Fort Lee ADA Advisory Board Plans Conference to Build Unity

Everyone seated around the table at the monthly meeting of Fort Lee American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Advisory Board agreed that the success of Fort Lee's ADA programs rests upon the support from the Mayor and Council and cooperation from all Borough departments.

Liaison to the Board, Councilman Harvey Sohmer, said that the ADA Advisory Board is an active committee that gets things done. "I love being the council liaison to this board," Sohmer said. "You have the full support of the Mayor and Council."

Board Chairwoman Bobbi Wailes said that members of the committee identify problems and concerns facing those with disabilities and look for solutions.  

"We had the heads of emergency services at our last meeting to address the problems people with special needs faced during Hurricane Sandy," Wailes said.

During their March meeting, the Board invited the heads of Emergency Services to talk emergency preparedness for community members with special needs.  The meeting focused on how to provide guidance, tools, methods and strategies to integrate and coordinate emergency management to include individuals with access and functional needs, and those with physical and cognitive disabilities. 

Now they want to gather together ADA representatives from every Bergen County town to create a unified county-wide infrastructure to help implement and support coordinated systems to accommodate those with special needs.

"We'd like to know what other communities are doing to reach out to members of their community with special needs," Wailes said. "That's why having a conference to get together ADA representatives from all towns in Bergen County is vital."

Wailes believes that sponsoring a county-wide conference will provide a much needed forum where representatives from towns can see what other towns are doing to facilitate the needs of persons with disabilities.

"It can be the starting point where we can see which towns have ADA Boards, which ones have effective programs and give us an opportunity to share ideas and resources with each other," Wailes said.

Despite the enactment of the American With Disabilities Act in 1990, the Board firmly believes that there are still issues facing people with special needs that are not being addressed. By creating a consortium with other towns, the Board is hoping to change that.  

"I want to plant the seed in Fort Lee to unite all Bergen County towns to discuss issues of accessibility and, by doing so, be able to unify processes," Wailes said.

"I want us to help create the system that will unite everyone in the common purpose of providing the same standard of accessibility to members of every community in every community."   

The Board has scheduled the conference for Tuesday, Oct. 8 at the Fort Lee Recreation Center from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

Check in with Fort Lee Patch for updates on the conference.

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