Frustrated by lack of 'real action' by city, Cambridge accessibility chair quits committee

Kate Bueckert · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 03, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A Cambridge dada and advocator has near his relation arsenic seat of the city's accessibility committee, saying helium doesn't consciousness similar the metropolis is taking existent enactment to code the needs of each radical successful the community.

Devin Sisak has first-hand acquisition erstwhile it comes to the request for much accessibility, since his 12-year-old lad is successful a wheelchair. Sisak besides works arsenic an acquisition adjunct helping students with antithetic abilities.

He joined the accessibility committee aft uncovering excessively galore radical without accessible parking permits were utilizing accessible parking spots, leaving him to ellipse parking tons and downtown cores. He needs an accessible spot to beryllium capable to get his son's wheelchair retired of his vehicle.

"I truly started to get frustrated due to the fact that I'd bring my lad down, helium realizes that we're struggling to find parking and helium gets upset. There's been times wherever helium started to cry. So it truly started to impact maine similar mentally and deterioration connected me," Sisak told CBC News.

For much than a year, helium said helium has raised the contented with the city. He has documented cases wherever helium saw 5 antithetic vehicles usage an accessible abstraction successful a four-hour period. On different occasion, helium called bylaw and waited for implicit an hr but nary 1 came to summons the idiosyncratic without the due permit.

But a gathering past period was the past straw for Sisak. Ahead of a committee gathering specifically astir the parking issue, committee members were asked to taxable questions for unit to answer.

"I spent hours cautiously preparing thoughtful, solution-oriented questions. But past earlier the meeting, we were told by the metropolis clerk that they would not beryllium answering them owed to workload constraints," helium said, adding this "felt profoundly discouraging."

"I conscionable felt truly defeated astatine that constituent due to the fact that I'm like, present we are, citizens giving up our time, taking clip disconnected enactment similar I was to person these meetings, truthful losing financially, successful the hopes of bettering our communities and we can't adjacent get questions answered."

Sisak attended the meeting, hoping the questions would inactive get addressed there, but they didn't.

Sisak discontinue the committee that day.

City looks for ways to summation enforcement, awareness

Alana Russell, the city's manager of communications, said successful an email it is "always unfortunate erstwhile a unpaid nary longer wishes to lend to a council-appointed national advisory committee, arsenic we cognize the issues being discussed are of large value to the full community."

Russell said the metropolis "applauds" Sisak's "personal efforts to amplify voices, interruption down barriers, and guarantee that everyone tin entree each that this metropolis has to connection with ease."

She noted the metropolis issued much than 400 tickets successful 2024 for accessible parking violations and the bylaw section is looking astatine antithetic ways to summation enforcement.

As well, she said the metropolis has started plans for an consciousness campaign.

"We hold with Mr. Sisak's concerns astir unauthorized vehicles parked successful accessible spaces and unit volition proceed our enactment with the national advisory committee, with council, and [the] broader assemblage to physique education, continued compliance and enforcement to further make the knowing and compassion astir the value of keeping these spaces for those who trust connected them," Russell said.

'I consciousness we tin marque existent change'

Sisak initially joined the committee due to the fact that helium said he "wanted the metropolis to amended recognize the community's needs."

He said that during his clip connected the committee, determination were times erstwhile helium felt metropolis unit didn't instrumentality the accessibility committee's enactment seriously. He said determination were instances erstwhile unit bypassed the committee oregon didn't springiness them capable clip to respond to a study earlier taking it to council.

In 1 case, a caller h2o fountain was planned for Market Square. Sisak said the plans for the fountain were taken to metropolis assembly earlier the accessibility committee could remark connected it.

"Council sent it back, they came to us, we recovered a better, much accessible option, but it was shelved due to the fact that it didn't see a canine vessel and the farmers' marketplace wanted to get distant from giving retired h2o to dogs," Sisak said. "That's the benignant of determination making we were up against."

Now, Sisak said he feels helium tin beryllium a amended advocator extracurricular the committee and helium started a grassroots radical called Barrier Free Cambridge. 

"We're going to organize, amended and empower residents to advocator for change. We person a assembly that is precise knowing of accessibility needs and I consciousness we tin marque existent change," helium said.

Part of that work, which is posted connected their Facebook page, includes calling connected candidates successful this national predetermination to reply what their parties volition bash to marque lives amended for Canadians surviving with a disablement and what they would bash to fortify the Accessible Canada Act.

Within his community, Sisak said, he besides wants to spot the contented taken seriously.

"I'd similar to spot immoderate existent action. There's been a batch of speech about, 'We volition bash this,'" helium said. "I've been raising this contented for a year. So it's clip to commencement talking astir it and commencement really doing things to assistance radical with disabilities successful this assemblage and region barriers to entree for them."