County Wrestles With Access For Disabled Worker Office Of Supervisor With Amputated Leg Isn’t Accessible To Wheelchair

Fri., Dec. 26, 1997

Associated Press

Just 21 steps separate Cindy Collins from her job.

But getting Collins up to the second-story District Court Probation Services office has Chelan County officials in a quandary.

Collins wants to resume her duties as a supervisor in the department where she has worked for 15 years after having her cancerous right leg amputated in September.

A doctor has cleared her to return to work, but she remains on unpaid leave while county officials try to figure ways to get her to her office. She uses a wheelchair, and the Chelan County Annex building has no elevator or lift.

“I don’t want to be a total imposition here,” she said. “But I really would like to get back to work.”

County commissioners have consulted a Seattle lawyer to study their options under the Americans With Disabilities Act, the federal law requiring handicapped access to public buildings.

None of the options suggested so far - reassignment to another building or setting up a home office - appeals to Collins.

“If they move me to a remote location, I will lose my supervisory status, which will mean a cut in pay,” she said. “I really want to be back in the office and have the camaraderie of people I know around me.”

The commissioners rejected the idea of installing a $30,000 wheelchair lift because it would take up too much space in a narrow stairwell.

Commissioner Esther Stefinaw said the county doesn’t want to invest $30,000 in a building that is not in long-range facilities plans and may be torn down in three to five years.

Collins said she can use crutches and a walker, but does not want to try to use them to scale the narrow stairs to her office.

Debbie Yonaka, director of Probation Services, has suggested Collins’ department swap space with the county’s information services department in another building.

Meanwhile, Collins is living on a small disability paycheck and dipping into personal savings to get by.

“At this point, I have not hired an attorney,” she said. “I don’t want to cause bad blood. I know there are some real financial restraints within the county.”

But if county officials don’t come up with a solution soon, “they may have to pay my wages whether I’m working or not.”

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