix our transportation
problems right now, so we have an incredible, once-in-a-decade
opportunity that we must take advantage of. Just recently, Senator
Curtis King (chair of the Senate Transportation Committee) announced
that he will be having listening sessions throughout the state to find
out what residents are thinking about.  We need to pack these
community meetings with disability advocates to make sure legislators
understand the need to increase funding for special needs
transportation.

Along with other disability advocates, I'm working on a specific
proposal that would increase funding and improve services throughout
the state, but we need your help to make sure legislators support it.
Other groups are working on improving bus service and sidewalks (see
Transportation for All and the Complete Streets initiative), but no
one is talking about additional funding specifically for people with
disabilities.

We also need to have some direct one-on-one meetings with legislators
to discuss our proposal and ask for their support. So I'd like to
bring disability advocates together to work on a plan to get
legislators on board with our request. I worked with some of you
during the legislative session to put together a letter asking
legislators for their support but we need to re-double our efforts in
order to be successful. I need your help to make this a success.

Legislators are talking about having a special session in late
November where they may pass a transportation package, so we have to
reach out to them in the next few months.

I'd like to have two meetings in Olympia and Seattle to discuss this
issue. The Olympia meeting will be next Thursday, August 29, 1-2:30
p.m. at the 5th Floor Conference Room of the Raad Building (128 10th
Ave SW - the GCDE office building). The Seattle meeting will be
Wednesday, August 28 at 10am at the Arc of King County at 233 6th Ave
N, Seattle. Sorry for the short notice but we have to move quickly in
order to start talking to legislators in a coordinated manner. You do
not need to attend both meetings - the content will be the same but
will allow us to make sure we are including advocates from both
Olympia and Seattle. These meetings are geared towards staff or high
level volunteers who can help activate their networks around this
issue, not necessarily individual advocates. Accommodations and
interpreters are available upon request, thanks to the generous
contribution of the DDO.

I've also been talking with aging advocates and they are very
interested in this issue as well. We'll be working with them on our
efforts, but we need a big showing from the disability community.

Lastly, at these meetings, I also want us to re-visit the idea of a
broad cross-disability coalition. We made some steps towards this idea
during the legislative session, but we have much more work to do.

Please RSVP to me if you can attend either meeting.

Thanks,

Jim
_______

Jim Freeburg
Advocacy Director

National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Greater Northwest Chapter, Seattle Office
192 Nickerson St, Suite 100
Seattle, WA  98109
tel         +1 206 284 4254 ext 40237
tel         +1 800 344 4867 press 2 then ext 40237
fax        +1 206 284 4972

email       Jim.Freeburg at nmss.org

blog        WeMoveMS

-- 
*The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of working and poor
people, taking control over our own lives, and building up the power we
need to change society for the good of humanity and of the planet. We will
fight to preserve, expand, and improve the public transportation system in
Seattle and beyond, so that every human being has access to safe,
affordable, and reliable public transit.*

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