Settling for Defeat (Update)

Judge David Flinn rejected the tentative settlement re. Contra Costa county pedestrian access rights. Apparently he received a lot of comments against the settlement and not too much support for it. He pretty much had made up his mind, even before he began the hearing.

In fact, it was so one sided that neither Plaintiff attorney Morse Mehrban, nor anyone from his Los Angeles law office, showed up. The plaintiffs attorney seemed to be lost. Morse did send a "messenger" with three pages of notes; literally a messenger. Judge Flinn cautioned the messenger that this class action matter was a very serious law case and he should be careful as to how he is employed in such situations. The Judge was not very happy about the counsel's absence and that pretty much sealed his decision to overturn his initial ruling in favor of the settlement.

The judge will schedule another hearing in about sixty days. This hearing will be for the purpose of the possibility of coming up with a different settlement. The attorney for the cities will still be involved as well as anyone from the much expanded members of the class; or those who commented on the suit, including Terry Kilpatrick, the attorney who appeared on Pushing Limits.

Presumably, the original three plaintiffs and their "lost" attorney Mehrban would still be free to try to fashion a new settlement. This turn of events was very unusual in Judge Flinn's courtroom. In most cases, there are few objections once settlements of this kind are initially approved. But losing the counsel for the temporarily victorious three plaintiffs is an almost unheard of situation. Well, Attorney Mehrban got his little butt spanked pretty good this time by aware and knowledgeable members of the disability class.

Wildfires, Earthquakes, and Hurricanes, oh my...

Are people with disabilities ready for a disaster?

Listen to program. 29 min

We talk to Ana-Marie Jones and Tracy Baker of Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disaster (CARD) about how to prepare.

Karla Gilbride, of Disability Rights Advocates, a Berkeley legal non-profit, also talks about their suit against both Oakland and L.A. for their lack disability access in emergency planning. The suit changes Oakland with
* The failure to conduct adequate surveys of the accessibility of potential shelter sites, resulting in a list that contains many inaccessible shelters;
* The failure to revise the City’s Mass Care and Shelter Plan from the 1980s to address the needs of men, women, and children with disabilities;
* The failure to make arrangements to provide prescriptions, medical supplies and equipment, or accessible transportation to people with disabilities in an emergency.

On August 12, the National Council on Disabilities released a Report on Emergency Management sub-titled "Making Improvements for Communities and People with Disabilities." Here's some inclusive planning, except--oops -- they forgot prisons.

We can't ever forget that more and more people with disabilities, especially mental disabilities, are housed in prisons and jails. Many baby boomers live within the enormous U.S. prison-industrial complex and they aren't becoming more able-bodied as the months pass by.

Hosted by John Healy, with tips by Adrienne Lauby.

Settling for Defeat?

Listen to the show
28 minutes

UPDATE: 9-23-09

Has a private attorney (with the cooperation of just three people with disabilities) gone too far in concocting an unusual class action settlement agreement affecting fourteen cities in Contra Costa? The proposed settlement allots five percent of a city’s gas tax on the condition that people with disabilities be prohibited from taking legal action having to do with pedestrian access--for the next 30 years.

Disability access specialist Richard Skaff and attorney Terry Kilpatrick discuss this controversy with hosts Adrienne Lauby and Eddie Ytuarte.


The 14 cities are Antioch, Brentwood, Concord, Danville, El Cerrito, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo, and Walnut Creek


If you to object to the proposed class-action settlement, do something about it. Please be aware that all objections must be in writing and postmarked no later than September 8, 2009. You can either object in writing or you can write to the attorneys and the court to let them know that you plan to appear at the Superior Court hearing in Martinez at 9 a.m on September 22, 2009. You can also go to the hearing and hope to be allowed to speak. Either way, please write and get your objections on file by September 8th. A copy of your objection must be sent to each of the following people:


1. Morse Mehrban, Esq.
Law Offices of Morse Mehrban
12100 Wilshire Blvd., 8th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90005-1206
(Attorney for Plaintiffs)



2. Eugene B. Elliot
Bertrand, Fox & Elliot
The Waterfront Building
2749 Hyde Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(Attorney for Defendants)



3. Honorable David B. Flinn, Dep. 6
Contra Costa County Superior Court
725 Court Street
Martinez, CA 94553
(Judge Assigned to the Case)

Smoke and Vaporizers --

Medical Marijuana and Disability

Listen to program

The fascinating intersection between disability and medical marijuana.

Guests:
Bill Fold aka the man who replaced his anti-depressant, Wellbutrin, with medical marijuana.

photo: cannabisculture.com

Steve Howdyshell, a gulf war vet who lives
with the multiple side effects of war.

Lisa Gygax, an attorney living with a disability,
who represents The Organic Cannabis Foundation
of Northern California, a collective of patients and their
primary caregivers, which runs the largest medical marijuana
dispensary in the top half of the state.

Hosted by Shelley Berman and Adrienne Lauby.
Original air date: 8-7-09

Correction-SSI Cuts

There is a reduction in SSI/SSP grants in this California Budget. On Friday's program we said that SSI had gotten a pass. However, starting October 1, 2009, SSI/SSP will cut $5-per-month from individuals and cut couples to the federal minimum. The maximum grant for an individual will drop from $850 to $845, and the maximum grant for couples will drop from $1,489 to $1,407. This is especially traumatic for many couples.

In addition, the Democrats also agreed to put our Cost Of Living Allowances (COLA) into the pot that requires a 2/3rd majority vote. Will we ever get a yearly 5-15 buck raise again? Stay
tuned....

Thanks to the listener who first brought this to our attention.

Beyond the Devastation

Stop Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new line-item veto budget cuts. Contact Speaker Karen Bass and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and urge them to call legislators back to Sacramento to override the cuts

Download this Program 26 min
Evan LeVang and John B. Kelly talk about
what California's people with disabilities
can do to stop the slide toward death and
nursing homes.

Disability rights activists regroup after passage of a criminal California budget that devastated IHSS, Medi-Cal, Cal-Works, cities, regional centers, AIDS programs and more.

John Kelly works with Neighborhood
Access Group (NAG), a grass-roots
organization dedicated to improving
street-level access in Boston. His
writing has appeared in the Boston
Globe, Counter Punch, and the Ragged Edge.



Evan LeVang is Executive Director of Independent Living
Services of Northern California. He is also the founder
of DOGFITE, Disability Organizing Group for Initiating
Total Equality, ”an advocacy group which includes universal
health care, tax justice, immigrant rights and no offensive
military spending among it's goals.

Hosted by Adrienne Lauby and Eddie Ytuarte

photo by John B. Kelly
No Room on this Sidewalk for You!
Neighborhood Access Group

dog cartoon courtesy of D.O.G.F.I.T.E.

What I've Witnessed

photo by Joy Taylor


Robert E. Miller [speaking through a sign-language interpreter]

Download audio 2:43
On July 7, more than 250 protestors blocked the front entrance to the governor’s office in Sacramento for six hours in an attempt to force Schwarzenegger to speak with them. When he left the building by another door at the end of the day, twelve people, most of them with severe disabilities, refused to leave. Several were part of a similar civil disobedience action in San Francisco in June. The twelve were arrested, cited and released. Robert E. Miller was among them.

The People’s Day of Reckoning Coalition, which often includes unionized in-home health care workers, has been targeting the Governor’s many offices around the state for over a month. Among their demands is shared sacrifices by the wealthy -- that is, new taxes. Next week, Thursday, July 23, they plan to take their growing frustration to elected assembly members and senators at their local offices.

To find out more about the People’s Day of Reckoning Coalition, call Jessica Lehman at 510-881-5743. She’ll put you in touch with the group closest to you.