HAPPENINGS Bouchard Returns to Board; Lindner Elected to Serve as Secretary At the July 16, 2021 board meeting, Concord City Councilor Candace Bouchard was elected to serve out the seat vacated by former City Councilor, Meredith Hatfield. In addition, the board elected Cheryl Linder to serve as Secretary due to the vacancy created by the resignation of Rick Hiland, former Albany selectperson. Congratulations to Candace and Cheryl. We appreciate the time you spend with us!
Evergreen Farm Offers 30 Foot-tall Balsam Fir as Holiday Tree to Interested City or Town! Evergreen Farm in Kingston, New Hampshire has been growing choose-and-cut Christmas Trees since 1985. This 30+ foot-tall Balsam Fir was never chosen as a Christmas Tree and is now much too tall for any residential application. It is time for this beautiful tree to make room for new trees in the plantation, so Evergreen Farm is offering to donate it to a New Hampshire city of town that can give it a good home this holiday season. The chosen municipality will be responsible for cutting the tree and removing it from the Farm. If interested, please give Glenn Coppelman of Evergreen Farm a call at 603.772.5355 (land), or 603.770.5355 (cell). Glenn can also be reached via email at gcoppelman@gmail.com. www.nhmunicipal.org
Service Animals & Taxis Jody Ianuzzi’s question sounded simple enough. “What can we do to bring more attention and education around the issue of taxis and service dogs? Jody Ianuzzi (in photo with her service dog), resident of Keene, contacted the Governor’s Commission on Disability (GCD) some months back. She serves as President of Monadnock Chapter and First Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind of New Hampshire. As such, she has heard the stories of individuals with service animals who were not always welcomed when it came to taxi service. Ianuzzi was not seeking to criticize or punish anyone. She just wanted to highlight in some way that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects the rights of individuals with service animals. The GCD agreed to take a look at the situation through the lens of education. The Service Dogs & Taxis PSA was developed to highlight the importance of the ADA and educate around five FAQs. It is designed as a quick reference for several audiences, including taxi drivers. Municipalities and other groups now have the option to post it, distribute it or just use it as a quick informational reference. The bottom line is that taxi drivers cannot discriminate against individuals with disabilities by refusing to provide service to individuals with service animals. Service animals are individually trained to assist an individual with a disability. They perform a specific task, which distinguishes them from other animals whose purpose is to primarily render emotional comfort. If it is not obvious why an individual has a service animal, two questions may be asked: (1) Is the dog required because of a disability? and (2) What work or task has the dog been trained to perform? Referencing the ADA, Service Animals & Taxis provides these five reminders for the Taxi Driver:
• If I am afraid of allergies, must I allow service animals? Yes. • If I have a no pets rule, must I allow service animals? Yes. • If a service animal is misbehaving, may I ask the handler to remove the dog? • If the handler is not taking action to control the dog, then Yes. • Is it against the law to charge more for service animals? Yes. • If a service animal is misbehaving, may I ask the handler to remove the dog? Yes.
With the release of Service Animals & Taxis, there is now one more tool to remind us all of the importance of equal access. It is found on the GCD’s website at www. nh.gov/disability. Louise McBride is the Research & Information Specialist at the Governor’s Commission on Disability and may be reached at 603.271.2773 or Louise.E.McBride@gcd.nh.gov.
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