Page 8 - Sonoma County Gazette March 2017

Sonoma Humane Society partners with Pets of the Homeless
OPINION: Villainizing the Victims
By HolLynn D’Lil
The caption under the photo of the owners of the Rio Nido Roadhouse
in the Press Democrat’s (PD) article on Thursday, February 9 says it all. The owners installed a ramp for customers with disabilities in 2015. The underlying message is that they should be applauded for this action. The reporter, Paul Payne, doesn’t state that the ramp was installed 43 years after CA Health and Safety Code 19955 was passed requiring access be provided when businesses remodel. Nor that it was 25 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act which requires that businesses remove their barriers. No, the business owners are to be applauded for discontinuing their violations of the law, and Richard Ska who tried to provide information to the owners on how to comply with the law is vili ed by the PD.
The reporter, Paul Payne, didn’t provide the information of how long the owners have been violating state and Federal laws. Nor did he reveal that there is a $10,000 tax credit for small businesses for barrier removal. Instead, he quoted witnesses against Mr. Ska who had to be taken to court to stop their illegal operations. Nor did he quote any of the many witnesses who supported Mr. Ska in the trial.
Paul Payne simply didn’t do su cient research to provide a balanced picture of the Rio Nido Roadhouse trial. He didn’t report that the witness who said she hired Ska as an access consultant for $1,500 received seven hours of expert consultation, providing code and regulatory information so she could remove architectural barriers that prevented customers with disabilities from using
her Inn. She later admitted that Ska didn’t demand money or threaten to sue her. That same change in testimony happened with each of the hostile witnesses when questioned by Mr. Ska ’s attorneys. In every case, each said that Ska never threatened to sue them or demand money from them. Payne omitted this important information.
Instead, Payne reports on previous lawsuits by Mr. Ska as if they were
a bad thing, and is now “turning his sights on the Rio Nido Roadhouse.” Really? These businesses which have violated state law requiring access in new construction since 1969 and when remodeling since 1972, let alone the requirements of the ADA since 1990, are the victims? What about the millions of people with disabilities who have been disenfranchised all these decades by businesses like the Rio Nido Roadhouse?
It’s this kind of biased reporting that encourages businesses to continue to violate disability civil rights laws almost a half century since their passage. It’s this kind of biased reporting that intimidates people with disabilities who don’t dare ask that their civil rights be enforced because they know they will face retaliation and humiliation by the press.
The reporter even faulted Mr. Ska for never going inside the Roadhouse. How could he, if he couldn’t get in? Why didn’t he ask instead why it is necessary for people to sue businesses for violations of access laws that are almost ve decades old? Why are the courts the only resource for compliance? Maybe he could ask why architects don’t include accessible design to comply with the laws in their work? Why don’t local building departments do their job which is to enforce the access laws?
The reporter also allowed to stand one of the quotes from a hostile witnesses who called Mr. Ska a “so-called” expert. The reporter didn’t bother to
check Mr. Ska ’s expertise, including his extensive back ground as Chief Building Inspector, ADA Coordinator of Public Works and Deputy Director
of the Mayor’s O ce on Disability in San Francisco and that he sat on three committees for the U.S. Access Board and on a committee on access for the National Fire Protection Association. He IS an expert, beyond doubt.
Another question – would the reporter have only quoted witnesses against Mr. Ska and none that supported him in the lawsuit if Mr. Ska weren’t disabled? He built a picture of Mr. Ska as intimidating and unethical. Why? Would he have done that to a man who wasn’t in a wheelchair? Aggressiveness in men is usually applauded. (Governor Brown’s aggressive stance on immigration, for example.) This is like the treatment that women receive if they are “too demanding.” They are “shrill,” “inappropriate,” “acting beyond their place.” As in, “Sit down and shut up, Senator Warren.”
Sonoma Humane Society was welcomed by the national nonpro t, Pets of the Homeless as a new donation site. Donations of pet food and supplies can be taken to 5345 Hwy 12 West, Santa Rosa that will be delivered to a local food bank, homeless shelter or homeless encampment. The program is an ongoing national e ort to regularly supply donated pet food to local people who cannot a ord to properly provide for their pets.
Over the course of a year, millions of people become homeless with numbers rising. Approximately 80 percent of people who experience homelessness are homeless for a short period of time and usually need help nding housing or a rent subsidy. But unfortunately, for those with pets it becomes more di cult, forcing them to choose between their pet and a roof over their head. Surprisingly, most choose to stay on the streets with their pets for longer periods of time. Their pets are their comfort, provide an emotional bond of loyalty, and are non- judgmental. It is estimated that one in four homeless and disadvantaged people have a pet. Pets of the homeless do not choose their guardians. A di erence can be made to aid these pets.
More than 14,200 pets have been medically treated through the assistance of Pets of the Homeless, and 444 tons of pet food collected and distributed. There are more than 430 donation sites nationwide. Pets of the Homeless has provided over $439,000 in veterinary care to pets of the homeless.
Sonoma Humane Society accepts pet food donations year-round: M-F 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sat. 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. For more information call: 707-542-0882. Or call Pets of the Homeless at 775-841-7463.
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