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Home / Albums / Tags Denver + Mayor Federico Pena 6
- ADAPT (165)
[Headline] Disabled Advocates Are Rolling on Washington D.C. For the second year in a row wheelchair pickets will surround the national convention of the American Public Transit Association (APTA). Some 150 to 200 wheelchair demonstrators are expected to join the picket lines, although that number could increase dramatically by the time the four day long convention opens Sept. 30 in Washington, D.C., according to a spokesperson for the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT). But, unlike the convention held in Denver last year, ADAPT will not be allowed to argue the case for accessibility on the convention floor. “Gilstrap (APTA executive vice president Jack Gilstrap) told us there was no way we were going to speak this year,” Wade Blank said. Nor does Blank expect APTA to vote on a resolution introduced at the 1983 convention calling upon APTA members to purchase only lift-equipped buses. When the Carter administration mandated accessibility in the late 1970s, it was APTA that successfully fought those regulations in court, arguing that it was a judgment best left to the discretion of the local transit provider. Some cities, like Seattle and San Jose, California, and-to a lesser extent-Denver, chose to make their systems accessible, but the vast majority refused, claiming the lifts were impractical and too expensive. However, accessibility advocates say that the technology is available to design both economical and reliable lifts, but that bus manufacturers will not use it as long as there is little demand for lifts from transit providers. APTA argues that in many, if not most cases paratransit systems can offer better and more economical services to disabled riders. ADAPT maintains that isn't so, arguing that cities such as Seattle are experiencing a steady drop in the per ride cost for lift-assisted trips while paratransit costs are constant, regardless of the number of trips. At the Denver convention, APTA's position was championed by Colorado Governor Richard Lamm, who told the delegates that the country couldn't afford to equip all its buses with lifts and continue as a great nation. New York City Mayor Ed Koch is expected to take a similar tack at this year's convention. In 1983, Denver Mayor Federico Pena, who was instrumental in getting ADAPT a place on the convention agenda, supported accessibility, just as this year's host mayor, Marion Berry, is expected to do. Access/Denver will send 43 wheelchair demonstrators to Washington, although at press time they were short $4,400 of the $15,000 needed to provide them with transportation, food and lodging. Among the individuals contributing to the fund drive was Wellington Webb, an unsuccessful 1983 candidate for mayor of Denver. In addition, Denver's HAIL, Inc., will be sending five representatives. Several other cities, including Dallas, El Paso, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Little Rock, Arkansas, Poughkeepsie, New York, and Chicago have confirmed that they will have representatives on the picket line. Boston's Disabled Liberation Front announced that it was sending eight pickets. ADAPT intends to provide a training session in confrontational politics in Washington on September 26. Ironically, one problem that demonstrators flying into Washington's Dulles International Airport will face is a lack of accessible buses between the airport and downtown Washington. "We were going to file a complaint," Blank said, "but it turns out that the Department of Transportation runs the bus system there and they say that they are the administrators, not the recipients, of federal funds, and therefor are not required to provide accessible service." - ADAPT (162)
PROCLAMATION Federico Pena, Mayor City and County of Denver City and County Building - Denver, Colorado 80202 Area Code 303-575-2721 Whereas, It is imperative that citizens who use wheelchairs for mobility to be able to use public transportation if they are to participate equally in society; and Whereas, The technology is available to make buses accessible to wheelchairs; and Whereas, A number of cities have made their buses accessible and found the program to be highly successful; and Whereas, Offering only special transportation to disabled people further segregates and alienates them, underscoring the truth that "separate is not equal"; and Whereas, The American Public Transportation Association represents almost all transit authorities and has the power to encourage its members to make their systems accessible as well as to encourage bus manufacturers to design and build accessible buses: Now, therefore, I, Federico Pena, Mayor of the City and County of Denver, Colorado, by virtue of the authority vested in me, do hereby proclaim that: 1) The American Public Transportation Association goes on record calling for 100% accessibility by all public transit systems, 2) The American Public Transportation Association serves notice on all manufacturers that its members will buy only wheelchair accessible buses, and 3) The American Public Transportation Association urges the federal government to reinstate the 504 regulation mandating that all public transit system buses be accessible; and LET'S MAKE PUBLIC TRANSIT PUBLIC! In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City and County of Denver this 18th day of 1983. signed by Federico Pena, Mayor [And there is a dark seal in the corner of the proclamation, but details are not visible.] - ADAPT (170)
Rocky Mountain News Fri. Aug. 19, 1993, Denver, Colo. Text box reads: The handicapped group wants the transit association to support equal access for all public transportation riders and lifts on buses. Article -- Pena intervenes in handicapped-transit spat By Burt Hubbard, Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Mayor Federico Pena’s office is intervening in a dispute between handicapped groups and a national transit association over threatened demonstrations during the association’s October convention in Denver. Kathy Archuleta, an aide to Pena, said she set up a meeting for Friday with Wade Blank, handicapped activist leader, after an official from the American Public Transit Association (APTA) called the mayor’s office expressing concern about Blank’s plans to picket the convention. “We’ll act as facilitators,” said Archuleta. “APTA has called us and now we’re going to talk to Wade.” Blank, one of the leaders of the newly formed American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, said the group is protesting APTA’s refusal to endorse wheelchair lifts on all buses and subways. The group represents disabled associations across the country. Blank also is co-director of Atlantis, a self-help group for the disabled. Blank said the plans call for about 30 handicapped people to picket the convention each day and possibly conduct civil disobedience, such as disabled chaining themselves to the convention’s headquarters at the Denver Hilton. About 3,000 representatives from transit districts throughout the United States are expected to attend the convention, Oct. 23 to 27. Blank said the group wants the convention to support equal access for all transit riders on public transportation and inform bus manufacturers that transit districts will buy only buses equipped with wheel-chair lifts. Jack Gilstrap, executive vice president of APTA, said the organization called Pena’s office just to inform of the planned demonstrations and “expressing the hope that they would be orderly.” “We’re used to demonstrations,” said Gilstrap. He said the protests have not changed APTA’s plans to hold the convention in Denver. - ADAPT (599)
PHOTO: An African American woman in a motorized wheelchair sits in front of a group of other people in wheelchairs and standing. Several are wearing ADAPT no stairs logo T-shirts. The woman in front has a sign across the front of the wheelchair that says "Access Now. We will Ride." They are on a city street in an urban downtown area. Caption says: SINCE 1983, ADAPT has picketed APTA is national and regional conventions, always an unwelcome guest. Scores of demonstrators have been arrested hundreds of times as they blocked the entrances to APTA's various hotel headquarters in such cities, as Denver, Detroit, Montreal, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, San Antonio, and Reno. Only once, in Denver in 1983, was ADAPT allowed to make its plea for accessible public transit before an APTA meeting, and then only after the city's mayor, Federico Pena, intervened. APTA insisted throughout the demonstrations that they weren't opposed to lifts per se, only to making the lifts mandatory on all public transit systems. APTA argued that it was a matter best decided by local transit providers. - ADAPT (570)
Rocky Mountain News - Fri., July 27, 1990 Mayor vows action on accessibility law Pena says city will help businesses comply By Ann Carnahan, Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer Denver Mayor Federico Pena promised yesterday to help business owners comply with new legislation requiring them to make offices and stores accessible to the disabled. Facing a roomful of people in wheelchairs, the mayor said he would review the city's permitting system to eliminate “unnecessary obstacles” that owners could face in making modifications. “We don't want to be a stumbling block,” Pena said. “We are evaluating the full range of options available . . . everything from making adjustments to fees to making adjustments to other criteria we have.” A recent University of West Virginia study showed that the average job accommodation cost is less than $500, officials said at the press conference. President Bush yesterday signed into law a measure barring discrimination against 43 million Americans who are disabled or have AIDS. Within two, years, businesses must be made accessible to disabled workers and customers. Public accommodations must comply within 18 months. “There are going to be some in the private sector who will argue that this costs too much, that this is an unfair burden," Pena said. “I say we are losing money because we have . . . Americans who cannot participate fully in the economic life-stream of this country because our buildings are not accessible." Denver has a reputation among the handicapped of being one of the most accessible cities in the country, said Laura Hershey, director of the Denver Commission for People with Disabilities. Prior to yesterday, modification requirements applied only to federal programs, Hershey said. But in Denver, all public buildings constructed since 1983 must be accessible to the handicapped. High spirits marked the press conference yesterday in Pena’s office as the mayor congratulated the disabled who have lobbied many years for this legislation. “This is freedom. It's acceptibility,” said Sueann Hughes, who has multiple sclerosis. “For the first time in a long time, we don't have to worry about being discriminated against." Pena also outlined several other steps the city is taking to help the disabled: * Co-sponsoring - a conference on April 30, 1991, that will address the new law's impact on Colorado. * Examining the city's employment system to determine whether there are ways to recruit and hire more people with disabilities. * Stepping up the city's curb ramp construction program with increased funds under the bond issue projects. - ADAPT (548)
Denver Post 7/27/90 Bush signs rights bill for disabled Anti-discrimination act called world's strongest by Denver Post Staff and Wire Reports With row upon row of disabled Americans cheering and sometimes weeping with happiness, President Bush yesterday signed landmark legislation banning discrimination against the disabled. The legislation, considered the world's strongest civil rights protection for the disabled, prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodations, transportation and telecommunications. Bush backed it strongly and Congress approved it despite opposition from some business groups who argued it would be too costly and would produce an explosion of lawsuits. The president appealed to business, saying: “You have in your hands the key to the success of this act, for you can unlock a splendid resource of untapped human potential.” Some 2,000 disabled visitors and their families, some in wheelchairs, some deaf with interpreters, some blind with Seeing-Eye dogs, attended the ceremony in Washington to create what Bush called “this splendid scene of hope spread across the South Lawn of the White House." In Denver, disabled activists said the national law would give new momentum to local access and fairness programs that already are well ahead of most cities. “It’s unfortunate that it takes an act of Congress to give equal opportunity to all citizens, but now it’s there, and we can get some work done,” said Bill Farrell, chairman of the Denver Commission for People With Disabilities. Mayor Federico Pena said the city would speed up its program to add wheelchair ramps on street curbs and convene a conference next April to address the disability act's effects on Denver. The city also will consider waiving permit fees and other ways to help small businesses make renovations to accommodate the disabled. PHOTO (by Associated Press): Medium close up of President George H.W. Bush (41) is sitting outside at a table with three piles of paper in front of him. He is turned away from the camera and toward an older man dressed in black (Rev. Harold Wilke) to give him a pen with which Bush was signing the A.D.A. The Reverend, smiling, stands behind Bush and lifts his foot up to take the pen with his toes. Beside the two of them and at the end of the table another man in a suit (Evan Kemp) sits and smiles broadly as he watches the transaction. Caption reads: SIGNING: The Rev. Harold Wilke accepts a pen from President Bush at the signing of the disabilities act yesterday. Wilke has no arms and uses his feet for hands. Evan Kemp, left, ls chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission.