CDR received last minute notice about an RGRTA community forum that is taking place tonight at the Rochester Riverside Convention center at 6:00 p.m.

As you may know, many persons with disabilities depend on public transportation and RGRTA’s paratransit service (Lift Line) to get to and from work, doctor’s appointments, social events, etc. Having this service remain affordable and accessible is imperative to everyday life. Yet when changes are coming in service, costs or areas of service we are not informed about the “public hearings” RGRTA puts together.

While RGRTA says they want the input of their riders, their behavior shows that they don’t want to hear from people at all. The question that lingers for me is if they purposely exclude persons with disabilities specifically or do they mean to exclude all people from their forums?

To promote this hearing, RGRTA will say they did what they are required to do. They put a letter in the US Mail (that got to people a day or so before the hearing) and they put an ad in the paper (somewhere in the dozens and dozens of pages of the paper). It was one their website (not on the front page, you had to click on a tiny “public information link”, and the info wasn’t there until a couple days before.

Now, you may be thinking that RGRTA certainly could not remember to call CDR or send out notices to Agencies like ours, or to people who have applied and are registered to use Lift Line (thus an easy mailing list), but I am going to disagree and tell you why.

Yesterday, CDR posted a blog about today’s RGRTA Public Hearing. The blog talks about when the public hearing will take place, what the hearing is about and that persons with disabilities should come out and make their voice heard (That would be the point of a public hearing, yes?). Well, first this morning, the staff member listed as contact for more information about the hearing received a phone call from the Rochester Police Department.

Yes! You heard me.

The Rochester Police Department (RPD) called and asked what our plans were for our protest at the hearing tonight! As much as I like the idea that RPD is taking the time to read our blog, and I hope they continue to do so, I have a feeling someone else was watching our site; RGRTA perhaps?

Anyway, theories aside, who said anything about a protest? Since when does encouraging people with disabilities attend a public forum and speak their mind have anything to do with a protest! All we want, as citizens and users of the RGRTA system, is a voice and to be treated fairly. The second we encourage our people to speak about the services they receive, we are called and questioned by the Police? I should make a note that there have been times in the past where RGRTA has filled their public forums with police before anyone even had a chance to speak. You want to talk about intimidation?

Intimidation aside, we are quite looking forward to the community hearing and I might even leave my picket sign at home. I hope you will come out, let your voice be heard and if you see the Police at the door, asked them how they liked my blog!