Precious Cargo and the Rolling Revolution

"Precious Cargo" and the "Rolling Revolution"

 

Howdy Comrades!

Our cause goes marching on, battling the draconian cutbacks proposed by Cap Metro staff.  After a meeting of the Access Committee earlier this year, I was waiting on my taxi.  When it arrived, the new STS Director, Inez Evans, led me to the vehicle.  My driver commented that Ms. Evans had been helpful, and she replied, "He's precious cargo."    Comrades, I have been called precious before, but I had never been reffered to as "cargo." I think this off hand remark by Ms. Evans is quite revealing.  She does not really perceive STS riders as real people, first class citizens who just happen to have a disability.  Instead, we are a kind of freight that must be moved from one place to another.  Give me a break!  It's just that kind of thinking that is behind the very unpopular changes to STS policies Ms. Evens seems hell bent on forcing on the mobility impaired community here in Austin.  Metro is learning that we are people capable of speaking for ourselves, not inanimate objects to be pushed around from here to there.  Following is an article that appeared in our alternative newspaper:

 

Rolling Rebellion at Capital Metro

 

BY JUSTIN WARD

 

Critics of Capital Metro's proposed transit cuts to services for the disabled questioned why the agency would spend millions on a spiffy new railcar system.

Photo by John Anderson

 

The Capital Metro boardroom became the site of a peculiar rebellion Monday. Some of the insurgents rolled in on wheelchairs. Others were led in by dogs.

Instead of pitchforks and torches, they were brandishing canes and walkers.

 

Filing out of Special Transit Service buses and taxicabs, they packed into Cap Metro's lobby, where they waited to be escorted in groups of four, via the

agency's only elevator, to its second-floor boardroom. Some folks in wheelchairs had trouble making it through the front door after the button that opens

it malfunctioned at a most inopportune time. Those who arrived early had the good fortune of picking up one of the few agendas printed in braille. Those

who didn't had to borrow one. Despite the logistical challenges of getting to the meeting (both to the building and the room itself), the boardroom was

soon filled wall to wall with wheelchairs - underneath every other chair was a Seeing Eye dog curling up inconspicuously.

 

The motivation behind the uprising? Many with disabilities are outraged over Cap Metro's planned cuts to STS, also known as paratransit services. Under

the Americans With Disabilities Act, Cap Metro must provide service to riders with disabilities that is "parallel" to regular service. This means that

Cap Metro must supplement its fleet with special cars and vans, which provide curb-to-curb service to those who cannot ride a fixed-route bus because of

their disabilities.

 

Cap Metro contends that changes are necessary to rein in STS spending, which has risen by more than 80% in six years. During the 2006-2007 fiscal year,

Cap Metro spent $26.9 million - about 19% of the operating budget - on paratransit, which serves 2% of its ridership. To reduce costs, Cap Metro argues

that it must streamline paratransit - by cutting regular taxi vouchers, increasing penalties for no-shows, minimizing the number of riders who are eligible,

and cutting the hours when live operators will be in the STS call center.

 

Opponents at the meeting say the cuts will make a system already fraught with problems even worse. They most fiercely opposed the proposed elimination

of subscription taxi vouchers. Currently, those who qualify can receive daily vouchers for regular taxi rides to work, doctors' appointments, or dialysis

treatment. Under the proposed changes, taxi vouchers will only be used to handle overflow from standard STS vehicles.

 

Cap Metro officials say the vouchers are wasteful, unnecessary, and vulnerable to fraud, citing past instances where more than $100,000 was reportedly

paid to a single cabbie in one year. Hannah Riddering, a Yellow Cab operator who often carries passengers with disabilities, said fraud in the program

is exaggerated by Cap Metro and the media. "Capital Metro staff uses 'cabdriver fraud' as a bludgeon," she said. Voucher fraud was limited to a few bad

apples, who were fired more than two years ago, Riddering said, and she blames Cap Metro's lax oversight. Yellow Cab, not Cap Metro, first discovered the

abuse, she said.

 

Pat Bartel, who is blind and frequently uses vouchers, told the board that despite what Cap Metro is claiming, vouchers are actually cheaper than rides

in STS vehicles. According to the 2006-2007 budget, taxi vouchers accounted for $3.2 million, or 11.8% of the total paratransit budget. The maximum taxi

voucher allowed per ride is $14, while the average cost-per-ride for all STS services, including taxis and STS vehicles, is $46.50, the bulk of which goes

to maintaining its fleet and paying drivers. Others noted that STS buses often waste resources because Cap Metro will sometimes use an entire bus to transport

one person.

 

Cap Metro originally planned to eliminate vouchers in March and did so, briefly, until a successful lawsuit brought by the Texas Civil Rights Project forced

the agency to reinstate them. When Cap Metro abruptly stopped issuing vouchers without warning, it severely impacted those who had depended on them, including

Cheryl Fszol, who says she lost her job as a result. Fszol suffers from seizures brought on by stress and also paralyzing migraines from a brain tumor.

The STS vans dropped her off an hour before work each day. Her boss wouldn't allow her to go into the building until someone else showed up, so she would

sit outside in the dark, often having seizures in the parking lot from the stress. She was fired from her job, she said, because the company did not want

to be liable if she were injured from her seizures.

Cap Metro originally planned to implement the changes without a public hearing, despite Federal Transit Administration regulations that require public

participation whenever there are changes to paratransit policy. The changes were billed as "procedural" rather than changes in policy, so it was deemed

unnecessary to hold a hearing. Cap Metro Access Advisory Committee members took turns blasting STS Director Inez Evans for failing to consult directly

with the committee or with the disabled community at-large. "All of these changes were just rammed through," said Malcolm Graham, who is blind and a member

of the access committee. "They presented [them] as if it were a done deal."

 

Evans opted to bypass the access committee altogether and hired a consulting firm called Texas Citizen Fund. The firm was paid $27,000 to conduct six focus

groups, which had a total of 174 participants. The firm apparently told Cap Metro exactly what it wanted to hear: that everyone approved, with the exception

of a few minor complaints that required tinkering.

 

Many opponents say Evans is the driving force behind the proposed changes, though she insists that these events were set into motion long before she took

the position. She cited a report from two years ago, which made many of the same recommendations. Bartel said that what Evans is doing in Austin is consistent

with her history in the transit industry. Evans worked for a company called MV Transportation, which is the paratransit equivalent of an efficiency expert,

Bartel said, with a pattern of reducing services to the minimum required by ADA.

 

When MV took over paratransit service in Washington, D.C., Evans was put in charge. The Washington Post reported in 2006: "In the first three weeks under

the new contractor [MV], Metro received record numbers of complaints from riders, thousands of whom said they were stranded, picked up late or mistreated

by drivers or reservationists. MV executives have blamed poor data from [the former contractor], the learning curve of new drivers and reservationists,

and telephone problems." Evans resigned from MV after six months on the job. She insists that it was purely a personal decision to take a better job in

California.

 

Evans plans to bring in an outside contractor to do what is called a "functional assessment" of STS riders, to determine if they are physically capable

of riding a fixed-route bus, with the intent of bumping riders from STS rolls. But wheelchair-bound riders are concerned that an influx of wheelchairs

on buses will be problematic, since all buses only have two wheelchair spots. If both spots are taken, then riders will have to wait as long as an hour

for the next bus. Also, the examinations would require riders to turn over personal medical information to Cap Metro, which they consider an invasion of

privacy.

 

Some at the meeting urged Cap Metro to get its priorities straight. Several speakers said it is appalling that the agency can cough up $100 million to

build a commuter train, yet it has to cut services for the disabled in the name of saving money. "Many of the comments in the media make it seem like we

were riding in limousines," said Richard Villa, who is blind. "I think most of us - if we had a choice - wouldn't use the system, at all."

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CapMetroAccessCommittee" group.

To post to this group, send email to metroaccess@googlegroups.com

 

--The Cap Metro Board called a public hearing to discuss seven changes to STS policy on April 15^th.  See you there!

Regards,

Chairman Mal

Power to the Peeps!

Cap Metro Attempts to Roll Over STS Passengers

Howdy Comrades!

Events in Austin have moved rapidly since my last post about Cap Metro's power play to crush the opinions of Access members in order to implement a bare bones Para-transit service for the Austin area.  Inez Evans sparked the controversy last month when she made a rare appearance at the Access STS Subcommittee meeting.  Ignoring the opinions and needs of STS passengers, she presented a plan that will eliminate the very successful taxi voucher program, a program many depend upon to get to and from work, return from dialysis treatments, the pharmacy and other trips that require flexible return times.  As a consequence, the Texas Civil Rights project filed a lawsuit in State Court and obtained a temporary restraining order because Metro had skipped the required public hearings before such draconian changes could be made.  Metro appealed the judge's decision to federal court.  A federal judge set a hearing for mid May.  Meantime, Metro staff paid about $27,000.00 to the Texas Citizen's Fund to conduct so-called focus group meetings, attempting to bill them as public hearings.  When it became clear to staff that this idea would not fly, a public hearing. was scheduled for April 15.  Following is email sent to the Access Google group about this hearing.

 

Friends of Access,

I agree with Judy that this hearing seems to once again shut out input from

Access.  It is ironic, to say the least, that the hearing is scheduled for

4/15, the deadline for filing federal income tax returns.  I also agree with

ADAPT that the "devil is in the details."  The problem Access has

encountered has been in getting accurate details from staff.  At this point,

we must take any facts and figures given to us by staff with a grain of

salt.  Hand me a salt shaker, already!  We do know that Cap Metro has spent

a phenomenal sum by purchasing the most technically advanced train from

Europe for the rather limited commuter rail project.  We also know that Cap

Metro provides personal limousines for sighted drivers who carpool where

buses aren't available.  I believe the charge is just 25 bucks a month for

that service.  The editorial in the Statesman says that Cap metro must

constrain compassion with frugality in funding the special Transit Program.

I really can't fathom how anyone can use the terms "Cap Metro" and

"frugality" in the same sentence without laughing out loud.  The disability

community has a right to demand a Special Transit service that is second to

none based on what Metro is willing to spend on its pet projects.  I won't

be available on Saturday because I am a delegate to the Travis county

Democratic Convention.  I will, however, keep in touch.  Finally, I want to

express my profound sadness for the death of John Slatin, a gifted poet and

role model for many blind people.

Regards,

Malcolm Graham

Access Member

Chair, ATC/NFB Transportation Committee

----- Original Message -----

From: "Judy W" <

judyw@austin.rr.com>

To: "

Metroaccess@Googlegroups

. Com" <

metroaccess@googlegroups.com>

Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 6:53 AM

Subject: board hearing at Criss cole

 

> 

> 

> Nancy Crowther confirmed the room at Criss Cole according to staff to co

> host the meeting with the Mayor's committee. Why do some staff and board

> members wonder why there is a lack of trust in some Metro staff. Tina Bui

> of

> governmental relations called me to discuss this matter and I let her know

> that if the access committee was bypassed once again I couldn't be

> responsible for committee responses or resolutions. I think Malcolm was

> considering dealing with our laiaison problem in some way, but he can

> speak

> for himself. The board hasn't even decided when or if all of them can come

> to the public hearing on April 15. Again, this was not Ron's fault. He was

> approached by Nancy Crowther. These are the facts as I have obtained them

> from the Mayor's committee, Criss Cole, and metro staff.

> 

> Please call all friends and political organizations to have people at the

> board meeting. I will be unavailable on Saturday and Sunday. I have a

> funeral on

> Sunday. John Slatin, a champion of access, passed away this week.

> 

> Judy

--I apologize that I failed to take the time to reformat the email, but I am under very tight deadlines with respect to other matters.  Stay tuned to the Little Red Book for Future updates on this exploding issue.

Regards,

Chairman Mal

Power to the Peeps!

Cap Metro in Federal Court

 

 

Cap Metro in Federal Court!

. . . And the axe man cometh!

Howdy Comrades!

Much as happened recently with the blind community here in Central Texas since I last wrote about the mendacious bunch of bean counting incompetents.  Metro now finds itself in federal court because a new STS Director decided to screw over the community, slashing services to the most vulnerable citizens here in Austin without due process, skipping all those annoying little matters such as public hearings.  Ho! Hum!  Consequently the Texas Civil Rights Project was forced to take them to Court.  Its likely Metro will have spend more money getting out of this messs than they would have had the legal process been followed.  Following is a document authored by a fellow traveler, so to speak, that provides some insights into this tragicomic situation: T

His document contains a response concerning the proposed cuts in the taxi voucher program. I want everyone who is unfamiliar with this program to understand what Cap Metro is attempting to do.

 

Note that Capital Metro refused to pay me the cost of materials to emboss the documents concerning proposed changes to our paratransit system. I could easily have produced hundreds of these documents, for they are necessary. But again, Metro is not interested in the visually impaired having equal access, despite the fact that not all of us have access to a computer with adaptive software.

 

                        My name is Pat Bartel. I am an Sts rider who has produced the following information with the help of other Sts passengers who are also suffering because Capital Metro has once again tried to implement policies without approval. As the first step, they refused to seek approval from the Access Advisory committee and did not consult the Capital Metro board.

 

Capital Metro Continues to Mislead and Lie to Taxpayers.

 

The Biggest Lie: Cutting taxi vouchers will save money and lower cost. In actuality, limiting taxi voucher use will cost more.

 

Each ADA eligible rider who recently lost their permanent as well as pharmacy taxi vouchers, will now cost more than twice as much to accommodate on an STS vehicle. Currently, the average cost for a person to complete a trip in an Sts vehicle is over $45 while a taxi voucher costs Capital Metro less than half of this amount. When taxi vouchers are substantially reduced, these riders will make their trips at a much higher expense because they will then be forced to ride in Sts vehicles. Therefore, since taxi vouchers have already been terminated improperly, costs for Capital Metro will rise; they will not fall as Capital Metro would like you to believe.

 

Consider the following: If taxi vouchers are reduced by 75 percent, costs for Cap Metro will rise from an estimated $26.9 million to $29.3 million, Metro will lose over $2.4 million. However, if the number of taxi vouchers is doubled, the annual cost savings for Capital Metro would be over $3 million. This is a fact that Capital Metro staff, especially those who are opposed to the taxi voucher program, have failed to reveal. They allege that Sts riders caused past fraud, when, in reality, this abuse proved to be the actions of several cab drivers. It is typical of Capital Metro to cover their mistakes by misrepresenting the facts.

 

Capital Metro states that the complex and unapproved changes, which would cause undue physical and emotional hardship on its riders as well as restricting independence, that are open for discussion will save only $1.4 million.

 

In order to fulfill its promise to drastically cut costs, Capital Metro plans to implement a tactic called Functional Assessments, (they soften it by labeling this as an In-Person Interview), starting in 2009. However, Capital Metro has failed to inform Sts riders who their contractor is; they have failed to outline actual costs for this service as well as any costs for the appeals process when passengers are improperly kicked off the system; they failed to seek the approval of the Access Advisory committee for this contractor; and they have provided no details on the medical expertise of this contractor. Yet, they expect both Fred Butler and the Texas Citizen Fund to write a meaningful report for the Cap Metro Board on this issue. Clearly, the facts as well as the figures are being manipulated and an accurate picture is blatantly being withheld.

 

This current data misrepresentation and disinformation is reminiscent to what MV Transportation, Inc., a company which obtains contracts nationwide to provide paratransit services, engaged in at the Riverside California Transit agency in 2005. MV Transportation, whose apparent philosophy is to provide paratransit service only to a minimalist degree, is the same company where current STS director, Inez Evans, worked as vice president of operations for a year and a half.

 

Furthermore, an issue which seemingly relates to the current attitude of Capital Metro staff, who insist upon the implementation of unapproved policies as merely "procedural changes", may be the fact, (as reported by the Washington Post), that in 2006, Inez Evans resigned from MV Transportation, as the general manager for Metro Access in Washington, D.C. Of great importance is the fact that until the Metro Access board listened to input from an advisory group similar to the Access Advisory Committee for Cap Metro, MV Transportation was unable to facilitate a smooth transition from Logisticare, the prior paratransit contractor, whose transgressions caused class action lawsuits as well as congressional investigations.

 

Finally, one must also ask the question: Why has Nancy Crowther, the proclaimed ADA specialist for STS at Cap Metro, taken no apparent action to stop this arrogant misuse of authority. Note that she is disabled herself, she repeatedly portrays herself to be an advocate of civil rights for all disabilities, yet she tows the party line and goes along with whatever Inez Evans and other Sts policy makers declare.

 

It is time to stand up to Capital Metro. Stand up for your rights. Ask that the Access Advisory Committee be granted the power that it deserves, to act as a watch dog over Cap MetrostSts; after all, we have oversight committees in Congress to keep a president from becoming a dictator. Do not accept any more lies. Ask questions and demand detailed information. Demand accountability and accept nothing but the truth.

There's more to follow, comrades.  Eventually, we hope to fully elucidate this entire story on my web site, chairmanmal.com, now under construction.  Stay tuned folks!

Regards,

Chairman Mal

Power to the Peeps!

Note:  I did not spell check Comrade Pat's screed because I want to show how rushed everyone has been in responding to the perfidious bastards at Cap Metro.

 

Blind News and KNFB Reader Upgrade

Howdy Comrades!

I apologize for neglecting the blog for so long, but I have been very busy with the Texas Democratic primary, the soaring market in precious metals and personal matters.  I will relate additional information about these activities in future posts. 

My major beef today is that Blind News seems to be out of business for the time being.  Based on what I think are frivolous and rather grandiose complaints by some authors who objected that their intellectual property had been included for distribution by Blind News, Free Lists discontinued the service.  I can’t fathom why such authors object to having their materials made available to persons who are blind and are usually precluded from reading these articles at the original source.  I hope Blind news will resume very soon, perhaps in a country with clearer copyright laws.  I have found this service to be an invaluable resource in keeping abreast of how blindness related stories are being reported in the world media.  I have befriended several international writers as a direct result of finding their articles through Blind News.  Let us all thank Jeff and Leon for their tireless efforts with Blind News.  If I can assist in any manner, please let me know. 

I am also very excited about the prospect of upgrading my current KNFB reader to the cell phone based unit.  Talk about killing more than two birds with one stone!  I can finance the upgrade with just one platinum trade, and I feel fortunate to be in this blessed position.  Comrades, I’ve missed blogging and hope to publish with greater regularity very soon.

Regards,

Chairman Mal

Power to the Peeps!

Buy Indian Gold

Howdy Comrades!

From the dearth of recent posts on my favorite blog, Blind Confidential, I surmise that Chris Hofstadter has skyed off to India on some feckless quest to discover new access technology or that magic algorithm to solve all our AT problems.  Ho, hum.  I’d hoped to remind him to purchase 22k gold Indian jewelry for his spouse Susan, both as a well deserved reward for putting up with his quirky behavior and a tremendous investment.  If you’re listening BC, get thee to a reputable jewelry store and purchase as much 22k gold jewelry as you can afford.  Don’t pay more than ten percent over the spot price.  Tanishq is the largest jeweler retailer in India with

    A chain of stores (around 80 stores) all around the country, from the

    House of TATA. There is a karat meter to test the purity of Gold in

    Most of the Tanishq show rooms where you can do a non-destructive

    purity testing to ensure the gold purity.

 

    There are three Tanishq stores in Bangalore - one in Dickenson Road,

    One in Jayanagar and the third one is in Malleswaram. You can look at

    www.tanishq.in for the address details and the details about the

    Brand / company.  Be safe and live long and prosper.

Regards,

Chairman Mal

Power to the Peeps!

Cap Metro Power Play Part Two

Cap Metro Power Play Part Two

Howdy Comrades!

As predicted in my post last December, Cap Metro officials are apparently seeking to limit the power or intimidate the Access Advisory Committee again.  Under the guise of “determining future strategies for STS,” the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Access Committee have been summoned to a confab with the powers that be at the agency.  Two disabled citizens pitted against at least five Cap Metro officials.  These officials include a rep from the legal department, the Assistant Director of Cap Metro, Director of Para-Transit, and Gina Estrada, Metro Board Liaison and the ubiquitous Nancy Crowther, our so-called ADDA / Accessibility expert and general factotum.  Do I smell just a whiff of a possible gang bang in the works here?  Metro is probably devoting 250 man hours to this rather vaguely defined meeting according to one estimate by an expert source, who happens to be both a gentleman and a statesman.

The question arises, what is Cap Metro really up to by calling this high caliber meeting?  Moreover, if the meeting is so important, why weren’t members of the major consumer group in the blind community, the Austin Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, invited to attend these important deliberations?  Moreover, if the point of the meeting is to explore the future of the Special Transit Service and accessible transportation in our community, why has Metro lawyered up?  NFB boasts two excellent lawyers as members of our local chapter, and I’m sure we could get one or both of them to attend as well.  After all, that’s only fair, right? 

Well, comrades, I’m not sure if this meeting will actually happen.  Clearly, the disability community here in Austin will not stand for the Access Committee’s role being diminished, and we will continue to speak truth to power; the Cap Metro Board.  If staff thinks this latest gambit will scare our Access Chair, Ms. Judy Watford, they simply don’t know her or her supporters.  Ms. Watford has been speaking truth to political leaders here in Austin since the late 1970’s.  She will not be cowed or shocked and awed into submission.  What’s more, she has the backing of the Access Committee.  Comrades, stay tuned and prepare to man the barricades when called!

Regards,

Chairman Mal

Power to the Peeps!

Blind Panthers Endorse Ron Paul

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Blind Panthers Endorse Dr. Ron Paul for Republican Nomination
Attention Comrades!
Following two suspicious deaths and one suicide, the Central Committee of the Austin Chapter of the Blind Panthar Party has voted unanimously to endorse Dr. Ron Paul for the Republican Nomination for President of the United States. Our Dear Leader, Chairman Mal, declared after the vote that “Dr. Paul is the only candidate who can extricate us from the war with Iran which is scheduled by the Pork chop Butt faction of the Bush Administration to begin in the summer of 2008.” In addition, Chairman Mal praised Dr. Paul’s stand on abolition of Federal drug laws, a position that will help blind people who need to use medical marijuana. “My eyes hurt,” he stated, “and the Feds have no cause to hassle me for trying to get some relief.”
The BPP/ATC also wants to make the following points in favor of Dr. Paul:
1. Dr. Paul is a Texan who can restore the image of the Lone Star State destroyed by the Bush Administration.
2. Most of Dr. Paul’s supporters are really good with computers and could help blind people get better Access Technology.
3. As a physician, Dr. Paul can cut the budget of the Whitehouse staff by assuming some of the duties of the Executive Medical Staff.
4. Dr. Paul believes in real money, gold and silver and that will solve our economic problems.
Therefore, all blind people are hereby ordered to cast their votes for Dr. Ron Paul in the New Hampshire primary and thereafter. For more information please contact Drew L Spitz, Director of Very Public Affairs, BPP/ATC

After Word: There is absolutely no truth to the vicious rumor that Chairman Mal stole a hoard of Gold Ron Paul dollars to hide in his basement. Chairman Mal’s house does not have a basement.

Blind Panthers Endorse Ron Paul

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:  Blind Panthers Endorse Dr. Ron Paul for Republican Nomination

Attention Comrades!

Following two suspicious deaths and one suicide, the Central Committee of the Austin Chapter of the Blind Panthar Party has voted unanimously to endorse Dr. Ron Paul for the Republican Nomination for President of the United States.  Our Dear Leader, Chairman Mal, declared after the vote that “Dr. Paul is the only candidate who can extricate us from the war with Iran which is scheduled by the Pork chop Butt faction of the Bush Administration to begin in the summer of 2008.”  In addition, Chairman Mal praised Dr. Paul’s stand on abolition of Federal drug laws, a position that will help blind people who need to use medical marijuana.  “My eyes hurt,” he stated, “and the Feds have no cause to hassle me for trying to get some relief.”

The BPP/ATC also wants to make the following points in favor of Dr. Paul:

1.      Dr. Paul is a Texan who can restore the image of the Lone Star State destroyed by the Bush Administration.

2.      Most of Dr. Paul’s supporters are really good with computers and could help blind people get better Access Technology.

3.      As a physician, Dr. Paul can cut the budget of the Whitehouse staff by assuming some of the duties of the Executive Medical Staff.

4.      Dr. Paul believes in real money, gold and silver and that will solve our economic problems.

Therefore, all blind people are hereby ordered to cast their votes for Dr. Ron Paul in the New Hampshire primary and thereafter.  For more information please contact Drew L Spitz, Director of Very Public Affairs, BPP/ATC

 

After Word:  There is absolutely no truth to the vicious rumor that Chairman Mal stole a hoard of Gold Ron Paul dollars to hide in his basement.  Chairman Mal’s house does not have a basement.