Title
Honoring the Mayor's Council on Disabilities for their work on revising ADA requirements for sidewalk cafes in Saint Paul.
Body
WHEREAS, Councilmember Dave Thune started righting the injustice of sidewalk cafes that would not permit a person in a wheelchair, or a mother pushing a baby stroller to navigate past on the sidewalk back in early 2008; and
WHEREAS, his cavalry arrived when Mike Samuelson enlisted the Mayor’s Council on Disabilities in the effort, inviting the Ward 2 representative to their January 2010 meeting at which they voted to support an ordinance change from a 36-inch right-of-way to the 48-inch right-of-way recommended by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Transportation; and
WHEREAS, Mark Hughes joined Mike Samuelson’s cavalry in June 2010, promising to “attend any and all City Council hearings” on the topic of ADA-compliant passage around sidewalk cafes (a promise he faithfully kept); and
WHEREAS, our cavalry of Mark Hughes and Mike Samuelson, as representatives of the Mayor’s Council on Disabilities, met consistently with Public Works, the Department of Safety & Inspections, the Business Review Council, and CapitolRiver Council over the summer and fall to work on details of the sidewalk café ordinance, holding the line of advance for the ordinance author; and
WHEREAS, this same cavalry kept in weekly contact with Councilmember Thune, pushing to get an ordinance drafted by October 2010; and
WHEREAS, the first reading of the ordinance was on November 3, 2010; public hearing on November 17, with Mark Hughes attending both Council meetings; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor’s Council on Disabilities organized a group of six ADA advocates, many in wheelchairs, to testify at the second December 15, 2010 public hearing, at which they shared personal stories of the dangers they face in having to move into a busy street when there is not enough room to navigate around sidewalk obstructions; and
WHEREAS, Mark Hughes and Rick Cardenas met with City staff to iron out differences in the sidewalk café ordinance in January 2011, helping all to arrive at consensus; and
WHEREAS, the Mayor’s Council on Disabilities worked diligently to get the ADA guidelines adopted, with the City Council finally adopting the ordinance on April 21, 2011; and
WHEREAS, none of this would have been possible without the mutual aid and assistance provided by the cavalry at the Mayor’s Council on Disabilities who road into the Council to petition their government for a redress of their wrongs; now therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that Wednesday, October 19, 2011 is declared Full Mobility Day in the City of Saint Paul as we strive to reach that goal.