By Amber Morgan
I know because I am legally blind. I also serve as a Nashua alderman-at-large. Before I take my seat at an evening meeting, I have to work through logistics that many people never need to consider.
How will I get there? Will I walk, take an Uber, or arrange a ride? If I walk, which route has the best lighting and the fewest street crossings? How will I get home after dark?
If my husband is traveling, I also need someone to watch our daughter for an unknown amount of time. Board of Aldermen meetings end when the work is done.
I live less than a mile from City Hall. Even with that advantage, getting there requires planning. For residents farther away, with fewer resources or different disabilities, the barriers can be considerably greater.
October is Blindness Awareness Month. For Nashua, it is an opportunity to turn understanding into action.
I have retinitis pigmentosa, a rare eye condition that restricts my peripheral vision and my ability to see at night. Make small binoculars with your hands and hold them to your eyes. That gives you a rough sense of my field of vision. Now imagine crossing a street, finding a dropped object, or navigating a crowded room.
Blindness is a spectrum. It does not always look the way people expect.
I may miss your outstretched hand because I cannot see it. I may walk slowly down stairs, feeling for the next step with my toes. I may drop something directly in front of me and be unable to find it. I have also missed a wet-floor sign and accidentally sent it across the room.
In familiar places, I often navigate without my white cane because I have memorized the routes. What may look effortless is often the result of repetition, preparation, and constant attention.
Even at City Hall, I have forgotten the steps leading into the aldermanic chamber and tripped.
You cannot reliably judge a person’s disability by watching them walk into a room. Nor can you assume that because someone made it there once, they can always do so safely.
That is why I am advocating for the passage of O-26-002, . Alderman Paula Johnson started this legislation in February and has been dilligent in taking feedback to bring it to a full board vote. With its revised language covering people with disabilities under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ordinance would allow eligible residents to participate in public comment electronically.
My blindness is one of many disabilities this proposal would address. The larger issue is whether residents have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the government that serves them.
Watching a meeting does not give you a voice in it. Residents need the opportunity to ask a question, explain a concern, and speak directly to the officials making decisions on their behalf.
I have heard the objections: Someone might falsely claim a disability. More people might participate, making meetings longer. Who will determine eligibility?
These questions deserve clear answers and a workable process. They do not justify continued exclusion.
We can establish a respectful process for accommodation requests. We can apply public-comment rules to remote participants. We can address staffing and technology.
The possibility of misuse should not become a reason to deny access to people who need it. And the prospect of hearing from more residents should carry weight in favor of participation. Their voices are part of our work.
Title II requires local governments to provide equal opportunity to participate in their programs and to make reasonable modifications when necessary for access. Our responsibility is to give that principle practical meaning here in Nashua.
A resident’s ability to be heard should not depend on whether they can navigate dark sidewalks, secure transportation, or physically reach the chamber.
Government should recognize those barriers and work to reduce them. Technology gives us a practical way to do so.
I encourage Nashua residents to contact their aldermen, support O-26-002, and take part in the discussion about accessible public meetings.
I serve in government, run a business, and raise a daughter. I also live with a disability. Those realities exist together. The same is true for residents throughout our city whose contributions we lose when participation is too difficult.
This Blindness Awareness Month, Nashua can make a clear commitment: when residents want to speak to their government, we will work to make sure they can.
We work for the people. Access to us should reflect that.
AMBER MORGAN
Owner of Fortin Gage Flowers & Gifts and currently serving as an At-Large Alderman
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