[img]1305|right|Andy Weissman||no_popup[/img]City Councilman Andy Weissman, who ignited the spark last evening that preserved free bus rides in Culver City for blind persons, issued a surprising statement this morning.
“I don’t think anybody was comfortable with the proposal” to tag the blind with a 35-cent fare after riding free for more than three decades.
“I don’t know that anyone switched his or her vote.”
Mr. Weissman speculated that “it may have made a difference –probably not – if the guy doing the complaining (James Stouvenel) had actually participated in something – either the community meeting or had come to the Council meeting last night.”
Mr. Weissman reiterated the bold move he initiated last night.
“There was no reason to change our existing fare policy toward the blind just because one person said we should,” he said.
“My reading of the statutes Mr. Stouvenel cited – claiming we were out of compliance – did not seem to apply,” Mr. Weissman said just ahead of darting out of town for an abbreviated vacation with his wife and grandchildren.
What happened was news because the City Council so seldom rejects recommendations made by city staff.
“By a factor of 9 to 1, maybe higher than that, we ratify the staff recommendations,” said Mr. Weissman.
“The staff recommendation going into last night was to make the change.”
Before the meeting, “I didn’t know where anyone else was,” he said. “Awhile back, we had talked about legal concerns,” but they obviously faded.
Besides, look what is coming up.
“Sometime from now, we are going to go through a wholesale fee analysis,” Mr. Weissman said.
“Why pick this policy out separately from others? We will have a chance to revisit the issue when we do the fee revision” at a date not yet selected, not necessarily this calendar year.
Transportation Director Art Ida will establish the timetable.
