Misguided City Priorities

Misguided City Priorities

Seven signers of a letter (SAM SEIDEL, BETSY BOYLE, SUSAN BUTLER, ALISON FIELD-JUMA, KATHLEEN REINE, KEREN SCHLOMY, MICHELE SPRENGNETHER, "Congrats on being LEED-certified," Cambridge Chronicle, December 14, 2006) applaud the $150,000 application fee to get certification for the new library from a self appointed organization. Why does the city need someone to tell them that their building complies with standards set by the organization? Why not just do it and save $150,000?
Cambridge citizens are told that the majority should not vote on the rights of a minority. We are told that we serve the future by paying a corporation $150,000 to tell the city that the city met their standards. Persons with disabilities will be grateful that the barriers that exist today will be present in the future.
The Manager refuses police foot patrols because there is no money. The Manager ignores city state and US laws regarding the statutory rights of persons with disabilities because there's no money. The majority continues to deny to the minority with disabilities basic rights to travel, basic rights to access to city services and basic rights to public accommodations. This violates many laws and constitutional rights. But arrogant local journalists and arrogant public officials ignore those laws. These are poor priorities.
Why are some interests favored by the City Manager and journalists at the expense of persons with disabilities? Is bigotry the proper word? The $150,000 used for bragging rights could better be used to address denial of those basic rights enjoyed by the seven letter signers, journalists and the City officials.

Roy Bercaw, Editor
ENOUGH ROOM
Cambridge MA USA

Letter: Congrats on being LEED-certified
Cambridge Chronicle
Thursday, December 14, 2006 - Updated: 06:00 AM EST

Green Decade/Cambridge wants to congratulate the Cambridge City Council and city Manager Robert Healy for guaranteeing at the Dec. 4 City Council meeting that the new main library extension will not just be an environmentally responsible building, but will be LEED-certified. This decision is an important step in making Cambridge a leader in battling climate change globally by taking action locally.
LEED, the acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council that “is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.” At a recent conference on global warming at MIT, experts warned that to avert the worst impacts of rising global greenhouse gases, the United States needs to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 75 percent over the next half-century. That is a very tall order, but possible.
The Cambridge City Council has already announced its support for strenuous efforts to reduce harmful emissions. The city set a superb example when it rehabbed the City Hall Annex and achieved LEED Gold certification for the project. (“Gold” is the second-highest green certification under LEED. “Platinum” is the highest.) By insisting on LEED certification for the new library, the council and the manager continue in this positive and necessary direction. Green Decade/Cambridge, a group committed to preserving our environment for future generations, salutes them.

SAM SEIDEL
BETSY BOYLE
SUSAN BUTLER
ALISON FIELD-JUMA
KATHLEEN REINE
KEREN SCHLOMY
MICHELE SPRENGNETHER