Disabled UP man demanded a sidewalk so he could vote. His video made the difference
There was just one small — and revealing — hitch.
Monday was supposed to be a celebratory moment, and it certainly was. But for Blake Geyen and plenty of other Pierce County residents living with disabilities, it also inadvertently underscored the immense and continuing need for more.
In the end, Geyen got his sidewalk and his crosswalk, but the challenges remained all around him.
Late last year, Geyen, a 29-year-old University Place man with cerebral palsy who uses a motorized wheelchair to get around, decided to highlight the need for improved disability access at the Pierce County Election Center.
He relies on the accessible voting equipment at the election center, so, with some help from his mom, Geyen made a video that illuminated how difficult and dangerous it was for him to get there.
Video of the journey — from the Pierce Transit Route 57 bus stop to the door of the election center — showed Geyen forced to steer his motorized chair through traffic and a busy parking lot. At times, the trip — which Geyen says he’s made prior to local elections since 2014 — put him dangerously close to moving cars.
Ultimately, Geyen’s effort — which was boosted by Disability Rights Washington — helped to inspire quick action from the city of Tacoma and Pierce County. Recently, a freshly painted crosswalk, a safely marked path for pedestrians through the parking lot, and — most importantly — a new ADA-accessible sidewalk debuted at the election center.
It’s exactly what Geyen called for, so on Monday, he headed to the Pierce County Election Center to take part in a press conference to mark the moment.
It wasn’t a ribbon cutting, precisely, but it did come with a victorious mood.
There was just one problem:
Because of the timing of the press conference, Geyen and several other attendees, including Krystal Monteros, the vice-chair of the Tacoma Area Commission on Disabilities had to take a different bus — which dropped them off down the hill, at South 35th and Pine Street.
That meant Geyen and Monteros, who uses a manual wheelchair, had to navigate their way up a steep hill, and — again — venture across gravel and into traffic ... simply to get to the midday event.
The group’s mistake?
Coming from the wrong direction.
Or, in other words, the type of daily scheduling adjustment an able-bodied person would have made and quickly taken for granted.
The stark visual of Geyen and others with disabilities making their way up the hill and through traffic provided a dose of reality for all in attendance. It wasn’t lost on those like Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson and city of Tacoma ADA Coordinator Gail Himes, who had gathered to watch the press conference.
Yes, the new sidewalk and crosswalk provides safer access for anyone riding the Route 57 bus, which is the primary route that serves the election center and Pierce County Annex.
That’s a big win.
But work remains — and once you see it, the need for it glares everywhere.
“I see a lot of places with no sidewalk at all,” Monteros said bluntly. “That’s what it takes: people raising hell.”
On Monday, Geyen and his family largely focused on the positive.
The new sidewalk, they said, is a big improvement, and they were surprised by how fast it happened.
“I was very pleased that the city responded so quickly to build this new sidewalk. I did not realize how the power of my video could spark a reaction and ultimately make change,” Geyen told The News Tribune Monday with the aid of the electronic speech device he uses to communicate.
“I think it’s amazing — this sidewalk right here. I mean, that’s a start,” added his dad, Rick.
Blake said the improving access to the election center was important because “everyone has the right to vote, freely and privately, including those with disabilities.”
He noted that the election center “is the only location in Pierce County that has accessible voting equipment for 21 days prior to an election.”
“Since many people with disabilities rely on transit, it’s important that there’s a fully-accessible sidewalk from nearby bus stops to the elections center,” Geyen said. “The addition of this sidewalk is a significant improvement.”
Anderson agreed, noting it will provide safer access for everyone to the election center and nearby Pierce County Annex.
“I’m really grateful to the advocates that put a human face on it, and we’ve got a long way to go,” Anderson said.
Himes echoed the sentiment, telling The News Tribune the project was one of many around the city designed to improve disability access.
“Before the ADA came out, people didn’t pay enough attention to accessibility and equal rights, and this is one of the consequences of it,” Himes said. “We’re going to be playing catch up for a long time.”
After the cameras stopped rolling, Geyen acknowledged that the route he’d been forced to take Monday “was very dangerous,” largely because drivers couldn’t see him.
His father, a former drivers ed teacher, was even more direct, describing it as “an accident waiting to happen.”
There’s more to do, father and son agreed
First, however, Geyen wheeled himself away from the microphones and did what he came to do.
He voted.
