504 Democratic Club: Questionnaires (Candidate for City Council Michael C. Nelson's 2009 response)

Candidate Name: Michael C. Nelson

Council District: 48

Contact Person: Deborah Miller-Weiss

If there is a Campaign office, is it wheelchair accessible? I do not have a campaign office open to the public but my District Office is WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE -- street level with no steps --even though budget constraints limit me to a 600 square foot office in order to provide this accommodation to people with disabilities.

Email: ilikemike09@gmail.com; nelson2009 @ compliancenewyork.com

Endorsements: NARAL Pro Choice New York & New York City Central Labor Council

Action Shows Commitment!
1. While in public office/prior to this campaign, what have you accomplished in regard to advancing disability rights? This can include work towards accessible housing, transportation, employment, health care, education, and including people with disabilities in the political process?
  - Sponsor of City Council Resolution in support of HR 5173/S2578 (temporarily delay application of proposed changes to Medicaid payment rules for case management and targeted case management services) and
  - Sponsor of City Council Resolution in support of HR 5173/S2578 HR 1621/2799 (The Community Choice Act - which would allow individuals with disabilities and older Americans the option to choose home care instead of nursing home care).
  - Urged Governor Paterson & NYS Representatives NOT to cut home care & to promote the use of Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) which both increase consumer satisfaction and decrease costs.
  - Advocated for 24/7 "same Platform" transfers between the Sixth Avenue and Broadway subway lines at DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn. Howard Katz, a person with a disability who I have appointed to Community Board 15 brought to my attention that while a transfer at Atlantic Avenue during "off-peak" hours was theoretically possible the rigors of making that transfer at Atlantic Avenue created an insurmountable barrier to the physically challenged.
  - Appointed Howard Katz, an individual with a disability, to Community Board 15
  - Presented testimony to the MTA in opposition to proposed Para transit (Access-A-Ride) fare hike.
  - Assigned a caseworker in my District Office to assist with the completion of applications and to engage in intergovernmental advocacy with city agencies with regard to the rights of people with disabilities. This caseworker has become an expert in the field and has established important relationships, which has enabled her to be successful in many cases particularly with regard to Home Care, Access-A-Ride and Parking Permits for people with disabilities.
  - Provided the funding for the complete renovation of the Kings Highway Library that not only added 2,000 square feet to the library which has three floors, meeting rooms, and which now shelves over 98,000 library items, has such technology as 12 computers and Internet & WiFi but more significantly the library is now fully WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE; the Kings Highway Library reopened on June 11, 2009
2. Will you commit to only attend / sponsor events that are accessible to people with disabilities (PWDs including providing written materials in alternate formats, providing assistive listening systems, and sign language interpreters as well as ensuring that locations are physically accessible)?
  
  I will continue to commit to strongly urging the organizers of events to maximize accessibility for people with disabilities. Refusing to attend events, which unfortunately do not meet these standards, would be counterproductive to my goals of representing all my constituents.
General Questions
1. What personal and professional experience have you had with people with disabilities in your personal life and in the workplace?
  - Deborah Miller Weiss, a member of my office staff and a friend for over 30 years of my wife Sheila who recently passed away and of myself is a member of the 'disability culture' and a long-time advocate of disability rights. Ms. Miller Weiss was raised in a home where both her parents, Dr. & Mrs. Clarence Miller, were physically disabled -- her father with post-polio quadriplegia and her mother as a holocaust victim from Nazi Germany. She and her parents were all members of early organizations promoting the rights of people with disabilities including PRIDE. They were heavily involved in legislative reform for individuals with disabilities including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, IDEA and the ADA. My wife and I knew Ms. Miller Weiss's parents and were familiar with the many challenges that they faced over the years in order to secure their rights.
  - My late wife Sheila was challenged for several year as a result of illness with impaired vision and balance. I was particularly aware of the difficulties in securing Home Care as an alternative to a Nursing Home.
2. What type of jobs would you be willing to hire and to provide reasonable accommodation (e.g. flex or part time) for staff members with disabilities?
  
  I would be willing to provide reasonable accommodation and hire as a staff member anyone who is able to complete the tasks associated with the position. I provided the opportunity for a young man from OTSAR accompanied by a "shadow" to volunteer in my office.
3. How will you work closely with the disability community to assure passage of vitally needed legislation through the City Council? What will be your strategy?
  
  As I have done in the past I will continue to ask Deborah Miller Weiss to serve, as my liaison to the disability community to assure passage of vitally needed legislation.
Housing
1. What is your position on the development of supported apartments/homes and retirement homes for the persons with mental and/or physical disabilities in your district?
  
  I have been outspoken in support of Group Homes in my community for people with disabilities unable to care for themselves. On one occasion an opponent of such a facility objected in a loud, vulgar and intimidating manner to such a Group Home to be operated by OHEL Family Services at a hearing held by Community Board 15. I immediately acted to prevent Community Board disapproval by "out-shouting" this protester and stated that I would welcome such a Group home next door to my home.
2. What is your position on making DRIE (Disabled Rent Increase Exemption) and SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption) programs income eligibility comparable? (At present a individual senior or household income eligibility is $28,000. While the income for a younger disabled individual is capped at $19,284 and $27,780 for a household?)
  
  I fully support making DRIE and SCRIE programs income eligibility comparable.
3. Visitability sets guidelines to ensure newly constructed multi-family dwellings have basic accessible/adaptable features to permit people with disabilities can visit, and for residents to "age in place," without having to move out when age and/or disability set in. Do you support incorporating the concept of "visitability" in the Building Code?
  
  I fully support incorporating the concept of "visitability" in the Building Code.
Transportation
1. Will you support an expansion of affordable wheelchair accessible transportation in NYC, including taxis, livery service, express buses, and shuttles, more accessible subway stations, etc.?
  
  I fully support the expansion of affordable wheelchair accessible transportation in NYC.
2. Efforts to secure a 100% accessible fleet of medallion taxis have been hampered by opposition from Mayor Bloomberg and the taxi industry. The current emphasis is on creating a 100% "green" fleet. What would you do to assure that taxis and community car service vehicles are both "green" and universally designed for wheelchair access?
  
  I would fully support legislation to assure that taxis and car service vehicles are both "green" and universally designed for wheelchair access.
3. Access-A-Ride (AAR) users experience unnecessarily long trips, causing workers to be late for work, have their pay docked and possibly losing their jobs. AAR leaves consumers stranded, lies that a vehicle is coming and penalized riders as a "no-show" when the vehicle never arrived. Riders who complain report they are subject to retaliation. What would you do to improve the quality of AAR? Would you support the issuance of a "smart card" so that Access-A-Ride users can use accessible cabs/livery service at a reduced cost and receive better service?
  
  I would fully support legislation that would both improve the quality of AAR perhaps by incentives, and that would also deter and penalize the wrongful behavior described above. My office staff has in fact dealt with many such AAR problems on behalf of my constituents, AND my friend and staffer Deborah Miller Weiss described several unfortunate events which she experienced wherein her father was stranded by AAR at a medical office for many hours until SHE arranged for a private van at her own cost, and on another occasion, at the event of her brother's wedding, where both of her parents were stranded by AAR.
4. Would you support the issuance of a "smart card" so that Access-A-Ride users can use accessible cabs/livery service at a reduced cost and receive better service?
  
  I would fully support the issuance of a "smart card" for Access-A-Ride users.
Civil Rights

Do you pledge to use your office to affirm or strengthen, rather than weaken, civil rights protections for persons with disabilities?

I am firmly committed to strengthening the civil rights protections for persons with disabilities and will continue to use my office to do so.
Community Board
1. Do you support requiring all Community Board meeting and function be accessible, including requiring sign language interpreters and large print format material?
  
  Community Boards should be encouraged, taking into account the difficult budget constraints which they are facing, to accommodate wherever possible the needs of people with disabilities.
2. How many people with disabilities have/will you appoint to your local Community Board(s)?
  
  I have appointed Howard Katz, as the only member of Community Board 15 with a disability.
3. Will you support the "requirement" and implement, a Disabled Committee on every Community Board?
  
  Yes, I fully support a Disabled Committee for every Community Board.
Discretionary Funds

Will you use your discretionary funds to support organizations serving people with disabilities or service organizations seeking to make their programs accessible to people with disabilities?
- I have allocated discretionary funds for the current budget year as well as for past years to ABRUD (American Brotherhood of the Russian Disabled). ABRUD assists disabled people who have emigrated from the former Soviet Union and also works together with groups representing people with disabilities from many other ethnic groups.
- I also allocate discretionary funds to organizations serving veterans of World War 2 and Holocaust survivors that include many members having disabilities.
- I have also furnished discretionary funds to programs run by service organizations in the current budgetary year and in past years for the express purpose of mainstreaming students with disabilities.
- In addition, I have also allocated capital grants for the current budget year as well as in past years to secure computer equipment designed for students with disabilities attending PS 811K, a school for students with disabilities. My office has recently been advised that training using this equipment has enabled students with disabilities to obtain employment.
Accessibility
1. Under Mayor Bloomberg, the City settled with the United Spinal Association and agreed to install pedestrian ramps, on all corners which presently don't have one. However, no provision was made to repair and/or replace existing ones which are unsafe. How would you ensure that pedestrian ramps are provided or repaired? What would you establish as a timetable?
  
  The practical effect of an unsafe ramp is the same as a nonexistent ramp or it could be argued it presents a greater risk than a corner without any pedestrian ramp because an unsafe ramp gives an illusion of a means to cross a street safely when in fact there is a hazardous condition. The Mayor should be encouraged to install new ramps and repair defective ramps expeditiously.
2. What steps do you think NYC should take to encourage business owners to make their establishments more accessible?
  
  Tax incentives should be given to business owners to encourage them to make their establishments more accessible.
3. How would you ensure that emergency evacuation for PWDs provisions are put in place to improve survival rates of PWDs in the event of fire, attack, blackout, or other emergency situation?
  
  The Mayor should direct his Office of Emergency Management to put in place the appropriate emergency evacuation procedures for PWDs.
Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD)
1. Mayor Bloomberg elevated the Director of the (MOPD) to a Commissioner without any increase in budget or responsibilities. How would you ensure that city departments/agencies coordinate through MOPD?
  
  The Mayor, as head of the Executive Branch of city government should establish the necessary procedures to coordinate the work of his departments/agencies with MOPD.
2. How do you believe the City Council should enforce and do oversight regarding the work of the office and be certain of the implementation and its efforts?
  
  City Council's powers under the City Charter are limited in this regard to holding hearings.

Date: July 7, 2009

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