Letter to the Editor: My Name is Ann Clark and I Have to Walk Slowly, Part 2
Dear Editor,
George Wooding is in a wheelchair and spoke at the January Board of Trustees meeting. Unfortunately, Alex Randolph, the board chair shut George out and only allowed him one minute to speak. Others have been allowed by the Board to use extra time.
As president of the Board, Alex Randolph set a terrible pattern of discrimination for those at City College who have disabilities.
The board, administrators, and the college lawyer need to apologize to George and to all who have disabilities and suffer discrimination at CCSF.
The board has the responsibility now to meet with the DSPS (Disabled Students Programs and Services) faculty and students at all the campuses to make sure that disability discrimination is not allowed at CCSF or anywhere else.
— Ann Clark
Reading that George Wooding, a person in a wheelchair, was only allowed one minute to speak at the January 2020 CCSF Board of Trustees meeting outraged and disappointed me. This CCSF Board of Trustees acts like medieval British lords, dismissing and disrespecting the “peasantry” who come to sincerely express themselves on matters before the Board. This needs to stop immediately. We the people put the Board members in their positions as TRUSTEES, that is, bearers of the community’s TRUST. Each speaker should be allowed to speak without time limitations. Especially someone in a wheelchair. Imagine the effort that it took Mr. Wooding to prepare himself to go out, to arrange for transportation to and from the meeting, and to show up in good faith having prepared his statement, then not be allowed to fully express his thoughts. This is inhumane, rude, disrespectful, and absolutely unacceptable. Shame on Alex Randolph.