We believe that the Wellsville Town Board and Wellsville
Village Board need to carefully consider the ramifications of deciding to
maintain their offices in the current location instead of moving to a newer,
therefore, Americans with Disabilities Act compliant office location.
On July 26, 1990 Congress passed the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) into federal law. In 1991 Section III of the ADA went
into effect. The section of ADA law refers to the obligation of ALL public
entities, particularly government buildings, to be made accessible to ALL. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits
discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all area of public
life, including jobs, schools, transportation and all public and/or private
places that are open to the public.
Try to imagine yourself after a devastating accident or
illness, suddenly needing to use a mobility device or even a wheelchair. You
would suddenly be unable to go to many of the public places that you formerly
frequented. The ADA regulations were put into place to prevent this from
happening to anyone, yet it continues to happen every day in Wellsville, NY.
Consider yourself trying to go out to dinner, attend public
meetings or go to any other events with your family only to find out that your
wheelchair cannot access the building?
It can be very humiliating to be told your wheelchair may be
able to come in via a rear door or alley entrance. Every person with a disability should be able
to enter and exit public buildings or businesses in the same way the rest of
the general public enters. Every person
with a disability should be able to use the restroom the same way the general
public enjoys.
The purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to
make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities
as everyone else. So, in essence, the
Town and Village of Wellsville have NOT been in compliance with ADA law for
some 28 years! How does this happen?
This letter is written in amazement that the owners and
tenants of the Wellsville Municipal Building have not yet been the subject of a
lawsuit. It is nearly impossible to
attend local PUBLIC meetings in this building if you are disabled. The lack of accessibility for persons with
ANY permanent or temporary disabilities that effect mobility or elderly
residents attempting to access this building is a legal liability for every
taxpayer.
We wish to offer kudos to new businesses in Wellsville that
were careful to plan and build in compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act. To those local places of business and government offices who
have not done their duty to bring their business or building into ADA
compliance we implore you to provide handicap accessibility and avoid the
burden of legal action.
Sincerely,
Marlee Cannon
Deborah Quinn
Andrew Harris
All residents of the village or town of Wellsville
