I have a different view that I would like you to consider: It seems to me that the goall is to provide safe, convenient access to disabled persons who also may require additional space to accommodate equipment that simply requires more room to manage. On-street parking in public right of way does not meet these needs. The driver's side door opens onto street traffic, and curb sides spaces may open onto uneven pavement, tree roots, or other obstructions. There is no guarantee that they will be close to a building's access. I believe this is why most cities, including Seattle, now require buildings to provide safe, level, oversized parking spaces on their property, close to entry-ways and exits, and set aside passenger load zones for quick access.

On-street spaces located in the public right of way, especially in a city with Seattle's steep, hilly topography, beg the question, "why would an individual with a disability that requires this type of accommodation want to park in an on-street space, anyway, when more commodious spaces are available?" If it's because the on-street spaces are free of charge to them, I suggest we consider that being elderly or disabled does not mean unable to pay.

I think the City is exactly correct in its policy.

As an official cripple -- victimized by one of Washington state's perpetually court-coddled habitual drunken drivers in 1978, the spinal injury so inflicted now deteriorated to the point I am barely able to walk -- I recognize Seattle's hostility toward handicapped motorists as a product of at least four subsets of hatefulness, none singular to the Pacific Northwest, each characteristic of the present-day Moron Nation ethos.

These are:

(1)-The reflexively American (and incipiently Nazi) belief that physical infirmity is absolute proof of racial, ethnic, genetic, psychological, spiritual (and/or all of the foregoing) inferiority -- as the Christians invariably say, that we are being punished by god for our sins -- and the unspoken corollary conviction that all of us so afflicted should, by always euphemistic denials of treatment and accommodation, be encouraged to self-extermination;

(2)-The exactly parallel capitalist beliefs regarding all of us who are unprofitable -- that is, all of us no longer exploitable for profit -- which is the real reason for Big Business opposition to universal health care;

(3)-The definitively American hatred of afflicted people as real-time reminders of human frailty and the genuine hazards of life (and thus as affronts to the American cult of Smiley Face optimism) -- the reason behind the general public hostility not just to universal health care but specifically to special accommodations for handicapped people;

(4)-The near-infinite arrogance of bureaucrats and politicians, who -- because they increasingly recognize themselves as all-powerful surrogates of the Ruling Class -- regard themselves as both rightfully despotic and ultimately above the law, the same imperious sense of infallibility that 20 years ago prompted the Department of Social and Health Services to damn social services to males as “economic discrimination against women" now prompting Seattle authorities to denounce all handicapped people as thieves.

While virtually anyone who is obviously disabled will attest to all of these variants of hatefulness -- there is no question that we are despised by those fortunate enough to remain hale and hearty -- those of us who have disabled parking permits or license plates invariably have our own unique litanies of horror stories, all based on the very specific (and often violent) hatred -- actually envy -- with which we are regarded by "normal" (road-raging) motorists.

Thus by their aggressive bigotry against those of us who are handicapped, Seattle officials are merely expressing “normal” majority opinion, which is why I rather doubt they will relent.

Indeed – just ask the teens who attack cripples on public transport – tormenting handicapped people is no less American than evicting jobless families from their homes or bombing Third World peasants.

For a number of years I brought my disabled wife to Seattle so we could continue to see the doctors we saw before we moved out of town. We found that if we made two appointments in the same building (to minimize our trips to town) it usually took about four hours to complete the process. It could easily be longer.

As for Kay_Sue1, I think it's entirely fair to hope that she will experience all the benefits of aging and disability she seems to think other people are enjoying.

As a 56 year old retired construction Laborer, I've always been active. I just picked up a two month handicapped placard, my first. I can ski, I can bike, I just am having difficulty walking. I've seen abuse at the ski area disabled spots, but I've also seen a lot of people that could not ski without the close parking. It's a shame that younger people (I know this is a generalization, but it is agravating)think it is appropriate, and funny,to abuse this privilege. I don't know what to do about that. I do agree with the author, the able bodied who make these decisions do not understand how important the parking can be. I never thought I would need close access, I've always parked far out,as I didn't mind the walk. And I don't have a problem paying, that's not the issue for me.

"The state of Washington Department of Licensing has very rigid policies for granting handicapped-parking permits."

My experience (sadly, three experiences) tend to cast doubt on the rigidity of at least the application of these policies. Although slow to deliver tags are issued for excessive lengths of time. I have at least two relatives who have the tags and are quite able to walk (and do so for therapeutic reasons). I suspect medical professionals like the gratitude of patients and are too willing to grant handicapped status. Rejecting someone who thinks they should have a handicapped tag must be difficult and troublesome.

Handicap spaces are OK but they should not be free. Nor should a handicap placard entitle a driver and/or handicap passenger a free space wherever a parking meter and/or kiosk exists for all other drivers. The massive amount of handicap placards deserves constant updating and auditing and scofflaws who cheat should be heavily punished. Certain car models seem to have such placards; one example is the Chrysler Hemi 300 'Cadillac look-a like'. Glove compartments may reveal multiple handicap placards. Just how many are in circulation in Seattle, King County, and Washington state??

I am addressing some of the misinformation reflected in the very first comment. My daughter's boyfriend is quadriplegic, with limited use of his hands, but he can drive a custom fitted van. He exits his van directly onto the sidewalk, with the use of a ramp, not into traffic. He may not park on the steepest hills in Seattle, but his motorized chair enables him to deal with some fairly bumpy terrain. Obviously, this gives him greater access to most of the city. Still he may drive around quite a bit before he finds parking. There is not a plethora of handicapped parking. He works full-time. He's lucky in that regard: many in his circumstance may not find work. He's unlucky in that his basic living expenses are automatically double those of a non-disabled person, just to pay for the necessities that enable him to function - caregivers, a service dog, etc. I think it is accurate to assume that most people with significant disabilities are struggling with greater costs just to stay alive and function, as compared to the rest of us, combined with a diminished capacity to earn a living at all. The notion that handicapped people may just want to park on the street in order to get something free is offensive beyond belief. The notion that there is somehow a financial benefit to disability - and the disabled are somehow scamming the rest of us if they are allowed free, easy-access parking, is ignorant beyond belief. I would add that you cannot always tell from appearance that a person is struggling with a disability. Those in wheelchairs have limitations that are readily seen; those with heart disease, arthitis, cancer, or autoimmune diseases that impair physical mobility or stamina may not be as obvious to the eye.

I see no evidence that anyone is being hateful towards the legitimately handicapped (as opposed to those who use the cards unlawfully). The issue is, does the City have an obligation to provide unlimited free parking to the handicapped, everywhere parking is permitted on city street rights-of-way?

I think the correct answer is No. I remember a certain well-known attorney who drove his old stick-shift VW to work every day and parked all day in a metered parking space, all for free free. Didn't seem right then, and doesn't now.

I think the City's doing it right. If four hours of free parking ($10 worth at current rates) isn't enough, they should find an equally close off-street handicapped parking spot -- they seem to be everywhere in private lots these days.

Thanks for covering SDOT’s draft proposal to tackle the extensive abuse of disabled parking placards. The city is committed to providing access for people with legitimate disabled placards. But with more than 750,000 inactive disabled placards in circulation statewide, this proposal aims to address the systematic and illegal abuse of them that occurs daily on city streets.

Studies reveal that 40 percent of vehicles parked in downtown and First Hill display disabled parking placards. The Seattle Police Department typically finds that 50 percent or more of vehicles doing so are either using inactive placards or not transporting a legitimate placard holder.

SDOT has met with disabled rights organizations, seniors and veterans groups to get feedback on the proposal. All believe that this placard abuse must be addressed. Additionally, two thirds of public comments submitted on the proposal support adopting it.

Parking is available in off-street lots for those patrons who need longer than four hours and, as mentioned above, cars with disabled license plates would be exempt from the time-limit. To learn more about this proposal, please visit SDOT’s Web page at:
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/disabledparking.htm

Rick from SDOT

The real question we citizens of all abilities should ponder is: do we want our city to represent the best in how we accommodate Americans with disabilities, or the worst--by taking the normal Seattle approach of 'it's too hard so let's compromise'?

To Rick from SDOT: If the problem is "...to tackle the extensive abuse of disabled parking placards..." then why does SDOT not press to have some kind of renewal process at the state level (or institute a city-issued placard)?

Several comments have been made regarding someone who is "obviously disabled". I provide care to a non-obviously disabled person who really needs to be close to the front door. As an able-bodied person I am thankful that I do not need any accommodation, but grateful for the accommodation when I bring my friend to a doctor (or WalMart), and don't have to see him suffer walking long distances (and stopping to rest 5 times before we get there!).

Note to Kay_sue1: you must step out of your own box--stop viewing 'handicapped people' in the abstract. I suggest you try walking a mile in those shoes. You'll be enlightened!

Suggested reading for all: ADA

There is a simple and obvious response to this issue, isn't there? If a placard is past its dates, then put a ticket on the car and charge a high fine. If a person has a valid sticker, he or she then has in the wallet the plastic card that authorizes the disability permit. That card includes the expiration date. A person who does not carry that card cannot use the placard. If there are thousands of people cheating with the placard, then, voila, the authorities have the right to ticket and question people. Perhaps then, this would not be such an issue.

My wife is an above the knee amputee and walks fine--just not far. While I don't want to reiterate the many good points made above regarding the challenges facing the disabled , I do want to add to the point that It seems like the city is actively hostile toward the disabled (yes, I know there are laws--but...). While seniors can get their reduced price ORCA passes at any of the convenient customer service offices that are scattered around the light rail stops--disability reduced fare cards require the person to show up in person at only one location downtown and have their picture taken. Why can't they just send a copy of their state issued disability card? Of all groups, why make them schlep downtown and wait in line? As for reducing disability parking privileges--it's nice to see Seattle taking a global 'leadership position'!

Kent Kammerer is well known for his pithy, self-centered NIMBY perspective. But this one has got to take the cake.

Yeah - baby boomers are getting knee replacements. But, do they deserve years of free parking because they spent the last three decades skiing, running around Green Lake or playing basketball?

Seriously?

I mean, I know Kammerer LIVES for for free, unlimited parking for all lazy NIMBYs. But this is getting silly.

Everybody knows that ~1/3 of all those "disabled" placards are either: 1) doled out by doctors as a perk and incentive to make plenty of return visits; 2) stolen or traded on the black market; 3) used by the relatives of the deceased; 4) used by people who claim disabilities such as "the fear of people"; or 5) used by people who revived from their injuries years / months earlier.

Yeah, the other third are legitimately disabled. But the people Kammerer are trying to stand up for here give those folks a black eye.

And the "returning Iraq war vets" pandering? Puhhleeze. Give us a break. The vast majority of the young Americans serving us come from Prosser, Camas and Moses Lake. Not Kammerer's yuppie Phinney Ridge oasis.

Seriously - what does it take to get a column at Crosscut? An email address?

There ARE important issues out there to write about. I can almost guarantee you Kent Kammerer will never come across a single one of them.

allieger: thanks for adding some factual information to Kent Kammerer's mythology-driven perspective.

God knows it's easy to appeal society's emotions using hearsay and fear (sometimes it seems that the Internet was designed for the Kent Kammerers and Karl Roves of our time).

But every once in a while, a sane voice steps in to counter the waterfall of idiocy and ignorance.

Thanks for that.

As for Mr. Kammerer: I'm sure there's a spot reserved for him at the Tea Party convention. We're all victims of government malfeasance, afterall.

Yep, we're all morons and oppressors, lorenbliss.

I do what I can each and every day to help (without being patronizing) each and every poor, disadvantaged, elderly and infirm person in my neighborhood. Oftentimes I end up aiding those who are just down on their luck. And I do so to the point where my wife bemoans the lack of attention to our own house and garden.

Yet, not a single one of my neighbors has ever contrived a manifesto as bleak and cynical as yours. I get where you're coming from - but still...you should re-read that apocalyptic diatribe you wrote. If life was totally fair and everybody was totally equal - life would be incredibly boring and bland. Last year I had two perfectly healthy, relatively young friends drop dead for no "fair" reason. Despite all the pain and heartache around those suddenly tragic events, I can't say I ever lost faith in life and mankind the same way you have.

We all have our own weaknesses, personal failures and breaking points. But none of the people I know (including myself) have found a way to blame those things on "hateful, aggressive bigotry capitalism."

Heck, some of the most pathetic characters I've come across in my life are fully-abled people born into wealth. Should we blame "American imperialism" for their fate, too?

Not "cynical," MadisonAve, but absolutely truthful (as given your screen name's implicit boast you too must surely know) -- and certainly "bleak" because, unless one is Ruling-Class rich, “bleak” is the ultimate nature of life in the United States.

“Bleak” also is the legacy of dreadful understanding imparted by 30 years in U.S. journalism and more than half a century as a writer and photographer in the realm that infamously resurrected the old Crusader notion of murder as salvation: “we had to destroy the village to save it.”

But only now that the permanence of "jobless recovery" has abolished any and all possibility I will ever work again am I liberated to write of the United States as it truly is: in terms of its treatment of lower-income people -- especially those of us who are elderly, disabled or educationally disadvantaged -- by far the most deliberately, maliciously, even gloatingly savage nation in the industrial world.

Not that a rational human could reasonably anticipate anything better from a country that routinely firebombs rebellious peasants and lavishes taxpayer money on torture-despots even as it denies its own citizens the most basic human rights including universal health care.

Never mind the imbecility of "hope" has become as obvious as the Big Lie of "change we can believe in."

Now as the sands in my personal hourglass trickle down to nothing and nothingness, I speak out as I never dared speak out before, yearning to make sufficient amends for my sins of collaboration, trusting that by doing so I can face the oblivion of death with a conscience not quite so grievously troubled, and – if indeed god turns out to be anything more than an adult version of Santa Claus – perhaps escape damnation as well.

No, MadisonAve, I would not label that “cynical” at all.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, lorenbliss.

Instead of worrying about avoiding damnation in the afterlife, why not skip all this damnation while you're still on the planet?

To Rick from SDOT: "Studies reveal that 40 percent of vehicles parked in downtown and First Hill display disabled parking placards. The Seattle Police Department typically finds that 50 percent or more of vehicles doing so are either using inactive placards or not transporting a legitimate placard holder."

Please provide a link to these alleged studies. They certainly are in extreme contradiction to my own observations. Could you possibly have misplaced your decimal points?