Disability laws not taken seriously
Over four years ago, there was a meeting in Elgin that included my self, city representatives and the Illinois Attorney General's Disability Rights Division. The meeting concerned a list of long standing complaints against the city ending in the botched river front "improvements."
The city was asked to submit a schedule to correct all the violations of the Illinois Accessibility Code of 1985. In 1995, the code was incorporated into Elgin's ordinances.
Later, in 2005, I met with the city with a list of old and new violations and an individual was assigned to work on the list that had about 30 items on it. Today, the list is substantially the same with items that go back some years. It is true items come off the list, but it's kept at the same level with new violations.
One of the main problems are parking places. There are specific rules for parking places as they have to accommodate a van lift for people who use wheelchairs. The policy of the city it seems is to tell property owners to do it correctly the next time they put in new parking lines. So far, the evidence is the new lines are put in just the way they were before. I wrote a letter to the code administration about a month ago asking that if parking places are installed incorrectly, they should have to fix them within two weeks. So far, I have not received a reply.
At U-46, additions to Washington School and Larkin High School are both in violation. Almost all of the temporary school trailers are in violation.
Parking by scofflaws is a different subject. With a cell phone I can notify police of people who park in handicapped parking places without the proper license plate or permit. The Elgin Police Department is most cooperative and it is the big success story of my advocacy. However, they cannot be everywhere.
Since 1992 I have had an agreement with the Kane County States Attorneys office. I take a photo of a violator, write the time, date, location on the back and submit them. Kane county sends out a summons, and in 14 years there have been over 300 convictions -- that is until John Barsanti took office. I wrote him about carrying on this project and received a phone call but then never heard from him again.
In summary, things have improved generally but at a very slow pace, and I get the impression few are taking the situation seriously. People who need access because of a disability are hard up against it in Elgin.
Raleigh Sutton
Elgin