Disabled man files federal complaints

The man has filed complaints with the Justice Department accusing Pinellas Park police and businesses of neglecting code enforcement. Officials deny knowing of his qualms.

By ANNE LINDBERG

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 13, 2000

PINELLAS PARK -- Saying he's tired of the Police Department's failure to enforce rules protecting disabled people, a Pinellas Park resident has filed complaints with the U.S. Justice Department.

The complaints, filed with the division that oversees compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, target the Police Department's code enforcement arm as well as several Pinellas Park businesses.

"Nobody wants to listen, and nobody wants to do anything about it," said the resident, Marshall Cook.

Justice officials did not return phone messages asking for comment.

Cook, who gets around the city by wheelchair or motorized cart, said he has complained for years about things like cars parked on sidewalks and broken glass that slashes wheelchair tires.

More recently, he said, he has asked for police assistance when people threw bottles at him or threatened to harm him.

Cook's other complaints have singled out Pinellas Park businesses that have eliminated handicapped parking spaces or moved them far from their entrances. Other businesses have blocked doors or aisles so people in wheelchairs are unable to shop.

Cook said he has lodged objections with store managers, but nothing ever changes. He also has asked for city help with his problems. "This is all stuff I've turned in to code enforcement, over and over and over," Cook said.

Rather than getting help in many cases, Cook said, the response he gets from many is: "It's not my department."

"Then I go to code enforcement, and it never goes anywhere," Cook said.

Police Chief David Milchan said he was not aware that any complaints had been filed. He said police and code officers have always tried to help Cook.

"I think that we've just bent over backwards to try to help Mr. Cook with his complaints. We've tried to address them as best we could," Milchan said. "We'll continue to do so. We recognize that when he reports a problem, that they are out there and we try to help him any way we can."

Assistant City Manager Mike Gustafson said he also was unaware that Cook had filed complaints.

"We cannot go out and force a business to comply with today's ADA laws," Gustafson said. "We're not the arm for enforcement of federal law."

What the city can and will do, he said, is enforce local laws and rules. If a business violates a code, then city officials can do something about it, he said.

Gustafson said he could not speak to the situation in the Police Department, but that the response to Cook's complaints in the city's other departments has always been swift.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.