Patrick Palmer, who is blind, wonders why only 11 of Kansas City’s 580 traffic signals are equipped with audible pedestrian warnings.
Sheila Styron, who is also blind, recalls crawling over mounds of snow last winter to get to Kansas City bus stops.
Susie Haake, who uses a wheelchair, questions why a Brookside curb ramp was removed when a new curb was installed, and why light poles block the middle of sidewalks at 43rd Street and Wornall Road.
Kansas Citians with disabilities say they are increasingly frustrated with what they see as city government’s noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act in this, the 20th year since the landmark law’s passage.
They are fed up with the city that reassigned its respected ADA coordinator and can’t even find its required plan for addressing barriers to public facilities.
"At some point, the city government needs to take responsibility for doing the right thing," said Michelle Krajewski, public policy director for The Whole Person, a nonprofit Kansas City organization that assists people with disabilities.
Krajewski recently served as moderator for a feisty town hall meeting in which Palmer, Styron, Haake and about 70 other people — many using wheelchairs or with their guide dogs — chided Mayor Mark Funkhouser for the city’s attitude toward the civil rights of those with disabilities.
Funkhouser didn’t make excuses. "We have a long way to go," he acknowledged.
But the mayor also warned the group that money for improvements is scarce, adding: "You are up against every other advocacy group out there. If you want change, you have to exert constant pressure."
Advocates say that’s what they’ve been doing in e-mails and at public hearings.
In addition to the lack of audible signals and problems with bus stops and curb ramps, they have pointed out that Channel 2, the city government’s cable television station, has no closed captioning. The city’s website isn’t accessible to the blind. And access isn’t easy to certain businesses.
The acting city manager, Troy Schulte, concedes the city currently lacks the required "transition plan" to address accessibility to public facilities and infrastructure. If the city ever had a plan after the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in July 1990, it’s now hopelessly outdated — and no one can find it anyway.
Schulte said he’s taking that omission seriously. The city risks a Justice Department lawsuit if it doesn’t make a good-faith effort.
"If we’re 15 years behind in submitting a transition plan, the fault is on us and we’ve got to fix it," Schulte said.
But he might also be partly responsible for galvanizing the residents with disabilities to take aim at City Hall.
Krajewski says one catalyst for the disability community’s frustration was the removal of the ADA coordinator, Pat Gallagher, from that position in late March. Gallagher had handled those duties in the city manager’s office for eight months and also worked for years on disability issues for Kay Barnes when she was mayor. She was well liked, respected and passionate about ADA compliance, Krajewski said.
Schulte explained that Gallagher had too many duties on her plate and he wanted her to focus on other tasks. Gallagher declined to comment on the change in her job duties.
Gallagher was replaced on an interim basis by a budget analyst, Julie Steenson, who concedes she has no ADA expertise.
Schulte said Steenson is researching other cities and will help get the transition plan under way before she goes on leave. The city later this year hopes to recruit a full-time ADA coordinator who is an expert in the field.
Steenson cites Pasadena, Calif., and San Francisco as examples of cities with updated plans. Closer to home, Wichita has an extensive plan that was updated in 2005 and is posted on the city’s website.
Wichita’s ADA coordinator, Brian Coon, has a doctorate in engineering and a law degree and does double duty as an assistant traffic engineer. He said many of his ADA duties concern traffic safety, so his engineering background comes in handy.
He said he is the city’s point of contact for residents with disabilities to call when they have a problem. He also makes sure the city pays attention to the needs of those residents when it considers infrastructure and access to public facilities.
Still, even Wichita has room for improvement. Only 22 of its 417 signalized intersections have audible signals.
Krajewski concedes many Kansas City area suburbs lack good public access plans and don’t prioritize services for residents with disabilities. But she said that most of The Whole Person’s constituents live in an urban setting, so they’re focusing on getting the Kansas City government’s attention.
"Where our constituents direct us, that’s where we’re going to go," she said.
Kansas City officials say they are starting to address the issues that The Whole Person is raising.
When Patrick Klein, who handles budgeting for city capital improvement projects, became aware of the concerns about audible traffic signals, he found money for improvements at key intersections. Eleven intersections are done, and 13 more are in the works. He said it costs about $6,000 per intersection, and the city does have money for signalization upgrades.
The city’s maintenance budget also provides money each year for ADA compliance, primarily to address curb ramps and corners. The budget for the fiscal year beginning May 1 provides $630,000 — up from $500,000 in 2009, but down from $900,000 in 2008.
As for access to bus stops in winter, that’s the responsibility of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. Its general manager, Mark Huffer, said this past winter was the first in which he was aware that blind residents had a problem. He urged residents with disabilities to contact the ATA about any concerns and said the agency can certainly prioritize those bus stops for attention.
Schulte and Public Works Director Stan Harris said a directors meeting is planned for May 12 to get the “transition plan” under way. Harris said the first step will be to hear from the experts — residents with disabilities.
"We want to engage the community, have a realistic plan and move forward on a realistic schedule (for improvements)," he said. "You will see an outreach to the community to get their input."
To reach Lynn Horsley, call 816-234-4317 or send e-mail to lhorsley@kcstar.com.