Disabled Oxnard Candidate Criticizes Access at City Hall

A disabled Oxnard City Council candidate said Tuesday that if he is elected, he would have a tough time maneuvering through City Hall because officials have failed to make public facilities more accessible to the handicapped.

At a meeting of disabled residents Tuesday night, candidate Juan Soria said city leaders have done little to make public buildings more user-friendly.

The 60-year-old Oxnard resident, wheelchair-bound after losing part of both legs in recent years because of poor blood circulation, is one of 13 candidates competing in a March 2 special election for an open council seat.

“Most people don’t take the handicapped into consideration, they don’t think we have anything to contribute,” Soria said. “I don’t think people are mean-hearted or mean-spirited, they just think this thing of being in a wheelchair is contagious.”

If he is elected, Soria would have to enter the council chambers through the back door because wheelchairs cannot fit through the swinging doors at the front entrance.

Even the council offices, on the fourth floor of a bank building across from City Hall, have no restrooms accessible to those who use wheelchairs.

“No one has taken the disabled seriously,” Soria said. “We are still taxpayers and we shouldn’t be looked on as a second-class citizen group.”

City staff members are completing a plan to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal mandate signed into law last year that outlaws discrimination against the disabled. Under terms of the law, agencies and private businesses with 25 or more employees are required to make “reasonable accommodations” for employees and customers with physical, mental or learning disabilities.

City staff members estimate that 5,000 to 8,000 Oxnard residents are disabled.

Karl Lawson, the city’s ADA compliance manager, called the Tuesday meeting to form an advisory committee and to seek recommendations from disabled residents about listing the needed improvements in priority order.

Some in attendance were skeptical about the city’s commitment to the disabled, but vowed to aid the effort as it unfolds over the next two years.

“It’s a good idea if we are really an advisory committee and if we are really listened to,” said Sharon Dreyer, an advocate for the disabled who uses a wheelchair.

Added Soria, grabbing the large rubber tires of his wheelchair: “I don’t want to spin my wheels any longer.”

At Oxnard City Hall, the head of each of the city’s 16 departments has drafted a plan to make public facilities more accessible.

City Clerk Daniel Martinez has researched several options for improving participation in public meetings. He said improvements can be as simple as producing agendas in large print for the visually impaired or providing sign language interpreters for the hard of hearing.

Martinez said he has looked into establishing a closed caption television system at a cost of $15,000 for the equipment, and installing a high-tech sound system for the hearing-impaired.

The city has set aside about $275,000 for modifications citywide.