TIME FOR SILC CHANGE

Andrea Williams, a well-known advocate for people with disabilities has asked me to publish the following information.

You can write your letters in support of Ms. Williams position to:

SILC

2 N. Second Street

Suite 100

Harrisburg, PA 17101

717-364-1732

800-796-9163

You can also write to Mr. Tague directly at:

John L Tague, Jr

4261 Frank Street,

Pittsburgh, PA 15217-2839

Or call him at:

412-421-9749

John Pistorius

From Andrea Williams to John Tague:
Per our conversation, to ensure that I understand what you are saying and vice versa. In regard to your memo received Friday afternoon and copied below reading:

Dear SILC Board Members

The PA Statewide Independent Living Council is required by The Rehabilitation Act, as amended to support the Network of Centers for Independent Living.

I am notifying the Council that the SILC has been asked to facilitate a forum for consumers of the Disability Empowerment Center service area. RSA has been requested to participate in the public forum. The Forum is on Friday December 10, 2004 at 1 PM in Lebanon, PA.

Council Chambers
2nd Floor
400 South 8^th Street
Lebanon, PA 17042

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email or 412-952-5402

Thanks

John

John L Tague, Jr
SILC Chair

1. You said that the request for a hearing came from an Ex-Advisory board member of the Disability Empowerment Center (DEC), you do not know if this person is a consumer or not. Nor do you know if this person is a consumer of DEC services. So the request DID NOT COME FROM A CONSUMER to the best of your knowledge but an ex advisory board member.

2. The SILC was notified by the Chair of the Board of the oversight Center for Independent Living which in this case is CILO, in a courtesy letter that the advisory board of DEC was being relieved of their responsibilities and that the members of the DEC advisory board were able to reapply for board positions. It was written to Sandi with a copy to you, which upset you because you felt that you should have been the one notified.

3. You called this meeting without discussing this with either the Executive Director of CILO nor and I would think the most appropriate, the Chair of the Board of CILO.

4. You are well aware that it is the legal responsibility of the over sight board (CILO) board to make decisions of this nature.

5. You stated that you do not know who the consumers are who receive services at DEC nor how many consumers receive services.

6. You do not know how the consumers of services in the area that DEC serves will be notified of this meeting - but that you are expecting them to come to this meeting?

In the end, you said that you just want to know what happened. I don't know that it is any of your business and either way you do not have the right to find out in this manner.

Let me state formally that you are not representing me on this issue. You have stepped well beyond what your privilege and authority, as the Chair and in representing the SILC.

There have been other times in the history of the IL movement in PA that members of an advisory board were dismissed, and the SILC has never stepped in before, but this time without any information, nor a complaint from a genuine consumer of services of this center, nor with any real attempt to include the board in a decision of this magnitude, nor the members of the board who made this decision you have unilaterally picked out this center to get involved in this matter. But you made a point to tell me that this isn't personal. Is it a coincidence? Is it also a coincidence that people with cognitive disabilities are habitually discounted and referred to as people who do not have a disability?

First, this action does not support Centers for Independent Living in any way, and you could not explain to me how it did. This action does not support the disability community or our needs it does tie up two centers time and resources.

You cannot solve any problem this way, for even if there is a problem with the delivery of services a public forum would not tell you the reason why because consumers will not know what are the management problems that are interfering with the delivery of services. I can't imagine that their isn't some problem, which is what the CILO board is obviously trying to remedy. How do you expect them to be able to move forward and solve those problems with your interference?

There is no way to see this as anything but personal John. You do not have my support and I resent your making a decision to interfere with the business of a particular CIL at all but especially without having this discussion with the Pennsylvania Council on Independent Living, the SILC and even though you told me you "don't care what Keith Beichner has to say", some of us do.

One week is not sufficient notice of a meeting, no matter what it is about. Not to this board, let alone to give the consumers of any center a chance to respond. You cannot be so naïve as to think that you will get any genuine attendance.

Once again, you have ignored the needs of people with cognitive disabilities, and you are attacking a manager with a cognitive disability and I know that you know that. I suppose that is also a coincidence? I can't let this go anymore. And more than once, others with physical disabilities like Linda Costal most recently at the SILC board meetings have had to speak up so that those of us who are requesting assistance because of a cognitive issue or on behalf of people with cognitive issues, would be heard because other members of the board ignored or talked over us. This is completely unacceptable. I HAVE HAD ENOUGH. And I promise you that my people have had more than enough of this.

We are tired of people who have a physical disability who think it is ok to ignore and run down those of us with cognitive disabilities. And to talk about and treat us as if we do not have disabilities. There are plenty of people out there with physical disabilities who don't think this is ok.

I resent you misleading this board as to who made this request and whether or not there was a problem. And too, that you are using your position to advance what is obviously a personal agenda.

Please advise me immediately of all of the following:

* The section of the Rehabilitation Act as amended that authorizes the Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) to hold public forums to solve problems of service delivery other than as it pertains to holding forums to gather data in order to write the Statewide Plan for Independent Living.

* Any federal and/or state regulation or statute that allows the SILC to conduct forums to ascertain whether or not a Center for Independent Living is delivering services properly.

* Any section of the Statewide Plan for Independent Living which states that the SILC will be involved the remedy of matters of management of a center for independent living.

* Any precedent for the SILC to interfere in matters of management of a center for independent living.

* The section of the Public Forum Committee (PFC) rules that allow you to over-ride the PFC Chair on conducting meetings. And the section of those rules that allow for public forums to gather information on a particular center.

We are people with disabilities too and we are tired of you overstepping your boundaries because you don't understand our disability. The law applies to us as it applies to you. I think your time and energy would be better spent uniting the community and doing the work that the SILC said it would do in the statewide plan. Together we make a difference. Not divided John.

Andrea Williams

Respond

Pittsburgh Area Brain Injury Alliance

People Helping People Since 1981

TIME FOR SILC CHANGE