Disability Services Commission votes to fund Opportunities for Inclusion event

The Disability Services Commission at its monthly meeting voted to increase the commission’s contribution to Opportunities for Inclusion’s A Special Day In Waltham event from $1,000 to $2,500. The City Council’s Finance committee will discuss this donation at its meeting next week. 

The commission’s funding comes entirely from citations managed by the Police Department through the Handicapped Parking Violators Detail Program. The program, instituted by the city in the 90s and described by the commission as “the first of its kind in the United States,” channels fines from unpermitted cars parking in handicap spaces to the Disability Services Commission for its discretionary use.

The Police Department issued a total of $6,000 in handicap parking violation fines for the month of March. The commission expects significant revenue in April, too, as the department issued 13 citations to residents in the last week of April; vice-chair JT Graceffa wrote in an email that the group will have confirmed numbers for its April revenue by the end of May.

At the May 1 meeting, commissioners elected to reach out to other departments to inform them about the influx of funds, asking about potential citywide targets for accessibility projects.

The commission also briefly discussed its page on the city website in response to recent pushes from the IT department and the City Council to keep city information updated. The page is currently missing meeting minutes for all the commission’s meetings since September 2022.

Graceffa, who spearheads the commission’s IT efforts, said he would be meeting with IT department representatives on May 14 to discuss new website updates and Americans With Disabilities Act compliance.

Commission chair Mark Johnson emphasized the importance of clarity on the commission’s webpage: “If we can’t communicate with people, we’re not being as effective as we can be,” he said.