15 Working Days

The reason this blog came to be is because of a friend of mine who died. I’m not at liberty to go into much detail about the situation at this time, because I’ve filed a grievance against Oregon Advocacy Center, and don’t want to give them an out. OAC is the federally funded “Protection and Advocacy” entity in our state that is charged with ensuring that people with disabilities rights are provided for. What I will say, is that something inside told me that I needed to become more involved in the struggle than ever before, and immerse myself in the disability community. I have done that. The blogs I’ve spent time in and the people who have shared with me thus far have been a godsend during this difficult time. I’m sticking around.

I filed the grievance on my deceased friend’s behalf on 1/10/07 with the understanding that I would hear from the Executive Director within 15 working days. According to my calculations that makes tomorrow day #15. I’d say there’s a 50-50 chance I won’t even hear from the ED by the end of business tomorrow. In their grievance policy it says that if I disagree with the ED’s findings, I can take my grievance to the Board of Directors for further review. These folks know me well enough to realize that is exactly what I will do. They also realize that public opinion within the disability community would back up my assertions 100%. I have lots of evidence that unequivocally supports my position.

The troubling part of all this is that it never had to happen. In the past I’ve told some truths about the way the P&A has made some costly (29 million) mistakes and that has certainly not sat well with them. I had a friend who used to say “The truth will make you sick BEFORE it sets you free”, and I think that’s what caused all this to come down. I believe anger, ego, and vengefulness were the driving factors in some of the decisions that were made in this situation. Of course motive is not what I’m concerned with, it’s about outcome.

Do me a favor… send out some positive vibe-energy-prayer at me. This is a very tough situation even for the brave capTAin. My friend meant a LOT to me, and it’s in her memory that I do what I’m doing.