NATSILC: Indiana SILC Member Appeals To NCIL

From: ForCompliance@aol.com
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 00:55:56 EST
Subject: Indiana SILC Member appeals to NCIL

Date: September 23, 2002
>From Mark Bair:
To Courtland Townes III

Dear Courtland,

I met you at this last NCIL Conference and was impressed with your
willingness to listen and effecitvely want to bring about change.  Yes, I
am the Mark Bair who was illegally removed as the SILC Chairperson by our
Goveror Frank O'Bannon and replaced with a man who I used to call my
friend, Al Tolbert.  Al is the Executive Director of the Southern Indiana
Center for Indepenendent Living (SICIL) and the current lackey for our
corupt DSU.  It is too bad that he really believes that the "Indiana
Sitatuion" has been caused by Ms. Teresa Torres who has signle-handedly
kept ICOIL (Indiana Council on Independent Living, which I'm sorry to say
I coined as an acronym when I was first with the SILC back in 1990) from
"doin' its business." 

Al has had Teresa taken out of "his meetin'" in handcuffs twice!!!!Once in
February by Capitol Security for politely asking Al to hold up on voting
on the desposition of Part C funds from RSA until Emma Sullivan (The
centers' elected representative who Al has refused to recognize or seat at
the "council table" (does this strike a resemblance to King Arthur or
what?) could return from the restroom. The second time Al had her arrested
and taken to jail for 12 hours by the Indianapolis City Police charged
with "illegal trespass and disorderly conduct" (which is still pending)
for insisting that Al and the Council vote on the SILC Congress
Resolutions at the July meeting. Al said that the January resolutions were
never voted upon because Emma or Mark had never placed them on the agenda! 

Al also had Luis Roman (a blind employee at Teresa's Center) removed from
the January meeting by Police AND refused to read the council's ground
rules which had been written on the board for him at the May meeting at a
state police post!  Al thinks that this will all settle down and it will
be back to business as usual for his center and Dave Nelson's (the "man
behind the curtain", remember the Wizard of Oz?" who has written the last
four SPILS for Indiana)center - The League for the Blind and Disabled. 
What Al is not smart enough to figure out is he is at war! He has met the
enemy and it is us!" 

I only wish that I had been there to hear Emma's valianet and heartfelt
"Call to Arms" to the NCIL Board.  We are very glad to know that NCIL has
decided to "step into the light" and refuse to continue to be in the dark
mushrooms!  We (the Alcr 4 Complance and a few "enlightened" Council
members in addition to our supporters across the United States know that
justice will prevail.  We will turn things around in Indiana (if it means
sitting in the Governor's offices, going to Court of joing to jail) and
with RSA if it takes Congress to abolish the RSA, which Justin Dartgave
upon on for their paternalistic attitudes, so on!! Too many of our
comrades have died or langushed in "long tern care facilities" for us to
just go away and let these inequities continue.  As Emma's eloquent
address mentioned and as the Brits say "We've got a boil on our bum." 

We are sick and tired of being sick and tired! Every day one of us in the
Alliance have had to suffer humiliation and sorrow for RSA's lack of
fortitude and willingness to do their jobs!  We want to know that
punishment will be extended to violaters of the Rehab Act! We want them to
enforce the law! That is why they were formed in the first place, but now
the Commissioner and her predecessors have let bureaucratic B.S. dictate
to them what they can and can't do.  Heaven forbig they question a
Governor's poorly advised actions! Heaven forbid they take a stand against
CSAVR and the many appointed bureaucrats that seem to think they know what
is best for unfortuante people with disabilities. What about just trying
to be advocrats for a change? 

I believe John Wooden's (ex-UCLA Basketball Coach and fellow Hoosier)
quote:  "Things turn out best for the people who do the best with the way
things turn out."  We are trying to do the best we can; we owe generations
before us and after us nothing less.  Thank you for your support! 

Mark Bair, Hope, Indiana. 




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