ysobel | *sags in relief*

So, there's been this whole saga with trying to get a ramp to the front entrance of our church, made vastly overcomplicated by the fact that the church is a designated historical site blah blah blah. Several years of working with the Historical Resources Preservation Commission, who kept ruling (4-3, but still) that the proposal was, for one thing, not necessary since we already had ADA-regulated access via side entrances, and for another thing, would alter a character-defining feature (namely the, er, historical concrete steps? whatever). The church appealed to the city council, who had it on the agenda for tonight, after several postponements on their part.

Those of us who came in support of the church came at 6:30. The item didn't come up for discussion until a bit after 8, and took 45 minutes of discussion, hearing from city staff and from a HRPC representative and from a church representative, and then public comments--

(I got up and spoke. I had been dithering, but what pushed me over the edge was the absolute irony of the fact that public comments were supposed to be presented at a microphone on a podium that was not at all accessible, and so I had to have someone hold a wireless mic for me in order to allow me to speak about an accessibility issue. I said something along the lines of "My hame is $realname and I have been a member of the church for a long time and it is important, to me personally and also speaking as someone who would like to see our church be welcoming to all, to be able to GO IN THE FRONT DOOR, and that a church is not just any random building, it has symbolic importance and the front entrance has symbolic importance and um yeah" and I was talking way too fast and couldn't slow myself down and I was shaking by the time I got back and I don't know that my comments were necessary but I feel fairly good about having done it, despite HELLO ADRENALINE. From which, I might add, I am STILL shaking and babbly.)

--and questions from council members. Then a motion, which thankfully was made (and seconded) to uphold the appeal. Discussion of that motion, during which one of the council members showed profound ableism with his comments ("it's not a BUILDING that's inviting, it's the PEOPLE INSIDE" [our congregation could be the perfectest most welcoming congregation ever but how would someone outside know that?] and "I went for a couple of Sundays and watched to see which entrance was used and most of the people used the side-with-ramp one" [I'm not sure if his point was "a lot of people need/want/like to use the ramp", which is okay, or "a lot of people like to use the side entrance", which is SO NOT OKAY because hello people that CANNOT USE an entrance will not go there week after week and go "Doh I can't get in well let me go around the side"])

...did I mention I'm a bit adrenalione-hyped still? and babbly?

But the upshot of it all was a 5-0 vote in favor of our appeal. We still need to fund and build the thing, but we do have permission.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

helens78

GO YOU! I'm so glad the vote went your way. And congrats on speaking; it sounds like it was tough, but I bet a lot of people really heard what you had to say. <3

ysabetwordsmith

I appreciate hearing this perspective. I can see both sides of this issue. I'm enough of a historian to be reluctant to mess with old buildings. However, I also support accessibility. I would have considered modifying the side entrances to be a reasonable compromise. I am intrigued by your arguments, and will keep them in mind for future reference.

azurelunatic

Oh hooray!

And that counciltwit, if it's the PEOPLE who are so important, then why should he ever quail at modifying a mere BUILDING to better serve its PEOPLE?

lferion

GO YOU! Yay for you getting up & speaking, and good for the council to uphold reason and sense and Accessibility, dammit.

fadedwings

Yay! Glad the vote went well :)

cesy

Yay, I'm glad it's agreed.

rainbow

go you, and yay!

vass

Congratulations!

"it's not a BUILDING that's inviting, it's the PEOPLE INSIDE"

This is actually true. The fact that he's blocking this motion shows that he is personally being unwelcoming to disabled people. If it was me, I would feel a lot more unwelcome because of his attitude to the new ramp than I would be by having to take the side ramp.