[Blindtlk] Article in the NY times.

Thu Jan 4 21:54:01 CST 2007

I agree with Gloria.

Paul Whipple n7pzr
Vice President Inland Empire Chapter
of the National Federation of the Blind
of Wa.
phone 509/362/3148
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gloria Whipple" <fairyfoot at icehouse.net>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 6:55 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Article in the NY times.

>I don't think it was right to take the job away from the young guy. After
> all, he had it first.
>
>
> Gloria Whipple
> Corresponding Secretary
> nfb of WA
> Inland Empire Chapter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Ray Foret Jr.
> Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 6:12 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Article in the NY times.
>
> I see what you mean Alan.  This article makes us blind people seem like a
> bunch of meanies.  Frankly, this is one where I see both sides of the 
> issue.
>
> I'm sort of wondering in the back of my mind whether this might be a
> misapplication of the Randolphe Shepard act.  What I mean is this.  I kind
> of wonder if maybe the old guy absolutely has to be put out of his job 
> just
> to satisfy the requirements of the Randolphe Shepherd program which
> indicates that the blind must be given top priority.  Somehow, I can't 
> help
> feeling that the law is being both misinterpreted and misapplied in this
> case.  I'd sure like to know what the opinions of blind vendors are about
> this matter.  On the other hand, could it be the case that the old fellow 
> is
> about to retire anyhow and he just doesn't want a blind person taking his
> spot?  I don't know.  All I know is that, like Alan said, something sure
> feels wrong about this whole deal to me.
>
> Sincerely yours,
> The Constantly Barefooted,
> Ray
> Home phone and fax:
> (985)853-0139
> E-mail:
> rforetjr at bellsouth.net
> Skype Name:
> barefootedray
> Blog:
> www.raysworld.blogs.com
> Podcast .rss Feed:
> http://feeds.feedburner.com/worldofray
>
> God bless President George W. Bush!
> God bless our troops!
> and God bless America
> I am posting this because, quite honestly, I don't know what to think. 
> I'm
> sure of one thing, I don't like the slant the Times gives this article.
>
>
>
> At a Railway Coffee Stand, a Battle Over What's Fair - New York Times The
> New York Times December 29, 2006 Greenwich Journal At a Railway Coffee
> Stand, a Battle Over What's Fair By ALISON LEIGH COWAN GREENWICH, Conn.,
> Dec. 28 - When the first train of the day rumbles through town at 4:45 
> a.m.,
> Gregory Maher is usually there to see that commuters do not board
> empty-handed. Armed with pots of freshly brewed coffee, he greets the
> bleary-eyed by name and sends them off fortified with their favorite
> newspapers and morning snacks.
>
> If they are fumbling for change when their train rolls in, an honor system
> is observed. "They can pay me whenever," said Mr. Maher, 24.
>
> Save for the cappuccino maker, it is a scene that has existed as long as
> suburbia. But after eight years serving the hedge fund traders, chief
> executives and other New York-bound professionals who stream through the
> station in the Old Greenwich neighborhood each morning, Mr. Maher was
> notified this month that he, his wife, Mary, and their 82-year-old helper,
> John Edward Kennedy, had lost the coffee concession and must leave by Jan.
> 12.
>
> Greenwich town officials said they had little choice but to displace the
> Mahers in favor of a blind entrepreneur, a third-generation Greenwich man
> named Adam Fairbanks, who will take over the concession. They cited
> little-known but longstanding federal and state laws that give preference 
> to
> the blind when it comes to operating concessions on government property.
>
> Mr. Fairbanks will join 45 fellow graduates of a state training program 
> who
> run cafeterias, snack bars, newsstands and gift shops on government-owned
> property in Connecticut.
>
> "I don't happen to think it's a very good law," said James Lash, a
> Republican who is Greenwich's first selectman. "But it is the law."
>
> The Mahers, a Milford couple who say they use the roughly $200 a day that
> they make on the early morning Metro-North crowd to help support their two
> children, are fighting their removal. They have collected 500 signatures 
> on
> a petition and that sits under a bulletin board decorated with snapshots 
> of
> the family. They have hired a lawyer to research the 70-year-old federal 
> law
> and a parallel 61-year-old state law to see if they have any recourse, and
> they are speaking out on what they see as the inequity of having their
> business taken from them when customers testify that they are doing a good
> job.
>
> "I've known a lot of the commuters for a long time," Mr. Maher said.
>
> "That's why it's heartbreaking to see us go."
>
> Mr. Fairbanks was out of town skiing this week, but his father, Richard
> Fairbanks, said his 23-year-old son has been blind since birth, attended
> Greenwich public schools and considered the concession "the ultimate job,"
> especially since the train station is within walking distance from their
> home.
>
> "So, it's a very comfortable environment for him, and it's a job he can be
> successful at," his father said, adding that his son is aware of the
> criticism but is used to challenges and "can handle it."
>
> On Wednesday, a crowd of regulars were quick to speak their minds in 
> support
> of the Mahers. "To me, it seems unconstitutional," said Ralph DellaCamera, 
> a
> hedge fund trader passing through the station about 6:30 a.m. "That's not
> the capitalistic system."
>
> Some customers said they would treat the new vendor warily. "I'm not 
> looking
> forward to giving him any of my business," said Stephen Mesker, a regular.
> "Preference is one thing when you award a contract" for the first time, 
> Mr.
> Mesker said, but taking it from an existing operator is "like telling
> someone who owns a house: 'Guess what? We have someone better for it.' "
>
> Brian Sigman, executive director of the state's Board of Education and
> Services for the Blind, said he hoped train riders would "give the
> entrepreneur a chance" to prove himself.
>
> Mr. Fairbanks said his son plans to offer free coffee and snacks and have
> the barbershop quartet he sings with serenade customers on opening day.
>
> Despite their longevity, the Mahers lack a long-term contract, operating 
> on
> little more than a handshake. Mr. Maher, who began selling coffee at the
> train station at 16, said he was offered the chance to take over the stand
> in 2001, when his boss moved on. The town consented, but only on a
> month-to-month basis.
>
> Mr. Lash, the selectman, said such arrangements are preferable because 
> they
> allow the town to replace vendors who are uncooperative or who invite
> complaints. As Mr. Maher described the deal: "As long as you do a good job
> and keep everyone happy you can stay here."
>
> Unless, apparently, a blind man wants your business.
>
> State officials say they would not have stepped in had Mr. Maher been
> covered by a contract. But since the concession was never put out to bid 
> and
> the arrangement had no set termination date, they said it was wrong to
> expect them to wait until Mr. Maher moved on before taking care of a 
> person
> in need. "It just seems so unfair to say that because this couple had this
> location that there's this entitlement and that they should always have 
> it,"
> Mr. Sigman said.
>
> Down the line at the train station in Rye, N.Y., the concessionaire is 
> Frank
> Palmeri, who is blind and uses a wheelchair. Trained as a lawyer 30 years
> ago, Mr. Palmeri said he was unable to get a job in law so he has been
> selling newspapers and coffee from his post ever since. He, too, works on 
> a
> month-to-month lease.
>
> "I worry constantly," he said. "The options are limited. If this falls
> apart, there's nothing else I can do."
>
> The Mahers are younger and able-bodied, and coffee is their supplemental
> income, not their livelihood; Mr. Maher has a job as a cable television
> technician, and Mrs. Maher operates a second concession at another train
> station in town. Still, the couple said every bit helps.
>
> Their 82-year-old employee, who lords over the little red station house as
> if it were his front porch, is also unsure where he will land. "It keeps 
> me
> off the streets," he said.
>
> Copyright 2006
>
> The New York Times Company
>
>
>
> Alan Wheeler
> awheeler at neb.rr.com
> or
> alan_wheeler at neb.rr.com
>
> redwheel1 on skype
> http://alan-wheeler.blogspot.com/
>
> "Tell the people the truth and the country will be free"
>  --Abraham Lincoln
>
>
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