[Ohio-talk] Wanda Sloan Residents testify in bus-stop bias case

Wed Apr 11 13:33:38 UTC 2012

·  <javascript:void(0);> Smaller type 

By Amelia Robinson <http://www.daytondailynews.com/services/staff/amelia-robinson-306398.html> , Staff Writer 10:24 PM Monday, April 9, 2012 

Miami Valley residents on Monday told a federal investigator why a decision by Beavercreek City Council barring three bus stops near the Mall at Fairfield Commons is discriminatory and is preventing them access to jobs, educational opportunities, medical care and amenities enjoyed by others.

Ophelia Robinson was one of several area residents who spoke during a meeting Monday with a representative from the Federal Highway Administration.

The administration is investigating allegations that council discriminated against minorities when it voted against a Dayton Regional Transit Authority request for the bus stops near the Mall at Fairfield Commons.

Robinson told Lester Finkle, a civil rights specialist with the administration who is spending a week in the area, that she put herself at risk to pursue a nursing degree at Clark State University, because she had to walk across the Grange Hall I-675 bridge to get the school on Pentagon Park.

“I often feel nervous, scared and fearful,” she said during the meeting at College Hill Community Church organized by Leaders of Equality and Action (LEAD) — a coalition of 20 congregations in the Dayton area.

She later added that she’s limited in the classes she can take and she won’t pursue a job at the newly opened $135 million Soin Medical Center because she is afraid to cross the busy bridge at night.

Robinson said the experience makes her feel “unwanted, alone and segregated” in Beavercreek.

Beavercreek Law Director Stephen McHugh said Finkle would take statements on the situation from council members today.

A Beavercreek moratorium on bus stop applications expires in May.

“We certainty will fully cooperate with the federal government representatives and try to address all of his questions,” McHugh said.

He said it would be inappropriate to comment further.

The federal investigation began after LEAD filed a 252-page civil rights complaint in August.

Wanda Sloan said that she found it difficult getting to a doctor in Beaverceek after becoming blind about eight years ago.

RTA’s curb-to-curb paratransit service Project Mobility cannot go into communities where the transportation system does not have routes.

“It’s not fun being blind,” she said. “It’s not fun being discriminated against.”

The Rev. Francisco Pelaez, College Hill’s Hispanic missionary pastor, said he and his wife walked across the North Fairfield Road bridge I-675 bridge to get from Fairborn to Beavercreek and experienced the danger those who must do so for work or school much feel.

He compared the lack of a bus route to Beaverceek to a wall that keeps people away from opportunities.

“We have to make sure these kinds of barriers no longer exist,” he said.

Lisa Phelps, who moved to Dayton from Bayside, N.Y., said she’s had to turn down three jobs in Beavercreek because there is no bus access.

She said her husband drives her family’s only car for his work.

She said the lack of bus access should not prevent her from providing for her family.

The RTA’s attempts to install bus stops in Beavercreek date to 1998.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0001.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0002.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0003.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image005.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0004.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image006.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0005.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image007.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0006.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image008.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0007.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image009.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0008.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image010.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0009.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image011.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0010.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image012.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0011.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image013.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0012.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image014.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0013.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image015.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0014.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image016.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20120411/e3ca362d/attachment-0015.gif>