Please return via fax to 212-684-6287 or via e-mail
You can also mail the questionnaire and any campaign literature or supporting documentation to
504 Democratic Club, c/o Marty Sesmer, 332 E. 29th St., #5A, NY, NY 10016.
Candidate Name:
(Note: please attach complete resume)
Campaign Manager:
Phone:
How will you incorporate people with disabilities into your campaign?
Are you willing to hire and use flex-time and job-sharing if necessary?
Is the campaign HQ wheelchair accessible?
Campaign Name:
Campaign Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Address:
E-mail:
Website:
Previous elected offices held:
Previous appointed offices held:
Key endorsements to date:
Community organizations:
Political leaders:
Local community leaders:
Labor:
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.
What oversight have you performed regarding implementation of programs/legislation you have passed (in first term or in previous offices)?
What implementation/strategy do you have for your future programs and legislation to help constituents with disabilities?
Will you commit to only attend or sponsor events that are accessible to people with disabilities? NOTE: This includes providing written materials in alternate formats for people with low vision, providing assistive listening systems for people who are hard-of-hearing, and sign language interpreters for people who are deaf, as well as ensuring that locations are accessible to people who use mobility aids, like wheelchairs and walkers.
General Questions:
What personal and professional experience have you had with people with disabilities?
...in your personal life?
...in the workplace?
...what special accommodations do you believe/think are in use in the workplace?
How do you propose to implement your active involvement and/or availability to the disability community?
Will there be a specific person in your office responsible to this community?
Will have regular office agenda items and meetings on disabled community issues?
Housing:
What is your position on extending the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) to low-income, eligible persons with disabilities under the age of 62 on the same basis and income level (currently the income cap for seniors is $24,000, but for persons with disabilities it has been set at $17,000)?
What have you done/accomplished in regard to extension of SCRIE or similar programs?
What alternative programs will you propose to allow persons with disabilities to stay in their own homes/apartments? Perhaps a dedicated housing trust fund should be established for persons with disabilities?
New York City is in the process of adopting a new building code. How would you advocate for the strongest possible access provisions?
Emergency evacuation for people with disabilities: what would you do to ensure that provisions are put in place to improve survival rates of people with disabilities in the event of fire, attack, blackout, or other emergency situation?
What would you do to ensure that "Visitability"
is enacted in New York City? Visitability is the movement towards establishing guidelines providing that newly constructed multi-family dwellings have basic accessible/adaptable features that permit friends and family with disabilities to visit, and for residents to "age in place,"
without having to move out when age and/or disability set in.
Organization:
What is your position on efforts to elevate the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) to a commissioner level agency?
How would you ensure that city departments/agencies coordinate through MOPD?
What implementation/authority should MOPD have, and/or how would you ensure that MOPD?
Since presumably "this"
office is a Mayoral Office, how would you enforce and do oversight regarding the work of the office and be certain of the implementation and its efforts?
Accessibility:
How will you advocate that curb cuts, a.k.a. pedestrian ramps, are built wherever new intersections are installed or old sidewalks and/or intersections are repaired?
What steps do you think NYC should take to encourage business owners to make their establishments more accessible?
How would you encourage landmark buildings to become accessible without losing their historical integrity? What strategy would you employ?
Employment:
List your accomplishments in your present office to advance employment opportunities for disabled people?
Transportation:
What is your position on expansion of accessible transportation in NYC, including taxis, livery service, express buses, airport shuttles, ferries, etc.?
How would you enforce compliance with existing laws and regulations?
There is legislation pending introduction in the NYC Council aimed at securing a 100% wheelchair accessible fleet of medallion taxis, starting with the requirement that all 300 medallions sold in the next TLC auction later this year be affixed to accessible vehicles. What will you do to ensure that the approximately 13,000 taxis serving New York City will be accessible to all?
Understanding that Access-A-Ride is not the ultimate in accessible transportation, it is, however, the most commonly used transportation-option for the disability community, as it provides necessary door-to-door service for people who cannot ride on fixed route public transportation (subways, buses, trains & ferries).
The Local Civil Rights Restoration Act (Intro. 22) seeks to protect the vigor and independence of the City Human Rights Law against the attacks of an increasingly conservative state and federal judiciary. How would you work to assure its passage?
How will you work with the disability community to assist in passage of other vitally needed legislation through relevant levels of local, state and federal government?
Candidate Signature: ______________________ Date: ____________