I had occasion to recently speak with TerryT, and tried to offer whatever support I could for him (and those others that share his plight) as it pertains to the council majority of Hiremath, Snider, Hornat, Solomon & Waters putting them through hell with their mishandling of the Coyote Run Bus Service
Below is Terry's comment. Please read it. I don't believe Terry is looking for sympathy.I believe he and the others only want what they are paying for, and had available for years----until these 5 council people showed such a lack of compassion.
For those interested, the comment by "Martha," (a new blogger) Terry refers to, can be found on our Ju;y 8 posting: Time-Line Concerning Oro Valley's Coyote Run Bus Service.
TerryT said...
In response to Martha's well-intentioned comment, I offer this:
I am the father of a severely, mentally handicapped daughter who has ridden Coyote Run for ten years. Yes, only a small portion of Oro Valley citizens (2%)ride Coyote Run, but they pay dearly for it.
My daughter's current cost is $300/month and over the time she has been a rider she has paid over $30,000. The cost to the town for this vital service is, by any calculation, less than 1% of the town budget or about 50 cents per month per citizen.
As for stepping up, we and others have tried for a year to become involved in finding a solution to the current issues. Every request to the town council to let us help has fallen on deaf ears. We made a colossal mistake in waiting for the town council to empower us to help make a difference.
Now we are working independently of the town council to come up with ways that we can make Coyote Run sustainable if we are given the chance to do so. In the same vein, Martha suggests a little self-help.
As any parent of a severely handicapped child will tell you, our life is all about self help. For us that has been 24 hours a day for the last 36 years and as far as we can see into the foreseeable future. And sadly, society in general is quite comfortable with this situation- let those closest to our handicapped citizens take care of them. rest assured that my wife and I will apply all the self help possible to give our child some quality of life.
But society, like it or not, also has some responsibility for these special citizens. Any society, no matter how large or small, is only as good as it treats its weakest citizen.
1 comment:
Dear Terry:
You are so right that society needs to help out those who need extra help. I just don't believe that government is always the answer. When I suggested self-help I meant working on solutions that don't involve the Town of Oro Valley. I would be happy to work with you in searching for existing grants and/or charitable organizations that may be able to keep Coyote Run doing the good work it does. If none can be found then it's time to start one. I'm sure that many of the posters on this blog would be willing to help out as well. I will.
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