Dear Editor,
I am not going to tell people how to vote. Ballot measures are usually far too nuanced for me to predict the unintended consequences of our community decisions. I will, however, speak
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Dear Editor,
I am not going to tell people how to vote. Ballot measures are usually far too nuanced for me to predict the unintended consequences of our community decisions. I will, however, speak up about my need for Ned EcoPass. I have a disability and I cannot drive, not now and not for the rest of my life lest I risk having a seizure behind the wheel and risk not only for my life but the lives of others. This disability combined with the economics of COVID and I was left making less than $3000 a year for 3 years. I have slowly been ramping up to financial independence again. This would not be possible without the Ned EcoPass.
Sure, it might seem inexpensive for a ride or pass but let me assure you that everything is expensive when you are trying to survive on $3000 per year. The year I moved into the Library District, I made a whopping $8000 teaching and again I needed that bus pass. I was a contract employee so I’m not sure an employer would have covered my pass. Even with a $5000 annual raise, surviving on $8000 was less than feasible.
The EcoPass isn’t just “helping the environment,” it helps people like me with a disability get to and from doctors’ appointments and work. It helps me maintain a level of self-respect and involvement in the community so that I can be a contributor, even with a disability. And I’m not young. I’m aging with this, and it could get worse. Sure, I can now afford a bus pass, but if I didn’t have my Ned EcoPass in those years, where would I be now?
You don’t know how much you need a community service until you need it and so many of us fall through the cracks as it is. Am I entitled to a free pass, no. That’s why now that I’m on my feet again, I contribute and try to make each contribution a positive one for the community. I will be voting YES on 6A to help other people like me keep from falling into the cracks of medical problems and homelessness. If I did not have that pass then, I’d still be homeless now. Homelessness has a higher cost overall than does the Ned EcoPass program.
Thank you,
Shawna Means
Nederland
