The letter from John Mather (Tribune, Sept. 25) was an indictment of the mind-   boggling bureaucracy run amok with the Guelph city administration.
This all too typical of a city that marginalizes persons with disabilities. Look at the placement of disabled parking spots at Stone Road Mall, which don’t align with the marked crosswalks. This forces the disabled to navigate along traffic lanes to reach a crosswalk leading to a curb cut to enter the mall.
Similar instances abound where a curb cut to a facility is in the middle of the disabled parking spot, so when the spot is occupied the curb cut can’t be accessed. The city municipal parking statutes were obviously drafted and now enforced by people who have no clues about the need for accessible disabled parking.
Are there no people on council who care about the disabled? Look just to Peel Region, where for years there have been clearly signed disabled parking spots with the signs carrying the notice of a $500 fine and the phone number for bylaw enforcement.
My wife is a person with a disability who uses an electric scooter for mobility, and we make it a point of not patronizing establishments that are not accessible. Metro has just been added to my list.
Establishments that are not accessible fail to realize the spending power of disabled persons, many of whom are employed, and that as the population ages and lives longer, their numbers will grow.
Does anyone at city hall have the backbone to demonstrate with positive actions (not verbal spin) that they care about accessibility for the disabled, whose ranks they may join as they age?
Glen N. Tolhurst   Guelph