Frustrated by lack of 'real action' by city, Cambridge accessibility chair quits committee

A Cambridge dad and advocate has left his role as chair of the city's accessibility committee, saying he doesn't feel like the city is taking real action to address the needs of all people in the community.

Devin Sisak has first-hand experience when it comes to the need for more accessibility, since his 12-year-old son is in a wheelchair. Sisak also works as an educational assistant helping students with different abilities.

He joined the accessibility committee after finding too many people without accessible parking permits were using accessible parking spots, leaving him to circle parking lots and downtown cores. He needs an accessible spot to be able to get his son's wheelchair out of his vehicle.

"I really started to get frustrated because I'd bring my son down, he realizes that we're struggling to find parking and he gets upset. There's been times where he started to cry. So it really started to affect me like mentally and wear on me," Sisak told CBC News.

For more than a year, he said he has raised the issue with the city. He has documented cases where he saw five different vehicles use an accessible space in a four-hour period. On another occasion, he called bylaw and waited for over an hour but no one came to ticket the person without the proper permit.

But a meeting last month was the last straw for Sisak. Ahead of a committee meeting specifically about the parking issue, committee members were asked to submit questions for staff to answer.

"I spent hours carefully preparing thoughtful, solution-oriented questions. But then before the meeting, we were told by the city clerk that they would not be answering them due to workload constraints," he said, adding this "felt deeply discouraging."

"I just felt really defeated at that point because I'm like, here we are, citizens giving up our time, taking time off work like I was to have these meetings, so losing financially, in the hopes of bettering our communities and we can't even get questions answered."

Sisak attended the meeting, hoping the questions would still get addressed there, but they didn't.

Sisak quit the committee that day.

Alana Russell, the city's director of communications, said in an email it is "always unfortunate when a volunteer no longer wishes to contribute to a council-appointed citizen advisory committee, as we know the issues being discussed are of great importance to the entire community."

Russell said the city "applauds" Sisak's "personal efforts to amplify voices, break down barriers, and ensure that everyone can access all that this city has to offer with ease."

She noted the city issued more than 400 tickets in 2024 for accessible parking violations and the bylaw department is looking at different ways to increase enforcement.

As well, she said the city has started plans for an awareness campaign.