Candidate Name: Josh Skaller
Council District: 39
Contact Person: Lisa Fane, 646-242-6320, l.fane @ skaller09.com
If there is a Campaign office, is it wheelchair accessible? Given the limits of the city spending cap, we don't yet have an office.
Campaign Address: 1205 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Phone: 718-568-9699
Fax:
Address:
Email: community @ skaller09.com
Website: skaller09.com
Endorsements: (Political, Community & Labor)
Partial List:
Norman Siegel, Esq. (Civil Rights Lawyer and Public Advocate Candidate)
Hon. Major Owens (Former U.S. Congressman)
Sen. Eric Adams (NY State Senator)
Hon. Jacob Gold (District Leader, 44th A.D.)
Hon. Lori Knipel (District Leader, 44th A.D.)
Hon. Jessie Hamilton (District Leader, 43rd A.D.)
Jonathan Tasini (Executive Director, Labor Research Association / Former President, National Writer's Union - UAW Local 1981)
Steve Harrison (Attorney, Former Candidate for U.S. Congress, 13th District)
Democracy for New York City
American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO
Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats
Daniel Goldstein (Spokesperson, Develop Don't Destroy)
Chris Owens (Community Activist)
Eric McClure (Founder, Park Slope Neighbors)
Candace Carponter (Park Slope Activist)
Jack Carroll (Windsor Terrace Activist)
Gail Sheehey (Author)
Action Shows Commitment!
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?
For many years I have been a strong advocate for single payer, universal healthcare on my own and as Director of Democracy for New York City (DFNYC). The organization arose out of the candidacy of Dr. Howard Dean and as director I spearheaded initiatives working to ensure that all Americans, including the disabled, the elderly and wounded veterans, have guaranteed quality healthcare, free from manipulations by for-profit private insurance companies which often find ways of dropping coverage in cases of severe injuries and illnesses that lead to long-term disability.
I am passionate about making sure that all of our citizens have equal, meaningful access to the political process. My work with DFNYC and Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats and my candidacy for City Council has been focused on giving all members of society the political voice and power that they deserve. I believe we all benefit when disability advocates have a voice on all levels of government.
I have advocated for many years that an elevator should be added to the Smith and 9th Street subway stop on the F line. This subway stop services all of Red Hook and without an elevator, disabled residents of Red Hook are essentially shut out of the NYC subway system.
I testified at the recent MTA hearings and expressed my outrage at the disproportional effect that the proposed fare hikes and service cuts would have on the disabled and elderly. I fought against the doubling of the Access-A-Ride fare and the elimination of the B-75 bus, which is one of the only ways that the elderly and disabled of my district can travel to Manhattan. During the MTA negotiations, I, and our campaign volunteers, handed out information at subways on a daily basis to kept the heat on the state legislators to resolve the MTA budget shortfall without burdening our disabled, elderly and middle- and lower-income New Yorkers.
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)?
We agree on the principle that all public events, and especially political events, should be accessible to all citizens regardless of physical abilities. Where and when I can, best efforts will be made to encourage event sponsors and organizers to make events accessible.
General Questions
What personal and professional experience have you had with people with disabilities in your personal life and in the workplace?
My mother teaches people with mental and physical disabilities and I was raised with an awareness of the challenges that PWDs face in their lives. I grew up spending summers volunteering on farms in Pennsylvania and England that served adults with disabilities and this experience instilled in me a respect for PWDs and what they deal with and overcome in their lives.
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?
I would consider hiring people with disabilities and provide reasonable accommodation in all of the jobs that I will be hiring for. I want to hire the best people for the job regardless of their physical abilities - and feel strongly that my office should represent the diversity of stakeholders in our district.
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?
Fundamental premise of campaign is the empowerment of the diverse communities within our city and giving them a voice in the city council. The political strength of my council office will be derived not from corporate interest groups but rather from a robust democratic process and representation of the people of our district.
Housing
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?
I strongly favor the development of supported apartments and homes in my district. I believe it is very important to increase and maintain demographic diversity in the city. Our young people benefit by having elders in our communities. And the elderly and disabled should not have to move out of the neighborhoods they love as their physical abilities change.
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 support making the income eligibility for DRIE comparable with SCRIE. People with disabilities need exemptions from rent increases for many of the same reasons as seniors. And often PWDs have the added expense of having had to modify their living spaces to accommodate their needs which would make it harder and more costly to move if they don't meet the income eligibility or an exemption.
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. I believe that it is in the city's best interest to make it easier for people of all ages to be able to stay in their homes and continue to live in New York City for as long as they wish. And I believe that is a good business strategy for building owners to construct new buildings according to visitability guidelines.
Transportation
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.?
Yes.
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 believe that these goals are mutually exclusive. It is going to take resolve on the part of the mayor, city council, state lawmakers to ensure that accessibility is a goal equal to environmental issues and I will do my best to move this process along. 3 points are worth making for short term improvement:
Wheelchair accessible service must be provided by all of our cities livery, black car, and limousine services, as mandated by current law.
The Accessible Dispatch Program is underutilized and needs to be made more effective.
Access-a-ride must be improved.
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?
I testified at the recent MTA hearing in Brooklyn and I heard story after story from people who had problems with the Access-A-Ride program, yet I know that many are dependent on the program for their most important, basic transportation needs from trips to the doctor to trips to the store to buy basic necessities. I am a strong advocate for giving the city and the city council more control over the MTA system as a whole, which would be necessary in order to enact real change in the AAR program. Short of being able to make the AAR program run more efficiently, I would support a "smart card"
program. This may also be helpful to the cab/livery cabs industry many of whom have been negatively impacted by the economic downturn.
Civil Rights
Do you pledge to use your office to affirm or strengthen, rather than weaken, civil rights protections for persons with disabilities?
I will use the full power of my office to affirm and strengthen civil rights protections for persons with disabilities. As a director for Democracy for New York City, I have been working to fulfill our goal which is to engage people in the political process and give them tools to organize, communicate, mobilize and enact change. I plan to continue this work as city councilman. I am proud to have the support of Norman Siegel, noted civil rights attorney, and I share his passion for ensuring equality under the law on a local level.
Community Board
Do you support requiring all Community Board meeting and function be accessible, including requiring sign language interpreters and large print format material?
Yes.
How many people with disabilities have/will you appoint to your local Community Board(s)?
Our Community Boards should be representative of the communities they serve. As such, I would embrace opportunities and encourage qualified people from the disabled community to apply for positions.
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
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?
Provision should be made to repair and replace these ramps and they should be given priority in the city's sidewalk repair schedules. I would need to do more research to be able to give a realistic and accurate time table.
What steps do you think NYC should take to encourage business owners to make their establishments more accessible?
The council needs to more effectively compiling and publicizing statistics on the buying power of the disabled community and the elderly and the positive financial effects of accessibility on businesses. We also need to set up effective ways to rate businesses on accessibility and use city resources to publicize these ratings so that a strong rating will give accessible businesses a competitive edge over non-accessible businesses and drive businesses to make the changes necessary to improve their rating.
One project I have worked on in the past, is the establishment of a directory of accessible establishments across the city (for the purposes of political meetings and the like). This could be done effectively as a city sponsored initiative.
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?
As city councilman, I would initiate a City Council review the current emergency evacuation and consult with the disability advocates to make the necessary changes to improve the survival rates of PWDs.
Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD)
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?
It would make sense for all agencies consult with the MOPD on new programs and initiatives to ensure that they serve persons with disabilities and persons without disabilities equally. All Council subcommittees should advocate for some form of consultation with MOPD on council initiatives as well. This shouldn't just apply to initiatives that are overtly relating to disability issues but all initiatives, so we can ensure the PWDs are not negatively impacted either intentionally or unintentionally.
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?
It should definitely be monitored under of the auspices of the Council subcommittee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse & Disability Services but I think all Council members should use their influence and access to the media to ensure that the MOPD is doing its job.
Date: May 26, 2009