well it's time to run her out of town on a rale. make it happen I'm glad to be your humble and obedient servant, Zechenm Elder Daniel Ben Moshe, Benai Yahshuah Synagogue of Broward County, www.theblindcansee.org Choose ye this day whom you will serve. If Yahweh be Elohim. Then serve him, with all of your hart. If bail be your master, then serve him. As for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh. Maybe bail is asleep, or has taken a jerney. I think you might want to try and wake him. Because my yahweh is already on the mountin top. He will be there when i arive. Because the earth is his, and the fullness there of. The earth is his foot stole. _____ From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chip Orange Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 5:39 PM To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tabi] Re: Fw: Nova 2010 Very Very good Darla!!! All of it true of course. What I was amazed at however, was her "we're not going to modify our system for a few riders ..." attitude. Someone needs to explain to her that A) it's the law! not a suggestion! and B), it benefits everyone when we do so (those who are elderly, walking with aids, or simply not always looking at every car all the time). The examples of how beneficial curb-cuts for wheel-chairs have turned out to be is just one example. I could not believe she said anything like that; it's an attitude from 40 years ago. Thanks for writing her. You know, how is any person who can't drive for whatever reason supposed to buy a house somewhere, based on it "being accessible to public transit", if the city keeps changing and reducing the public transit areas served? It's literally a moving target. Chip ------------------------------ Chip Orange Database Administrator Florida Public Service Commission Chip.Orange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (850) 413-6314 (Any opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Florida Public Service Commission.) _____ From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of djrogers0628 Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 5:17 PM To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tabi] Fw: Nova 2010 Importance: High Here is what I wrote to Ms. Lightsey. Wonder if she'll even respond. ----- Original Message ----- From: djrogers0628 <mailto:djrogers0628@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: debbie.lightsey@xxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 4:57 PM Subject: Nova 2010 Dear Ms. Lightsey: I have been back in Tallahassee nearly 3 years, and I lived here 1.5 years in 2004-2005. During these times, I have never known you to side with disabled Tallahassee residents--especially the blind. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I did not make it to last night's City Commission meeting but know the people who spoke about the issues regarding Nova 2010 did so eloquently, so I won't re-summarize what was said by them. I am speaking for myself and my husband who is also blind. We have lived at 2000 N. Meridian Rd. for over 2 years. We were told this area is very accessible to blind and visually-impaired persons. Nothing could be further from the truth. Both my husband and I have used public transportation in a number of cities to go to and from work and to recreate, run errands, visit friends, etc. First there are no Audible Pedestrian Signals (APS) in this neighborhood, so crossing Monroe at John Knox is a crap shoot, as it is very difficult to hear the traffic patterns to let me or my husband know it is safe to cross. We also cannot cross Meridian at Bradford or John Knox safely--we would need to cross Meridian at Bradford Road to find the only sidewalks that are on Meridian Road in our neighborhood. Second, on our side of Meridian Road, there is virtually no sidewalk between Bradford Road and John Knox. I have talked to both the city and county about this issue and have been told that it is a state highway and thus not under the jurisdiction of either entity to make sidewalk improvements to make it safe to navigate around the neighborhood. In addition to there not being sidewalks on this side of Meridian Road, there is an uncovered culvert for storm run-off;; this forces us to stand and wait for traffic to clear on Meridian Road before we step out in the street and run several feet to get around it and back up on the curb out of Meridian Road. As an educated woman, I believe you owe it to your constituents to learn more about the issues on which you vote; you obviously, do not know anything about the blindness community, or you would realize that being able to use Star Metro effectively, would provide freedom we currently don't possess because Dial-a-Ride reservations must be made 24 hours in advance, and it is very difficult to make it on time if one has more than one appointment for the day. Taxi fare has gone up considerably, and neither of us is currently employed. Using Star Metro would allow for more spontaneous trips, though the current Nova 2010 Plan does not give us any evening service. I challenge you to leave your car at home--that would put less carbon monoxide etc. into the air--and walk up to your bus stop and take Star Metro to and from work for a week and ask Dial-a-Ride if you can become a temporary rider to see what using that service is like. Blind and visually impaired people do vote, and believe me, if there isn't more willingness to really hear and understand our issues, we will encourage all of our community and friends, coworkers and business associates to vote with us. We are not unaware of budget constraints, but, in the long run money would be saved if blind and visually impaired people had safe ways to navigate the city. You know we are not lying about the unsafe pedestrian situation in Tallahassee. I know you saw the study done and saw the dismal rating Tallahassee received. So, in closing, I challenge you to "walk a mile in our shoes." Only then can you cast educated votes that really represent the blindness community. There are many more people with disabilities--many invisible--who live here and need to get about the city using public transportation because they cannot drive either. Sincerely, Darla J. Rogers, B.A. Social Science; M.S. Rehabilitation Counselor Education djrogers0628@xxxxxxxxxxx Home phone #: 850-329-7437 Cell #: 850-443-3571 Skype ID: wildflower0628 I suited up for the long walk back to myself... ....Ani DiFranco No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2768 - Release Date: 03/25/10 03:33:00