504 Democratic Club: Questionnaires (Candidate for City Council Alan J. Gerson's 2009 response)

Candidate Name: Alan J. Gerson

Council District: 1

Contact Person: Dave Hartshorn

If there is a Campaign office, is it wheelchair accessible? There is not one now, but when there is, it will be accessible.

Phone: 347-203-1298
Email: hartsda @ gmail.com
Website: www.gerson2009.com

Endorsements: Among others: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Man Borough President Scott Stringer, United States Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, Community Board Chairs Julie Menin and Brad Hoylman, United Federation of Teachers, District Council 1707 (a full list is available upon request)

Action Shows Commitment!
1. While in public office/prior to this campaign, what have you accomplished in regard to advancing disability rights? This can include work towards accessible housing, transportation, employment, health care, education, and including people with disabilities in the political process?
  - While in the council my record in regards to the disabled has been a long one. From insisting my office be wheelchair accessible to insisting that the Council and other governmental agencies live by the spirit, not just the letter of the law I think I have helped to further the cause of PWDs and their community.
  - For example, I recently worked with those involved with the Governor's Island project to make several improvements to the plan for renovations. I had several changes made in areas where I believed the plans did not allow for adequate access for People with Disabilities. I also reached an agreement forming a committee be formed to review and make recommendations regarding accessibility issues and other concerns of the disabled community. I hope that you will bring your expertise and join us in this endeavor.
  - Another example is the free grab bar program which allows tenants to have grab bars installed in their apartments where needed.
  - In terms of youth I am also responsible for passage of the Dignity in All Schools Act, which requires the Department of Education to combat homophobic behavior and other bullying. This, of course, protects children with disabilities who are, unfortunately, bullied more than others.
2. Will you commit to only attend / sponsor events that are accessible to people with disabilities (PWDs including providing written materials in alternate formats, providing assistive listening systems, and sign language interpreters as well as ensuring that locations are physically accessible)?
  
  It is a matter of law that all events open to the public have to be accessible. I will continue to work to expand the law to include other events and other modifications where needed.
General Questions
1. What personal and professional experience have you had with people with disabilities in your personal life and in the workplace?
  
  I have worked with many people with disabilities over the years, including ones I have hired in my council office. And with aging parents and family members who have developed their own disabilities, I have had firsthand experience with the disabled. It is in this vain that I have seen the challenges that are faced by those with disabilities and have done all that I can to facilitate the removal of those impediments. Before being elected to the council I worked in the HIP program and one of my duties was to assist and advocate for patients with special needs. I also worked with AHRC (Association for the Help of Retarded Children).
2. What type of jobs would you be willing to hire and to provide reasonable accommodation (e.g. flex or part time) for staff members with disabilities?
  
  It is my personal and professional opinion that the ability to do the job is the most important requirement for employment. What talents and skills a person brings to a job are the determining factor for hiring. Therefore are no limits to the types of jobs for which I would hire a staff person with disabilities.
3. How will you work closely with the disability community to assure passage of vitally needed legislation through the City Council? What will be your strategy?
  
  My record is one of working in partnership with the disabled community to improve the lives of New Yorkers, because all of us are one accident or illness away from being disabled. As such, my approach to all legislation regarding access and accommodation is to illustrate not only how vital it is to the disabled, but to everyone. Wheelchair ramps, knelling buses, and automatic doors help more than just the disabled. Many seniors use these accommodations to ease their lives, as do mothers with children. The important thing is to illustrate how helping the disabled helps us all. In the past I have worked with you on many issues and look forward to continuing the partnership we have established to continue to author and pass legislation to improve the lives of the members of the disabled community.
Housing
1. What is your position on the development of supported apartments/homes and retirement homes for the persons with mental and/or physical disabilities in your district?
  
  Affordable housing for all has been part of my agenda for my entire professional life. I drafted and help pass the Tenant Empowerment Act, which preserves rental Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 housing, and is now pending in Albany. We have developed a strategy of preserving affordability on a building-by-building basis. The presence of persons with disabilities in my district is not an issue, any more than the presence of any other person. I have also worked to improve life within the apartment by passing the Free Grab Bar program which provides for the installation of grab bars upon request of the landlord.
2. What is your position on making DRIE (Disabled Rent Increase Exemption) and SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption) programs income eligibility comparable? (At present a individual senior or household income eligibility is $28,000. While the income for a younger disabled individual is capped at $19,284 and $27,780 for a household?)
  
  I would work to make such programs fairer both in their requirements and implementation.
3. Visitability sets guidelines to ensure newly constructed multi-family dwellings have basic accessible/adaptable features to permit people with disabilities can visit, and for residents to "age in place," without having to move out when age and/or disability set in. Do you support incorporating the concept of "visitability" in the Building Code?
  
  Yes.
Transportation
1. Will you support an expansion of affordable wheelchair accessible transportation in NYC, including taxis, livery service, express buses, and shuttles, more accessible subway stations, etc.?
  
  I am on record as supporting every attempt to make mass-transit and other transportation accessible.
2. Efforts to secure a 100% accessible fleet of medallion taxis have been hampered by opposition from Mayor Bloomberg and the taxi industry. The current emphasis is on creating a 100% "green" fleet. What would you do to assure that taxis and community car service vehicles are both "green" and universally designed for wheelchair access?
  
  I don't see why these would be self-contradicting. If we are moving to retrofit or replace cabs for the purposes of creating a "green fleet", it seems like the perfect time to make them more accessible. However, priorities must be set and, as such, I think accessibility should be the top priority.
3. Access-A-Ride (AAR) users experience unnecessarily long trips, causing workers to be late for work, have their pay docked and possibly losing their jobs. AAR leaves consumers stranded, lies that a vehicle is coming and penalized riders as a "no-show" when the vehicle never arrived. Riders who complain report they are subject to retaliation. What would you do to improve the quality of AAR? Would you support the issuance of a "smart card" so that Access-A-Ride users can use accessible cabs/livery service at a reduced cost and receive better service?
  
  One of the most powerful roles of the Council is that of oversight. The Council should have hearings on this matter to discover the facts and make recommendations for fixing them. We will then monitor the program to make sure they are implemented in a timely manner.
4. Would you support the issuance of a "smart card" so that Access-A-Ride users can use accessible cabs/livery service at a reduced cost and receive better service?
  
  Yes.
Civil Rights

Do you pledge to use your office to affirm or strengthen, rather than weaken, civil rights protections for persons with disabilities?

I pledge not only to affirm or strengthen civil rights protections for persons with disabilities, but for all New Yorkers. Of course, the disabled community has unique issues and in me you will find a faithful partner.
Community Board
1. Do you support requiring all Community Board meeting and function be accessible, including requiring sign language interpreters and large print format material?
  
  Yes.
2. How many people with disabilities have/will you appoint to your local Community Board(s)?
  
  I will make appointments to Community Boards, as well as other appointments, based on the ability of the individual. My goal is that all governmental bodies have diversity. I do not have quotas for any group but I will do my best to recruit and appoint as diverse a group of people as I can.
3. Will you support the "requirement" and implement, a Disabled Committee on every Community Board?
  
  Yes.
Discretionary Funds

Will you use your discretionary funds to support organizations serving people with disabilities or service organizations seeking to make their programs accessible to people with disabilities?

Yes.
Accessibility
1. Under Mayor Bloomberg, the City settled with the United Spinal Association and agreed to install pedestrian ramps, on all corners which presently don't have one. However, no provision was made to repair and/or replace existing ones which are unsafe. How would you ensure that pedestrian ramps are provided or repaired? What would you establish as a timetable?
  
  I have made one of my projects the reporting pedestrian ramps in need of repair to the local Community Board. By providing this service through my office I can monitor the progress of these repairs and, if necessary, contact the Department of Transportation where action is needed.
2. What steps do you think NYC should take to encourage business owners to make their establishments more accessible?
  
  The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requires small business to remove physical "barriers" that are "readily achievable", and, where parking is provided, to provide accessible parking. Readily Achievable, as you know, means without major expense for small business. I think we can provide incentives for businesses to encourage accessibility. In doing so we can help businesses increase profitability, and persons with disabilities have more options.
3. How would you ensure that emergency evacuation for PWDs provisions are put in place to improve survival rates of PWDs in the event of fire, attack, blackout, or other emergency situation?
  
  I have a long record of improving emergency services. It was my report revealing EMS deficiencies that led to lifesaving improvements including equipping EMS personnel with emergency elevator and subway access keys, and providing EMS crews with access to police radio bands. In the same vain I have sought to encourage people with disabilities to register with the FDNY to alert them to their presence.
Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD)
1. Mayor Bloomberg elevated the Director of the (MOPD) to a Commissioner without any increase in budget or responsibilities. How would you ensure that city departments/agencies coordinate through MOPD?
  
  Again, through oversight and monitoring by the Council, we have been able to make sure that decisions by the Mayor do not lead to the detriment of any agency or the people it serves. I pledge that I will do everything in my power to make sure that the MOPD remains effective in advocating and ensuring compliance with all applicable laws.
2. How do you believe the City Council should enforce and do oversight regarding the work of the office and be certain of the implementation and its efforts?
  
  The oversight power of the Council allows it to examine in an open hearing the officers from any city agency to answer questions regarding their performance and the efficacy of their efforts. I have used the oversight power to cause changes throughout city government.
  
  For example, the Committee on Lower Manhattan Redevelopment, which I chair, had any power over the World Trade Center Site stripped by the Governor. Nonetheless, through use of our oversight power we our Committee expanded residential grant programs to include public housing and Mitchell-Lama tenants, and business assistance programs were expanded to include small mom-and-pop stores. It was also our independent environmental assessment report on Ground Zero that was cited by Congressman Nadler in his heroic battles with the federal EPA, and our funding that led to laboratory research into the effects of exposure to Ground Zero toxins
  
  I would ensure that the Council would use its oversight power in the same effective way regarding the MOPD.
  
  In summary I ask you to examine my record, and my work with many of you, and join me as we move forward to build on these accomplishments. I ask for your support for re-election so we can continue the work that still needs to be done.

Date: June 5, 2009

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